sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Feb 15, 2018 20:40:57 GMT -5
As for Trey it was before last game. The infatuation with what he did at the end of the Seton Hall game was a little overboard for me. He backed it up with by far his best game of the year and what was clearly a great game regardless of player. I hope he plays like that for the rest of his Hoyas career. If it just took those 2 passes at the end of the game for the light to switch than that is a pretty incredible development. When I made the statement he had the worst oRtg of any rotation player since Jerrelle Benimon. Maybe I'm negative for pointing that out but it doesn't make it any less true. As for this notion that we would have lost to sub 200 RPI teams I don't get. What is the rationale behind it? We played #223 and won by 34, #224 won by 9 and #283 won by 16. If you want to keep going we beat #183 by 12 and #162 on the road by 6. We were not at risk of losing to a sub 200 team at any point of the year. Our best win was over #224 in our second game of the season. The team was plenty ready for cupcakes. All we had to do was what we did and give the ball to Jessie since he could just dominate. We had way too much talent to lose to them. I don't think that can be argued based on results. As for if they were ready for the BE I personally don't think they were based on how the season has played out since the start of the BE. That can be debated. As I said the team now looks nothing like the team that played in the OOC. The scheme has changed and the player's minutes/rotations have changed. The reliance on Jessie is gone since the team has figured out he can't over power BE centers. All the changes have been for the better I might add but that leads me to believe the OOC was pretty much useless except for dragging our peripherals down. Some people believe we needed that OOC to be good and that's fine. I think we would've been much better served playing better teams. I am the one that argues we have talent so I clearly thought we were better off than most. Does me saying we have talent but underachieved early in BE mean I'm negative or positive because honestly I'm not sure. Well count me right there with you. If we had played a better OOC the offensive tweaks could have been made prior to the BE schedule and would not have taken 13 BE games to figure out how to close out a game against teams not named DePaul and St. Johns. Also that 1pt loss to DePaul at home may really come back to haunt Ewing. As you look at it, if the team won that game they are 6-8 with a margin for error and even looking at ending up over (.500) in the BE at 10-8 instead of now running the table and ending up at 9-9 and needing a couple of wins in the BET to get into the NCAAT. We aren't going to run the table. Less Big East losses would just mean more OOC losses to teams like DePaul.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Feb 15, 2018 22:24:31 GMT -5
So we've got Richmond at home next year. I think we have Cuse at Cuse but not sure how long that contract is. Give me American, Mason, Howard, and maybe some schools like JMU, Navy, etc. That would be good. I would love to see Maryland back in there but doubt that is where Patrick's head is at. We should be back in the B1G/Big east challenge after a year out so there is that too. I would love to see a game against a bottom feeder ACC team like Pitt or Wake as well. Why not ODU or Radford? It's incredibly sad, but we'll still be finding our legs and I worry about a home court disadvantage. Our fans haven't shown up yet but you better believe those schools will show for a chance to beat Gtown. Give it a few years. (ugh, I feel dirty admitting this) I know this team was no any good this year and is a cupcake game, but I want Maine back next year. I really like their coach and want to see him come here as often as possible. He's been a strong defender of what the Hoyas have done and just generally seems like a great guy. If we schedule any cupcake game, which we will, I'd want to see this guy back with possibly a better team.
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NIT?
Feb 16, 2018 10:19:38 GMT -5
Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Feb 16, 2018 10:19:38 GMT -5
Less Big East losses would just mean more OOC losses to teams like DePaul. First, we have no idea what would have happened if we played better OOC teams (this goes both ways, obviously). Second, as much as we make fun of DePaul they are ranked 101 now. I don't think anybody thought we should play all top 100 teams in the OOC. That said, losing to a team in the 100 range in the OOC isn't a bad loss for our type of team (we are ranked 86th!). The best OOC team we played other than Syracuse was North Texas (174), and we beat them relatively easily. I think what people have in mind is playing more teams in that quality range (let's say 125-225), which would still give our team a significantly improved schedule while still giving us great odds to win the OOC games. Again, it's not a binary choice - we have more options than playing 300-350 or filling up with top 100 opponents. Aside from tournament considerations, the OOC is supposed to prepare you for the Big East in some ways. That doesn't mean you're supposed to go undefeated. When you play teams that are so bad that they basically are a scrimmage, you don't get a good sense of what the players can do against real competition, and then it makes the learning curve higher in conference. At this point, it's academic for this season. That said, if we continue to show improvement, there is basically no reason to schedule like this again. As I said earlier, a team that can beat a 26th ranked Butler, 37th ranked Seton Hall, and go to overtime with Syracuse (48), Butler, and Xavier (11), has no business playing any measurable number of games in the 275-351 range. Assuming we return all of our players, we are way better than that, and should schedule accordingly.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2018 10:21:43 GMT -5
This team wasn't built to win in November imo... 2 of our 4 top scorers are Freshman, as they have progressed our results have gotten better...
