Is this week the beginning of the end?

[OrangeFoo]

We are already on the wrong side of the bubble after losing to ODU. A loss to Buffalo and it’s going to take some miracle ACC road wins to get in. I’m not saying it’s going to happen but if I were a betting man I would be saying hello NIT.

If we miss the dance this season, what is the outlook for the program? We lose Chukw, Howard and Battle after this season... i have seen nothing from the roster, outside of Carey and the good version of Brissett, that indicates we have upper level ACC players. Our recruiting is not any great shakes. Basically, this is year was supposed to be JBs great chance to have an elite team and that isn’t going to happen. If this is the peak and the other years aren’t going to be as good talent wise then we need to start asking some honest questions about how long the HOFer gets to turn the ship around. I think JB has earned as long as he wants but I’m not sure the program can withstand more seasons like this one. At some point you are who your record says you are.

I hope Wildhack has a contingency plan in place if this is the beginning of the end . It’s funny, before Belein went to Michigan I wanted him to take over for JB... looking back on the period since Belein went to Michigan... well I’ll leave it as I would love to hear others thoughts on that.

 

[OrangeDW]

We were supposed to be really good in 2017. We weren’t.

This year looks like a repeat.

This sucks.

 

[pearl31]

We are already on the wrong side of the bubble after losing to ODU.

Are you really going with this?

 

[OrangeFoo]

Are you really going with this?

Am I wrong?

 

[pearl31]

Am I wrong?

Yes.

 

[OrangeFoo]

Yes.

I hope you are right.

 

[pearl31]

I hope you are right.

So do I.
Is today's loss potentially damaging? Yes, of course. But the @ OSU win is golden.
Clearly, though, if the team doesn't start playing better on a regular basis it's all moot anyway

 

[Eric15]

Obviously its super early in the season and these numbers mean nothing, but Bracketmatrix had us as a 7 seed before the ODU game. So you figure we probably dropped into the 9-10 seed range as a result of the loss.

 

[Trueblue25]

Wow the meltdown leftovers are much worse than the initial meltdown

 

[Bayside44]

It's a long season. Yesterday was a bad loss but plenty of opportunities for good wins moving forward.

 

[Eric15]

It's a long season. Yesterday was a bad loss but plenty of opportunities for good wins moving forward.

I'm actually very confident we beat UB (for some reason), but I also think we're going to lose games against bottom feeding ACC teams this year simply because we're a solely a jump shooting team.

 

[justgold315]

Yesterday was a combination of both poor play offensively and bad luck. Defense was great at times, making a lot of deflections, and at least 5-6 times the ball was deflected back to a ODU player. There were at least 2 shots by ODU that went in after epic rolls. The announcers were saying that ODU has a top defense, and it is unclear how bad our offense really is. If we can eliminate 2-3 stupid turnovers and 2-3 bad shots/bad fouls per game, I think we are going to win most rock fights. We will probably win some big games if we end up on fire shooting something like 60% from 3. Otherwise, I think we are hovering around 50% in the ACC.

 

[Horn88]

I'm basically viewing the rest of the year as a litmus test on what JB has left in the tank. JB, or any good coach, should 100% be able to get to the tournament with this team because the talent is there that we absolutely should not be out of the tournament conversation in December. We have enough on this roster to still get some quality wins and make the tournament where the zone gives lots of problems to teams that haven't seen it before. If the year falls apart then unfortunately I think it's some dark foreshadowing on what the next few years will look like because as many have stated the roster most likely isn't going to be this talented the rest of JB's tenure.

I'll preface this with obviously JB's zone is effective in the tournament (however you need to get there for it to matter). What concerns me is that the losses against teams less talented than us are becoming more frequent in recent years, usually a reflection of the coach IMO.

 

[OrangeDW]

 

[newmexicuse]

Team has given us no reason to believe that we will be better than .500 (if that) in conference play.

The way i see it, a win over buffalo probably leave us just on the right side of the bubble if we go .500 in conference. A loss leaves us back on the bubble.

Of course, being above .500 or below .500 in conference will have a huge impact for good or bad.

One thing is crystal clear at this point, this team will not fulfill pre-season expectations.

 

[Arangeman]

I hope Wildhack has a contingency plan in place if this is the beginning of the end . It’s funny, before Belein went to Michigan I wanted him to take over for JB... looking back on the period since Belein went to Michigan... well I’ll leave it as I would love to hear others thoughts on that.

Wildhack has been great. But make no mistake he is a JB sycophant. Loves JB. JB is here as long as he wants to be and I wonder if he will have a say in the selection of his successor.

 

[Bayside44]

I'm actually very confident we beat UB (for some reason), but I also think we're going to lose games against bottom feeding ACC teams this year simply because we're a solely a jump shooting team.

Honestly he needs to staple Buddy to the bench, it's 5-4 out there and hard to watch.

I'm more concerned with our inability to finish at the tin in those awful jumpshooting games. My guess is we slug through the season and suddenly Brissett becomes James Worthy for 3 days in March.

 

[Eric15]

My guess is we slug through the season and suddenly Brissett becomes James Worthy for 3 days in March.

I just hope we aren't banking on getting an NCAA gift from the Heavens-above on Selection Sunday three times in four years. We need to make the tourney with room to spare.

 

[Bayside44]

I just hope we aren't banking on getting an NCAA gift from the Heavens-above on Selection Sunday three times in four years. We need to make the tourney with room to spare.

#metoo (about the only time I'll use that one), however...

Games like yesterday are maddening, take a 13 point lead we need to crush our opponent's soul.

Little is made that ODU had a big league coach out there.

 

[pearl31]

One thing is crystal clear at this point, this team will not fulfill pre-season expectations.

A) whose?
B) #december

 

[HOFCeluck]

A) whose?
B) #december

I feel pretty comfortable saying that most of the board was predicitng an undefeated or one loss preconference record.

 

[pearl31]

I feel pretty comfortable saying that most of the board was predicitng an undefeated or one loss preconference record.

Prior to Howard/Carey injuries? yeah probably

 

[HOFCeluck]

Prior to Howard/Carey injuries? yeah probably

Its all there in the Iggy thread, and the injury excuse for yesterday is kind of bullsht.

 

[pearl31]

Its all there in the Iggy thread, and the injury excuse for yesterday is kind of bullsht.

eh I'd say what's bullsht is FH having the mobility of a 70-yr-old out there

 

[pearl31]

Its all there in the Iggy thread

before the extent of FH injury/setback/needed recovery was at all apparent