Indeed it has been proven many times that stall ball, while it gives a lot of us serious agita, has not "cost us many times."
What a joy it is to see these general malaise threads when we've just won against top conference competition--the #11 team in the country--and defeated a long-hated rival. My God, we didn't cover! Can't wait to see how the locusts and frogs start pouring down if (and probably when) the team loses. I've got no problems with complaints and criticisms of the team, but the doom-and-gloom pastiches--particularly the ill-informed ones--don't do anybody any good.
There's room for us to improve, but we hung on in a game where we trailed early and went neck-and-neck late. Sure, our shooting needs to get better, our rebounding needs to improve immensely, and Dion needs to return to earlier-season, less-selfish form--but winning a close one in OT against such a highly ranked team tests our mettle in ways that a 25-point laugher vs. SJU could never do.
For God's sake, it's the &$^%*#@ Hoyas. I don't want to hear the irrelevance commentary. They are the enemy. We beat them tonight. I hope they get a flat on the way to the airport and have to sit in a frigid, dejected bus while waiting for a towing wrecker to rescue them and bring them to a .5-star ashtray hotel near Carrier Circle to savor a winter overnight before heading back to lick their wounds in DC. And I hope Kevin Braswell gets to clean up after them tomorrow morning.