Luckiest team I’ve ever seen win it all

[samspann1]

BeCaUsE tHeY pLaY bAsKeTbAlL tHe RiGhT wAy

There's a lot of woe is me and masochism on this website from people who loathe Syracuse in secret. This team won because they had a lot of breaks go their way. Outside of Gardner Webb, they didn't look like the best team of the tournament. If Purdue wasn't ball watching on the last possession and Auburn didn't get screwed over, they're not playing last night.

So true.

Quick to criticize SU and its players but even quicker to jump to the defense of other programs and players.

 

[Brooky03]

Guy's an 82% foul shooter, so if you want to split hairs he had a 50/50 change at one of those.

The play on Morelli was a loose ball three guys were going at. Considering there was no call and he didn't shove the guy to the ground, it worked.

Hunter's shot, the pass to him down by 3 by Jerome when the easy thing to do was take the layup, clutch.

Crazy unusual things happen at the end of so many of these tournament games and Virginia really kept their head on straight throughout it.

The play with Moretti was not a loose ball play, Moretti had possession when Guy yanked on him directly in front of the official.

Jerome's pass was clutch.

You know who else equally kept their head on straight in thise games? Virginia's opponents. If we're saying Virginia was composed, then so were the majority of teams in this tournament, especially Purdue, Auburn, and TTU. Seems like any team losing composure in crunch time is the outlier, not the norm, if that's the bar we're measuring to.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Good team but yea they got all the breaks. Can’t believe that call on the out of bounds went there way and got taken away from TT with a minute left I saw nothing to review there.

That team was always going to be a tough out tho the other teams should have known they’d come up short in a tight game and you have to push for more. Can’t believe Beard changed the call on the play with 1 second left your just icing your team and the shooter there so what if it’s covered there isn’t enough time for UVA to score.

 

[Brooky03]

So who was the best team in your eyes?

Does it matter?

 

[Brooky03]

An 82% FT shooter has a 55% chance of making all 3.

Exactly. Proves my point

 

[Cusefan0307]

Does it matter?

I want to hear your opinion.

 

[Bayside44]

The play with Moretti was not a loose ball play, Moretti had possession when Guy yanked on him directly in front of the official.

Jerome's pass was clutch.

You know who else equally kept their head on straight in thise games? Virginia's opponents. If we're saying Virginia was composed, then so were the majority of teams in this tournament, especially Purdue, Auburn, and TTU. Seems like any team losing composure in crunch time is the outlier, not the norm, if that's the bar we're measuring to.

Purdue threw it outta bounds on anticipating a foul, and UVa managed to run out a little in OT after being down in it. Auburn played great, that whistle is just one of those things that would not have been called a few years ago.

 

[CorduroyG]

Thanks for moving the goal posts.

We were down 18 to Oklahoma St. Does the comeback even happen if G-Mac doesn’t take a shot to the face? Because that’s not really something you can draw up.

We caught a break when Wake lost.

To reiterate, first two weekends in Boston and Albany. Oklahoma was #1 seed playing in our back yard.

We had to outscore Texas because our defense couldn’t stop them. Warrick gets called for a charge and the basket counts...

How many free throws did Kansas miss in the title game? G-Mac had to hit six threes, at least one of which was ill-advised. Good thing Warrick was in the right place at the right time and blessed with long arms, because we’ve been on the other side of that coin.

Yeah, we caught some breaks and had luck on our side, just like UVA. Just like a lot of champions.

dude stop comparing cuse in 03 to uva this year. uva needed borderline miracles to beat purdue and auburn, come on!!!!! not even close to the same kind of "luck" we got in 03.

 

[rrlbees]

Exactly. Proves my point

Huh? That's not what you said. You said him making all 3 wasn't clutch, it was what was statistically expected. Sure, 55% is more than a 50/50 chance, but its not lose to being expected.

 

[Brooky03]

I want to hear your opinion.

But I can see where the argument will go, which makes it no fun for me.

