Red MUST win a National Championship

[SWC75]

This.

Top 25 every year with solid recruiting and effective coaching should be the mark.

Do that and the rest will come.

FF'S AND Natty's are as much draw/matchups and luck as the above... But if you are doing the above, you set yourself up for that run of luck and can seize opportunity when it happens.

UCONN has had more than their share of luck, but they have taken care of business and while I won't say Hurley is a "good" coach, he is an effective coach and gets his players to perform (as much as it pains me to say that.)

Let's face it, if Kansas goes 16 for 30 from the line, we don't win the natty we've got. They went 12 for 30. Get good every year and things are more likely to break your way. Go 19-14 every year for 9 years and they won't.

 

[rrlbees]

Let's face it, if Kansas goes 16 for 30 from the line, we don't win the natty we've got. They wetn 12 for 30. Get good every year and things are more likely to break your way. Go 19-14 every year for 9 years and they won't.

And scored baskets on half those misses by getting the missed FT rebound.

 

[SWC75]

All jokes aside, the complacency and low expectations this program seemingly settled into having the last few years seems to be gone. Recruiting the best (and not just the most convenient) players and actually winning some of those battles, ACC titles, and national titles absolutely need to be the goals once again.

If we get Dickinson and Judah and Jesse come back, that would be the most talent we’ve had since probably 2014, and we’d immediately be “back”.

Yeah, but we were the worst team in the Final Four seven years ago, so things must be OK.

 

[OrangeDW]

Let's face it, if Kansas goes 16 for 30 from the line, we don't win the natty we've got. They wetn 12 for 30. Get good every year and things are more likely to break your way. Go 19-14 every year for 9 years and they won't.

If we could shoot FT’s we win at least 1, maybe 2 or 3 between 1987-1991.

Agreed, when you’re good every year you’re bound to break through at some point, even with the randomness of the tournament.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Lol. Let’s sign Chance Westry though just because he was ranked higher than our guys in HS even though he had worse stats by farr than Taylor.

I never said westry - if Red is the right coach he’ll find someone capable in the portal. But re: Westry he’s at least not a toothpick like bell.

 

[Eric15]

Agreed, when you’re good every year you’re bound to break through at some point, even with the randomness of the tournament.

Yep. If and when we start having strong regular seasons again (fingers crossed) deep tourney runs will inevitably follow. The data couldn’t be more straightforward. Since 1985 when the field expanded to 64…

 

[FrancoPizza]

Bell needs to be like Naheim Aleyne for UConn, a sniper off the bench. Not a starter. At least next season. He has a lot of work to do on his game.

Which makes me wonder why he came back, unless he was promised a certain amount of PT

 

[OrangeDW]

Yep. If and when we start having strong regular seasons again (fingers crossed) deep tourney runs will inevitably follow. The data couldn’t be more straightforward. Since 1985 when the field expanded to 64…

View attachment 226617

yes. 8-11 seeds and hoping to steal 2 games if the other team shoots bad doesn’t cut it. Those should be our worst case scenario seasons.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

UConn... did what was needed to fight and claw to stay relevant on the national scene and are likely about to get their fifth title.

But what did they do exactly?

Get back in the Big East?

This is their best squad in a decade, and even at that they were a 5 seed coming into the tournament.

This is why the tournament is nuts. The results are random. I enjoy when they work in our favor, and don't give a crap what any other program does.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I never said westry - if Red is the right coach he’ll find someone capable in the portal. But re: Westry he’s at least not a toothpick like bell.

What does that have to do with anything? Westry stunk when he played. Worse than all our freshmen.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think a few things can be true.

UConn, as much as it makes my skin crawl, did not luck into anything. I hate UConn, I’ve hated UConn, I will always hate UConn. I hate Hurley. I still hate Voskuhl. El-Amin. You name it. But they did what was needed to fight and claw to stay relevant on the national scene and are likely about to get their fifth title.

We have not.

With them and now St Johns and GTown, Red and the staff need to be hitting the pavement 24/7.

Starling is a great start. If we get Jesse and Judah back. Awesome. In the mix for Westry/Hunter, fantastic.

We need to land a few more dudes. We need Red to be able to translate it into on court success.

If the off-season comes together, it would be amazing to make a splash in Maui and get back into the discussion about teams that matter.

They haven’t been relevant until this year though. They hadn’t even won a tournament game until this year since their last title. Just goes to show you it just takes one season to turn things around.

 

[OrangeDW]

They haven’t been relevant until this year though. They hadn’t even won a tournament game until this year since their last title. Just goes to show you it just takes one season to turn things around.

