Looking ahead at our schedule, FSU, BC, and Wake are definitely winnable games. Throw in an upset or two and an ACC tourney win and we might be able to finish in a great position. What are your thoughts? Obviously, the team is exceeding expectations so far and it looks like we will finally be out of the cellar, but it's always fun to consider the possibilities of an at-large NIT bid.
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I don't think we'll need to throw an upset or two in the ACCs to "salvage a decent season." If we win 6 ACC games that will be more than a decent season, based on the 2 ACC wins each of the past two seasons.
I'll be happy if we end up with a .500 record and hope we get an invite to postseason, that would be a huge leap from cellar dweller
I'm already happy with this season. Not to say I don't want us to pick up a couple more wins and a CBI/NIT bid, but we've already seen this team show a lot of positive growth this year.
We beat UVA. We gave ND a fight in their house. We're already at 12 wins and it isn't February. I'd say this season is beyond successful to what we've expected at this point.
Given that we essentially have an 8 man roster in the toughest conference, i'd be fine with whatever amount of wins we get the rest of the year. We should be able to beat BC but pretty much every game is a toss up.
Let's beat UNC this weekend and assess afterwards.
My guesstimate before the season was 18 wins but that was thinking Allen was more dependable and Clarke was healthy. I also didn't think Leday would be useful or that Wilson would have a role, so maybe that evens out. I thought Ala St and NW were wins too.
But I don't want to sell this team short, still feels like we haven't played our best yet. 12 more ACC games, I could see 6 or 7 wins
NW is 15-5 with two of those losses to Maryland and one to UNC and we lost to them by 2 points. Pretty good team.
I just really want to get to 13 right now.
Sunday.
Oh... this year, the joy of knocking off the Heels would be almost as nice as knocking off the Hoos.
Almost, as in a really big, gigantic almost.
The girls have a good shot, but I'm not so sure about the guys. The ACC has been wacky so far, so I guess we'll see come March 5th (The return of JJ*) or so.
*Never knew they made them, but there are some JJ bobbleheads floating around that survived being thrown out. Apparently they were made and were going to be a giveaway.
Even if they don't get to 18 wins and just do not have any more blowout losses, this season puts them ahead of expectations, especially when you consider the injuries to Hill and Clarke.
Of course not. Be pleasantly surprised if we get to 15 or 16
You guys remember the days when we were saying how sick and tired we are of the NIT and how old playing in the Orange Bowl for football was?
...In all seriousness idk if we'll get to 18 wins but I'd consider making the NIT a successful season.
I would consider getting to .500 after the last 3 years a huge success.
After watching this team compete, nothing would surprise me. Other than the Duke game, they have won or been in the other games they have played and seem to be getting better each game. Just wish we could go through a season without all the injures.
Friend and I discussed what we would consider on the court improvement this year during an period in VT football season that was not much fun to talk about. He wanted to see us get an upset or too in some of the big games, get a marquis win were or there. I wanted to consistently beat the bad teams to prove we were not one. Sweep the bottom teams, don't lose to anyone in the bottom half at home. So far we done some of each. I am seeing progress, I am happy. We had both thought being a bubble discussion was more realistic than tournament play. The way we are playing, we may both have aimed to low, but I am keeping my expectations. I am enjoying having a hokie team do better than expected for a change!!
There is already signs of progress in year 2 with already more ACC wins. Now I would like to see us finish around .500 to top it off. If better then its a plus and could lead to one of the smaller post season tournaments, but just being more competitive is a plus unlike the last couple of seasons.
Living in NC, never a bad year when we beat Hoos and as many NC schools as possible. Would love a victory against UNCheat this Sunday,couldn't get much better.
Before the NC State game I thought we would get 4 ACC wins total.
This season reminds me a lot of the 2007-08 season. That was Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen's freshman year. We still had A.D. Vassallo and Deron Washington, but we were expected to finish 10th in the ACC after losing Zabian Dowdell, Jamon Gordon, and Coleman Collins. The 07-08 team finished 4th in the ACC, won several impressive games, and was one win away from making the NCAA Tournament (I still hate Tyler Hansbrough to this day). While I don't see us making as close as that team did to the Big Dance, I do see an NIT bid.
Ah, the ol' 'certifiably insane' game. Yup, still hate Hansborough.
Fuck Tyler Hansborough...and Matt Ryan
At least I had Matt Ryan puking up his guts and beating Boston College in the ACC Championship to fall back on after that Thursday night game in 2007. We never got another shot at Hansbrough. Our last memory of him against Tech was him prancing down the floor after making that stupid lucky shot in the ACC tournament.
Be in every game, finish 0.500 in ACC play, and get a NIT bid would be a big accomplishment to me, especially in light of the injuries to Clarke and Hill. If Clarke had remained healthy, I was thinking we could have had an outside shot at a NCAA bid, cause I think we would have won a game like the ND game with him, especially his energy on the boards, where we have suffered since losing him. I'm really optimistic for the future of this team, and I think Buzz has done an outstanding job. It's a work in progress, and we knew it wouldn't happen overnight.
Hey, what's the deal with Ty Outlaw? He still on the team?
Outlaw has an undisclosed medical condition that is causing him to redshirt this year.
I think we needed one of these two (UNC or ND) to fall our way, or win a few more that we shouldn't and keep taking care of business against the lower teams. My concern is how the team responds to a string of (close) losses to the top teams with Louisville coming to town. Are their spirits broken? Bodies? Or can Buzz finagle the positives into more trust and confidence down the stretch?
With the effort and drive they had yesterday, I put nothing past our team. I just play a lot of shoulda, coulda with Chris Clarke's injury. Can he redshirt? He missed at least 2 thirds of the season.
Considering that (with the exception of the Duke game), even our losses are competitive indicates to me that we're maintaining a high level of play this year, which is really refreshing. I kept being afraid that we "got away with" a couple fluke wins early and then would start getting blown out, but seeing us give ND and UNC such tough games, I'm really proud of our team and excited about the future of Buzzketball!
I know it's easy to poopoo moral victories, but the last two games have been telling. We played a complete 40 mins in South Bend and had a good shot in the air for the road win. We got down 20 to the best team in the country and battled like hell to take the lead.
Moral victories are part of the metrics of progression this year. Building the culture, you can see it.
Yes, I believe they can get to 18 wins :)
How about 20?
We can do even better than that for a Yosemite Sam gif. He's been in a basketball movie!
I knew it!