Game Thread - @ DUQ Saturday 3/7 2pm ESPN+

Not going to pretend blowing a 30-point lead looks good, but the context around this team all season matters. We started off on the wrong foot with underfunded on the NIL front. I hear SLU and others have committed to further increasing their NIL for next season and if we don't step that up nobody else will be able to achieve even what we have this season. We’ve been shorthanded, dealing with injuries and lineup disruptions, and by the end of the year you’re asking guys to play roles they weren’t originally built for. When that happens, depth and fatigue show up late in games.

The bigger picture is that Coach Mooney coming back gives the program the gift of stability. After 20+ years he’s built a culture that has produced a lot more good seasons than bad ones. Now the focus shifts to the conference tournament. Once you’re there, the seed doesn’t really matter as much as getting hot for a few days, same as nearly every other team there. Sometimes teams that have taken their lumps all season are the most dangerous in March. Clean up the mistakes, get through the play-in game, and suddenly the whole narrative can change just like it did in DC a few years back.
 
I couldn’t help but chuckle a little when I read the comments from people on the basketball teams’s Twitter post of the final score. I presume they are not spider fans but rather people gambling, and they kept complaining how our team must be match fixing. To most people who don’t follow this program, the results are so bad that the only conclusion they draw is that match fixing has to be taking place. However, to us more seasoned Spider fans who have become numb to it all, we know that this is just who we are. Whenever we hit rock bottom, we bring our shovel and dig deeper. One person even tagged the FBI director who we all know is a UR alum lol.
Link?
 
Not going to pretend blowing a 30-point lead looks good, but the context around this team all season matters. We started off on the wrong foot with underfunded on the NIL front. I hear SLU and others have committed to further increasing their NIL for next season and if we don't step that up nobody else will be able to achieve even what we have this season. We’ve been shorthanded, dealing with injuries and lineup disruptions, and by the end of the year you’re asking guys to play roles they weren’t originally built for. When that happens, depth and fatigue show up late in games.

The bigger picture is that Coach Mooney coming back gives the program the gift of stability. After 20+ years he’s built a culture that has produced a lot more good seasons than bad ones. Now the focus shifts to the conference tournament. Once you’re there, the seed doesn’t really matter as much as getting hot for a few days, same as nearly every other team there. Sometimes teams that have taken their lumps all season are the most dangerous in March. Clean up the mistakes, get through the play-in game, and suddenly the whole narrative can change just like it did in DC a few years back.
Mooney couldn't have written this any better himself.
 
Not going to pretend blowing a 30-point lead looks good, but the context around this team all season matters. We started off on the wrong foot with underfunded on the NIL front. I hear SLU and others have committed to further increasing their NIL for next season and if we don't step that up nobody else will be able to achieve even what we have this season. We’ve been shorthanded, dealing with injuries and lineup disruptions, and by the end of the year you’re asking guys to play roles they weren’t originally built for. When that happens, depth and fatigue show up late in games.

The bigger picture is that Coach Mooney coming back gives the program the gift of stability. After 20+ years he’s built a culture that has produced a lot more good seasons than bad ones. Now the focus shifts to the conference tournament. Once you’re there, the seed doesn’t really matter as much as getting hot for a few days, same as nearly every other team there. Sometimes teams that have taken their lumps all season are the most dangerous in March. Clean up the mistakes, get through the play-in game, and suddenly the whole narrative can change just like it did in DC a few years back.
Everyone deserves an opinion. That's all that I can say about that. At loss for words.
 
Not going to pretend blowing a 30-point lead looks good, but the context around this team all season matters. We started off on the wrong foot with underfunded on the NIL front. I hear SLU and others have committed to further increasing their NIL for next season and if we don't step that up nobody else will be able to achieve even what we have this season. We’ve been shorthanded, dealing with injuries and lineup disruptions, and by the end of the year you’re asking guys to play roles they weren’t originally built for. When that happens, depth and fatigue show up late in games.

