Tonight is another test...we are 1-1-1 so far | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Tonight is another test...we are 1-1-1 so far

superjohn said:
That's some strange thinking right there.
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No, it isn’t. Must win implies a loss all but ends our season. It doesn’t. It’s only a “must win” if your speaking on an at-large bid.
 
Cuse Socks said:
what else would we be hoping for?
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A successful season. After finishing below .500 the last 2 seasons an NIT bid or making the tournament by winning our conference tournament would be a great success. Which makes winning this game not a necessary for a successful season. Going into this game labeling it a “must win” is a set up for disappointment.
 
AntG168 said:
Must win implies a loss all but ends our season. It doesn’t. It’s only a “must win” if your speaking on an at-large bid.
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rightttt. this is a must win because a loss all but ends the season, i.e., no more hope of an at-large bid (because we are all still hoping for an at-large bid)
 
bendm said:
rightttt. this is a must win because a loss all but ends the season, i.e., no more hope of an at large bid (because we are all still hoping for an at-large bid)
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That doesn’t end our season........this mindset is why the boneyard is so bi polar. If we lose I fully expect multiple “the sky is falling” threads. You’re all setting yourselves up. This group is still learning how to win. Temper your expectations and hope for the best
 
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AntG168 said:
A successful season. After finishing below .500 the last 2 seasons an NIT bid or making the tournament by winning our conference tournament would be a great success. Which makes winning this game not a necessary for a successful season. Going into this game labeling it a “must win” is a set up for disappointment.
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Disagree. I think as UConn fans we should only label "successful" as at least making the NCAA tournament if not making a deep run. We aren't Temple fans here. An NIT bid and an over .500 record would not be a "successful season", I'd probably label it as encouraging, but this is UConn, we measure success by banners. Don't lose sight of that.
 
Cuse Socks said:
Disagree. I think as UConn fans we should only label "successful" as at least making the NCAA tournament if not making a deep run. We aren't Temple fans here. An NIT bid and an over .500 record would not be a "successful season", I'd probably label it as encouraging, but this is UConn, we measure success by banners. Don't lose sight of that.
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Understanding circumstance and process is not losing sight of anything. An at-large bid would be awesome and I’m still optimistic. But going into this season that was not the barometer for success. When you ignore reality and process you set yourself up for disappointment
 
No team we've played has looked better than us, we have a bunch of veterans, and 2 freshmen who will be nba players...clearly, making the NIT would be a great success!!!
 
AntG168 said:
Understanding circumstance and process is not losing sight of anything. An at-large bid would be awesome and I’m still optimistic. But going into this season that was not the barometer for success. When you ignore reality and process you set yourself up for disappointment
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So moral of the story: never set high bars
 
superjohn said:
No team we've played has looked better than us, we have a bunch of veterans, and 2 freshmen who will be nba players...clearly, making the NIT would be a great success!!!
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After finishing 16-17 last season....absolutely. Lmaoo, this isn’t complicated
 
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AntG168 said:
No, set realistic bars. And always strive for the highest
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I feel like an at large bid with this roster is as realistic as it gets. Lofty goal? Sure. But I'm not going to be jumping up and down at an NIT bid when nobody in our conference at the moment is close to unbeatable.
 
Cuse Socks said:
I feel like an at large bid with this roster is as realistic as it gets. Lofty goal? Sure. But I'm not going to be jumping up and down at an NIT bid when nobody in our conference at the moment is close to unbeatable.
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Our upperclassmen have yet to demonstrate they can win a big game. Ever. They’ve done nothing to convince me an at-large bid should be the expectation this season. They have time to prove that. But they haven’t. That’s reality
 
superjohn said:
Again, your thinking is really strange.
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The idea of process is strange? Cool. You believe a successful season for this team is an at large bid. I disagree. It’s a difference in opinion/expectation. Nothing “strange” about it.
 
AntG168 said:
Our upperclassmen have yet to demonstrate they can win a big game. Ever. They’ve done nothing to convince me an at-large bid should be the expectation this season. They have time to prove that. But they haven’t. That’s reality
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They shouldn't have to, this is no longer a horrible team who relies on Jalen to win them games. We haven't been outclassed in talent by anyone we've played and outside of a freshman Memphis squad there won't be a conference opponent who will outclass us in talent.

You can call making the NIT a great success but that's not how the team would view things.
 
Aside from the "must win" in terms of an at large bid, this is also must win in terms of where our program is and where it is headed.
Cincinnati has been our white whale, a road win against a struggling team here would really represent a turning of the page for our program. I think it'd spark some confidence in our guys, especially guys like Polley, CV, AG, and other upperclassmen who have yet to beat Cincinnati.
 
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superjohn said:
They shouldn't have to, this is no longer a horrible team who relies on Jalen to win them games. We haven't been outclassed in talent by anyone we've played and outside of a freshman Memphis squad there won't be a conference opponent who will outclass us in talent.

You can call making the NIT a great success but that's not how the team would view things.
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I’d be disappointed if they did. They shouldn’t view it that way. But as for myself, a fan? I’d be more than happy if we won 20-22 games and made a run in the NIT. That’d be Significant progress and would set us up for a run next season. Teams that make NIT runs routinely make NCAA tournament runs the next season. Hinging our entire season on this one game is nuts in my opinion. But to each his own.

However hilarious this may be, I have us winning tonight
 
Cuse Socks said:
Aside from the "must win" in terms of an at large bid, this is also must win in terms of where our program is and where it is headed.
Cincinnati has been our white whale, a road win against a struggling team here would really represent a turning of the page for our program. I think it'd spark some confidence in our guys, especially guys like Polley, CV, AG, and other upperclassmen who have yet to beat Cincinnati.
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It’d be a really good, important win. There’s no disagreement there.