Exactly. 2015-2022, they were worse than us.

 

[Cuse'91]

They haven’t been relevant until this year though. They hadn’t even won a tournament game until this year since their last title. Just goes to show you it just takes one season to turn things around.

Not so sure about that. This year's UConn team seems to have been several years in the making. They aren't an overnight build, that is raging through the Tourney.

 

[MikeSU02]

Not so sure about that. This year's UConn team seems to have been several years in the making. They aren't an overnight build, that is raging through the Tourney.

Exactly.

Third year in a row as a single digit seed with good recruiting classes.

 

[Sherman20]

Which makes me wonder why he came back, unless he was promised a certain amount of PT

Maybe Bell knows the amount of work he needs to do on his all around game and thinks our coaches can get him there. If we want to win next season, he needs to be coming off the Bench. But that’s ok because Red will play more guys than JB.

 

[orangecuse]

yes. 8-11 seeds and hoping to steal 2 games if the other team shoots bad doesn’t cut it. Those should be our worst case scenario seasons.

Amen!

It's so...I can't even come up with the word, how there was such a considerable group of folks who were in that 'everything is fine' type category simply because of two wins in March. All the while where we've been consistently hovering in the middle of the pack in conference, never winning more than one consecutive game in the ACC Tourney/yet to get to a conference tourney semi-final, and not being ranked in the top 25 regular season come January since 2014. And, for all intents and purposes, being generally irrelevant.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Not so sure about that. This year's UConn team seems to have been several years in the making. They aren't an overnight build, that is raging through the Tourney.

3 players left in their main rotation from last year. Jackson, Sanogo and Hawkins. Everyone else is a transfer and Clingan/Karaban are freshmen.

 

[Nicknack]

I give UConn credit. I wish they sucked, believe me. When I think about all of college basketball, my top 5 most hated programs include GTown (of course), UConn, Duke, and Kansas. The 5th program used to be Kentucky, but they don't win enough (it feels good to say that!). Therefore, my 5th spot is currently open.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Yep. If and when we start having strong regular seasons again (fingers crossed) deep tourney runs will inevitably follow. The data couldn’t be more straightforward. Since 1985 when the field expanded to 64…

View attachment 226617

What seeds has UConn played in the title game? Remarkable.

 

[nnyorange]

What seeds has UConn played in the title game? Remarkable.

Their last two title games were played against 8 seeds so this year is quite a step up in competition for them

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Counterpoint - it would be excellent for Red to win a title, but it's not a must.

 

[Orangezoo]

And scored baskets on half those misses by getting the missed FT rebound.

Yeah with the put backs it would have put them at or above their season average from the line. So that example isn't one I would use.

 

[Orangezoo]

I think a few things can be true.

UConn, as much as it makes my skin crawl, did not luck into anything. I hate UConn, I’ve hated UConn, I will always hate UConn. I hate Hurley. I still hate Voskuhl. El-Amin. You name it. But they did what was needed to fight and claw to stay relevant on the national scene and are likely about to get their fifth title.

We have not.

With them and now St Johns and GTown, Red and the staff need to be hitting the pavement 24/7.

Starling is a great start. If we get Jesse and Judah back. Awesome. In the mix for Westry/Hunter, fantastic.

We need to land a few more dudes. We need Red to be able to translate it into on court success.

If the off-season comes together, it would be amazing to make a splash in Maui and get back into the discussion about teams that matter.

I'm all for adding people. But I honestly think the harder question is the one everyone skims over and that is then who do we swap out? Bell is now back. So do we part ways with Taylor, Copeland or Brown or 2 out of the 3 etc etc. It's the reality in making the case we need to bring in some known game changers.

Personally I struggle with the answer to that one. So while I don't disagree with going hard after guys in the portal- it's hard to figure who should be moving on to their own greener pastures and who might blow up so much as to it being a net neutral or net loss. That's the part that sucks.

A guy like Moore, now off the table is an easy answer to that, and really so is Dickinson.. who regardless of the leadership article has been playing under a hothead mediocre leader in Howard.

 

[heresjohnny88]

Tournament luck has always been part of it. This UConn team is VERY good. They looked like the best team in the country before they hit a rough patch mid season. This isn’t a fluke like the 2014 team that just caught fire the last 3 weeks.

 

[Orangezoo]

Tournament luck has always been part of it. This UConn team is VERY good. They looked like the best team in the country before they hit a rough patch mid season. This isn’t a fluke like the 2014 team that just caught fire the last 3 weeks.

Yep. They looked like a soon to be named unanimous #1 for most of the season before the hiccup early on in conference games.