Yes, it is the end of the world...

[Alsacs]

If we had played a Michigan State schedule and were 5-3 the frustration would be less. However we haven't and the team has been poor.
The Final Four last year is the saving grace for not more outright panic. The Final Four was great. However since 2012 our halfcourt offense has been bad to be kind. Coach should have fixed it. He hasn't. Our recruiting has become confined the I-95 corridor we need to be national.
I appreciate all JB has done but seeing the future is frustrating.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Our recruiting has become confined the I-95 corridor we need to be national.
I appreciate all JB has done but seeing the future is frustrating.

People forget that we did have recruiting restraints for two years. However that hurt us.
https://web3.ncaa.org/lsdbi/search/miCaseView/report?id=102520

 

[two3zone]

Never.

I'll take a .500 season with a final four over an undefeated regular season with an elite eight.

I had a lot more fun watching us steamroll every team from November until March in 11/12 than I did watching us lose to scrubs and Pitt all last year. Outside of Atlantis, the Duke game and the Gonzaga, Virginia games, last season sucked.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

People forget that we did have recruiting restraints for two years. However that hurt us.
https://web3.ncaa.org/lsdbi/search/miCaseView/report?id=102520

Completely agree with this but if we are going to talk recruiting we have to at least acknowledge the potential impact JB's future situation / retirement may also have on recruiting in the long term. I have no idea if that is quantifiable, but knowing JB won't be there the full run for a kid (assuming he's not one and done) has to at least enter into that kid's conversation when he's making a decision.

 

[Delmar]

As stated Final Fours are awesome, but there is no denying that regular season wise we have been struggling since losing to Boston College with those god awful blue shorts.

Then again, it wasnt long ago that we all said that we would trade our great regular season success (2009-2012) for final fours and a NC.

I guess we all just want both.

I blame those blue shorts for the end of the winning streak. (I'm not kidding.)

 

[skurey]

How many teams have the same amount of wins or more over the past 3 seasons? 50?

 

[NineOneSeven]

Completely agree with this but if we are going to talk recruiting we have to at least acknowledge the potential impact JB's future situation / retirement may also have on recruiting in the long term. I have no idea if that is quantifiable, but knowing JB won't be there the full run for a kid (assuming he's not one and done) has to at least enter into that kid's conversation when he's making a decision.

Strange he announced how long he has left coaching

 

[TinyManInside]

Imagine the situation here right now if the NCAA hadn't given SU a bid last year. I mean... going into selection Sunday almost none of the pundits even had SU in the field.

If last year was NIT and this year was a 5-3 start we'd be losing our freaking minds.

And I also think that the recruiting frustrations are playing a large role in the collective fan unrest. When you lead for a top PG recruit for months then lose him at the last possible minute to a team that most perceive as operating outside the prevue of the NCAA, that's going to be in the back of your mind when you're watching a sub-par on court performance, particularly when that sub-par performance features questionable PG play.

 

[pfister1]

We are talking final fours, not titles. If we won last year, it would be a different story, but we didn't. I agree with a title, but I would rather have a great overall season and lose in the elite 8 than have a bubble season and make the final 4.

I'm with the prior poster. Obviously a title would be better than a final four, but the final four has a significant amount of cache attached to it. In reality success is measured by your performance in the tournament. Getting to a final four offsets a lot. We don't win many arguments with other fan bases flexing our muscles on the basis of having more 20 win seasons than they do.

2010 was a lot of fun, but in the end it sucked because what might have been one of our best teams all time under achieved in the tournament. Same with '88, '89, '91, '12

I would to have the team go undefeated in the regular season, win the conference tournament and then win the NCAA tournament. But it's never happened for us and isn't likely to. So knowing your aren't likely to achieve all 3 you have to prioritize; and success in the NCAA tournament is the top priority.

 

[GoCuse14]

I will never give up on this team...especially this early in the season, with a coach like JB running the show. I have faith that they will gel and look much better down the stretch. But we just lost to a really, really bad basketball team...and we have work to do. I believe we can do it and the talent is there to do pretty much anything that we want to see. I still see the potential...and I recall last year never thinking we would get as far as we did. hope.

 

[jncuse]

I had a lot more fun watching us steamroll every team from November until March in 11/12 than I did watching us lose to scrubs and Pitt all last year. Outside of Atlantis, the Duke game and the Gonzaga, Virginia games, last season sucked.

For me the 2010 and 2012 seasons provided much more fun over the course of the entire season than last year even if we made it further. I had more fun overall those years.

I was really busy the week of the final four last year and did not think we had much of a shot so I never got too much into that week.

 

[SUintheVille]

For the fans in this uncertain time with the team...

