3-0 and 2 to go!

[RF2044]

Prior to the Notre Dame game, I suggested that this five game stretch on our schedule--which included 4 home games and a road trip to BC--would make or brake our season.

Three games into this stretch of games, we've trounced Notre Dame and held on to win closely contested contests against Georgia Tech /Virginia Tech at home. Tomorrow night, we play a tough FSU sqaud--the last home game of this subset.

At the beginning of the five games, I would have been pleased with 4-1. However, 5-0 maximizes our chances to qualify for the tournament, and stubbing our toe against FSU would not only put us in the hole record wise, but also squander an opportunity for us to win a winnable game at home, with a tough stretch of road games looming.

Given that we've had 9 days off to rest / recuperate from any minor bumps and bruises, I think tommorrow's contest has a "must win" feel to it. That's not to say that a loss couldn't be overcome, but I want to take all of the guess work out of the committee's hands when it comes to us qualifying for an NCAA berth.

Just win, baby! Rack up a win against FSU, get a weak BC on the road, and we're positioned with 18 wins with 5 games remaining in the season [winnable games against Pitt / NC State at home and FSU on the road, with on paper tougher road games @ UNC / Louisivlle].


Let's Go Orange!!!

 

[MSOrange]

Prior to the Notre Dame game, I suggested that this five game stretch on our schedule--which included 4 home games and a road trip to BC--would make or brake our season.

Three games into this stretch of games, we've trounced Notre Dame and held on to win closely contested contests against Georgia Tech /Virginia Tech at home. Tomorrow night, we play a tough FSU sqaud--the last home game of this subset.

At the beginning of the five games, I would have been pleased with 4-1. However, 5-0 maximizes our chances to qualify for the tournament, and stubbing our toe against FSU would not only put us in the hole record wise, but also squander an opportunity for us to win a winnable game at home, with a tough stretch of road games looming.

Given that we've had 9 days off to rest / recuperate from any minor bumps and bruises, I think tommorrow's contest has a "must win" feel to it. That's not to say that a loss couldn't be overcome, but I want to take all of the guess work out of the committee's hands when it comes to us qualifying for an NCAA berth.

Just win, baby! Rack up a win against FSU, get a weak BC on the road, and we're positioned with 18 wins with 5 games remaining in the season [winnable games against Pitt / NC State at home and FSU on the road, with on paper tougher road games @ UNC / Louisivlle].


Let's Go Orange!!!

I think it's fair to say this is close to a must win. We need to hold serve at home. Even though we have Pitt at home, I'm never real confident about that matchup. Hopefully BC playing Carolina tight last night will be some incentive that we can't sleep walk through that game to finish this stretch despite how bad BC looked in the Dome. I'm still confident about that game.

 

[Jasoncuse]

3-0 with 7 to go.

We must win 4 of these final 7, IMO, to be safe. We could win 3 and still be a tourney team, but need others to crumble around us. A big ACCT might be needed in that scenario.

We have to win at least 1 against the Seminoles. This is the one we "should" win, so with a 25 day rest, hopefully the team comes out strong.

We should win against BC and NIT St, though the latter has been tough on us and have some talented players.

Pitt will be a tough one and really the one that could be a difference maker.

@ L'ville and UNC will be tough and I'll go in thinking loss with the potential for a nice surprise.

Basically, need to take care of business these next 2 and then beat Pitt, L'ville or UNC to solidify things.

 

[MSOrange]

3-0 with 7 to go.

We must win 4 of these final 7, IMO, to be safe. We could win 3 and still be a tourney team, but need others to crumble around us. A big ACCT might be needed in that scenario.

We have to win at least 1 against the Seminoles. This is the one we "should" win, so with a 25 day rest, hopefully the team comes out strong.

We should win against BC and NIT St, though the latter has been tough on us and have some talented players.

Pitt will be a tough one and really the one that could be a difference maker.

@ L'ville and UNC will be tough and I'll go in thinking loss with the potential for a nice surprise.

Basically, need to take care of business these next 2 and then beat Pitt, L'ville or UNC to solidify things.

Nice post. I feel the same way about NC State. They aren't having a good year but still good enough to win if we don't play well - somewhat similar to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. I do like JB over Gottfried any day of the week if it comes down to that.

 

[RF2044]

3-0 with 7 to go.

We must win 4 of these final 7, IMO, to be safe. We could win 3 and still be a tourney team, but need others to crumble around us. A big ACCT might be needed in that scenario.

We have to win at least 1 against the Seminoles. This is the one we "should" win, so with a 25 day rest, hopefully the team comes out strong.

We should win against BC and NIT St, though the latter has been tough on us and have some talented players.

Pitt will be a tough one and really the one that could be a difference maker.

@ L'ville and UNC will be tough and I'll go in thinking loss with the potential for a nice surprise.

Basically, need to take care of business these next 2 and then beat Pitt, L'ville or UNC to solidify things.

Agree--4 is the number. If we win 4 in the regular season and 1 in the ACCT, we'd be in great shape.

