Wake Forest preview

[Tiger93 299]

1 hour ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Making the tournament is the goal. It always is and always should be.  A nice regular season is nice. Having a net ranking is nice too but that means nothing to most people. It won’t help us get an at large. Yeah it gets us a better seed but need to make it for that to matter. 
Winning the regular season is awesome and playing in the NIT is also cool. I’m more excited for tomorrow than most on here.  
 

This season was successful but we fell short of the ultimate goal. I think anyone on the bench and in uniforms would agree 

Of course getting to the tournament is the main goal. I have never suggested anything different. My only point is I want to be closer to Murray State not UMBC. It might be unrealistic, but I think ultimately my ideas area actually more ambitious (some might call then unrealistic) than just getting to the tournament, but it is all part of the process.

Focusing on winning three (4, 5 or whatever) games is shortsighted. There is more to being a fan and a great program than just winning those games. So, yes you are right about the ultimate goal and you are right in that sense that we failed, but I do believe if we can build off what this season was and sustain it on a year-in and year-out basis the tournament will come.

I bring up the 25 wins, NET rankings and 15-3 conference record because this is unparalleled success for our program, and it is very important for this not to be just be a flash in the pan season. I think Skerry deserves credit for what he did and I hope he has learned and can build from it. It also means we should continue to raise the standards. By standards I don't mean do well in the tournament. By standards, I mean have this team as a Quad 2 quality team every year, finish top three in the conference minimum and win 20 (real D-1 games). I honestly believe the more consistent excellence we establish during the season on a year-in and year-out basis the better culture we will have to make sure when we get to the conference tournament we are not hoping to win but expecting to win. 

[TuTigers2012 1,070]

11 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

Of course getting to the tournament is the main goal. I have never suggested anything different. My only point is I want to be closer to Murray State not UMBC. It might be unrealistic, but I think ultimately my ideas area actually more ambitious (some might call then unrealistic) than just getting to the tournament, but it is all part of the process.

Focusing on winning three (4, 5 or whatever) games is shortsighted. There is more to being a fan and a great program than just winning those games. So, yes you are right about the ultimate goal and you are right in that sense that we failed, but I do believe if we can build off what this season was and sustain it on a year-in and year-out basis the tournament will come.

I bring up the 25 wins, NET rankings and 15-3 conference record because this is unparalleled success for our program, and it is very important for this not to be just be a flash in the pan season. I think Skerry deserves credit for what he did and I hope he has learned and can build from it. It also means we should continue to raise the standards. By standards I don't mean do well in the tournament. By standards, I mean have this team as a Quad 2 quality team every year, finish top three in the conference minimum and win 20 (real D-1 games). I honestly believe the more consistent excellence we establish during the season on a year-in and year-out basis the better culture we will have to make sure when we get to the conference tournament we are not hoping to win but expecting to win. 

He does deserve the credit for this season. He’s done a good job.  Years past he’s done well then had two bad years etc. building off great seasons and Towson Athletics has not worked  football after frisco is a laughing stock  lacrosse after final four has been bad.  Had a few good seasons after Benimon but nothing like this year  and no post season success 

other conference programs have gotten to the tournament. Lost their coach. Got a new one, rebuilt and made it back. Delaware. Uncw. Ne. 
 

umbc is top 3rd of their conference every year. One tournament appearance. Winning seasons. That is what you described as your vision of success so we are more retriever than racer

[Tiger93 299]

22 hours ago, TuTigers2012 said:

That’s life as a 1 bid league. It comes down to 3/4 (maybe 5/6 next year) games.  Under skerry we have been the worst program when it truly counts. 
 

Wake is very solid and if they didn’t lose to Boston college in Brooklyn they likely would be playing in the other tournament. They lost twice all year at home. To Duke and miami. They have lots of transfers too

Sorry I have dragged us back in the same conversation. Changing topics, I didn't realize until today that Alondes Williams was the ACC Player of the Year. Too much Big Ten and Big East brainwashing going on over here. Looking at it quickly, it will be the first time we have faced a team with the ACC Player of the Year since Joe Smith with the Terps in 1994 (94-95 season). I hope this goes better than that game did. 

[TuTigers2012 1,070]

1 minute ago, Tiger93 said:

Sorry I have dragged us back in the same conversation. Changing topics, I didn't realize until today that Alondes Williams was the ACC Player of the Year. Too much Big Ten and Big East brainwashing going on over here. Looking at it quickly, it will be the first time we have faced a team with the ACC Player of the Year since Joe Smith with the Terps in 1994 (94-95 season). I hope this goes better than that game did. 

