Always jumping off of the deep end after every loss. HELLO PEOPLE WE FINISHED 5TH IN THE CONFERENCE!!!! Wasn't this supposed to be a rebuilding year? Were we not projected to finish 12th? Did any of us really believe we would be in a position to be a virtual lock for the Big Dance?!
We have so much to be excited about: Acker and Cubillan stepping up as Seniors (many of you thought Acker wasn't a BE calibur PG, yet we would have been lost without him), Jimmy emergence as a go to guy, DARIUS! JOHNSON! ODOM! Joe Fulce turning into a fantastic role player, Junior coming back from a freak injury...something tells me the best is yet to come from #5. 3 straight overtime wins on the road. Being able to compete in the NCAA's toughest conference without a single player over 6'7. What more could we possibly ask for?
Rant over...now let's kick some ass at MSG!!!!!
Couldn't agree more. I am glad that we never accept defeat as fans on some level, but it is important to keep perspective.
There is a ton to be excited about. We are seeing what Buzz's plan of attack on offense is going to be, and I love what I see so far.
I am most excited about Buzz after this year. He gained experience in every way one can hope. OT games, players transferring in the summer (roseboro), players transfering mid-season, multiple injuries to key players, tough recruiting losses (Black, Clark), and great recruiting wins (Blue, Jones, Smith, Newbill, Crowder). The experience he got this year will help the program in the future. Buzz's upside is tremendous.
In an even bigger context, we have to be excited about the Three Amigos/Hayward era. Nothing but consistency. Those four guys (along with Barro, Burke, Cubes, and Acker) were a great core of players to transition us into the BE. The foundation that they laid will always be appreciated.
I guess some people are content with losing as long as we won more than we were "supposed" to
agree with absolutely everything you say except for the Junior item. I just don't know what he does well yet. Maybe it takes a full year to come back from that injury.
I expected nothing this year, so this ride has been a bonus.
Quote from: Squawking Chickens on March 06, 2010, 06:19:40 PM
I guess some people are content with losing as long as we won more than we were "supposed" to
I don't think anyone is happ right now. It just perspective on where we are. We should have won that game today and it keeps us from getting into the top 25. But 11 wins is something to tip your hats to at the endof the season.
Exceeding expectations is an accomplishment on some level in and of itself.
Honestly, if we had a better coach we'd be 26-3, as Coach Williams should have had our players practice shooting free throws in practice, and therefore we could shoot 100% from the free throw line down the stretch. Not to mention this team is the Big East's #1 Free Throw shooting team.
People are just frustrated because of who the opponent was and how we lost. Plus it being at home and on Senior day... A lot of fans really wanted this one and it certainly should have been a win.
I don't think anyone is saying that it takes away from a wonderful year, not that I have read anyway.
Time to get a win at MSG this week
Yeah im just pissed off at how we lost and the fact that i dont want any doubt for selection sunday. I also want to play our way out of that 8/9 game and it will be tough to avoid that game unless we lose wednesday and i dont wanna cheer for a loss nor lose a game that could knock us to a nervous selection sunday.
We could have just as easily lost all three of those OT road games. And the UConn road game. And the Georgetown. Then we'd be well under .500.
Quote from: GregClausenForever on March 06, 2010, 07:22:18 PM
We could have just as easily lost all three of those OT road games. And the UConn road game. And the Georgetown. Then we'd be well under .500.
Using your logic, we could "just as easily" be 16-2 and league champions. We could have easily beaten WVU, Nova twice, and DePaul if not for last second shots. And since we couldn't get the ball we could have tackled a guy in the last three seconds to draw a foul and beaten ND today.
Quote from: HaywardsHeroes32 on March 06, 2010, 07:02:16 PM
Yeah im just pissed off at how we lost and the fact that i dont want any doubt for selection sunday. I also want to play our way out of that 8/9 game and it will be tough to avoid that game unless we lose wednesday and i dont wanna cheer for a loss nor lose a game that could knock us to a nervous selection sunday.
It'll be tougher to avoid the 8/9 game simply because teams like Ole Miss (RPI 57 and 2-5 vs. Top 50), and Cal (0-4 vs. Top 50) are in according to ESPN because the field is so weak and we're going to be placed ahead of these teams. We're listed as a quality win for FSU and they didn't bother bringing our resume up because we're easily in, and because of the resumes they are bringing up we're probably going to struggle to avoid the 8/9. Lose the first game in the BET and we might still be stuck there...win two games and we could very easily still be there. Two things not being brought up: one, the "dreaded" 8/9 situation of playing the one is moot if you don't win the first game, and two, like Mac pointed out today if you do manage to beat the one seed that trip to the Sweet 16 with that victory makes your season and as icing on the cake the rest of the way suddenly looks easier.
