The facility point was not the primary point, but how does comparing anything about us to Duke or UNC make any sense?Luke The Drifter said:Zachary Klement said:Being realistic, I do not understand why that would be anyone's expectation. Football and baseball have the financial backing to where they SHOULD be contending every single year...baseball does better at that than football. Basketball does not have the same support. Buzz is paid well, but from what I understand, his staff is not highly paid relative to top programs and it does not seem like NIL dollars are as competitive for our hoops as football and baseball. Then, of course, football has a cathedral, baseball has a nice ballpark that is going to get renovations, and Reed is a dump.Luke The Drifter said:bobinator said:
I think some people are falling into the "classic Buzz skid thing" but are lacking that perspective for sure. Last year's five-game skid involved losses to three teams that weren't even close to making the NCAA Tournament, and two truly bad teams, Vandy and Arkansas, with two of those bad losses coming on our home court (Vandy and South Carolina.)
State and Vandy are going to make the tournament. These are not really comparable dips in our play.
As you said, our worst loss is at UCF on the road on the first day of the season.
Last year we had seven losses worse than that.
Last year was also a fairly "blah" type year. I mean, if last year was our gold standard for success, then yea...this year's soon to be 5-game skid doesn't look so bad.
I think everyone is frustrated with Buzz because every year it's *something* that takes a good season to a bad one...or a great season to only a good one. To date, Buzz has not shown the ability to put together a good, strong, consistent product from start to finish.
Whether it's
...going to a non-conference tourney and losing consecutive games to Harvard, Temple, and Fairfield
...or having half of your conference games cancelled due to "Covid"
...or having an 8-game losing streak and missing the NCAA tourney
...or losing to Murray State and Wofford then getting blown out by Penn State in the NCAAs
...or losing 5-straight (2 of which were horrible losses) and having to eke our way into the dance
...or blowing a 22-point 2nd half lead a few weeks ahead of a (likely) 5-game losing streak
But every year...every...single...year...it's something that prevents us from being a true contender. We're good enough to get into some conversations, but not good enough to actually win anything of any meaning. And maybe that is our ceiling. Maybe Buzz has taken us as high as A&M basketball will ever go. But if Buzz is going to earn one of the top salaries in the nation, he has got to find a way to recruit and coach and develop a team to be one of the top programs in the nation.
That's why I said that maybe Buzz has taken us as high as A&M basketball will ever go. We may be witnessing the pinnacle of Aggie hoops, but just don't realize it's happening.
And while Reed is not great, it's not a dump. Baylor won a national title in an arena that looked like a golden boob and was known for carbon monoxide leaks. Cameron Indoor Stadium on Duke's campus is nothing to get excited about, facilities-wise. Villanova's Finneran Pavilion is a glorified rec center. North Carolina's Dean Dome is about as "blah" as it gets. The O'Connell Center on Florida's campus is certainly nothing special...but UF won back to back titles less than 20 years ago.
The facility doesn't make the team. There are a lot of nice arenas out there that house pretty mediocre teams.
Some positivity
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Last: 3 days ago by Luke The Drifter
I could sure go for some posititties. Oh wait you said positivity…..
Give me the guy who shoots for excellence and fails over the guy who shoots for mediocrity and succeeds.
The entire body of work has revealed that we play to the level of our opponent.
The real issue is, we MIGHT get one more win at LSU but that's not given. We have a real chance of ending the season on a 6 game skid and that will DESTROY our chance at a good seed and cripple our chances at a deep run in the tournament.
IOW we piss it all away and end the season with no hardware and an early tournament exit. Do we hang a banner that says "made the tournament" or "was ranked in the top 10"?
IOW we piss it all away and end the season with no hardware and an early tournament exit. Do we hang a banner that says "made the tournament" or "was ranked in the top 10"?
I mean we do literally have a banner for all the years we've made the tournament. So yes.
bobinator said:
I mean we do literally have a banner for all the years we've made the tournament. So yes.
Yes I know and when we were in the Melvin Watkins era it was an achievement. Today it's a participation ribbon
greg.w.h said:
Great facilities make money. Money is the oxygen of intercollegiate sports as one Texas A&M AD put it.
In reality great communities support their local athletics and make them worth watching. No…not the students. They have some impact but not the impact that truly matters. BCS and the university just don't care.
With this I totally agree. Outside of football, A&M athletics gets virtually no local support. And it's not like Bryan/College Station doesn't have the population to support it and it's not like Reed, Olsen, the softball field, or whatever have any worse parking/traffic than other schools around the country. You nailed it. The community and ultimately the university don't care about anything except football and, to a much lesser extent, baseball.
