I am as frustrated as many on this site, and am in the camp of people who fear this school is years away from getting to the Final Four --- a thought based more on the current mental make up and perimeter defensive abilities of the program, not the talent we are able to attract to X. What Mack has done with recruiting has been exceptional, and this year's rotation had the talent, but not certain intangibles, to get to San Antonio.
Being a one seed in a down year in college hoops, there was, and may not be, a better chance for Xavier to have finally won a region. And we failed.
With that though... were we even going to beat Gonzaga? Of course you have to play the games out, and anything can happen, but what I see from this year's Bulldogs club was a horrible matchup for X.
They have physical and versatile bigs.
They have athletic guards that can shoot.
They have experience.
Florida State missed a lot of wide open 3s. Mack probably employed the 1-3-1 to give the Seminoles those shots knowing they wouldn't make them, but guys like Norvell, Tillie, Perkins, and even Melson would feast on all the wide open corner 3s our zone usually creates (Exhibit: Villanova).
If we get to LA, and lose to Gonzaga, is the narrative and fallout from our fans any different following that game than what we are seeing today?
Would you be more or less upset if we suffered another big blowout loss in the next round to Mark Few?
Perhaps we were just delaying the inevitable, but I am in the camp that it's Final Four or bust for a team like this. Another Sweet 16 appearance doesn't excite me, and I am not sure our ceiling was beyond a tough Zags team.
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03-19-2018, 04:19 PM #1
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But were we even going to beat Gonzaga?
Last edited by BCole4Life; 03-19-2018 at 04:30 PM.
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03-19-2018, 04:20 PM #2
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03-19-2018, 04:22 PM #3
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I think we would have beaten them. I think it would've been a toss-up, but I could've lived with a loss to them. Sweet 16 is the bar for a successful season for me. Once you're there, it's all about bounces and matchups, etc. I know people were afraid of them, but they almost lost twice to two teams who are worse than us. Also, Gonzaga was a top 10, top 12 team, so losing to them would've been marginally better. They are a heck of a lot better than FSU.
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03-19-2018, 04:23 PM #4
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What makes it dumb?
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03-19-2018, 04:24 PM #5
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03-19-2018, 05:40 PM #6
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03-19-2018, 05:51 PM #7
A. It's your first post and it's about how the team can't win.
B. It's all hypothetical, so who the hell cares? Why not wonder if we could have gotten past the '92 Olympic Dream Team?
C. Reality was sucktastic enough last night. Who wants to examine why we would have lost to another team?
D. Your conclusion seems to be if we're put in a bracket where we'll potentially meet up with Gonzaga we should decline to play because we will never beat them and therefore not reach our goal.Xavier Basketball: We're Not Scared of Anyone!
Zip Em Up!
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03-19-2018, 06:05 PM #8
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well i don't think the point of a message board is to avoid posing hypothetical questions that could spark discussion, so here i am.
the next game was going to be very difficult and a bad matchup for X. if you are unwilling to accept that you're jaded.
if they were to lose in the next round, would you sit here and call the season a disappointment or be satisfied w/ another second weekend appearance?
we're sitting here pissed at what happened last night. im curious if/how the sentiment would have been different if X beat FSU but failed to make the final four.
that doesn't seem like a dumb topic to explore for this fan base.Last edited by BCole4Life; 03-19-2018 at 06:11 PM.
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03-20-2018, 09:33 AM #9
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A valid post BCole and that thought was in my head as well. But I was certainly welcoming the opportunity to see if X could make another notch on their revenge tour!
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03-20-2018, 10:07 AM #10
To answer the question posed on this thread- "I don't know, but I sure would have liked the opportunity to find out."
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