Keeping It Real...

[HakAttack]

...here's the big picture. It doesn't matter if we lose our next two games. It really doesn't.

Try this for some perspective.

• Whatever happens over the next two to three weeks, we're going to finish the year with at least 26 wins, and have a realistic shot at reaching 30 wins for the fourth time in the last five years. Since 1988 we've reached the 30 win plateau only once, and that was because we went on a six game winning streak in the NCAA Tourney.
• We're going to the Big Dance and we're going to be at least a top 3 or 4 seed, even if we finish the regular season and ACC tournament 26-6.
• We beat Pitt twice in one year, and ended our TEN YEAR losing street at the Pete. That alone makes this year an amazing success for me.
• We took it to Duke in our first ever ACC meeting. We rocked the Dome and were on top of the basketball world.
• We've been ranked #1 for three weeks this year, which is the longest we've been ranked #1 in the last 10 years other than a six week span back in 2011-2012.
• We set a school record for an unbeaten streak to start the year, going 25-0.
• We have a monster recruiting class coming in next year and the cupboard is far from bare. We have now reached the point where we no longer rebuild, we reload.

All that matters is pushing the reset button 12 days from now and taking our best shot in the big dance. I for one will say that even if we don't win another basketball game this season, it's been an incredible year.

None of us on this board even DREAMED that after losing MCW, Triche and J-South last year and getting a brand new backcourt we'd be unbeaten well into February and dreaming of a National Championship. We're playing with house money at this point. We've already done FAR better than I thought we would.

So I for one plan to enjoy the hell out of the rest of the season that we have left and will savor every second of this basketball team. What an incredible ride it's been so far.

Who's with me? LET'S GO ORANGE!!

 

[HtownOrange]

Good points. This has been a great year. I still expect more, but if not, these kids have given us a great season. More than we expected.

 

[HakAttack]

bump. I know people don't want to think like this, but it's true.

 

[CousCuse]

I'm down with that Hak. I see it like this: We were 25-0 and what's the saying, " You are who your record says you are." Then BK geos out , leaves us short with more stress and heavy banging down low on Grant. BK comes back and Grant goes out. Can anyone honestly say that if BK didn't go out that we wouldn't have beaten Boston, and if Grant had played last night , we wouldn't have won against GT. That only leaves 2 losses and maybe with Grant we could have won at Wahoolandia. Then we are down to 1 loss on a last second call at Duke. And that's the whole truth and nothing but the truth. SHMG.

 

[HtownOrange]

I'm down with that Hak. I see it like this: We were 25-0 and what's the saying, " You are who your record says you are." Then BK geos out , leaves us short with more stress and heavy banging down low on Grant. BK comes back and Grant goes out. Can anyone honestly say that if BK didn't go out that we wouldn't have beaten Boston, and if Grant had played last night , we wouldn't have won against GT. That only leaves 2 losses and maybe with Grant we could have won at Wahoolandia. Then we are down to 1 loss on a last second call at Duke. And that's the whole truth and nothing but the truth. SHMG.

Exactly, life happens and we roll with the punches. Web take opponents as we fond them and they take us as they find us, injuries and all. It is part of the game and season.

On a related side note, people like to comment about other schools going deep on the bench. Most schools can do so because they do not play a deep schedule. In the Big East and in the ACC the worst teams are still as good as or better than most mid majors and many P5 teams, in spite of SOS reporting. The proof is in the pudding in tourneys and OOC results.

 

[br801]

So I for one plan to enjoy the hell out of the rest of the season that we have left and will savor every second of this basketball team. What an incredible ride it's been so far.

Good post, HakAttack.

I try to look at every season this way because obviously it's a rare season that ends with a national championship. As for this team, I still like their chances for a deep NCAAT run if they can get BMK and Grant healthy. The final chapters of this story are yet to be written, no matter what some may believe.