Rutgers was 3-6 in the Big Ten on January 21, fresh off 5 straight losses, and a significant underdog to make the tournament.
What a turnaround to make the round of 32!
What a turnaround to make the round of 32!
Epic Turnaround
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At one point we were #11 in the country. We never looked like that same team again until the first 35 minutes of the Houston game. At our best, we were a final 4 team. At our worst, we weren't an NCAA Tournament team. To wind up in the round of 32 was awesome but it easily could have been better or worse. As we know, there is a fine line between success and failure.
No moral victories please.
We had a ticket to the Sweet 16 and a match up against a team we had already beaten, and we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in an incredibly shocking way.
We had a ticket to the Sweet 16 and a match up against a team we had already beaten, and we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in an incredibly shocking way.
‘This.
Sweet 16 was right there for the taking and we absolutely blew it. Shameful
Maybe next season we do better.
Moral victory my ***. If you think being satisfied with anything less than a championship is a “moral victory” then okay.
do you guys watch sports? This happens all the time. Next year we Would be extremely lucky to make the tournament and get an upset in the tournament
Would some of you like us to return as the # 279 ranking as a team that Eddie Jordan left us in March 2016? It sure sounds like it with how much some of you criticize our team. I for one am grateful that we made the NCAA and we won a game in the tournament to end some long streaks for us.
I honestly wonder how some of you find sports happiness.
Season honestly went as I expected. You can't make a deep tourne run with a team full of guys who have never played on the big stage.
The frustrating part is every team needs to build a foundation and then needs multiple years to get that break through season. An ncaa tournemnet next years gives theee years in a row with a ncaa tourney caliber type team.
for example, Gonzaga has been a household name for 25 years now. 22 under Mark few who is a hall of fame coach. Lost in first round 3 times, 2nd round 8 times, sweet 16 5 times, elite eight 2(didn’t get there until year 15), final four 1, national championship game 1. Mark few 55% of the time isnot making the sweet 16.
I don’t think some guys understand how hard winning in the ncaa tournament actually is
for example, Gonzaga has been a household name for 25 years now. 22 under Mark few who is a hall of fame coach. Lost in first round 3 times, 2nd round 8 times, sweet 16 5 times, elite eight 2(didn’t get there until year 15), final four 1, national championship game 1. Mark few 55% of the time isnot making the sweet 16.
I don’t think some guys understand how hard winning in the ncaa tournament actually is
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We were a 10 seed, with a roster full of kids who have never played in an NCAA Tournament game before, and according to some on here this is the best chance we’ll ever have at making a run. Absurd.
I might be misunderstanding what you are writing, but I agree that it might feel like we're due for a down year comparatively speaking. I'm holding off judgment until we know what the roster looks like... the portal also gives (as well as takes away, as we are well aware).
I agree both ways, I don't look down on the last lost, but I don't want to totally excuse it either. I pretty sure
Pike knows what happened and will take care of the situation. Top 32, I would have taken at the beginning of the year. But I do realize top 16 would have been sweeter.
Championship??? How in the world was that ever going to happen
this year? I'm assuming you've seen Gonzaga play, among others
I think you need to read my posts more carefully. I'm on your side.
Lol at this year's "wisdom" of the year of "matchups are what matter in the tournament" btw. How many people have posted this now in an attempt to sound smart?
Obvously, R32 is a great season for a program that hasn't been to the NCAA tournament in 30 years. Have to believe that last season's cancelled tournament hurt these guys having the mental resilience and poise to hold it together down the stretch in what would have and should have been a big upset. That experience is what makes programs like Michigan State who aren't full of one-and-done's but do get the occasional 'generational talent' but otherwise just great athletes. Of course the way we lost it was awful and similar to how 2006 FB went down.
It hurts because the Sweet 16 is a legitimately GREAT season. And the path to the Elite 8 after Houston was there for the taking.
Not an excuse nor a "moral victory," but this season was a success unless one truly believed we were ever as good as we were when ranked #11. Maybe with everyone completely healthy they keep on rolling like that.
To replicate and get "back" to the tournament must have been incredible pressure on Pikiell and the players and they stepped up and did it. I know Pikiell said that last season and this season felt like one long torturous season. And hopefully I like some future NCAAT-caliber Rutgers tournament teams more than this one (I liked last year's more) but this was the least entertaining and depressing season of CBB that I can remember as a whole. Rutgers was the saving grace of that. Guys like Young and Johnson made me cheer out loud and a
Usually I watch every MWC, Big West, WCC, Pac-12 10pm and 11pm start that I can, but this year I just couldn't do it. The joy of staying up to watch wasn't there. It wasn't there for a lot of the teams, either. Towards the end of the season, I *kind of* got to that point but overall it was never that anticipation looking at the schedule of every day and picking out every game I was going to watch. Except Rutgers. My long-winded point is that handwringing and what-ifs happen no matter what. We want our team to ******* win and kick ***. But after a life of watching all the teams my non-Rutgers buds went to college at go to the tournament (even lowly Lehigh beating Duke with CJ McCollum!), we finally had a legit arrival. It's all about becoming that program that puts itself in the place to have games like this every year and the more often you get there, the higher the chances that you'll get another FF (my standard for a truly truly great year).
