Do we want to cry and complain or do we want to beat this?

[FfldCntyFan]

Too many of us appear to enjoy whining like little girls. Yes, AO and AD, two young men who had the potential to dominate as big men in college hoops have left and yes, we likely will not play in the postseason in 2012-2013. Things will be a bit difficult but this is not something that won't be able to brush off and move forward from. Anyone who believes that it is bad (such as being at the edge of a cliff) has no clue as to what bad really is (no offense).

There is one potential very large silver lining with the departures of AO and AD (also Jeremy) in that we very likely will return everyone who will play any significant minutes next season (save possibly Evans) for 2013-2014. Anyone who doesn't believe that this will make us very formidable for our first year after the ban doesn't understand college hoops (or why some non descript schools have been able to make runs with veteran teams).

There is a thread comparing our plight to Shawshank (awesome movie by the way). I see this as very applicable to the season after we come off our ban (it would be perfect of the 2014 final four was being held in Zihuatanejo). Animal House (also a great movie) is another quality reference but the tog party where we banged the dean's wife is more comparable to our national title in 2011 and a stupid and futile gesture (while destroying their parade) wouldn't really help at this point.

If we really want to beat this, we need something simple but poignant, merely continued belief in who and what we are. we need to do what the Who's did when the Grinch (in our case emmert) tried to steal their Christmas (in our case, the pride and dignity of our basketball program). After taking all of the presents and decorations (post season play) and thinking the entirety of Whoville (Husky Nation) would be miserable and no longer have a Christmas, they demonstrated that Christmas wasn't about the glitter. We (our entire fan base) need to do the same this upcoming season. If we cannot continue to be quality fans. if we cannot continue to support the program. If we cannot go one season without b*tching about not being championship contender, we don't deserve what we've been given the past twenty five years as basketball fans. If we continue to complain, Emmert wins and we cannot allow that to happen. My alma mater deserves nbetter, JC deserves better and the kids that will still wear a Husky uniform who helped give us a ride we never could have dreamed about a little over a year ago deserve better. If we cannot do this we never deserved JC as a coach or the program he built here.

 

[willie99]

remember the Alamo, we're going to kick some NCAA baby

I have moved on, and when things look darkest, we rise to the occasion

face it, last year's team just wasn't very good. They couldn't or at least didn't play well together. They never jelled, although I'm sure JC's absence contributed to that.

we have a bunch of highly regarded basketball players on our roster, somebody is going to become the next star and the next lottery pick.

 

[Adios]

We'll be fine. We're here to stay. We're not St. John's or Providence.

 

[djct1999]

actions speak louder than words.....this all sounds great in theory. we now need to see coach and the staff take some action........starting with reloading this roster. as we stand now, our frontcourt cant compete in the maac, let alone the big east. everyone talks about how great coach ollie is on the recruiting trail....... so lets see him go land some big recruits. lets stop talking and thinking hypothetically.....its time for this program and this staff to pick up the pieces and start doing!

 

[Deadrody]

Maybe you could enlighten us all with the actions WE are going to take here....

I'm waiting. Go and cheer loudly for a .500 team ? Sure. Done. Then what... ?

 

[SouthTampaBill]

Does anyone think Olander and Wolfe are really going to do .anything?

After the cupcake schedule before the Big East games Olander was a non entity and Wolfe barely got up and down the court the few times he played

We need to score 36 more points a game to make up for the guys who left and that offense was nothing to write home about

We're going to have to get at least 50 points a game from our backcourt

It is not good.

 

[UConnDan97]

Does anyone think Olander and Wolfe are really going to do .anything?

After the cupcake schedule before the Big East games Olander was a non entity and Wolfe barely got up and down the court the few times he played.

Comments like this crack me up. Before AD arrived, Olander and Oriakhi were a potent frontcourt duo. One could argue that we don't make the tourney run in '11 without the contributions of Olander. Then AD shows up, which significantly cuts the time on the court for Olander (and Oriakhi), and then everyone bitches about his lack of production. Really? Ridiculous. Olander is a solid big, and he has proven it under the bright lights of the Big East season, Big East tourney, and the Big Dance all the way to a championship.

Is Olander a lottery pick? No. Does he have to be a lottery pick in order to be a solid, productive big for us in the next two years. No. He'll be fine. And so will we...

 

[FfldCntyFan]

A few of these posters sound like the same bunch of pre-teen girls who felt we were dead once Majok decided not to return for his senior year. If you want to cry, cry. I'll wait for something serious to happen before I cry about it.

