Because I write here, too

I'm responding to Paul's post earlier tonight.

The Orange are an improbably accomplished basketball program. We get 15 feet of snow a year, and we are a basketball power. That's jarring, really. That's insane. It shouldn't be overlooked. It's to Boeheim's credit. Period.

I think it is difficult to look at our team since 2003, however, and find a single year where we overachieved. Worse, I think this year was Boeheim's best coaching job since Carmelo. And we missed the tourney. How can we, an aspiring top program, be most happy with our coach in a season where we fell embarrassingly short of the NCAA tournament? That's crazy. Something is wrong.

This year and last year burn most immediately in my mind. It is shocking that we lost to UMass twice in one year inside the Dome. It is worse that we were up by 19 points at half in the second game. There were entire months in the 2006-2007 season which could only be described as brutal.

Each year since 2003, we have struggled for long stretches despite heralded recruiting classes and relatively grand pre-season expectations. So I think the responsible thing to do is get concerned. I'm not saying we jump off any bandwagons, or we ship Boeheim off to a retirement facility, but we do have to get worried. A little. At least a wee.

Finally, because I always end this way, some optimism: As I said on the phone tonight, if you were trying to create a blueprint for winning national championships in this age of One-and-Done, you'd recruit one great class and suck horribly for a year so nobody leaves, recruit a second great class and suck again, recruit a third great class and -- BAM! -- dominate. Maybe that's Boeheim's evil plot. Whatever. I'm down.