Depends on how motivated wake it. Being a snubbed team it can go two ways… no interest or anger and a blow out 

[Tiger93 299]

3 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

He does deserve the credit for this season. He’s done a good job.  Years past he’s done well then had two bad years etc. building off great seasons and Towson Athletics has not worked  football after frisco is a laughing stock  lacrosse after final four has been bad.  Had a few good seasons after Benimon but nothing like this year  and no post season success 

other conference programs have gotten to the tournament. Lost their coach. Got a new one, rebuilt and made it back. Delaware. Uncw. Ne. 
 

umbc is top 3rd of their conference every year. One tournament appearance. Winning seasons. That is what you described as your vision of success so we are more retriever than racer

Can't argue with any of that. All I am saying is the future has not been written and I am hoping that we can change and build off this. Since this season was somewhat unprecedented, I am employing guarded optimism and hoping we can do a better job this time around. New AD and an improved Skerry (not in the tournament yet). I do think Skerry is learning and adapting. Will he get there? I can't say yes confidently but I am willing to put faith in him a little more after this year. 

UMBC was probably a bad example. Maybe Loyola would have been a better example. You are right, UMBC has hit the the marks of conference play I laid out. Not really the NET (or KenPom) ranking part, but their conference (other than Vermont) is worst than ours. 

[Tiger93 299]

5 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Depends on how motivated wake it. Being a snubbed team it can go two ways… no interest or anger and a blow out 

Yep, that is always the question when it comes to the NIT. 

[Tgr4life 167]

2 hours ago, Tiger93 said:

So should we fire him after wining 25 games and having a great season? My point is we can continue to build off of this and we damn well better. Is Skerry's conference tournament record terrible? Yes. Is he much better than any coach we have had here since Truax? Yes, by a longshot. Could we do better with someone else. Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the decision-making mechanisms in place. I do think with a new AD here, Skerry is going to get the benefit of the doubt if he puts up season 20-win seasons and does well in conference play, and he won't if he struggles. 

I have the same frustrations as you guys do regarding the tournament, my only point is I would love to use this season as a starting point for longer-term success. What year Skerry is in is completely irrelevant if he can do this going forward and eventually win a conference tournament. People can actually, learn, grow and get better at their jobs. He does have some stuff to fix with the tournament, but I do think it is easier to figure out when you are playing at very high level for most of the year. It is the years where we suck that I worry about where this program is going. 

I am as hungry as anyone for a tournament appearance, but I would rather have this season than go 11-19 and have a lucky run to get there. The point is to have a good program, not just one flash in the pan season. I think we have some building blocks off of this season and that is all. Those are my main points. That is why NET rankings, conference play, doing well in the non-conference matter more than three games in March in a big-picture program sense. I get that it doesn't in a short-term tangible sense, but to get where we all want to go this program needs to get used to a high standard on a day-to-day basis.  

Pat Skerry took us from pathetic to solid (and really good this year). Solid is not good enough on a consistent basis. I would like to live in a world where regular-season titles, high NET rankings, good non-conference wins and of course first and foremost NCAA Tournament berths become the norm (this does exist in other mid-major programs). However, it takes a lot of different ingredients to have this. We got halfway there this year and I want to build off that. Please don't mistake that for me not caring about getting to the tournament when I am flying halfway across the country to root for this team in-person in hopes that I might witness a conference tournament performance. 

Without knowing anything about you other than what you post.....you are a great fan and more realistic than most. I agree with a great deal of what you post. I guess the bottom line is now that this team has posted a good season, they need to follow it up with another. Being, as you say, a flash in the pan, feels good for a minute. In reality it sucks if it is not followed up. Unfortunately, this is the world of college athletics......big bucks....but you are paid big bucks to win.....Skerry does not get extensions because his team gets a 3.0 GPA. When he wins he wants an extension. Can you imagine the extension he would have wanted if they won the conference championship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  When he doesn't....there are consequences. I guess the question is who is defining winning!!!!!!!!!!!!!The way of the world. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Tgr4life

[TuTigers2012 1,070]

Looks like the big boys came to play last night. First ten minutes most of them look disinterested but almost all of the power teams won. Gonna be a fight tonight 

[mat1992 2,235]

 

[mat1992 2,235]