Like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank said,

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I had a lot more fun watching us steamroll every team from November until March in 11/12 than I did watching us lose to scrubs and Pitt all last year. Outside of Atlantis, the Duke game and the Gonzaga, Virginia games, last season sucked.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I think 98%+ of the board would disagree with you...

 

[Cuse House]

I had a lot more fun watching us steamroll every team from November until March in 11/12 than I did watching us lose to scrubs and Pitt all last year. Outside of Atlantis, the Duke game and the Gonzaga, Virginia games, last season sucked.

Same here, that was my point in a previous post. Even though last year's tourney was great, even when we beat Virginia I never felt like we really had a shot at winning two more.

 

[two3zone]

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I think 98%+ of the board would disagree with you...

I think you'd be surprised.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I think you'd be surprised.

Possibly but general tenor of board is much more favorable if team reaches elite right, or better, vs if it gets eliminated in Sweet Sixteen or earlier...regardless of how the regular season goes...

 

[Cusefan0307]

2012 I thought was a cluster with all the drama surrounding it with FAB. It never was a drama free season. We never had a chance to win once he was suspended(in hindsight if we did it would have been embarrassing if the NCAA took it away).

I enjoyed 2013 a lot though. That team was pretty good during the regular season and had a good BET run. I know it was not as great as 2012, but we had a shot to win the title if we executed and calls went differently against Michigan. We beat Louisville in Louisville that year and there's no doubt in my mind we would have had a chance to take them down in the title game.

 

[orangecuse]

Good tune...keeping with the thread's title.

 

[cuseattle]

Good tune...keeping with the thread's title.

That's great it starts with a pump fake
Moves and shakes and Andrew drains
And DC II is not afraid

 

[CuseFaninVT]

2012 I thought was a cluster with all the drama surrounding it with FAB. It never was a drama free season. We never had a chance to win once he was suspended(in hindsight if we did it would have been embarrassing if the NCAA took it away).

I enjoyed 2013 a lot though. That team was pretty good during the regular season and had a good BET run. I know it was not as great as 2012, but we had a shot to win the title if we executed and calls went differently against Michigan. We beat Louisville in Louisville that year and there's no doubt in my mind we would have had a chance to take them down in the title game.

Eh, since we got punished anyway, we may as well have just used Fab and won the whole damned thing.

 

[CusefanATL]

I would rather peak late in the season then early and then flame out. This team just needs to find themselves. With 2 5th year seniors and at least one freshman if not 2 playing large roles, it will take some time to find the right flow and leadership. I think the UConn game was a wake up call for the players and we hopefully will see a team leader emerge from this. Last season we won the early tournament and we all thought we were the best team ever, and then quickly found out, maybe not so fast. Even with the UConn loss, I saw improvement in the new starting line. As long as we are taking steps forward, then I am ok. And let's not forget that someone made that starting lineup change, namely the head coach. So the thread where he is being totally admonished, and comments being made that he is burned out just do not fly when you see the effort is being made.

just out of curiosity, what improvement did you see in that Uconn game?

 

[CusefanATL]

If Duke were 5-3 I don't believe Duke fans would be calling Coach K arrogant and all sorts of negative things and questioning succession plans.

a. they would be 5-3 vs 3 top 10 teams. not 2 top 25ish teams and a team that has nearly no shot to make the tournament unless they go bananas the rest of year or win conf tournament.
b. they may not be calling him arrogant - but they would be wondering when his next back surgery would be scheduled.

 

[CusefanATL]

Eh, since we got punished anyway, we may as well have just used Fab and won the whole damned thing.

Like, Like, Like, Like, Like, Like, Like, Like.

 

[CusefanATL]

Imagine the situation here right now if the NCAA hadn't given SU a bid last year. I mean... going into selection Sunday almost none of the pundits even had SU in the field.

If last year was NIT and this year was a 5-3 start we'd be losing our freaking minds.

And I also think that the recruiting frustrations are playing a large role in the collective fan unrest. When you lead for a top PG recruit for months then lose him at the last possible minute to a team that most perceive as operating outside the prevue of the NCAA, that's going to be in the back of your mind when you're watching a sub-par on court performance, particularly when that sub-par performance features questionable PG play.

a lot of the pundits had us in. I would actually say the majority. I was 60-40, maybe 70-30 on selection sunday. Lets not dilute the facts to more prove your valid point.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Eh, since we got punished anyway, we may as well have just used Fab and won the whole damned thing.

LOLOLOL..awesome post...totally agree...I was at the 1990 Lax final vs Loyola at Rutgers...I can guarantee you that nobody from Loyola is walking around saying they won that thing...

If you win a title and vacate it later, it doesn't mean you didn't win it...