What I learned from '92-93 and '14-15

[pearl31]

This is just me personally, of course. And I'm as frustrated and disappointed as anyone with the team so far this year. And no, there's nothing wrong with expecting (much) more. But...
Those 2 seasons of not even being eligible to dance taught me to cherish the season, the game-to-game battle, even when it's a fatiguing roller coaster. As long as JB is the coach and there's talent on the floor, there's hope for some magic.
Our team is still in it.

 

[FrancoPizza]

This is just me personally, of course. And I'm as frustrated and disappointed as anyone with the team so far this year. And no, there's nothing wrong with expecting (much) more. But...
Those 2 seasons of not even being eligible to dance taught me to cherish the season, the game-to-game battle, even when it's a fatiguing roller coaster. As long as JB is the coach and there's talent on the floor, there's hope for some magic.
Our team is still in it.

Talent and magic huh. Sleigh bells might be getting inside your head.

 

[hungrychuck]

I think what a growing number of people here, beyond the usual suspects, are saying is, if we are to resign ourselves to watching a mediocre team year after year, at least let it be an an exciting, entertaining mediocre team.

There is no joy in watching this product.

 

[br801]

I think what a growing number of people here, beyond the usual suspects, are saying is, if we are to resign ourselves to watching a mediocre team year after year, at least let it be an an exciting, entertaining mediocre team.

There is no joy in watching this product.

 

[20Plus]

This is just me personally, of course. And I'm as frustrated and disappointed as anyone with the team so far this year. And no, there's nothing wrong with expecting (much) more. But...
Those 2 seasons of not even being eligible to dance taught me to cherish the season, the game-to-game battle, even when it's a fatiguing roller coaster. As long as JB is the coach and there's talent on the floor, there's hope for some magic.
Our team is still in it.

Brilliant post hits home for me

 

[CaptainJ]

This is just me personally, of course. And I'm as frustrated and disappointed as anyone with the team so far this year. And no, there's nothing wrong with expecting (much) more. But...
Those 2 seasons of not even being eligible to dance taught me to cherish the season, the game-to-game battle, even when it's a fatiguing roller coaster. As long as JB is the coach and there's talent on the floor, there's hope for some magic.
Our team is still in it.

This is one way I enjoy NCAA hoops more than pro leagues like the NFL. In the latter, sometimes relatively early, you have fans on message boards calling for a "tank"(purposefully losing) to get better draft picks(part of whats wrong when you offer rewards for failure). Here, I dont think Ive seen anyone calling for a tank, and some fans can find enjoyment in each individual game. As an added bonus, we're still in it for the the title belt. Worst case scenario, there is always a chance to pull a UConn and run the table. Anything is possible, until it isn't.

 

[hungrychuck]

This is one way I enjoy NCAA hoops more than pro leagues like the NFL. In the latter, sometimes relatively early, you have fans on message boards calling for a "tank"(purposefully losing) to get better draft picks(part of whats wrong when you offer rewards for failure). Here, I dont think Ive seen anyone calling for a tank, and some fans can find enjoyment in each individual game. As an added bonus, we're still in it for the the title belt. Worst case scenario, there is always a chance to pull a UConn and run the table. Anything is possible, until it isn't.

While I know what you mean, the fact that our source of optimism might be to “pull a UConn” is one of the most depressing things I have ever heard.

 

[pearl31]

Feel like I should clarify:
I mean to say those two seasons of being ineligible taught me to cherish the seasons we are eligible and fighting for a tourney berth - whether that’s high seed or bubble

 

[OttoMets]

This is just me personally, of course. And I'm as frustrated and disappointed as anyone with the team so far this year. And no, there's nothing wrong with expecting (much) more. But...
Those 2 seasons of not even being eligible to dance taught me to cherish the season, the game-to-game battle, even when it's a fatiguing roller coaster. As long as JB is the coach and there's talent on the floor, there's hope for some magic.
Our team is still in it.

Very good point. The uncertainty and upside are part of what makes it fun.

That said, this program plays a hideous style of basketball and right now I'd almost rather watch a season like 1993 (wasn't that the year Conrad hit the shot at the Spectrum? almost every player on that team would be the best player on our roster) than see what's likely to come.

I'll take this year over 2015, though. That was the worst of both worlds: ugly and hopeless.

 

[dollarbill44]

Worst case scenario, there is always a chance to pull a UConn and run the table. Anything is possible, until it isn't.

The optimist would agree with this. The pessimist would say the worst case is this team goes 6-12 in ACC play and we don't even make the NIT.

