Why did we enter the Maui Invitational

[grepal]

We also have a trip to the Dakotas this year. Exposes players to the diverse wealth of beauty our country offers. That alone makes these trips worthwhile. BTW I still miss The Great Alaska Shootout.

 

[Hoo's That]

It was announced last year if I recall. We probably had no idea the field would be this strong but we also knew it's the strongest tournament with Atlantis. We also should have known that the program was on a decline with JB and 23-24 would either be his last year or it would be first year for a new coach. We saw what happened on the trip to Atlantis in 21. Was this something setup by JB thinking he wanted 1 more trip to Maui before retiring even though as a program we are in no position to win this tournament? It's just tough Adrian to step into this in his first year.

It's really the ACC is invited to send a team to a tournament. There's supposed to be a rotation in the ACC of the conference's slot in the preseason tournaments like Maui and the Preseason NIT (still around?) with each school getting an equal chance of being in a tournament. ESPN has made it plain to the ACC that Duke and UNC are more equal than everyone else. I was really looking forward to seeing them play in Niceville, FL, but I guess that isn't happening. Everyone is supposed to get their turn in all of them, but Tony Bennett passes on Maui saying it's too far away (I politely disagree). SU might have been able to say no, but it might be another soon-to-be 16 years before they get another chance to go there.

 

[Consigliere]

We are still undefeated in Maui. This game was played on the Big Island.

Or Oahu

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

It was announced last year if I recall. We probably had no idea the field would be this strong but we also knew it's the strongest tournament with Atlantis. We also should have known that the program was on a decline with JB and 23-24 would either be his last year or it would be first year for a new coach. We saw what happened on the trip to Atlantis in 21. Was this something setup by JB thinking he wanted 1 more trip to Maui before retiring even though as a program we are in no position to win this tournament? It's just tough Adrian to step into this in his first year.

Because JB’s best class ever would have been seasoned enough to compete.
Great test to show the kids how far they have to go. We likely won’t be an NCAA team, so the games don’t really matter.
Also like that Red got into early games against solid coaches. He’s got a lot to learn.

 

[Hopkins16]

...do you think we feel a lot stronger tonight after the last two days?

Stronger, only in the sense that our weaknesses were exposed by playing top teams and so we know where we need improvement in order to compete at the highest level as the season goes on. Every year teams like Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and Duke play highly ranked teams this time of year. I always wished that we did too so that we can see where we truly stand. Losing to top ranked teams in this tournament and then destroying Chaminade proves the point that if we only played teams like Chaminade early in the season, we'd have a false sense of how good we are. The other good thing coming out of the Chaminade win after the losses is we get back some confidence and we saw that if we played as a team and moved the ball beautifully as we did, we could be very good.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Because JB’s best class ever would have been seasoned enough to compete.
Great test to show the kids how far they have to go. We likely won’t be an NCAA team, so the games don’t really matter.
Also like that Red got into early games against solid coaches. He’s got a lot to learn.

Sitting up close I was very impressed with Few and his staff.

Barnes not so much.

Judah isn’t the easiest PG and floor leader and best player for Red to have running the show his first year. Thought he had good control of the team and we played tough despite that.

JJ could be an excellent leader if his deep ball returns as our lead PG next year or year after.

When did we last play in the Diamond Head? I’m sure we have been in it before just don’t remember.