Playing to win

[NKR1978]

You can play to win, play not to lose or win ugly. I think for a long time this year I fell into the trap of simply thinking we won ugly. We've been fortunate to enjoy a wonderful season by playing not to lose more often than not lately.

And during the game I kept thinking about how I play blackjack: strictly by the rules and generally playing the table minimum. It's a good way to play for an extended period of time but you wont go up a ton or down a ton. That's playing the percentages and playing not to lose.

Right now the entire team isn't playing to win. They're playing not to lose. They're the tennis player spinning in a second serve when they're serving to stay in a match. Maybe they'll win the point, maybe they'll lose;but by just spinning in a second serve, they're not playing to win.

I love this team for not giving up and for making plays when they absolutely need them. And unlike Butler and Vermont, I had no hate for UNCA players. In spite of my love for this team and my gratitude for making this Winter fly by, I am resigned that we are unlikely to win Saturday unless JB coaches to win. Start Dion. Play MCW major minutes. Press and extend the zone.

As an aside, I am livid over the absolute ****** BS media narrative over the CLEAR LANE VIOLATIONS. I was ready to drive to Pittsburgh and rip the throat out of the a$$holes calling the game for focusing on the out of bounds call when they basically forgave the no foul call on Brandon. He was tackled and should have been shooting free throws. Seriously *** them. *** everyone in the media who perpetuates this nonsense. CBS get some ****** announcers that know the ****** rules.

 

[OttoMets]

You can play to win, play not to lose or win ugly. I think for a long time this year I fell into the trap of simply thinking we won ugly. We've been fortunate to enjoy a wonderful season by playing not to lose more often than not lately.

And during the game I kept thinking about how I play blackjack: strictly by the rules and generally playing the table minimum. It's a good way to play for an extended period of time but you wont go up a ton or down a ton. That's playing the percentages and playing not to lose.

Right now the entire team isn't playing to win. They're playing not to lose. They're the tennis player spinning in a second serve when they're serving to stay in a match. Maybe they'll win the point, maybe they'll lose;but by just spinning in a second serve, they're not playing to win.

I love this team for not giving up and for making plays when they absolutely need them. And unlike Butler and Vermont, I had no hate for UNCA players. In spite of my love for this team and my gratitude for making this Winter fly by, I am resigned that we are unlikely to win Saturday unless JB coaches to win. Start Dion. Play MCW major minutes. Press and extend the zone.

As an aside, I am livid over the absolute ****** BS media narrative over the CLEAR LANE VIOLATIONS. I was ready to drive to Pittsburgh and rip the throat out of the a$$holes calling the game for focusing on the out of bounds call when they basically forgave the no foul call on Brandon. He was tackled and should have been shooting free throws. Seriously *** them. *** everyone in the media who perpetuates this nonsense. CBS get some ****** announcers that know the ****** rules.

On the last point, why does CBS continue to assign Len Elmore to our tournament games when he so clearly roots against Syracuse (and is generally a horse's ass who adds nothing to the broadcast)?

But, yeah, your main point is a good one. Syracuse took its foot off the gas in January and has been playing down to the level of its competition ever since. We root for the team to win games, and we're achieving very well by that standard. But we haven't been playing well for a very long time, and we've seen what it'll look like when that costs us a win in the last game of the year.

Conservative coaching and uninspired play were joined today by some very uncharacteristic dumb play. It's pretty disappointing. One can hope they'll show up for the Kansas State game like they did against Marquette a couple months ago, but they haven't done anything in the past few weeks that suggests they're likely to do so.

Hey, it's possible. That's why they play the games.

 

[NKR1978]

On the last point, why does CBS continue to assign Len Elmore to our tournament games when he so clearly roots against Syracuse (and is generally a horse's ass who adds nothing to the broadcast)?

But, yeah, your main point is a good one. Syracuse took its foot off the gas in January and has been playing down to the level of its competition ever since. We root for the team to win games, and we're achieving very well by that standard. But we haven't been playing well for a very long time, and we've seen what it'll look like when that costs us a win in the last game of the year.

Conservative coaching and uninspired play were joined today by some very uncharacteristic dumb play. It's pretty disappointing. One can hope they'll show up for the Kansas State game like they did against Marquette a couple months ago, but they haven't done anything in the past few weeks that suggests they're likely to do so.

Hey, it's possible. That's why they play the games.

You've been saying this for a while. I fell into the camp that we were just winning ugly. I'm not giving up hope. I'm a little worried about heading out to a bar on St. Patty's day in Manhattan wearing orange, but I'll live.

 

[OttoMets]

You've been saying this for a while. I fell into the camp that we were just winning ugly. I'm not giving up hope. I'm a little worried about heading out to a bar on St. Patty's day in Manhattan wearing orange, but I'll live.

I won't give up hope, per se, but whatever optimism was floating around this morning has wandered away from me at the moment. That was such bad basketball, with little indication that the coaching staff or the players knew what was wrong. It's tough to see that changing in 48 hours. If guys don't know that shooting 13 threes in a half against a team composed of players 6'5" and smaller is a bad thing, they're probably not destined for success.