Question: What happens to the program if we lose this game tonight?
 
AntG168 said:
It’d be a really good, important win. There’s no disagreement there.

Question: What happens to the program if we lose this game tonight?
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We have never been good over the last 10 years or so in conference openers. I remember being down 18-1 vs Georgetown in our first Big East game in 2009 which we eventually lost. If we lose tonight, I don’t think the sky is falling, but regardless of the outcome, we still have work to do.
 
My 2 cents...sorry if I repeat anything others have mentioned.

Although it is not technically a "must win," it will be nearly impossible for us to earn an at-large bid if we lose
tonight. Also, with the yearly changes in college hoops, I wouldn't say it's fair to label tonight a "must win" to gage where we are as a program. Cincy is on the rebound, and we are 2-3 years into a rebound, or process. In that sense, it's surely a "should win."

While I totally agree that we are UCONN (and not Temple), and we should not be satisfied unless we both seriously compete to win our conference AND make the Big Dance, it's been so long since we've done that, that I would probably be content with 20 wins and the NIT, with eyes on the future of the program.
 
AntG168 said:
No, it isn’t. Must win implies a loss all but ends our season. It doesn’t. It’s only a “must win” if your speaking on an at-large bid.
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It's not a must win because a loss doesn't necessarily end our chances at an at large bid. It just means we need to win a game we expect to lose, like Villanova.

That said it's NCAA tournament or bust. Not making it, whether at large or via the AAC tournament isn't an option. The season is a failure without a bid and will hinder Hurley's chances to continue improving the roster.
 
superjohn said:
They shouldn't have to, this is no longer a horrible team who relies on Jalen to win them games. We haven't been outclassed in talent by anyone we've played and outside of a freshman Memphis squad there won't be a conference opponent who will outclass us in talent.

You can call making the NIT a great success but that's not how the team would view things.
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It amazes me that nobody seems to look at those three losses objectively. St. Joes was a fluke on their end and ours. We were clearly better than Indiana and really lost due to bad officiating and bad coaching by Hurley, who needed to roll the dice with Gaffney and not play Vital at the point for 20 minutes. Xavier was a very good team, and needed a deep desperation 3 to send us to OT. We didn't even get a strong game from AG and Vital that night either. So, if we were undefeated, which we are very close to being, how would we all be evaluating this team? It's the same team. I view this team as a team that would be 12-0 without some back luck and some issues that have mostly been addressed.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
It's not a must win because a loss doesn't necessarily end our chances at an at large bid. It just means we need to win a game we expect to lose, like Villanova.

That said it's NCAA tournament or bust. Not making it, whether at large or via the AAC tournament isn't an option. The season is a failure without a bid and will hinder Hurley's chances to continue improving the roster.
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I fully agree that in order for Dan Hurley to consistently pull in top shelf recruits the program has to start winning and showing up in the dance starting this season
If this season ends as a 6th place finish in the AAC and only a NIT at best - it would hurt recruitment. UConn got a bump early last year with the NBE announcement, now the rest depends upon the teams on the court result
Would a loss tonight kill the season? No but would put so much pressure on games like Villanova. Also after watching ECU today vs WSU - they could be a handful
 
AntG168 said:
Question: What happens to the program if we lose this game tonight?
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Zero long term impact on program.

Near term, resets expectations that we're *probably* a year away from an at-large bid.

I still think we can get one this year with multiple wins over Nova, Witch St. & Memphis, but we will show our true colors tonight
 
HuskyHawk said:
It amazes me that nobody seems to look at those three losses objectively. St. Joes was a fluke on their end and ours. We were clearly better than Indiana and really lost due to bad officiating and bad coaching by Hurley, who needed to roll the dice with Gaffney and not play Vital at the point for 20 minutes. Xavier was a very good team, and needed a deep desperation 3 to send us to OT. We didn't even get a strong game from AG and Vital that night either. So, if we were undefeated, which we are very close to being, how would we all be evaluating this team? It's the same team. I view this team as a team that would be 12-0 without some back luck and some issues that have mostly been addressed.
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i agree being undefeated was within our reach. I think we are our record and lack of focus was probably a common denominator in all losses
 
HuskyHawk said:
It amazes me that nobody seems to look at those three losses objectively. St. Joes was a fluke on their end and ours. We were clearly better than Indiana and really lost due to bad officiating and bad coaching by Hurley, who needed to roll the dice with Gaffney and not play Vital at the point for 20 minutes. Xavier was a very good team, and needed a deep desperation 3 to send us to OT. We didn't even get a strong game from AG and Vital that night either. So, if we were undefeated, which we are very close to being, how would we all be evaluating this team? It's the same team. I view this team as a team that would be 12-0 without some back luck and some issues that have mostly been addressed.
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I don’t think you are looking at the losses objectively. You are looking at them with blue glasses. You basically pointed out that we weren’t firing on all cylinders during those losses.

I have news for you, rarely does any team ever fire on all cylinders without having some issue going on, especially early in the season. And you didn’t even mention that other teams were also dealing with their own set of issues.

It’s like playing the victim card and saying oh well I’m broke bc of so and so but not looking at the fact that others are richer bc they figured out how to win and you just didn’t get it done

It’s teams that know how to win despite their issues that are really good teams. We haven’t really done that. We can potentially do it in conference play. We’ll see.
 
I hope Vital doesn’t try to do too much and is a mess tonight -
i also hope I’m wrong -
 
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