It hurts because the Sweet 16 is a legitimately GREAT season. And the path to the Elite 8 after Houston was there for the taking.
Not an excuse nor a "moral victory," but this season was a success unless one truly believed we were ever as good as we were when ranked #11. Maybe with everyone completely healthy they keep on rolling like that.
To replicate and get "back" to the tournament must have been incredible pressure on Pikiell and the players and they stepped up and did it. I know Pikiell said that last season and this season felt like one long torturous season. And hopefully I like some future NCAAT-caliber Rutgers tournament teams more than this one (I liked last year's more) but this was the least entertaining and depressing season of CBB that I can remember as a whole. Rutgers was the saving grace of that. Guys like Young and Johnson made me cheer out loud and a
Usually I watch every MWC, Big West, WCC, Pac-12 10pm and 11pm start that I can, but this year I just couldn't do it. The joy of staying up to watch wasn't there. It wasn't there for a lot of the teams, either. Towards the end of the season, I *kind of* got to that point but overall it was never that anticipation looking at the schedule of every day and picking out every game I was going to watch. Except Rutgers. My long-winded point is that handwringing and what-ifs happen no matter what. We want our team to ******* win and kick ***. But after a life of watching all the teams my non-Rutgers buds went to college at go to the tournament (even lowly Lehigh beating Duke with CJ McCollum!), we finally had a legit arrival. It's all about becoming that program that puts itself in the place to have games like this every year and the more often you get there, the higher the chances that you'll get another FF (my standard for a truly truly great year).
I’ll take the program after losing to Louisville 93-32 in Big East tournament.
I was disputing that there was a turnaround. That would imply a slow start followed by a great finish. We had a fast start and our ending included getting blown out by the worst team in the conference. You never knew what to expect. So while I agree finishing the season with an NCAA win is awesome, in my view it would be inaccurate to call it a turnaround.
It was a slow start. We started 3-6. And then an epic turnaround. That’s just facts, sorry.
To quote Dramarama...Love and happiness aren't the same. I LOVE Rutgers Basketball. But they don't always make me happy. And that's OK.
Game 1 - Sacred Heart - WIN
Game 2 - FDU - WIN
Game 3 - Hofstra - WIN
Game 4 - Syracuse - WIN
Game 5 - Maryland - WIN
Game 6 - Illinois - WIN
First 8 regular season games...7 wins, 1 loss
Last 7 regular season games...3 wins, 4 losses
Agree to disagree on the facts
Why do you feel the need to post this? It’s great we made the dance snd went into the second round. I don’t even blame anyone for the meltdown against Houston. But the regular season past the first Ohio State game was at times poop show, a few decent outings, a few outings where we hung on for dear life and easily could have lost. There was regression from essentially everyone on the team save Jacob Young and Myles (mostly).
Did we dance? Yes. With our talent did we underachieve in the regular season? Yes. Was our coaching spot on the whole year? No. All in all was the season a success? Yes, if judged by making the dance and going to the second round. But in no way was this an “epic turnaround.” We did just enough on a whole to get there, just enough to beat Clemson, and then not quite enough to beat Houston (which again I blame no one for).
How about a great start and a bad streak against better competition and a solid finish followed by an ncaa showing demonstrative of our ability to compete with anyone in the country? Would that be better???
That's not the point I was making. There is a vocal group of people who have decided that the best season in 38 years here was garbage and won't let themselves be happy about it. And so I wonder if they are ever happy about sports, because... not a lot of teams win championships year in and year out.
If going from 90% chance of a sweet 16 to 0% is an epic collapse, then going from 5-10% chance of making the round of 32 to 100% is an epic turnaround. You can’t have it both ways.
The whole point of being like that is to claim they are all about "winning". But at some point, if you are not a miserable bastard, that should take a back seat to be a human being.
We went and started off 3-1 in conference play, and got to 3-6 to start big ten as you said with 8 of the 9 games against tournament teams.
After 3-6, we went 7-1 against non tournament teams and 1-4 against tournament teams...
We got to 11th in the country in the early stages of the toughest part of our schedule and simply played the schedule out. We actually got worse not better but credit to team for taking care of business when needed for the most part. Saying they “turned it around” is a stretch to say the least.
After 3-6, we went 7-1 against non tournament teams and 1-4 against tournament teams...
We got to 11th in the country in the early stages of the toughest part of our schedule and simply played the schedule out. We actually got worse not better but credit to team for taking care of business when needed for the most part. Saying they “turned it around” is a stretch to say the least.
When they were 3-6 they had little chance to get to the round of 32. 10% probably. Then they made it. They had the opportunity to blow it and they didn't. Epic turnaround.
2 things can be true at the same time. I can be happy about the season and making the round of 32, but I can also be disappointed at not capitalizing on the chance to make the sweet 16 and even a possible final 4 berth. The road was not impossible to make the final 4 looking at how the bracket shook out.