Goodman might not have direct Gtown connects but his boy Brian Franey is an alum. Pretty likely after years in this industry he knows people close to the program also. Obviously we won't know for sure until the schedule comes out later this year...
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BigmanU
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Post by BigmanU on Feb 16, 2018 10:31:59 GMT -5
This team wasn't built to win in November... 2 of our 4 top scorers are Freshman. As they have progressed our results have gotten better... And also, Ewing had to implement his system & style of play. I'm pretty sure he wanted to run his stuff as efficiently as possible. The OOC schedule is in the past, he had a vision and it seems to be working. No complaints here.
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sleepy
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NIT?
Feb 16, 2018 11:45:04 GMT -5
Post by sleepy on Feb 16, 2018 11:45:04 GMT -5
Less Big East losses would just mean more OOC losses to teams like DePaul. First, we have no idea what would have happened if we played better OOC teams (this goes both ways, obviously). Second, as much as we make fun of DePaul they are ranked 101 now. I don't think anybody thought we should play all top 100 teams in the OOC. That said, losing to a team in the 100 range in the OOC isn't a bad loss for our type of team (we are ranked 86th!). The best OOC team we played other than Syracuse was North Texas (174), and we beat them relatively easily. I think what people have in mind is playing more teams in that quality range (let's say 125-225), which would still give our team a significantly improved schedule while still giving us great odds to win the OOC games. Again, it's not a binary choice - we have more options than playing 300-350 or filling up with top 100 opponents. Aside from tournament considerations, the OOC is supposed to prepare you for the Big East in some ways. That doesn't mean you're supposed to go undefeated. When you play teams that are so bad that they basically are a scrimmage, you don't get a good sense of what the players can do against real competition, and then it makes the learning curve higher in conference. At this point, it's academic for this season. That said, if we continue to show improvement, there is basically no reason to schedule like this again. As I said earlier, a team that can beat a 26th ranked Butler, 37th ranked Seton Hall, and go to overtime with Syracuse (48), Butler, and Xavier (11), has no business playing any measurable number of games in the 275-351 range. Assuming we return all of our players, we are way better than that, and should schedule accordingly. In Nov and Dec of the 11 OOC games played only 3 or 4 turned out to be those so called scrimmages. In late December I would've bet the under 3 wins and been very confident. Who really knows if playing some top 150 opponents would have impacted future results. The only thing I know is that this is a far superior team now than in December, and I think that is always the objective. RPI was never in the equation. Next year I expect to play in a competitive early tourney and the remaining OOC to be upgraded but probably not to the level that most here will demand. We need something to argue about in September and October.
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EtomicB
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Post by EtomicB on Feb 16, 2018 12:01:32 GMT -5
First, we have no idea what would have happened if we played better OOC teams (this goes both ways, obviously). Second, as much as we make fun of DePaul they are ranked 101 now. I don't think anybody thought we should play all top 100 teams in the OOC. That said, losing to a team in the 100 range in the OOC isn't a bad loss for our type of team (we are ranked 86th!). The best OOC team we played other than Syracuse was North Texas (174), and we beat them relatively easily. I think what people have in mind is playing more teams in that quality range (let's say 125-225), which would still give our team a significantly improved schedule while still giving us great odds to win the OOC games. Again, it's not a binary choice - we have more options than playing 300-350 or filling up with top 100 opponents. Aside from tournament considerations, the OOC is supposed to prepare you for the Big East in some ways. That doesn't mean you're supposed to go undefeated. When you play teams that are so bad that they basically are a scrimmage, you don't get a good sense of what the players can do against real competition, and then it makes the learning curve higher in conference. At this point, it's academic for this season. That said, if we continue to show improvement, there is basically no reason to schedule like this again. As I said earlier, a team that can beat a 26th ranked Butler, 37th ranked Seton Hall, and go to overtime with Syracuse (48), Butler, and Xavier (11), has no business playing any measurable number of games in the 275-351 range. Assuming we return all of our players, we are way better than that, and should schedule accordingly. In Nov and Dec of the 11 OOC games played only 3 or 4 turned out to be those so called scrimmages. In late December I would've bet the under 3 wins and been very confident. Who really knows if playing some top 150 opponents would have impacted future results. The only thing I know is that this is a far superior team now than in December, and I think that is always the objective. RPI was never in the equation. Next year I expect to play in a competitive early tourney and the remaining OOC to be upgraded but probably not to the level that most here will demand. We need something to argue about in September and October. If PE/Gtown had just stayed in the early season tourney none of us would have cared much about the rest of the ooc.. If he does what you describe above the great majority of us who hated this years schedule will be fine..