It would devolve into an argument of whether or not the NCAAT is set up to find the best team that year or just the best in the tournament. Then we go into 'well this team was better but screwed up in the tourney'. 'yeah, well this team was really good and got the job done in the tourney', so they're the best'. 'But if x and y unfortunate things didn't happen to this other team, they'd be the best'. 'however, KevinPam says the OeffFGP3% of this team makes them actually the best.'. 'conference ABC was actually the toughest and this other other team did gooder there, so they're the real best.'

 

[Cusefan0307]

But I can see where the argument will go, which makes it no fun for me.

It would devolve into an argument of whether or not the NCAAT is set up to find the best team that year or just the best in the tournament. Then we go into 'well this team was better but screwed up in the tourney'. 'yeah, well this team was really good and got the job done in the tourney', so they're the best'. 'But if x and y unfortunate things didn't happen to this other team, they'd be the best'. 'however, KevinPam says the OeffFGP3% of this team makes them actually the best.'. 'conference ABC was actually the toughest and this other other team did gooder there, so they're the real best.'

Omg you realize every game from the Elite 8 onward went down to the last few minutes. You literally could have made the same argument if any other team won that you’re using for Virginia.

 

[CorduroyG]

another huge break they got was early in ot they were down 3, guy trips over his own teammate and falls out of bounds, should have been a turnover. instead they get 2 fts. cbs never showed replay, but i saw the play in slo mo on twitter, horrendous call. should have been tech ball up 3.

 

[Brooky03]

Huh? That's not what you said. You said him making all 3 wasn't clutch, it was what was statistically expected. Sure, 55% is more than a 50/50 chance, but its not lose to being expected.

What? When you have 2 choices (Guy going 2/3 or 3/3), one is the expected result and one is not. Guy would make 3/3 more than he'd make 2/3. So it's not surprising that he'd make 3/3. Players don't get worse at FTs in crunch time. The idea that he had 'ice water in his veins' to hit the FTs he'd normally hit anyway is bogus.

 

[Brooky03]

Omg you realize every game from the Elite 8 onward went down to the last few minutes. You literally could have made the same argument if any other team won that you’re using for Virginia.

Precisely why I don't want to get into that argument

 

[rrlbees]

What? When you have 2 choices (Guy going 2/3 or 3/3), one is the expected result and one is not. Guy would make 3/3 more than he'd make 2/3. So it's not surprising that he'd make 3/3. Players don't get worse at FTs in crunch time. The idea that he had 'ice water in his veins' to hit the FTs he'd normally hit anyway is bogus.

a 55% chance of making 3 FT's is no sure thing. it was clutch.

 

[BuffOrange]

BeCaUsE tHeY pLaY bAsKeTbAlL tHe RiGhT wAy

There's a lot of woe is me and masochism on this website from people who loathe Syracuse in secret. This team won because they had a lot of breaks go their way. Outside of Gardner Webb, they didn't look like the best team of the tournament. If Purdue wasn't ball watching on the last possession and Auburn didn't get screwed over, they're not playing last night.

I could see that point when people here were defending the officiating vs Michigan but What does this tournament have to do with Syracuse - thinking Purdue should've won makes you more of a fan?

 

[Brooky03]

a 55% chance of making 3 FT's is no sure thing. it was clutch.

If we were playing Virginia and fouled Guy on a 3 in the first half, would any Syracuse fan not expect him to hit all 3? Cuz I'd bet we'd all add 3 to Virginia's score immediately.

Hypothetical, Guy has a wide open look at a 3, in rhythm. Does he make it or miss? He makes it, of course. I'd bet his percentage on wide open 3's is in the ballpark of 55-60%. Carmelo Anthony gets his defender to bite on the jab step and steps back for an open 12ft. jumper. Does he make it? Obviously he does. His perentage on that is probably in the 50-55% range.

We're really picking nits here. Guy made those FTs because he's good at making FTs. He didn't rise to the occasion and pull a rabbit out of his butt.

The bar for 'clutch' surely can't be doing something that is anything less than virtually guaranteed, can it?

