Originally Posted by ud2
I am skeptical. Coming off 4 straight NCAAT appearances, the best streak in school history, and an A10 league title, you mean to tell me that the majority of people on here thought we might be below .500 this year? Sorry, I just am not buying that.
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It isn't what the initial expectations were, it is that certain expectations weren't tempered at all after the OOC. I believe I initially had us around 17 wins and adjusted that after the first two weeks of the season. I figured an NIT bid as well.
We all had high hopes for this season for reasons mentioned. I don't think that there is any issue with those high hopes as we as fans were accustomed to that. Instead of overplaying the Mendoza Line, the high expectations of a returning XW, a veteran and older European player, true big in Pierce, a guy that is touted to be better than his NBA brother, new coach, highly anticipated freshman....needed to be tempered after seeing the outcome on the floor.
XW injury issues. Kostas is what he is right now and is where he is for reasons unknown to us. Svoboda's practice game isn't translating to the 40 minutes that count, Pierce is a no show, freshman are playing like freshman with flashes of brilliance, AG is an unknown. Crosby is giving us what was expected, probably less with Crutcher giving more. Trey overplaying where most had him. Cunningham doing what was expected and DD playing as expected. No Miller. No Mikesell.
If a fan didn't adjust their expectations from the fall until now, then they set themselves up for failure and have no one to blame but themselves.
Yes, it sucks as a fan to see the record. It sucks even more for the guys on the floor. Some people have the idea that this program and team will be an E8 team every year...because that is probably where they actually appeared as a fan. Not people like most of us who have followed the program for nearly 40 years.
Tempered expectations made this season much easier on me as a die hard fan. I wish I had those same expectations prior to the AM years and I would have been much better off putting up with the early BG years. Let's just hope this doesn't end up as the later BG years.