 

[RF2044]

There's definitely a chance. Two years ago, after our lousy preseason, many posters were ringing alarm bells about us having a losing conference record, JB posting the first losing season of his career, etc.

Obviously, JB's track record counts for something.

But it is hard to see this team going on that kind of run. At the end of last season, they were playing as a team and performing at a reasonably high level. They look like a bunch of guys playing pickup together for the first time at the Y lately. Something seems amiss behind the scenes.

 

[br801]

There's definitely a chance. Two years ago, after our lousy preseason, many posters were ringing alarm bells about us having a losing conference record, JB posting the first losing season of his career, etc.

Obviously, JB's track record counts for something.

But it is hard to see this team going on that kind of run. At the end of last season, they were playing as a team and performing at a reasonably high level. They look like a bunch of guys playing pickup together for the first time at the Y lately. Something seems amiss behind the scenes.

The best part of that was someone predicting an 0-18 conference record, as well as an 0-18 record for the following season.

 

[MSOrange]

The best part of that was someone predicting an 0-18 conference record, as well as an 0-18 record for the following season.

Exactly. I still remember who that was and tend to take them with a grain of salt now.

 

[Lucid]

Anything is possible, until it isn't.

Simple, true, and important to remember.

 

[br801]

Exactly. I still remember who that was and tend to take them with a grain of salt now.

Pretty sure I remember, too. And the hits have kept on coming since.

 

[pearl31]

Talent and magic huh. Sleigh bells might be getting inside your head.

You seem nice.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I think we still have a chance to make the tournament and the people losing their minds about The Streak (tm) being in Jeopardy are ridiculous.

 

[Eric15]

Realistically, I think our ceiling is about a 6-7 NCAA seed and our basement would be at the bottom end of the bubble (so like a 2 or 3 seed in the NIT). As always, I will watch every second of every game including NIT games, but I'm very frustrated overall.

 

[OrangeDW]

I hear you. That 93 team being a 10-8 conference team really shows how much higher the talent level and level of play was back then though.

Autry was a lot better than Howard. Wallace was a lot better than OB. McRae was a lot better than Chukwu. 3 out of 5 spots with significantly better players. And that was only a 20-9(10-8) squad, and at the time our weakest team in a decade or so?

 

[ORRange]

The sweet sixteen run and Tyus coming back made me way too optimistic. Really the team just has a lack of talent. Only a few top 50 recruits on the entire roster and way too many that were rated over 100 and worse. Just a non-typical SU team. Brissett is raved about but would never have started as an under classmen here most years. And only one player would be getting significant time. It's sad to watch.

 

[SoBeCuse]

The sweet sixteen run and Tyus coming back made me way too optimistic. Really the team just has a lack of talent. Only a few top 50 recruits on the entire roster and way too many that were rated over 100 and worse. Just a non-typical SU team. Brissett is raved about but would never have started as an under classmen here most years. And only one player would be getting significant time. It's sad to watch.

I keep wanting them to run since they do have more bodies. I’ve changed my tune. Who are we kidding. They would get blown out of the gym against most Top 25 teams trying to run. They aren’t very fast. JB knows this. Frank isn’t going to push this scooter even healthy. The Centers for some reason can’t make a simple outlet pass, etc. It’s a talent issue. They will need to hope the Zone flummoxes teams while scoring just enough. I doubt we see many games scoring over 70 points moving forward. It’s tough to watch.

 

[OrangeFoo]

I keep wanting them to run since they do have more bodies. I’ve changed my tune. Who are we kidding. They would get blown out of the gym against most Top 25 teams trying to run. They aren’t very fast. JB knows this. Frank isn’t going to push this scooter even healthy. The Centers for some reason can’t make a simple outlet pass, etc. It’s a talent issue. They will need to hope the Zone flummoxes teams while scoring just enough. I doubt we see many games scoring over 70 points moving forward. It’s tough to watch.

Sadly I agree... the roster design is terrible. We have one guy, Carey, who will have plus speed when compared to the guy he is going against and he can’t finish. We have one guy who is athletic enough to get his own shot despite a speed advantage, Battle. Yet we have no one on the roster who can create shots for anyone else. Our centers can’t post up, our forwards are big enough to post but we either can’t or won’t do it. We don’t have the ball handling to run. We don’t really have any pure there point shooters.

The whole thing needs to be blow up and started over. It would help to have at least a vision for the offense before we get into the roster building.

The shoe

 

[bevosu]

An interesting stat from ESPN...

Carey has the 4th most total minutes so far this season. He has more game minutes than Marek and is tied with Chukwu in 4th place with 206 minutes.