 

[rrlbees]

If we were playing Virginia and fouled Guy on a 3 in the first half, would any Syracuse fan not expect him to hit all 3? Cuz I'd bet we'd all add 3 to Virginia's score immediately.

Hypothetical, Guy has a wide open look at a 3, in rhythm. Does he make it or miss? He makes it, of course. I'd bet his percentage on wide open 3's is in the ballpark of 55-60%. Carmelo Anthony gets his defender to bite on the jab step and steps back for an open 12ft. jumper. Does he make it? Obviously he does. His perentage on that is probably in the 50-55% range.

We're really picking nits here. Guy made those FTs because he's good at making FTs. He didn't rise to the occasion and pull a rabbit out of his butt.

The bar for 'clutch' surely can't be doing something that is anything less than virtually guaranteed, can it?

you miss the point that 55% is not great odds of making all 3 free throws. its not what we think he'll do.

 

[Brooky03]

you miss the point that 55% is not great odds of making all 3 free throws. its not what we think he'll do.

Well then we definitely don't think he'll just go 2/3. So we all go into it absent minded?

 

[rrlbees]

Well then we definitely don't think he'll just go 2/3. So we all go into it absent minded?

my gut feel was he'd make all 3. but the math of making all 3 based on him being an 82% shooter is the 55%.

 

[Brooky03]

my gut feel was he'd make all 3. but the math of making all 3 based on him being an 82% shooter is the 55%.

.82^3=.55

Yes

 

[cuse10]

I could see that point when people here were defending the officiating vs Michigan but What does this tournament have to do with Syracuse - thinking Purdue should've won makes you more of a fan?

It has everything to do with SU. This forum goes out of their way to bash Syracuse and praise other programs. Saying Purdue or Auburn should have won doesn't make you more of a fan. I'm calling out an observation.

 

[SWC75]

Was blowing two 10-point leads making their own luck or was it relying on bad calls from officials to save them from losing positions?

I think its okay to admit that sometimes the best team wins (like last year) and other times a team wins because they get lucky.

Most champions get lucky at least once over the course of a tournament. Virginia needed to get lucky up and down the line to win. It takes away from the accomplishment.

There's no such thing as national championships that don't count.

 

[orangecuse]

I really don’t get why people are trying to delegitimize UVA. Did they not have enough Zion’s for people?

I'll take a stab at your query? From a conference perspective, Duke and UNC have been the conference head honcho's, and we knew this coming into the ACC. With our huge success in the Big East, and being one of the head honcho's in that very reputable league for so many years, many likely felt that we would be able to run right there with those two in the ACC. However, 5 years of conference record mediocrity later, and with UVA rising (kind of out of nowhere) to be arguably another top dog in the league as well, we haven't been close to running with them in the standings.

Additionally, UVA isn't some fluke, they are here to stay. A superior academic institution, beautiful campus and location, solid facilities, a relatively young and great coach, etc., the sleeping giant has awakened. They also now have a national championship to their belt, so they are equal with us in that regard.

Therefore, I think people see them as a legitimate threat to what our routine place will be in the league, at least for the near future, and that's somewhere likely consistently behind those three. Throw in the JB retirement perception of 3 years down the road, the recruiting battles, etc. dealing with that, and the huge ? of who will be JB's predecessor, it's somewhat difficult being comfortable in our new skin.

 

[SWC75]

Other than Oklahoma, we could have easily lost our other five tournament games in 2003.

We made the FF in 2016 thanks to an epic choke job by UVA...after Gonzaga choked the round before. Sure, Malachi went mad. And the trunk monkey was amazing, but other teams don't struggle as much against it.

How about 1975: Jellybean Bryant, (Kobe's Dad), missed a bunny at the buzzer and we win in overtime. Jim lee hits that shot against UNC. Dean Smith set sup an i-bounds play defense to get an offensive foul and gets what he wants but the refs don't call it. Then Bug Williams dribbles 40 feet to feed Rudy Hackett for the foul-line hook shot that goes in to again send us into an overtime that we win to go to the Final Four. Nobody here said we didn't deserve to be there.