This might be a long rant, but hear me out.
The title of this thread sums up my thoughts about last night’s game. Where do we go from here? What are we as a program? I don’t mean to sound over the top, as if 1 game is somehow indicative of something larger. But that’s where I’m at. Been a Syracuse fan for a long time. Lived through the good years, the bad years, and everything in between. And I just can’t pinpoint who exactly we are right now.
Like it or not, the Dukes, the Carolinas, the UK’s of the world….they know what they are. High talent, high turnover.
I also look at a team like Michigan. They know what they are. They don’t recruit top talent (aside from a random 4-5 star here and there). Beilein’s system is designed to maximize talent + develop players. Virginia is a lot like that too (just without the March success). It's not like they are some blue blood and we are not. It's the opposite. So how did Michigan make the turn? While we've stalled?
This needs to be an inflection point. At some point, JB, the staff, ADJW, whoever…needs to take a long look at what we’re trying to be. I’m not sure JB is the right coach to do that. And that’s what I struggle with. I love JB, he’s done wonders for the program and the community, and deserves fair treatment on the way out, but at a certain point, with him as a coach, is there light at the end of the tunnel? Is he all of a sudden going to reinvent who we are at age 74? Fascinating dilemma for Wildhack. I'm afraid we'll have more of this until JB hangs it up, and then we'll see a reboot.
I watched last night mostly apathetic. It sucks feeling that way, because I’ve lived and died by every game for years. But these March runs recently have masked the fact that this is really what we are. A middling P5 program.
I wonder how we got here, and if it was bound to happen, or recruiting/sanctions/early defections have been the cumulative cause.
I know this post probably doesn’t add up to much, but that’s basically what I was thinking all 40 minutes last night. What are we? And where do we go from here?
Anyone else feeling similarly?