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sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Feb 16, 2018 12:56:53 GMT -5
Agreed. My only fear is that Ewing ignores the current reality in scheduling regarding RPI and SOS and we end up in Hawaii with Hilo and Loa and an OOC of St Leos and Stonehill. Not likely but JT is still in the building.
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boxout05
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Post by boxout05 on Feb 16, 2018 13:35:26 GMT -5
Would be crushing to have a better team next year and miss out on NCAA because of an embarrassing non-conference SOS. Hoping for all the best.
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sleepy
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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NIT?
Feb 16, 2018 15:18:19 GMT -5
Post by sleepy on Feb 16, 2018 15:18:19 GMT -5
In Nov and Dec of the 11 OOC games played only 3 or 4 turned out to be those so called scrimmages. In late December I would've bet the under 3 wins and been very confident. Who really knows if playing some top 150 opponents would have impacted future results. The only thing I know is that this is a far superior team now than in December, and I think that is always the objective. RPI was never in the equation. Next year I expect to play in a competitive early tourney and the remaining OOC to be upgraded but probably not to the level that most here will demand. We need something to argue about in September and October. If PE/Gtown had just stayed in the early season tourney none of us would have cared much about the rest of the ooc.. If he does what you describe above the great majority of us who hated this years schedule will be fine.. While I understand your argument regarding the PK Tourney I'm one of the few who still believe that the decision to pull out was for the best. Look at Uconn who went out to Portland gets trounced in 2 games and beats a very mediocre Oregon team,comes back and struggles against a bunch of mid major teams and gets embarrassed for the most part with the exception of Syracuse who they {lost to] by the 3 or 4 top 50 type programs that they played. This is a team at the start had an outside chance to be tourney bound but today is a team in shambles. certainly not an exact comparison but another young team with a lot of new faces playing a very challenging schedule. Not the only reason that Ollies on the Hot seat but it certainly didn't help.
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lichoya68
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OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
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Post by lichoya68 on Feb 16, 2018 15:27:19 GMT -5
I THINKS THE COach knows what hes doing just saying go hoyas youngins had a chance to develope and they HAVE hope that continues you never know it IS February now right?
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TC
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Post by TC on Feb 16, 2018 15:36:59 GMT -5
Agreed. My only fear is that Ewing ignores the current reality in scheduling regarding RPI and SOS and we end up in Hawaii with Hilo and Loa and an OOC of St Leos and Stonehill. Not likely but JT is still in the building. This is my fear too. It'd be nice to have some good home games and I feel for the season ticket holders and all, but I'd be happy if we just cut out the low-end MEAC and designed a schedule where our worst games are RPI 200-250's rather than RPI 350's. Using rpiwizard - if I simply drop the UMES, Maine, Coppin St, and Alabama A&M games, our RPI goes from 129 to 97 (helloooo NIT!). Remove those four games, and add four wins against RPI 225 NC A&T as a proxy for the type of game we'd like : RPI drops to 89. We essentially could be an NIT lock right now with 1-3 down the stretch if we had just scheduled smarter - not necessarily harder.
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NIT?
Feb 16, 2018 16:30:04 GMT -5
Post by x-centercourt400s on Feb 16, 2018 16:30:04 GMT -5
Right now I'm not inclined to question anything Coach Ewing has done so far. He has taken this program from chaos to organization. From having back to back years of February be its worst month to being its best (yeah, yeah, 3 more games, I know...). From under-performing to overachieving. From an outdated and boring style to a fast paced pro-style. From a fan base either in revolt or disconnected, to fans with a taste of success and great hopes for the future.
