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This game was stress free for me. Our slim bubble chances died the moment we lost to UVA because the committee has shown numerous times they don't care about conference tournaments. Short of winning the whole thing again, we weren't making it regardless of how far we went.
Still a tad bit frustrating to watch though considering many of the reasons we lost this game pop in numerous losses all season. Fitting way for this team to go out (they'll play the NIT, I'm sure they'll go out the same way)
Fun fact about the weather. Apparently, the LCD screen on the TV camera at Nikolai froze and does not work. So when they were interviewing Greg Heister, 1 of the 2 main press coverage guys, the cameraman could not tell if he was actually on the camera or not as there was no image. I know nothing about TV cameras. Guess the camera is pointed at where you want it and you see it on the LCD screen and don't look through it anymore. But, no view last night.
Buddy do I have some bad news for you...
Guess who also went 19-13 this season? Wofford under Kevin Giltner with a team pressed on him since he was hired the week before the season started. It would be Karma for Young to face and lose to Wofford in the NIT.
Listened to several brief interviews with some of the leaders or favorites. All of them were earlier in the day when they were resting their teams in or around Nikolai.
General themes were that it started out very windy, but has died down today. The trail has been great. Several, including Paige, mentioned the area around Rohn was the best they had ever seen it or at least the best in years. Fast trail with good amounts of snow. The downhill from Rainy Pass to Rohn and then from Rohn to Nikolai are some of the most technically difficult areas, but it was smooth sailing for most - though not all, see below. Last night was very cold with people saying -40 to -50.
Jessie Holmes - Trip was cold and very windy. Noted that he is not often in the lead early, so unusual for him to be at the front. Last time he went out fast he was leading until Anvik (that was a southern route year and the checkpoint is not in the race this year) but then he faded. Noted last year he held back and surged later to win. But this year he is running a different race. Said he wants to be at the front and pace the field. Has been doing a lot of short runs with rest breaks in between. Noted that he has been using 2 leaders (Bronco and Zeus) that are not his normal leaders (Hercules and Polar) and that the new dogs have been leading great. Giving Hercules and Polar a rest from leading so they are ready later on. Suggested he would take his 24-hour layover at Takotna. Said a good spot for both the dogs to rest and the musher to get rested up too.
Pete Kaiser - Was glad to be past the tough, technical areas like the Dalzell Gorge. Has been a hard 2 days. Noted his team is used to running straight on river ice and narrow trails with sharp turns are not their element. Dogs have been up-and-down and he has 6 new young ones on his team this year. Feels that he has not been racing at all but getting the team set. Next step is to get to his 24-hour layover and then start from there anew.
Matt Hall - Commented on the really good trail through the Farewell Burn (a fire-scarred area notorious for having no snow cover) and the area around Rainy Pass was good too.
Ryan Redington - Noted he helped a musher along the trail (assume Mille). Said he is thinking about where to do his 24-hours as well. Like Jessie, hinted at Takota, but if the trail is good, may push on to the ghost town of Cripple before taking the long break. Noted was windy and may have been -40 last night.
Mille Porsild - is in a good position, but noted her position was better before she went into the trees. Slid off of a glacier trail and had the sled get stuck between 2 trees. Commented that she did not know how Paige got through that area as Paige had a trailer she was towing while Mille did not. It took her a while to get unstuck. Guessing Ryan helped, but no names were mentioned by him or her. Her sled also went into the water at one point. Said her sleeping bag was one big frozen sheet. Had a zipper freeze, so she could not open the bag to get her mittens. Thomas Waerner gave her a spare pair as she was worried about her hands. Estimated it was -50 last night. Whan asked why she does this will all the crazy things that can happen she said because you love the dogs.
Paige Drobny gave a short interview. You can tell being in front of a camera is not her thing. Said the dogs were running great and "really jazzed". Took several fairly long breaks in recent stretches. One by Finger Lake, about 3 hours by Rainy Pass and planned to stay ~4-4.5 areas in or near Nikoli. Also noted very fast and good trail., which is good that it was not rocky and bumpy as her back has been hurting.
Funny part is we did play zone in one of the last regular season games for a time. We were horrible at zone defense.
Let a team with zero true bigs equal us at 40 each in paint scoring. My only surprise was Wake number was that low. They did get 27/30 free throws so maybe that's my misconception. Hokies got 23/27 free throws.
