50+yeartidefan
Member
Well...one thing....iona wasnt a "25 win" team at time....and bama was top 10 team
| MBB/WBB Time for a rhetorical question. What were your expectations going into this season?
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TerryP
Staff
If there's one thing that means little to nothing it's AP rankings in December. Football polls, useless. But in basketball, it's a determining factor? "They aren't ranked means it's a bad loss?" That's not drinking rat poison. It's not knowing what was in the cup. It's making a judgment on a team based on their name, their conference, instead of the team itself.
We're in March and Iona has proven themselves to be one of the top 20% of teams found in the country: five years running and in all likelihood going on the sixth this Sunday.
BamaFan334
Member
It's still not a game we were expected to lose, regardless. Iona has proven it can play, but we shouldn't have been beaten by them. We beat Gonzaga, Houston, and Baylor for goodness sake. Iona isn't a Georgia bad loss, it's more like a Mississippi State shake your head loss.
TerryP
Staff
It certainly wasn't a game where fans should chalk it up to an automatic win.
Ya know, I'll bet there's a 30+ spot difference between the two in RPI with Iona encroaching the top 25. I realize they say they don't count RPI in the NET any longer but that doesn't change its value.
State's been to the dance what, one time over the last five years? I know it was a first round loss and I'm pretty sure it was to Liberty.
To cap this off, there is no comparison between Howland and Petino. Hell, Petino is a better coach that Oats at this point; better than 95% of the coaches out there.
If you're jumping off the ship due to Iona you weren't on the ship in the first place. Hell, not even on a body of water.
50+yeartidefan
Member
Not making judgement.....just reference rankings at time....ie "rat poison"
Right...fans shouldn’t "chalk up as automatic win"....
But do anyway
Same for football in September...ask ND about Cincinnati ...
cF Rankings mean nothin..true
Even in January sometimes....
CFPs...#1 team has won 1 or 2 times
JoseyWalesTheOutlaw
Member
Alabama's performance vs South Alabama and Jacksonville State had to give you pause about our chances against any teams. It only takes 7-8 really good BB players to have a pretty good team.
Slick Rick is a great BB coach while at this point Nate is just in the good grouping.
Slick Rick is a great BB coach while at this point Nate is just in the good grouping.
BamaFan334
Member
I didn't jump ship because of that, and you're right, no one should have. I'm just saying it was a game we all expected to win. Do all teams lose one they were expecting to win, oh yes. We were a thirteen point favorite. Lord knows the spread on us this year has been the most difficult thing to ever bet on, but it showed the confidence in our team from the guys in Vegas, and add on top of that the positivity from our program that we come in thinking we should win.
I was just saying the matchup was more to that Mississippi State/Texas A&M level compared to the Baylor's, Gonzaga's, Kentucky's, and Auburn's we played this year. Iona is not one of those teams. We could be talking about Davidson as well.
PurlJam
Member
Losing to a 25-6 Iona really shouldn't be an issue, IMO, losing to 6-25 (1-17 in the SEC) UGA is another thing. To put it in perspective... What do Us, Morehouse, Florida International, South Carolina State, Memphis and Jacksonville have in common? Give you one guess.
It is relative, not saying Iona is bad but perception wise Bama had beaten better teams (Gonzaga/Houston) thus the rat poison when you take teams lightly.
Isn't this the very definition of rat poison? To me it is if it impacts the way the team and coaches prepare. I am making an assumption they took them lightly and it impacted their preparation but maybe those problems had just been masked up to that point.
TerryP
Staff
I'd buy that if they hadn't played them last season or if they grew up in a world where they didn't know Petino.
As far as my expectations for the season;
1. I did not think we would be as good as last season.
2. I did not think we would be on the losing end of some of the games we lost.
3. Have a good run in the SEC Tournament.
4. Get to round 2 or 3 of the NCAA Tournament.
1. I did not think we would be as good as last season.
2. I did not think we would be on the losing end of some of the games we lost.
3. Have a good run in the SEC Tournament.
4. Get to round 2 or 3 of the NCAA Tournament.
50+yeartidefan
Member
TerryP
Staff
They played Iona before the Zags and Houston.
Well never mind I guess I am totally messed up in how I remember things.
TerryP
Staff
I realized that in my 20's.
Well my 20's is loooooong goneI realized that in my 20's.
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TerryP
Staff
I can't remember them.Well my 20's is loooooong gone
I can remember them but not sure if how I remember them is accurate
. College, got married, started career etc...On the topic of rat poison, I still am trying to connect the dots on what happened to this team this year. Was it my unrealistic expectations or something else. I guess I am assuming it is not all my unrealistic expectations.
TerryP
Staff
With the majority of fans a combination of both is where I'm leaning.
In my opinion looking for another #2 seed was unrealistic. I don't think it was being unrealistic to expect this team to at least get a double bye in the SECT (though the top four in conference are good basketball teams.)
I know Oats has been frustrated with this year's team. But I don't put all of that on him and his coaching either. For one example, being careless with the ball goes back to early coaching. We don't see help with these kids playing a lot of travel ball: the AAU circuit is no help in a lot of areas.
I think it's worth considering that we're seeing some of the same issues with Oats as we did with Avery: just opposite ends on where they are coming from. Dealing with the pro's, Avery had a hard time relating to kids in college. Dealing with high school kids and a small school like Buffalo has its challenges when you're dealing/coaching with a different class of athlete/player like the one's he's signing.
