call me spoiled but...

[FOTP]

Big difference between being disappointed and upset. i was disappointed on Saturday night after we lost. Not throw things angry, but I just felt we could/should have beaten them.

If the whole team comes back and I would say I think we can get back to the Final Four, but I wouldn't be upset if we didn't.

It's pretty hard to get there and not many teams get the chance. It's amazing how far we've come.

Just enjoy next season and realize that JTIII builds for the post-season. Let's not jump off a bridge if we lose early or a couple of times.

[hoyainspirit]

And do not forget. We are not the only team that may return its core and more. As someone pointed out earlier, it took a monumental comeback against UNC for us to advance to the FF, and UNC, too, likely will return most if not all of their key contributors. As we will improve, so will others. I am not saying we can't do it, but so many variables come into play when you talk about winning it all, especially in a lose one and you are out tourney. In 1984, when we clearly had the best team, a great team, it took a tip-in of a missed free throw by Patrick for us to eke out a win in one of those early round games! Anything can happen, and frequently does. That's why they call it March Madness!

[Nevada Hoya]

sirsaxa said:

We will have a shot at national title next year if Jeff and Roy return. But so will some other very good teams and one or two surprise teams.

Each season has its own excitement and anticipation. Winning two straight conference championships and/or two straight BETs would be a fantastic achievement.

A return trip to the Final Four would be awesome.

But starting out the season feeling that anything less than a national title would be a disappointment is just setting yourself up. Every loss would be a tragedy -- and there will be losses next year.

I would suggest trying to view it as a whole new season with new possibilities and accomplishments. Appreciate each game. Each win over Cuse, Uconn, Nova, etc. Each OOC win against decent opponents. Appreciate how the returning guys are improving, how the new guys, Macklin and Rivers are being worked in. How the new coaching assistants are doing. How the team is developing as the year progresses. One thing we know about JT3's teams, it takes a while to integrate the new guys. The team doesn't have "end of season" cohesion right off the bat.

If we are good enough and fortunate enough (think Shaw and Valentine) to win the BET and advance deep into the NCAA tourney -- we should consider ourselves to be very lucky fans indeed. I think if you follow this suggestion, next year will be a whole lot more fun! GO HOYAS!!

Hey, SirSaxa, some pretty good thoughts. Lots to consider for next year.

[Cambridge]

The NCAAs are the hardest sporting event to win. Final Fours come around once in a decade at best at most programs.

[hoyarooter]

excitableboy said:

As Joe Lang would undoubtedly say, "It is unrealistic to expect to make the final four every year."

Totally agree with SF and Sir Saxa here.

But I must also say, this is the paraphrase of the year.

[mapei]

The truth is that the country's best team rarely wins the championship, because of the single-elimination format. Look at 1985. I'd definitely settle for being the best team or even top 5.

If we have enough skill, heart and LUCK to win it, so much the better, but I'll never be disappointed in the season because of what happens in the tournament.

[1984alloveragain]

The guys OVERACHIEVED on all the goals and expectations hoped for and expected by most of us this year, especially based on what they accomplished last year. We went from 5th to FIRST in the regular season; BET semi - losers in '06 to winning the damn thing ;D, then FINAL FOUR, up from the Sweet 16 last year. We LOVE you guys and are so PROUD of what you did this year, but based on the growth and leaps they made last year to this (and every year since III has arrived), next year we ought not have the early hiccups we had this year (started out 4-3) because EVERYONE will return and be seasoned and hopefully IMPROVED even from the end of this year, while adding 2 AA's. A 26-4 run in a game is absolutely overpowering an opponent, but this TEAM went on a 26-4 GAME RUN during the past season!! III and the staff and players have set such a high level of excellence, and I believe they can SURPASS these accomplishments next year if they just rest for a bit, then CONTINUE to all get better as they have been to this point. I don't believe it is being "spoiled" if we have even higher hopes for the team next year and beyond. We WOULD be spoiled if we don't appreciate their accomplishments (to this point) and thank them for making the HOYA program relevant and ALIVE and WELL and DOMINATING for now and for years to come.

I can't remember who, but someone reported a couple days ago at the appreciation rally that they went up to Coach and asked something to the effect if we fans can just buy our tickets to San Antonio now. He said that III just sighed and said yes. I winced when I read that question to III, which sruck me as a "spoiled" one (although I'm not accusing the person of being this way) --- here's the Coach who says in EVERY interview that we only look at the next game on the schedule, and someone is asking him about such things a year in advance. I'm excited too, and I have high hopes and expectations, but shouldn't we spend some time THANKING III for all he's done to RESTORE GEORGETOWN to where we've not been for so long? Let's appreciate this team and program for a while, and continue to be giddy and hopeful for next year and beyond. To lack sincere appreciation while maintaining lofty expectations is what is spoiled. PEACE.

[hoyatmf]

FOTP and 1984 have it right I think. Given what this team has already accomplished and assuming all of our players return, I expect to return to the Final Four. That doesn't mean that I will be upset if we fall short of that goal or that it would diminish whatever accomplishments the team reaches throughout next season. This year's run to the Final Four has been great for so many reasons, not least among them being that even casual fans among the alumni and student body have gotten really excited about Georgetown basketball and Georgetown University. This type of atmosphere is something that certainly separates Georgetown from other "elite" academic institutions that don't have very good sports teams. I think it's spoiled to talk about expectations for next year without paying homage to how significant this year has been. But do you think Florida, LSU and UCLA fans didn't expect to make the Final Four this year? Or Kansas, Wisconsin and UNC fans? Sure, it's hard to make a Final Four, but there is a difference between having high expectations and lacking perspective or appreciation. I think spoiled people are in the latter camp while many fans, myself included, reside in the former. Go Hoyas!!!

[YB]

Hey, believe me I did thank III- everyone of the hundreds of people he was signing autographs for did! But when you say things like "One day, the national championship banner will hang in McDonough again", you are setting the goal for the program. If that is the goal, difficult as it is always is, why deviate?

Dropping expectations was what got us the Esh mess in the first place.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

I think it'd be stupid not to expect to return to the final four if everyone returns. It'd be spoiled and stupid to expect we will defeintly make it to the final four from now on. But based on the situation we hope to be in I would be dissapointed if we didn't win it all. Heck I'm dissapointed everytime we loose. I don't know how anyone can go into a game for the team they support knowing they're going to loose. I know people on this board like to be objective, but why? Sure if you think about things objectively yeah we've played games in the past and will again in the future that we will most likely loose, but I can't possibly imagine that pre game i'd be thinking well we're goign to loose this one lets just hope we can make a good showing. As fans you should always expect us to win a game. It's ok to loose perspective. At the end you can step back and look at things and perspective and realize what an amazing accomplishment it is to reach the final four but up until then i'm cheering as loud as i can for us to win the whole damn thing. I was dissapointed that we lost to Ohio st. not because of when we lost but how we lost. If we lost to a team because we played the best we could and it wasn't enough than i'd be perfectly at peace with that. But not playing up to your potential is dissapointing.

In summary To expect a Final four or even a national title in my opinion assuming everyone comes back is not spoiled. To expect one every year just because of the name on the jersey is. You should only expect something like that when you feel you have the best team in the country which i feel we'll have if everyone comes back.