Will Syracuse choke again?

[br801]

The defensiveness and apologizing is nauseating. Either you find a way to win or you don't. Save this whiny crap for the next PTA meeting at your local underachieving school district.

Impressive post. It almost has a Tristan-like tone to it.

 

[SBU72]

Since 2003, Bill Self at Kansas has had a number of significant NCAA failures too. Since losing to SU he has lost as #1 to a 9, 1 to a 4, 4 to a 13, and a 3 to 14. He has had 1 NC, 2 elite 8s and 1 S16. Just saying

 

[KingOtis]

Since 2003, Bill Self at Kansas has had a number of significant NCAA failures too. Since losing to SU he has lost as #1 to a 9, 1 to a 4, 4 to a 13, and a 3 to 14. He has had 1 NC, 2 elite 8s and 1 S16. Just saying

He's also lost as a #1 to a #11.

And he was coaching at Illinois in 2003. Roy Williams was the HC at KU when we won the NC.

 

[BuffOrange]

You are familiar with a trend right? The point is (with the exception of Blake Griffin) we never should have been in that position to begin with. If our two veterans from the national championship season don't put up absolutely putrid stats i.e. Warrick's triple double of pts rebounds and tunrovers, then we aren't in the position to get daggered by Sorrentine. And using Onuaku's loss as a crutch is dumb. We were WINNING late in the game against Butler. We make AO out to be some Bill Russel/Shaquille/Billy Celluck hybrid and we should have beaten Butler without him.

I always have a hard time accepting the "never should've been in that position" point, mostly because the vast majority of teams that get to the Final 8 were in such a position. For every memorable upset in the ncaa's there are more "almost upsets" that have been forgotten. Assuming you're more than a casual fan I don't think I have to name them for you. Many of those 'almost upsets' would've been upsets if the high seed wasn't playing close to home (Duke/UNC every year) or worse yet a quasi-road game (Vermont), or if they had a starter out (Butler). No, Arinze wasn't Bill Russel but the optimism on this board took a huge hit when he got hurt because the margin for error in the tournament is just that thin.

Have you ever heard anyone say "The Patriots really blew some big leads late - they shouldn't have been in a position to have to kick a FG against the Rams or Panthers"? Yah me neither. Of course everyone would've said that if a bad call or fluke turnover or missed FG went against them...

With respect to JB and underachieving I'm more curious how the hell a team with Douglas/Thompson/Coleman/Owens only finished 10-6 in the Big East.

 

[otto123]

Since 2003, Bill Self at Kansas has had a number of significant NCAA failures too. Since losing to SU he has lost as #1 to a 9, 1 to a 4, 4 to a 13, and a 3 to 14. He has had 1 NC, 2 elite 8s and 1 S16. Just saying

What are you talking about? Bill Self didn't lose to SU in 2003

 

[orangefan13]

Everyone is trying to make logic out of this team from what it has done not from what it is capable of doing.
Thats the problem with this thread.

This is the biggest half empty post ever!

This team is capable of crushing everyone by double digits in this tournament if our 7 offensive weapons put it together like they can consisantly!

 

[otto123]

Everyone is trying to make logic out of this team from what it has done not from what it is capable of doing.
Thats the problem with this thread.

This is the biggest half empty post ever!

This team is capable of crushing everyone by double digits in this tournament if our 7 offensive weapons put it together like they can consisantly!

How many times have they done that this year? This team has proved throughout the year that it is not capable of doing it consistently

 

[Marsh01]

How many times have they done that this year? This team has proved throughout the year that it is not capable of doing it consistently

yet they won 30 of their first 31 games. Call me crazy but that sounds like consistently winning games which is really all that matters.

 

[otto123]

yet they won 30 of their first 31 games. Call me crazy but that sounds like consistently winning games which is really all that matters.

No all that matters is the tournament. They have struggled against weaker opponents letting them stay in games and could have lost about 5-6 of those games. When is the last time a #1 seed was a horrible rebounding team and struggled in half-court offense and outside shooting? Mich St has 7 losses and they are playing better then Syracuse now and have a better shot of getting to the final four because they used the regular season to get them ready for what really matters the tournament. Syracuse's 31 wins mean nothing now every team is 0-0. This is one of JB's flaws he did not get this team ready to be playing at their best come March and is part of the reason he fails to get past the sweet 16 on a consistent basis.

 

[Marsh01]

No all that matters is the tournament. They have struggled against weaker opponents letting them stay in games and could have lost about 5-6 of those games. When is the last time a #1 seed was a horrible rebounding team and struggled in half-court offense and outside shooting? Mich St has 7 losses and they are playing better then Syracuse now and have a better shot of getting to the final four because they used the regular season to get them ready for what really matters the tournament. Syracuse's 31 wins mean nothing now every team is 0-0. This is one of JB's flaws he did not get this team ready to be playing at their best come March and is part of the reason he fails to get past the sweet 16 on a consistent basis.

ooook. So what is the Izzo excuse going to be when they lose to Memphis?

 

[moqui]

he fails to get past the sweet 16 on a consistent basis.

it's not like that is such an easy thing to do, you know.

Before the tournament expanded to 64 teams, high seeds received a first round bye and could advance to the regional finals with just two wins, so let's throw those out. Let's just consider the modern era, which began in 1985, and during which everyone had to win 3 games to get to the Elite 8 (four if you are a play-in team).

There have been 27 NCAA tournaments in that era, this is the 28th. Bobby Knight and Jim Boeheim have both appeard in 22 of those 27 tournaments. JB has advanced beyond the Sweet 16 "just" four times . . . while Knight achieved that feat . . . three times.

that Knight guy must really suck, eh?

 

[TinyManInside]

well, this team's first choke job was just 'handed in' by melo...