The bigger picture is that Coach Mooney coming back gives the program the gift of stability. After 20+ years he’s built a culture that has produced a lot more good seasons than bad ones. Now the focus shifts to the conference tournament. Once you’re there, the seed doesn’t really matter as much as getting hot for a few days, same as nearly every other team there. Sometimes teams that have taken their lumps all season are the most dangerous in March. Clean up the mistakes, get through the play-in game, and suddenly the whole narrative can change just like it did in DC a few years back.
A flaming bag of shit with a bow on it can be a gift too, but not one that anyone wants.
 
Not going to pretend blowing a 30-point lead looks good, but the context around this team all season matters. We started off on the wrong foot with underfunded on the NIL front. I hear SLU and others have committed to further increasing their NIL for next season and if we don't step that up nobody else will be able to achieve even what we have this season. We’ve been shorthanded, dealing with injuries and lineup disruptions, and by the end of the year you’re asking guys to play roles they weren’t originally built for. When that happens, depth and fatigue show up late in games.

The bigger picture is that Coach Mooney coming back gives the program the gift of stability. After 20+ years he’s built a culture that has produced a lot more good seasons than bad ones. Now the focus shifts to the conference tournament. Once you’re there, the seed doesn’t really matter as much as getting hot for a few days, same as nearly every other team there. Sometimes teams that have taken their lumps all season are the most dangerous in March. Clean up the mistakes, get through the play-in game, and suddenly the whole narrative can change just like it did in DC a few years back.
Mooney couldn't have written this any better himself.
If SpiderTrue wrote this, than it must be true. Take it all the way to the bank.
 
Regarding stabiltity: If you are an A10 school, you want coaches staying 2 to 3 years then jumping to P5. That means you are winning and making NCAA tournaments, which should be the goal (clearly this is not the goal at UR). This way you get hungry coaches who want to win and move up. Loser mentality is keeping a coach who has made 1 NCAA in 15 years.
 
Regarding stabiltity: If you are an A10 school, you want coaches staying 2 to 3 years then jumping to P5. That means you are winning and making NCAA tournaments, which should be the goal (clearly this is not the goal at UR). This way you get hungry coaches who want to win and move up. Loser mentality is keeping a coach who has made 1 NCAA in 15 years.
Yep, that is the model. We almost got lucky with Beielein and had a few more years. He turned down a couple big boys, then the WVA job opened late unexpectedly. He said he almost stayed because he didn't think his sone could play at that level.

Instead, we have a very stable coach, that no program is interested in, other than our admin and AD and his big rich buddy.
 
Not going to pretend blowing a 30-point lead looks good, but the context around this team all season matters. We started off on the wrong foot with underfunded on the NIL front. I hear SLU and others have committed to further increasing their NIL for next season and if we don't step that up nobody else will be able to achieve even what we have this season. We’ve been shorthanded, dealing with injuries and lineup disruptions, and by the end of the year you’re asking guys to play roles they weren’t originally built for. When that happens, depth and fatigue show up late in games.

The bigger picture is that Coach Mooney coming back gives the program the gift of stability. After 20+ years he’s built a culture that has produced a lot more good seasons than bad ones. Now the focus shifts to the conference tournament. Once you’re there, the seed doesn’t really matter as much as getting hot for a few days, same as nearly every other team there. Sometimes teams that have taken their lumps all season are the most dangerous in March. Clean up the mistakes, get through the play-in game, and suddenly the whole narrative can change just like it did in DC a few years back.
This is a terrible take predicated on bad data and faulty observations.

1. What injuries have derailed the season? Beagle went out 26 games in and Argabright/Walz missed what, 3 games collectively? Even if you don’t believe in the reality that guys get injured, our season has been largely injury free.
2. Is our NIL worse than Charleston southern, furman and Elon?
3. Losing records three of the past four seasons is not the kind of stability we should celebrate.
4. More good seasons than bad. Barely. 12 winning seasons, 9 that were .500 or worse. That’s a low bar compared to any recent predecessor other than Dooley, and Dooley got let go.

Look, I appreciate you’re a supporter, that’s your choice. But you’re concocting a rationale that doesn’t jive with reality. Perhaps it’s because you’ve not known what good looks like, this ain’t it.
 
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