Well after losing this game, we need

[Moontan]

I just don't understand this line of thinking. The Final Four aspect (OK, if we're picking nits, the Midwest Regional Champs aspect, since that Final Four game was pretty flat) was very fun.

How about the bad offense all year long? Getting drubbed by St. John's at the Garden? An ugly home overtime loss to Wisconsin? Losing about half of the ACC games to a bunch of anonymous also-rans? And that wacky dud against Pitt in the tournament where the senior guard spazzed and heaved up a 35-footer with four seconds left in the game and about 99% of the fans thought the season was over?

Final Fours are terrific. There's more to a basketball season -- and enjoyment of the season -- than that. That full season had some highlights and a lot more low moments than Syracuse is accustomed to. No one was having a fun Final Four year in December 2015 or January 2016 or February 2016. It's dishonest to suggest otherwise and it doesn't do anything positive for the tenor of the board to throw around "people lie" accusations about their perception of these seasons.

I just don’t see how you can possibly equate the most recent Final Four season with the last two. Was it a perfect season? Heck no. But, was it a (mostly) fun ride?
So yes, when people exaggerate and essentially say that “SU hoops has sucked for the past 4 years” then I consider it a “lie”, or “fake news”, if you prefer.

People seem to forget that there were other factors impacting the last few seasons as well. Do I really need to mention the scholarship reductions and the departure of the Head Coach In Waiting?

If Tyus sticks around another year then we should all expect a level of play that is closer to what we would like. The bench will be deep, the stars will shine and the team will win. Even then, people here will bitch and moan.

 

[OttoMets]

I just don’t see how you can possibly equate the most recent Final Four season with the last two. Was it a perfect season? Heck no. But, was it a (mostly) fun ride?
So yes, when people exaggerate and essentially say that “SU hoops has sucked for the past 4 years” then I consider it a “lie”, or “fake news”, if you prefer.

People seem to forget that there were other factors impacting the last few seasons as well. Do I really need to mention the scholarship reductions and the departure of the Head Coach In Waiting?

If Tyus sticks around another year then we should all expect a level of play that is closer to what we would like. The bench will be deep, the stars will shine and the team will win. Even then, people here will bitch and moan.

I guess we might not agree with people who say "sucked." But -- while, again, 2016 was a huge standout year because of the Final Four -- I wouldn't exactly say it was a mostly fun ride, just based on personal memory. It was obviously very different than any of our other Final Four seasons (even 2013, when there were some difficult stretches of play), because SU was a truly mediocre team for four months. And that's where we really live as fans: on Monday nights, walking out of the Dome after a tough game; on Saturdays, hoping for the best but (lately) expecting the worst. When 90+% of the season is spent thinking "this team isn't nearly as good as Boeheim's mean Syracuse team," that's the reality.

Now, the Final Four is a great distinction and a lot of fun. And of course that makes it way superior to the last two years. But if we're playing "which of these things is not like the other," I'd lump 2016 more in the class of 2014-2018 difficulties than in the category of 1987/1996/2003/2013 "Final Four" teams.

That shouldn't take away from the accomplishment or dampen people's enthusiasm about the Final Four in any way. But, on the flip side, the Final Four also doesn't erase four months of sub-.600 basketball.