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
Zachary Klement said:The facility point was not the primary point, but how does comparing anything about us to Duke or UNC make any sense?Luke The Drifter said:Zachary Klement said:Being realistic, I do not understand why that would be anyone's expectation. Football and baseball have the financial backing to where they SHOULD be contending every single year...baseball does better at that than football. Basketball does not have the same support. Buzz is paid well, but from what I understand, his staff is not highly paid relative to top programs and it does not seem like NIL dollars are as competitive for our hoops as football and baseball. Then, of course, football has a cathedral, baseball has a nice ballpark that is going to get renovations, and Reed is a dump.Luke The Drifter said:bobinator said:
I think some people are falling into the "classic Buzz skid thing" but are lacking that perspective for sure. Last year's five-game skid involved losses to three teams that weren't even close to making the NCAA Tournament, and two truly bad teams, Vandy and Arkansas, with two of those bad losses coming on our home court (Vandy and South Carolina.)
State and Vandy are going to make the tournament. These are not really comparable dips in our play.
As you said, our worst loss is at UCF on the road on the first day of the season.
Last year we had seven losses worse than that.
Last year was also a fairly "blah" type year. I mean, if last year was our gold standard for success, then yea...this year's soon to be 5-game skid doesn't look so bad.
I think everyone is frustrated with Buzz because every year it's *something* that takes a good season to a bad one...or a great season to only a good one. To date, Buzz has not shown the ability to put together a good, strong, consistent product from start to finish.
Whether it's
...going to a non-conference tourney and losing consecutive games to Harvard, Temple, and Fairfield
...or having half of your conference games cancelled due to "Covid"
...or having an 8-game losing streak and missing the NCAA tourney
...or losing to Murray State and Wofford then getting blown out by Penn State in the NCAAs
...or losing 5-straight (2 of which were horrible losses) and having to eke our way into the dance
...or blowing a 22-point 2nd half lead a few weeks ahead of a (likely) 5-game losing streak
But every year...every...single...year...it's something that prevents us from being a true contender. We're good enough to get into some conversations, but not good enough to actually win anything of any meaning. And maybe that is our ceiling. Maybe Buzz has taken us as high as A&M basketball will ever go. But if Buzz is going to earn one of the top salaries in the nation, he has got to find a way to recruit and coach and develop a team to be one of the top programs in the nation.
That's why I said that maybe Buzz has taken us as high as A&M basketball will ever go. We may be witnessing the pinnacle of Aggie hoops, but just don't realize it's happening.
And while Reed is not great, it's not a dump. Baylor won a national title in an arena that looked like a golden boob and was known for carbon monoxide leaks. Cameron Indoor Stadium on Duke's campus is nothing to get excited about, facilities-wise. Villanova's Finneran Pavilion is a glorified rec center. North Carolina's Dean Dome is about as "blah" as it gets. The O'Connell Center on Florida's campus is certainly nothing special...but UF won back to back titles less than 20 years ago.
The facility doesn't make the team. There are a lot of nice arenas out there that house pretty mediocre teams.
Both Duke and UNC have top-notch basketball programs with subpar facilities. I have been to games at both places and other than the history and the banners hanging from the rafters, neither is much to get excited about. The buildings and amenities themselves are both underwhelming.
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
Quote:
we win that game if it weren't for an inadvertent whistle.
for giggles let's say the whistle doesn't happen but Wade's 3 rims out just like the following play (which no longer happens) and no other plays are impacted in this parallel universe, this adds several seconds to the clock on our final possession for Wade to hit the game winner
the whistle cost us the game
....although the more likely scenario is shot is off and Payne gets fouled on the putback and calmly drains both FT's to send it to OT, in the subsequent 4 OT's both teams alternate the end of regulation shenanigans until so many players foul out the 5th OT has to be played 3 on 3 fullcourt which Jaelyn Lee dominates like a pickup game and Andre Mills' redshirt gets burned finishing with a triple double
Kentucky and OU fans are furious to have missed their entire thriller of a normal game
I'll have what he's having
I'm still hoping to steal one against Auburn or Florida. We have proven that it's possible.Maroon Dawn said:
The real issue is, we MIGHT get one more win at LSU but that's not given. We have a real chance of ending the season on a 6 game skid and that will DESTROY our chance at a good seed and cripple our chances at a deep run in the tournament.
IOW we piss it all away and end the season with no hardware and an early tournament exit. Do we hang a banner that says "made the tournament" or "was ranked in the top 10"?
Don't be surprised to see A&M hang very close with Florida. I think this will be a close game. And I think the Auburn game will be close as well. Probably both are 1 or 2 possession games. Not going to say we win it, but I think we will make it close.
LouisvilleAg said:
Don't be surprised to see A&M hang very close with Florida. I think this will be a close game. And I think the Auburn game will be close as well. Probably both are 1 or 2 possession games. Not going to say we win it, but I think we will make it close.
I think we will have a legit chance vs Auburn based on Buzz vs Pearl matchup history and the game being at Reed. Florida is going to be really tough.
It's not even the offseason yet, we can't go through a 5 page thread of why Reed Arena sucking either does or doesn't matter yet
bobinator said:
It's not even the offseason yet, we can't go through a 5 page thread of why Reed Arena sucking either does or doesn't matter yet
Correct. Everyone should know by now it does not matter one bit.
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
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