The Last Four Years Built Up For This

[TallTitan34]

The last four years have built up for this NCAA tournament and now it seems like it will be a rocky one.  I'm not saying we are one and done but we certanly aren't the same team without Dom.

Can't help but wonder what could have been. The three amigos playing in their final NCAA tournament with three previous years experience under their belts in addition to a desire to avenge that Stanford loss.  That is the way these guys were suppose to go out.

What could have been... 

[downtown85]

I share your unease, but I am still enjoying the ride and am not ready to give up on this season yet.  Let's see what Saturday brings.  A win over 'cuse will make me feel a lot better about our prospects. 

I am still hoping for a 4 seed.  If we get that, we could go to the sweet 16 or elite 8.  Just remember, ESPN was saying last night that there are 3 big east teams that could conceivably get seeded #1:  Pitt, UConn and Louisville.  Just think, those were our last 3 games!  The Big East tournament will likely mean that we face one of them again.  Given a good seed, we should have one or two tourney games before face similar competition.  Enjoy the season still!  Chin up!

[MR.HAYWARD]

You are right but that is sport in a nutshell, similar to the olympics you prepare for something for 4 years and are a dan jensen slip or a mary decker trip away from heartache.  This team has more than competed with arguably the three best teams in the country, i still like our chances in the tourney against non top 3 BE teams 

[CTWarrior]

This team has always walked the fine edge and everybody knew it.  We have four outstanding players, one nice role player and that is it.  Unfortunately the star players were not a balanced lot, with one PG and 4 wings.  Buzz figured this out early on this season.  He hasn't "developed" the bench because there was no point.  If one of the big 4 went down we were screwed no matter what.

So I agree with Buzz's gamble to not develop the bench and risk an extra loss or two.  This team's best hope was to win as many games as possible and get the best seed possible come NCAA time and avoid a match up with a talented balanced team for as long as possible. 

I've pretty much kept silent on the whole Crean thing through the millions of bashing and support threads over the past 11 months.  I thought he did a great job here and I thought he could have handled his departure better, but I completely understand the "It's Indiana" thing.  But how he couldn't convince a great interior player to play along side these guards for three straight recruiting classes is beyond me.  It should have been the easiest sell in the world.  We're paying for it now because we have no viable plan B.

[MU_Warrior44]

Not to get too philosophical, but it's things like the injury to 'Nic that really help to show that sometimes we just need to enjoy the ride, without getting overly caught up in the destination. These last few years have been a great time to be a fan of the team and the guys have been a blast to watch. Knowing that this was the Three Amigos' last year I've been trying to savor every moment of the season. The injury obviously changed the expectations for the rest of the season, which totally sucks. I was totally hoping for a long tournament run by the seniors this year (and I'm not ready to discount that idea until they actually lose in the tournament), but I appreciate the four year journey, not just the destination. (Although I'm sure we'll all be wondering "what if..." for a long time).

[mucrew08]

Not to get too philosophical, but it's things like the injury to 'Nic that really help to show that sometimes we just need to enjoy the ride, without getting overly caught up in the destination. These last few years have been a great time to be a fan of the team and the guys have been a blast to watch. Knowing that this was the Three Amigos' last year I've been trying to savor every moment of the season. The injury obviously changed the expectations for the rest of the season, which totally sucks. I was totally hoping for a long tournament run by the seniors this year (and I'm not ready to discount that idea until they actually lose in the tournament), but I appreciate the four year journey, not just the destination. (Although I'm sure we'll all be wondering "what if..." for a long time).

+1

My exact thoughts