Tired reasoning. Piss poor product consistently with any guards that can dribble or move off the ball.
oh geez, I thought it was mercifully over and my remote control might survive to football season. NIT just more chances for me to break it in disbelief over some incredibly stupid thing like being in college ball and not knowing how to set a screen.
basketball gods must have gotten jealous of the football gods eating our lunch
NIT....NIT....CMY....CMY
High potential, low basketball IQ. Just dumb mistakes all across that game and 55 missed layups. Defense was terrible allowing a bum ass Wake team to get to 75 points.
You are correct...my mistake.
Again, can argue Flagrant or not but a clean elbow to the face is 95% going to be a Flagrant.
But with 4 secs to shoot, we ran essentially a 2 man inbounds, with Lawal doubled from the start and Hammond the only other guy even making an attempt to get the ball. No stack, no screens, no action at all.
Zero late-game awareness or preparation.
Tuesday night, March 10 at about 9:40 PM east coast/5:40 PM Alaska.
The first 9 teams have gone through Nikoli and are on the trail to the town of McGrath. Most of which are resting along the trail. 7 other teams are resting in Nikoli. Likely the mushers getting their teams set up for the nighttime runs. Standings are:
1. Jessie Holmes resting on the trail with 16 dogs 284 miles in/691 to Nome
2. Riley Dyche resting on the trail with 16 dogs, 283 miles in/692 to Nome
3. Paige Drobny running 15 dogs 275 miles in/700 to Nome
4. Ryan Redington running 16 dogs 274 miles in/701 to Nome
5. Mille Porsild running 16 dogs 273 miles in/702 to Nome
6. Bailey Vitello running 16 dogs 272 miles in/703 to Nome
7. Michelle Phillips resting on the trail with 14 dogs, 267 miles in/708 to Nome
8. Matt Hall resting on the trail with 14 dogs 266 miles in/709 to Nome
9. Travis Beals running 15 dogs 265 miles in/710 to Nome
10. Pete Kaiser resting in Nikoli with 13 dogs, 263 miles in/712 to Nome
The Red Lantern position is Grayson Bruton resting with 12 dogs 189 miles in/786 to Nome
Weekly "Ah shucks, I'm so proud of the guys. They fought. (Insert team name here) is a great team" press conference.
A high ceiling team with quality and we are still middest of the mid. Any bubble chance popped.
I love Mike Young and recognize we're all in on football, but it's be time to part ways
I dont think you get shots for an offensive foul even in bonus
When they got the ball back---they turned it over without getting a shot off.
Zero effect on the outcome.
The piss-poor random, meandering inbounds attempt before the Foul on Lawal was the glaring problem.
It's a two possession foul, of course it has impact.
Even if it was a common foul and they get the two shots, they wouldn't have gotten the ball back.
Not happening with the financials the way they are
In case it wasn't already obvious
Weakest bubble ever and VT has a season with the largest combo of blown leads and close losses (OT or one possession) in ACC history?
Had no impact at all.
It was clearly a foul and Wake was in the bonus.
You can debate whether making it a flagrant was appropriate, but more often than not elbows to the face are gonna get upgraded.
But Wake turned the ball over on the possession so the upgrade did nothing in terms of the outcome.
It's time for the Mike Young era to end. I don't want to hear that we don't have the money. The longer this goes on the further away this program gets from relevancy.
First on-trail award goes to Jessie Holmes as the first musher to reach McGrath. From the Iditarod website:
"Veteran musher Jessie Holmes (bib # 7 ), of Brushkana, Alaska was the first musher to reach the McGrath checkpoint at 8:03 p.m. today with 16 dogs in harness, winning the Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award.
First presented in 2019 and given to the first musher to reach the McGrath checkpoint, this award is presented by Lead Dog partner, Alaska Air Transit. First introduced in 2019, this award honors the first musher to arrive at the McGrath Checkpoint. The McGrath community shares deep ties to the Iditarod, and the award reflects that connection, featuring beaver fur mushers mitts with Athabaskan beadwork on moose hide, handcrafted by Loretta Maillelle of McGrath, along with a beaver fur hat made by Rosalie Egrass of McGrath. The award was presented to Holmes by Jessica Beans-Vaeao, Charter Coordinator for Alaska Air Transit"