Re: Pitt. I am not impressed with them. Yes, I know the recent history. We had them for 35 minutes at their place, without Boeheim at the helm, with Gbinije having a poor game, and without the rebounding we've demonstrated since JB returned. That is a highly winnable game.

Would love to punch those #@$% in the nose and score that win at home.

 

[DallasCuse]

Agree--4 is the number. If we win 4 in the regular season and 1 in the ACCT, we'd be in great shape.

Re: Pitt. I am not impressed with them. Yes, I know the recent history. We had them for 35 minutes at their place, without Boeheim at the helm, with Gbinije having a poor game, and without the rebounding we've demonstrated since JB returned. That is a highly winnable game.

Would love to punch those #@$% in the nose and score that win at home.

We need to come out fully energized, balls to the wall urgency, and put FSU in a hole quickly. BC on the road I thought would be a slam dunk, then watched some of NC there, and now not as certain. But like you said, if we can take 4 of our remaining ACC games, we are in great shape. Crushing Pitt/Dixon would create immense joy.

 

[Dave85]

We need to come out fully energized, balls to the wall urgency, and put FSU in a hole quickly. BC on the road I thought would be a slam dunk, then watched some of NC there, and now not as certain. But like you said, if we can take 4 of our remaining ACC games, we are in great shape. Crushing Pitt/Dixon would create immense joy.

9 days is too long. I think they are going to come out flat. If they do not, it will be nice bit of coaching by JB. Getting these kids to focus is hard but JB's defense they do have a lot of distractions.

 

[RandygoCuse]

Prior to the Notre Dame game, I suggested that this five game stretch on our schedule--which included 4 home games and a road trip to BC--would make or brake our season.

Three games into this stretch of games, we've trounced Notre Dame and held on to win closely contested contests against Georgia Tech /Virginia Tech at home. Tomorrow night, we play a tough FSU sqaud--the last home game of this subset.

At the beginning of the five games, I would have been pleased with 4-1. However, 5-0 maximizes our chances to qualify for the tournament, and stubbing our toe against FSU would not only put us in the hole record wise, but also squander an opportunity for us to win a winnable game at home, with a tough stretch of road games looming.

Given that we've had 9 days off to rest / recuperate from any minor bumps and bruises, I think tommorrow's contest has a "must win" feel to it. That's not to say that a loss couldn't be overcome, but I want to take all of the guess work out of the committee's hands when it comes to us qualifying for an NCAA berth.

Just win, baby! Rack up a win against FSU, get a weak BC on the road, and we're positioned with 18 wins with 5 games remaining in the season [winnable games against Pitt / NC State at home and FSU on the road, with on paper tougher road games @ UNC / Louisivlle].


Let's Go Orange!!!

Agree that it's not quite a must win, but pretty gosh darn close - I apologize for my profanity...I think BC is a must win, otherwise it puts a lot of pressure on us to win at Florida State. Plus,, we are not going to get an easier opponent than BC. A Pitt win, and I'm going to fly to the arena and storm the court. I will feel no need to act live I've been there before.

 

[kirbivore]

Prior to the Notre Dame game, I suggested that this five game stretch on our schedule--which included 4 home games and a road trip to BC--would make or brake our season.

Three games into this stretch of games, we've trounced Notre Dame and held on to win closely contested contests against Georgia Tech /Virginia Tech at home. Tomorrow night, we play a tough FSU sqaud--the last home game of this subset.

At the beginning of the five games, I would have been pleased with 4-1. However, 5-0 maximizes our chances to qualify for the tournament, and stubbing our toe against FSU would not only put us in the hole record wise, but also squander an opportunity for us to win a winnable game at home, with a tough stretch of road games looming.

Given that we've had 9 days off to rest / recuperate from any minor bumps and bruises, I think tommorrow's contest has a "must win" feel to it. That's not to say that a loss couldn't be overcome, but I want to take all of the guess work out of the committee's hands when it comes to us qualifying for an NCAA berth.

Just win, baby! Rack up a win against FSU, get a weak BC on the road, and we're positioned with 18 wins with 5 games remaining in the season [winnable games against Pitt / NC State at home and FSU on the road, with on paper tougher road games @ UNC / Louisivlle].


Let's Go Orange!!!

I don't share your optimism about the Pitt game. Dixon shreds the zone in his sleep and their clutch grab style will be allowed while SU gets called for touch fouls.

 

[CusefanATL]

At the beginning of the five games, I would have been pleased with 4-1. However, 5-0 maximizes our chances to qualify for the tournament, and stubbing our toe against FSU would not only put us in the hole record wise, but also squander an opportunity for us to win a winnable game at home, with a tough stretch of road games looming.

we really need 5-0. Maybe not NEED, but we need it.

 

[RandygoCuse]

we really need 5-0. Maybe not NEED, but we need it.

Agree that it's pretty close to a must win because we have to play Florida St again and I don't think that's a gimmee.

Last night was the game I was most concerned with in this 5 day stretch (going into all the games, obviously some others turned out pretty close). I was concerned we'd be rusty and/or complacent after a 9 day break. Obviously, I was dead wrong and happy about that. As long as we take BC seriously, we should get to 5-0.