United States of College Basketball

[SShoe]

If this team is .500 or over I will be impressed. Crews would have done a good or great coaching job to achieve that goal. So then recruiting would be my main concern with him. That said my win prediction will be south of 10.

That's some serious pessimism given that we won 11 last year. Either you think the schedule is far more difficult this year or you think we'll be worse, which means you thought Austin McBroom, John Manning, and Tanner Lancona were all that and a bag of nuts.

Mark it down, I think we'll win at least 17 games.

[slufan13]

The problem last year was that the team that showed up in A10 play would not have won 8 games out of conference. I've never seen a team regress like we did last year.

[majerus mojo]

Honest question for all the negative posters out there. If this team wins 17-18 games next year will you have praise for the coach and believe we are on the right path or will there be something else to complain about?

I've seen a lot of posts asking the positive posters what number of wins will cause them to turn on Crews, so I think its fair to ask what number of wins will change their minds.

17-18 wins will get us back on track, and would be right around my optimistic expectations. We have to make up ground from last season if we're going to be in a position to make the dance in '16-18. I'm still high on the MY DR MB AG class, while not being a fan of many JC 'coaching moments'. So we'll see how that unfolds. 20 years of slightly above avg. mid-major work vs. one (fingers crossed) 18 W campaign isn't going to change my JC opinion. Decent caretaker, but we'll still a better solution at some point

[SShoe]

The problem last year was that the team that showed up in A10 play would not have won 8 games out of conference. I've never seen a team regress like we did last year.

Eh, I think frustration set in by the midpoint and many players cashed it in. I don't think the same will happen this year.

[slu72]

The win total is important and definitely THE major indicator of where this team is and where it might be headed. Also important is the way they are playing, ie are we competitive and playing like a team. Last year this team was not competitive and looked like a collection of individuals rather than the well oiled cohesive units we'd become accustomed to with RMs players.

You can chalk up last year to too many FR, a mish mash of rotations, dissenting players, and unfamiliarity. So getting 11 Ws may have been a major achievement. But it wasn't the amount of W's that was the story, it was the lack of progress to playing competitive games. In fact, we saw regression.

What we should look for this season is have all the negative issues been fixed or, at the least, appear to be getting fixed? If they are, the Ws will come. Maybe not as many as we'd like, but at least we will have some hope for the future. My guess on Ws this year is max 13 and worse case is 8 Ws. But the Ws won't matter as much as the overall development of this group growing into a sound BB team.

[majerus mojo]

Agreed, I'd like to at least enjoy watching the games. The second half of last season was shameful. 13 Ws still equals a lot of frustrating losses though, and I won't be getting excited about a two-win improvement heading into next offseason

[Clock_Tower]

Yes. I mean this year.

Pistol. Are you going to answer Shoe?

[Pistol]

Pistol. Are you going to answer Shoe?

For the second time, read the remainder of the thread before posting. I answered him a while back.

[Clock_Tower]

For the second time, read the remainder of the thread before posting. I answered him a while back.

No. I read your answer. Shoe specifically asked if you would have praise for Crews and that our program would be deemed to be going down the right path if 17-18 wins is achieved or if you would find something else to complain about. Your answer, of course, responded to neither but did suggest that it would be progress and that you would be pleased and you didn't respond to whether there would be something else you would complain about. My guess is that even if 17-18 wins is achieved (and that isn't too much of a stretch when one considers we won 11 games last year) that you would still not be happy with Crews and that you would still complain. Sorry I am trying to pin you down but I read your earlier posts as wanting some of the rest of us who are optimistic about this year to be pinned down so that if the season doesn't go well, you are then more than ready to tell us that you previously told us.

[Pistol]

No. I read your answer. Shoe specifically asked if you would have praise for Crews and that our program would be deemed to be going down the right path if 17-18 wins is achieved or if you would find something else to complain about. Your answer, of course, responded to neither but did suggest that it would be progress and that you would be pleased and you didn't respond to whether there would be something else you would complain about. My guess is that even if 17-18 wins is achieved (and that isn't too much of a stretch when one considers we won 11 games last year) that you would still not be happy with Crews and that you would still complain. Sorry I am trying to pin you down but I read your earlier posts as wanting some of the rest of us who are optimistic about this year to be pinned down so that if the season doesn't go well, you are then more than ready to tell us that you previously told us.

My only complaint right now is about how irritating your posts are.

I replied to his question even though it was directed at "negative posters" and not me specifically. Once again, you're incorrect about a key detail. (Also, one of the issues I have with you and some other posters right now is that any of us who aren't being rah-rah positive are just complaining, as if we weren't expressing concerns about what is actually happening. I wouldn't express doubt and disappointment if the results were any good.)

By calling 17-18 wins "clear progress" I think I addressed whether I thought we were "on the right path," as his question specifies. I also told him I'd be pleased. Would I "praise" the coach? No, I'm not sure I'm even capable of the emotions involved in "praise," whatever he means by that. Certainly not for finishing barely above .500. Maybe if we won a National Championship I could dig up something along those lines.

But other posters after me made some crucial points that I left out. The arc of last season was arguably more troubling than the record. That's important again this season. Getting out to a good start is important. Seeing marked improvement from the individual players is important. Seeing some semblance of a D-I offense is important. Seeing the physical (strength & conditioning) development of our players is important. My guess is that if we get to 18 or so wins, those areas will largely be trending in the right direction. Praiseworthy? No. But slow progress is better than the trainwreck we watched last season.

If my answer before and now this unnecessary clarification isn't entirely clear, I don't know what to tell you. There's no need to try and pin me down. I'm not dodging anything and have been very, very clear about how I feel about this program and this upcoming season.