Are We Seeing The (Steady) Decline Of Syracuse Basketball?
By Neil Adler
Our squad, presently, is painful to watch. Signs may point to turbulent times ahead, given that, for the first time in 40 years, someone other than Boeheim will soon roam the sidelines as the Syracuse head coach.
Many, many SU fans – myself included – are probably nervous about the future. There are a lot of unknowns. So much recent good fortune could rapidly give way to lower-ranked recruits, subpar records and NIT berths.
Even if this occurs, I pray it’s only for the short term. When Boeheim served his nine-game suspension in the middle of the 2015-16 campaign, Hopkins filled in, going 4-5.
Not terrific results by any means, but he was jammed into a no-win situation, so those who say that this nine-contest term is a preview of what’s to come, I’m respectfully ignoring them.
We should believe in Hopkins, and in Syracuse. Things may ultimately turn back around in Central New York. We won’t know for a while. For now, let’s have collective faith, ‘Cuse Nation.
Like I said at the onset, penning this commentary is anything but fun.
The headline, which asks whether our beloved Orange is on a downward spiral, makes me queasy. But it poses a legitimate question.
My hope, for everyone’s sake, is that one day down the road, we look back at this article. We laugh, we smile, we calmly exhale a huge sigh of relief.
For my column’s primary assertion has, thankfully, not come true.