When’s the last season you were this excited for a team?

[MikeSU02]

I’m excited for change and the guys we’ve landed for this year and next.

I’m taking the “trust, but verify” with Red’s Xs and Os once the ball is tipped.

I really would like nothing more than to see JB get to see his program flourish after he left.

I am excited for Maui. We have a really exciting team. I think we can become a national favorite due to our style of play and our players very quickly.

 

[sufandu]

Teams improve like that every year, especially in the transfer portal era. It’s not unusual to make a big jump. Last year, Kansas State went from not making the tournament since 2019 to being a #3 seed. Two seasons ago, Iowa State went from 2-22 to 22-13 and made the sweet 16. Missouri went from 12-21 to finishing last season in the top 25 and earning a 7 seed in the tourney. In 2022, Miami hadn’t made the tourney since 2018, had gone 11-17 the season before and wound up as a 10 seed in the NCAA tourney. Then last year they made a jump up a 5 seed.

That wasn't really the transfer portal era yet. Teams weren't really remaking themselves in one year. So, yes, it has happened more recently and will continue to happen more frequently, but I just didn't have those expectations that season. It's fine if you did.

 

[sufandu]

The buzz about the Elijah Hughes transfer was fairly high going into that season. Not Wes Johnson-level but significant. He was apparently opening eyes during his sit-out year in practice. Word was that he was giving Tyus the business. So we added a significant piece and had Tyus, Brissett and Howard all returning (plus Chukwu and Marek) from the season before, when we finished as a dominant (top 5) defensive team. We figured Elijah would boost the offense and all the returning guys would take a step forward, which is usually how it goes. It was a reasonable to expect a top 25 team that season.

That's fine if you thought that. I don't usually have high expectations for transfers until I see them play. Most that we've had have been nice contributors but not enough to transform a team. Hughes ended up showing flashes that first year, but didn't really come into his own until the following year when we weren't able to put much else around him. That, of course, has been the story of the last 5+ years, a nice player or two per team but not enough of them to have a really good balanced team and no dominant players that are able to carry the load and let role players simply play a role.

I suppose I was stung by what I saw the previous few seasons and I put less stock in tourney runs than others. It's been a long time since I had high expectations going into a season. Hopefully, Red can change that, and I can get back to the mindset I had back when I wondered how high our tourney seeding would be, not whether we would make it in.

 

[Sherman20]

That wasn't really the transfer portal era yet. Teams weren't really remaking themselves in one year. So, yes, it has happened more recently and will continue to happen more frequently, but I just didn't have those expectations that season. It's fine if you did.

Teams before the transfer portal era still improved significantly from year to year. Even in the past Syracuse teams improved their standing from year to year. In 2008, we didn’t make the tourney. In 2009, we were a 3 seed. We were an NIT team in 2002 and won the national title in 2003. In 1997, we were an NIT team. In 1998 we won the Big East and went to the Sweet 16.

I think it was logical to expect a jump in the 2018-19 season, which is why both polls had us ranked in the top 25 (16th in the AP and 14th in the Coaches). We had buzz going into that season. The failure of that season is when many of us started to question JB’s ability to adjust to the modern era of basketball and how we needed to play differently and not be so predictable on offense and defense. And then the following season he did a terrible job of roster construction, which continued to be a problem until the end of his tenure.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Last year. I'm a simpleton. I get excited every year for the new team.

 

[sufandu]

Teams before the transfer portal era still improved significantly from year to year. Even in the past Syracuse teams improved their standing from year to year. In 2008, we didn’t make the tourney. In 2009, we were a 3 seed. We were an NIT team in 2002 and won the national title in 2003. In 1997, we were an NIT team. In 1998 we won the Big East and went to the Sweet 16.

I think it was logical to expect a jump in the 2018-19 season, which is why both polls had us ranked in the top 25 (16th in the AP and 14th in the Coaches). We had buzz going into that season. The failure of that season is when many of us started to question JB’s ability to adjust to the modern era of basketball and how we needed to play differently and not be so predictable on offense and defense. And then the following season he did a terrible job of roster construction, which continued to be a problem until the end of his tenure.

You can't compare 2018-19 to those other seasons you mentioned. Talent was at a completely different level compared to the previous seasons and, previously we were still in an era where JB was able to develop a team over multiple years. We were also in an era where a poor season was typically a blip followed by a bounce back. By 2019 the slide had been more than a blip and the logical expectations had changed, just look at all the bubble watch threads that had become an annual thing by then. The bubble was something we rarely cared about in other eras you referenced.

Many on here were questioning JB's ability to adapt prior to 2019. Those people were often shouted down by people that didn't want to see it.

As I already said, it's fine if you had those expectations of a huge bounce back. I didn't and was simply surprised at how many did.

 

[Sherman20]

You can't compare 2018-19 to those other seasons you mentioned. Talent was at a completely different level compared to the previous seasons and, previously we were still in an era where JB was able to develop a team over multiple years. We were also in an era where a poor season was typically a blip followed by a bounce back. By 2019 the slide had been more than a blip and the logical expectations had changed, just look at all the bubble watch threads that had become an annual thing by then. The bubble was something we rarely cared about in other eras you referenced.

Many on here were questioning JB's ability to adapt prior to 2019. Those people were often shouted down by people that didn't want to see it.

As I already said, it's fine if you had those expectations of a huge bounce back. I didn't and was simply surprised at how many did.

You are/were in the minority. We were a pre-season top 25 team in multiple polls in 2018-19, as I explained.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I don't know that I'm all that much more excited.

Could be because I'm partly dead inside.

 

[sufandu]

You are/were in the minority. We were a pre-season top 25 team in multiple polls in 2018-19, as I explained.

Ok

 

[two3zone]

The year we got Chukwu. Thought we were title contenders.

 

[M2MPrinciples]

2017. I don't think the 2016 run indicated that we were better than we were (at least not by much), but Chukwu and Dajuan both getting hurt in that 2017 season sank us big-time.