Plus I'm feeling good about two straight wins over tournament teams and amazingly have a decent amount of hope that an upset of a top 5 ranked team is on the horizon next week. And yet some people still question an early season schedule that unquestioningly factored heavily into getting the team to the positive place it is today? Sorry, I just don't get it.
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hoyainla
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Post by hoyainla on Feb 16, 2018 16:44:43 GMT -5
If PE/Gtown had just stayed in the early season tourney none of us would have cared much about the rest of the ooc.. If he does what you describe above the great majority of us who hated this years schedule will be fine.. While I understand your argument regarding the PK Tourney I'm one of the few who still believe that the decision to pull out was for the best. Look at Uconn who went out to Portland gets trounced in 2 games and beats a very mediocre Oregon team,comes back and struggles against a bunch of mid major teams and gets embarrassed for the most part with the exception of Syracuse who they {lost to] by the 3 or 4 top 50 type programs that they played. This is a team at the start had an outside chance to be tourney bound but today is a team in shambles. certainly not an exact comparison but another young team with a lot of new faces playing a very challenging schedule. Not the only reason that Ollies on the Hot seat but it certainly didn't help. UConn is not in shambles because they played in the PK 80. Not that I think they are under performing that much but the reason they are if any is that one of their stud guards was lost for the year in the last PK80 game. Their only sub 100 RPI loss was on the road in a game they didn't have their 2nd best player. Anyone that has watched them know that while he has come back Larrier is not the same player he was before the injury this year. He clearly hasn't adjusted to playing with the mask. So basically they are down 1.5 of their 4 best players so they have gone 2-7 since then. The schedule defenders will try to come up with anything to defend it. It's quite comical. Agreed. My only fear is that Ewing ignores the current reality in scheduling regarding RPI and SOS and we end up in Hawaii with Hilo and Loa and an OOC of St Leos and Stonehill. Not likely but JT is still in the building. This is my fear too. It'd be nice to have some good home games and I feel for the season ticket holders and all, but I'd be happy if we just cut out the low-end MEAC and designed a schedule where our worst games are RPI 200-250's rather than RPI 350's. Using rpiwizard - if I simply drop the UMES, Maine, Coppin St, and Alabama A&M games, our RPI goes from 129 to 97 (helloooo NIT!). Remove those four games, and add four wins against RPI 225 NC A&T as a proxy for the type of game we'd like : RPI drops to 89. We essentially could be an NIT lock right now with 1-3 down the stretch if we had just scheduled smarter - not necessarily harder. I don't understand why this is so hard for people to understand. Nobody said we should mostly schedule top 25 teams. Just don't schedule mostly bottom 25 teams. I am not saying we are going to miss the NIT but if we do it is 100% because of the OOC.
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Filo
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Post by Filo on Feb 16, 2018 17:06:24 GMT -5
The schedule defenders will try to come up with anything to defend it. It's quite comical. This is my fear too. It'd be nice to have some good home games and I feel for the season ticket holders and all, but I'd be happy if we just cut out the low-end MEAC and designed a schedule where our worst games are RPI 200-250's rather than RPI 350's. Using rpiwizard - if I simply drop the UMES, Maine, Coppin St, and Alabama A&M games, our RPI goes from 129 to 97 (helloooo NIT!). Remove those four games, and add four wins against RPI 225 NC A&T as a proxy for the type of game we'd like : RPI drops to 89. We essentially could be an NIT lock right now with 1-3 down the stretch if we had just scheduled smarter - not necessarily harder. I don't understand why this is so hard for people to understand. Nobody said we should mostly schedule top 25 teams. Just don't schedule mostly bottom 25 teams. I am not saying we are going to miss the NIT but if we do it is 100% because of the OOC. If we make the NIT this year, it is 100% because of the weak OOC, which allowed the team to learn the coaches' system and gel as a team while still winning games, thereby preserving a winning record for the year.* *I am not sure I believe that, but it sounds as convincing as your absolutism. Another point is that I think most so-called "schedule defenders" are only defending the schedule for this year given the circumstances (which have been hashed over). I, too, would be very disappointed if the Hoyas have an OOC schedule next year that is as weak as this year's.
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NIT?