We'll be weak at center next season. BIG DEAL! What will that mean in the grand scheme of things? That we won't be able to make a serious run in the NCAA's?

We will be strong, deep and experienced everywhere except center entering the 2013-2014 season and I imagine we will be an ideal destination for a top recruit capable of playing center. Even if we don't land a center we will be better in 2013-2014 than all but a dozen or so schools. If this isn't good enough I don't know what to tell you. Next season needs to be about telling the NCAA that they won't beat us. If we can't do that (by showing up as well as we did in the late 1980's, when we were hoping to one day become a dominant program, we don't deserve what was given to us by JC and we should just roll over and play dead.

 

[Fishy]

I'm casting my vote for crying and complaining. I'm also going to throw in some gnashing of teeth.

There is plenty of time for the rah-rah horse s*** later - Patton didn't give his speech to the Third Army six months before the invasion of France, did he? No. He spent six month whining about it first.

And that worked out fine.

 

[Kitaman]

Don't people know that alcohol was invented for such things? I'll be cheerleader after the hangover but for right now its the blues and beer.

 

[NOTaDIME]

Beat this I guess.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Whine, bitch, moan, panic, barf, indi-gestion, runs.....but hey, we'll be fine....it's all good....no problemo, we'll be better for it, if it doesn't kill us, it will make us stronger (belch, fart).

 

[Danzz]

I'm a lot more concerned about JC's future and its effect on recruiting than I am about having an off year next season.And you never know, our frontcourt could be good enough to be competitive in the BE or we could play a lot of guards ala past Villanova teams and have success that way.

 

[JellyBean]

I am for the crying and complaining. It looks pretty cool But we are going to beat this and knowing how coach Calhoun works, we are going to be stronger from all of this, which is good.

Go, Huskies!!!

 

[Gregory Koch]

Too many of us appear to enjoy whining like little girls. Yes, AO and AD, two young men who had the potential to dominate as big men in college hoops have left and yes, we likely will not play in the postseason in 2012-2013. Things will be a bit difficult but this is not something that won't be able to brush off and move forward from. Anyone who believes that it is bad (such as being at the edge of a cliff) has no clue as to what bad really is (no offense).

There is one potential very large silver lining with the departures of AO and AD (also Jeremy) in that we very likely will return everyone who will play any significant minutes next season (save possibly Evans) for 2013-2014. Anyone who doesn't believe that this will make us very formidable for our first year after the ban doesn't understand college hoops (or why some non descript schools have been able to make runs with veteran teams).

There is a thread comparing our plight to Shawshank (awesome movie by the way). I see this as very applicable to the season after we come off our ban (it would be perfect of the 2014 final four was being held in Zihuatanejo). Animal House (also a great movie) is another quality reference but the tog party where we banged the dean's wife is more comparable to our national title in 2011 and a stupid and futile gesture (while destroying their parade) wouldn't really help at this point.

If we really want to beat this, we need something simple but poignant, merely continued belief in who and what we are. we need to do what the Who's did when the Grinch (in our case emmert) tried to steal their Christmas (in our case, the pride and dignity of our basketball program). After taking all of the presents and decorations (post season play) and thinking the entirety of Whoville (Husky Nation) would be miserable and no longer have a Christmas, they demonstrated that Christmas wasn't about the glitter. We (our entire fan base) need to do the same this upcoming season. If we cannot continue to be quality fans. if we cannot continue to support the program. If we cannot go one season without b*tching about not being championship contender, we don't deserve what we've been given the past twenty five years as basketball fans. If we continue to complain, Emmert wins and we cannot allow that to happen. My alma mater deserves nbetter, JC deserves better and the kids that will still wear a Husky uniform who helped give us a ride we never could have dreamed about a little over a year ago deserve better. If we cannot do this we never deserved JC as a coach or the program he built here.

Why "possibly" Evans? He has one year of eligibility left.

 

[partial]

I like complaining. This thread could be better.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Why "possibly" Evans? He has one year of eligibility left.

The possibly was not in reference to Evans possibly being here in 2013-2014, it was in reference to whether his minutes will be substantial his one year here.

It is possible (likely in fact) that Bazz & Boat will combine to average 60 minutes a game in the backcourt next season. If Omar gets to where he's averaging close to 15, there won't be a lot left for Evans. I'm not saying that this is guaranteed but it is a possible scenario leading into 2013-2014.