The exact reason why the 8/9 is so dreaded is not just because of the 1 seed in the second round, its also the first round match up. Its always a closely matched game that can go either way. The 8/9 seeding sucks no matter what. Personally i want an 11 seed.
Quote from: HaywardsHeroes32 on March 06, 2010, 08:10:10 PM
The exact reason why the 8/9 is so dreaded is not just because of the 1 seed in the second round, its also the first round match up. Its always a closely matched game that can go either way. The 8/9 seeding sucks no matter what. Personally i want an 11 seed.
Doesn't make sense to me...if the 8/9 game is a close match, how is being an 11 and playing a 6 an easier first round game to win? You're playing a team that was considered too good to be a 7, 8, or 9 seed. Give me the best matchup in round one and let's worry about round two if we manage to win that.
Because it isnt about winning 1 game. Its about setting yourself up for a run. We can play with any 6 or 3 seed in the country. KU and UK would punish us. 11/6 and 12/5 are the most notorious for upsets because of teams like Marquette. High major teams sneak in through the back door and alot of times still draw teams to their skill. A certain 5/6 seed could be Baylor, an 8/9 seed Oklahoma state. Any difference? Yeah, the fact that a win gives us a easier oppenent. There will also be alot of 5-7 seeds that are mid majors/non major 6 conference teams. ex. richmond,xavier,unlv,northern iowa, butler, odu etc...Nobody in their right minds would take an 8/9 over 10-12.
I agree with all of the above. I just hope Buzz, and I really love this guy, would fowl with a 3 pt lead and less than 30 second to play.
I'm thrilled with how this season went. It is beyond my greatest expectations. It doesn't change the fact that we've lost some unloseable games this season. The Florida State, DePaul, West Virginia, and Notre Dame games were all games that at our high point you would expect to win 95% of the time, and yet we lost them all. We blew a smaller lead to Nova at the end, and had a near catastrophic meltdown at Providence. I think people can be upset at the way we've closed out tight games. We've won a few others where we got lucky and the opponent's three was missed. The only game we "stole" in the same manner, I think, is the Cincy game. I would feel better if we put teams away instead of letting them hang around and maybe/maybe not steal one from us.
Losses like this frustrate me because from now on it's one and done and I remember letting Stanford and Missouri hang around and the resulting devastating losses. If we lose the next two, it still will have been a great overall season, but a terribly disappointing finish.
Quote from: Squawking Chickens on March 06, 2010, 06:19:40 PM
I guess some people are content with losing as long as we won more than we were "supposed" to
this may be the dumbest comment I've ever read on here.
Quote from: CTWarrior on March 07, 2010, 01:05:57 PM
I'm thrilled with how this season went. It is beyond my greatest expectations. It doesn't change the fact that we've lost some unloseable games this season. The Florida State, DePaul, West Virginia, and Notre Dame games were all games that at our high point you would expect to win 95% of the time, and yet we lost them all. We blew a smaller lead to Nova at the end, and had a near catastrophic meltdown at Providence. I think people can be upset at the way we've closed out tight games. We've won a few others where we got lucky and the opponent's three was missed. The only game we "stole" in the same manner, I think, is the Cincy game. I would feel better if we put teams away instead of letting them hang around and maybe/maybe not steal one from us.
Losses like this frustrate me because from now on it's one and done and I remember letting Stanford and Missouri hang around and the resulting devastating losses. If we lose the next two, it still will have been a great overall season, but a terribly disappointing finish.
So the games that we lose its a closing out problem but the games we win its luck? Are all of our wins lucky? We were picked to finish 12th so we must be the luckiest team in the country. Even with being unable to close out games we finished 5th in a conference where just about everyone has more talent and definitely more height and a deeper bench. We have a hard time closing out against most of the teams because we are playing with a short deck and nothing comes easy for this team. We lost yesterday because our offense was totally out of sync from like the 12 minute mark of the first half on. We couldn't make any shots and our only runs came from the defensive end when we created turnovers or were getting rebounds. Lets credit ND for executing. For getting a ton of second chances, for getting shooters rolls when we weren't. They stopped our penetration without double teaming and made our kickouts more difficult which made our offense way too predictable and stagnant.
Quote from: muwarrior69 on March 07, 2010, 12:55:05 PM
I agree with all of the above. I just hope Buzz, and I really love this guy, would fowl with a 3 pt lead and less than 30 second to play.
Too much time on the clock for that. You have to wait below 10 seconds, and preferably below 7 seconds. Otherwise it can backfire. 30 seconds is way too much time to employ that strategy.