Feb 16, 2018 17:48:53 GMT -5
Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Feb 16, 2018 17:48:53 GMT -5
Plus I'm feeling good about two straight wins over tournament teams and amazingly have a decent amount of hope that an upset of a top 5 ranked team is on the horizon next week. And yet some people still question an early season schedule that unquestioningly factored heavily into getting the team to the positive place it is today? Sorry, I just don't get it. I think the disconnect here is that a lot of us disagree that it "unquestionably factored heavily into getting the team into the positive place it is today?" One could argue that our improvement halfway into the Big East season, rather than after the OOC, actually demonstrates that it took playing against better competition - and the adjustments required to do so - to turn the corner. Similarly, one could argue that if we were challenged more, we might have been better tested, and closed out some of the close games we lost. Or not. It can be argued both ways. Obviously, this could go back and forth forever. And of course, we have 5 games left, so while the improved play is very promising, and has me seeing some optimism for next season that I didn't have a month ago, there's still a lot of basketball to be played, and two of those games are against really tough teams. We will certainly have a better sense of this team's performance a month from now.
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Post by x-centercourt400s on Feb 16, 2018 18:49:38 GMT -5
Plus I'm feeling good about two straight wins over tournament teams and amazingly have a decent amount of hope that an upset of a top 5 ranked team is on the horizon next week. And yet some people still question an early season schedule that unquestioningly factored heavily into getting the team to the positive place it is today? Sorry, I just don't get it. I think the disconnect here is that a lot of us disagree that it "unquestionably factored heavily into getting the team into the positive place it is today?" One could argue that our improvement halfway into the Big East season, rather than after the OOC, actually demonstrates that it took playing against better competition - and the adjustments required to do so - to turn the corner. Similarly, one could argue that if we were challenged more, we might have been better tested, and closed out some of the close games we lost. Or not. It can be argued both ways. Obviously, this could go back and forth forever. And of course, we have 5 games left, so while the improved play is very promising, and has me seeing some optimism for next season that I didn't have a month ago, there's still a lot of basketball to be played, and two of those games are against really tough teams. We will certainly have a better sense of this team's performance a month from now. All I know is that the team played the OOC schedule that we all saw... and today everyone agrees that they are playing well and are in a positive place. The entire season's journey has led them to today, and today things are good. I can think of a million hypothetical events that didn't happen that could have led to a better outcome, but all we know is what did happen and, due to what did happen, the team is playing better than I had thought was possible with the roster they have. I'm happy for the OOC as it happened because, given the pre-season expectations, I'm happy where the team is now.
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hoyainla
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Post by hoyainla on Feb 16, 2018 18:55:07 GMT -5
]If we make the NIT this year, it is 100% because of the weak OOC, which allowed the team to learn the coaches' system and gel as a team while still winning games, thereby preserving a winning record for the year.* *I am not sure I believe that, but it sounds as convincing as your absolutism. Another point is that I think most so-called "schedule defenders" are only defending the schedule for this year given the circumstances (which have been hashed over). I, too, would be very disappointed if the Hoyas have an OOC schedule next year that is as weak as this year's. Do you think the system, player combinations and style we run now resembles what we ran in the OOC or even at the beginning of the BE? To me the season changed after the Nova blowout. You can look at the game logs if you don't want to go back and watch the games and see it. The offense stopped relying on Jessie and ran more through Marcus. If you want to just consider the OOC and BE Marcus had 3 games with double digit shot attempts. In conference only 3 without. After Nova Jamorko started rebounding and got his confidence. His season high before then was 14. He had over 6 rebounds twice until the last 7 games since then he averaged 6 including and that's with a 0 last game. Since then he has 4 games with over 14. We only had 1 conference game with 20 assists before then and 4 of 7 since. On Jan. 11 on this baord I said I would more simple handoff pick and pop for Jessie and MD to get them easy 3's and cut down TO. That is now used much more. I still wish it was used more for Jessie but I'll take what I can get. I can go on and on but I think you get the point. The wins didn't come right away obviously as that is when they were learning but to the changes needed to make them happen did. I am not saying we went from playing the Princeton to run and gun. We have played fast all year. We just made changes to play better. You may not agree with me in it changing in Nova but I would like to hear why you think this system and team is the same as it was in the OOC. Whenever I am called out I back up my statements with reasons and stats. I would like for others who oppose my view point to do the same. Although I think the UConn argument above was a ridiculous one and I stated why, I give him credit for some reasoning. Those that say we wouldve lost to RPI 200+ teams never give a reason.
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Feb 16, 2018 20:31:59 GMT -5
My opinion on the schedule is that he just needs time. He wanted time to implement his system and recruit. He wants patience and his players to thrive. He wants the returning guys to look back and say that they improved. Their record improved as hopefully will the BE record. That in itself is a huge success. Now, this years schedule was far less than ideal. I love teams who schedule hard. But with RPI us not playing games should not make us better. And us getting beaten by 40 against NOVA doesn't make us better. A team should have to win games to gain in RPI. Frankly, if we would've played a JT3 schedule and gone into conference play with a bad record, that is worst case. As in my opinion, it's not about who you play, but who you beat. Look at Texas Southern. They had arguably the hardest non conference schedule this year. They lost every single non conference game. With a team like that who made the NCAA tournament in 3 of the last 4 years and the only year they did not make it, they made the NIT, you would expect results at least in conference play. You could say their morale was low as they didn't succeed as they have in the recent years. Now, they sit 4th in the SWAC, So, it's a two way argument. And for a team projected last in the BE, the last thing this team needed was a morale draining schedule. We all know how it feels to be blown out. It's not fun. Especially when your morale is low. But next year, the teams morale preseason will be much higher. No matter what, at this point they have risen above expectation. So, next year we need a better schedule. If we can get in a pre-season tournament then great. If not, we need to schedule strong outside of that. Maybe GaVitt games and another big ten school. Like Nebraska and Maryland. Or get Alabama or Kansas back. And while all the solid program are at their tournament take a break. Schedule a few weaker schools like Maine or NC A&T. Get a team like North Texas back too. That team is good and the RPI doesn't do them justice. Bring mid major teams here who can play. Like UNCG type teams. Play La Salle again or a team like Monmouth. If we could get Louisiana Lafayette, Loyola-IL, Vermont or ETSU there. And some high majors like the aforementioned Kansas and Alabama. Or Florida, Wisconsin, Indiana, VCU or Rhode Island down here. Or take an away game against a VCU. We already have to go to Syracuse, so why don't you add another team like VCU to play there. Then play the BE well and make the NCAA tournament!!! But, let's stay focused on this year until it ends.
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tashoya
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Post by tashoya on Feb 17, 2018 0:43:20 GMT -5
I think the disconnect here is that a lot of us disagree that it "unquestionably factored heavily into getting the team into the positive place it is today?" One could argue that our improvement halfway into the Big East season, rather than after the OOC, actually demonstrates that it took playing against better competition - and the adjustments required to do so - to turn the corner. Similarly, one could argue that if we were challenged more, we might have been better tested, and closed out some of the close games we lost. Or not. It can be argued both ways. Obviously, this could go back and forth forever. And of course, we have 5 games left, so while the improved play is very promising, and has me seeing some optimism for next season that I didn't have a month ago, there's still a lot of basketball to be played, and two of those games are against really tough teams. We will certainly have a better sense of this team's performance a month from now. All I know is that the team played the OOC schedule that we all saw... and today everyone agrees that they are playing well and are in a positive place. The entire season's journey has led them to today, and today things are good. I can think of a million hypothetical events that didn't happen that could have led to a better outcome, but all we know is what did happen and, due to what did happen, the team is playing better than I had thought was possible with the roster they have. I'm happy for the OOC as it happened because, given the pre-season expectations, I'm happy where the team is now. Nailed it and stuck the landing. Not one of us was realistically talking about any postseason games because that's not what this season was going to be about. This group has done the one thing this program needed: offered hope. They're on a positive trajectory and, both as individual players and as a team, they are improving. I'll be happy to watch every game this team plays because they play hard and they play to win even while making mistakes teams make that are adjusting everything from top to bottom. But I couldn't possibly care less if they don't make the NIT for my sake as a fan. If it's something they want to do as a group, I'm in a place where I believe they can get it done. I would not have thought I'd have that level of optimism after last season even though I was really hoping Big Pat could shut those of us up that questioned the whole process of the coaching search (myself being one of them). I didn't doubt Patrick but I did doubt the University. I'm hoping this year is a preview of what's to come for Patrick and the guys and for the University and the die hard fans. The team's record doesn't nearly reflect what they've done in a really short time. I'm extremely proud that this is my school's team. You know... until they blow a game they should have won against a team they should have beaten. Then we suck and there's no hope.
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