Ok that wasn't clear b/c u asked a question if best meant hardest so I answered it.
Hardt on Black & Drew
- Thread starter ChoppinBroccoli
- Start date
Ok that wasn't clear b/c u asked a question if best meant hardest so I answered it.
And getting wins. We won't have to wait on judging this best class ever much longer. We'll know after this NCAA or bust year. If they don't get to NCAA this year they'll probably have to get to the Final 4 the following season to lay that claim. And if we are not in NCAA this year the odds go way up that class all won't be together in 2020-21 anyway.
The Mooney quote from video was actually this....
"I think Grant, Jacob, Nathan, Nick, and Blake Francis become the best class that Richmond's ever had, I believe that."
And this is Hardt's quote...
"As he mentioned at the end of last season, he believes this junior class of Grant Golden, Nathan Cayo, Jacob Gilyard, Nick Sherod and transfer Blake Francis have the potential to be one of the best classes in Richmond basketball history. "
so Hardt misquoted him on "the best" vs "one of the best".
what matters is he thinks they're really good. now they've got to win some games.
Yep, pressure is squarely on the Moondog to deliver an NCAA this year. Either we start winning big this year or Mooney screws the pooch again and we get to watch Hardt and Mooney squirm around on this little island they have put themselves on, as STH, donors, and ardent fans reach a boiling point. Gonna be fun either way.
What pressure? I don't get the impression that Mooney feels his seat is even warm, no matter how many national publications put him on the hot seat.
The bottom line is that Mooney and Hardt know they can say all these things, true or not, because we have a pliant media, a largely apathetic fan base (when it comes to W/L), and even the donors and BOT aren't going to hold them accountable.
Great example: when Mooney stood in that gaggle of reporters (more like repeaters) and said "we closed out the [regular] season strong." Now, I don't know who exactly was there, but not one out of JOC, Marc, Lane, Natalie, et al could follow up with a simple...."Um, coach...you lost your last four, including UMass. Care to elaborate on how you saw that as a strong finish?"
Andrew Wallace was our only hope, and often used to lament the lack of accountability at Spider Athletics. Even he's given up, and doesn't even get up for the Hardt interviews on his show any more.
The bottom line is that Mooney and Hardt know they can say all these things, true or not, because we have a pliant media, a largely apathetic fan base (when it comes to W/L), and even the donors and BOT aren't going to hold them accountable.
Great example: when Mooney stood in that gaggle of reporters (more like repeaters) and said "we closed out the [regular] season strong." Now, I don't know who exactly was there, but not one out of JOC, Marc, Lane, Natalie, et al could follow up with a simple...."Um, coach...you lost your last four, including UMass. Care to elaborate on how you saw that as a strong finish?"
Andrew Wallace was our only hope, and often used to lament the lack of accountability at Spider Athletics. Even he's given up, and doesn't even get up for the Hardt interviews on his show any more.
Well the fact that 2+ seasons are in the books for most of this class when does best kick in... Facing reality is not hate just common sense.
Remember we are in the age of participating and and competing, not winning. We all saw this coming 20 years ago in youth sports. Kids used to care that they lost a game, now they just want to know which mom brought the Starbucks.
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Noah was on B&D this morning - most of the discussion was about the TBT, but they did spend a few minutes on the upcoming Spider season. He was, surprisingly, pretty candid. Highlights:
"Home-and-homes against 'bottom-of-the-barrel' ACC and SEC teams is disappointing."
Of course Bob had to jump in after that last statement and say "you can't help how good or bad those P5 teams are."
- Reasons for optimism: Francis and Burton.
- Reason for pessimism: Mooney . Can he put the team together? Yep, he went there.
- If we can't crack the top 6 seeds in the A10 or make a run in the tourney, what does that mean for his job?
- If we are a 4 seed or win the A10 tourney or make a run in the tourney, then we're talking extension.
"Home-and-homes against 'bottom-of-the-barrel' ACC and SEC teams is disappointing."
Of course Bob had to jump in after that last statement and say "you can't help how good or bad those P5 teams are."
Choppin, thanks for the recap - I forgot to listen and didn't feel like looking up the audio vault. Good stuff by Noah speaking the truth about the OOC. That is embarrassing by Bob, you knew exactly what those teams were. I guess he has to be careful of making sure the butter is on the correct side of the bread and all.
Top 4 seed with an all time class is the bar now. That is low bar setting. Why can't we just get a coach in here that can just go for it? Play anyone anytime every year and recruit and coach like hell and good things will happen. Let's continue to follow Patrick Beilein and Wes Miller the next couple years. These are the types we need, then let them move on and hire the next PB in 4 years.
Top 4 seed with an all time class is the bar now. That is low bar setting. Why can't we just get a coach in here that can just go for it? Play anyone anytime every year and recruit and coach like hell and good things will happen. Let's continue to follow Patrick Beilein and Wes Miller the next couple years. These are the types we need, then let them move on and hire the next PB in 4 years.
Noah was on B&D this morning - most of the discussion was about the TBT, but they did spend a few minutes on the upcoming Spider season. He was, surprisingly, pretty candid. Highlights:
The bar-setting is still embarrassingly low:
- Reasons for optimism: Francis and Burton.
- Reason for pessimism: Mooney
"Their out-of-conference schedule isn't super-tough this year; it's going to be hard for them to make that [at-large] resume."
- If we can't crack the top 6 seeds in the A10 or make a run in the tourney, what does that mean for his job?
- If we are a 4 seed or win the A10 tourney or make a run in the tourney, then we're talking extension.
"Home-and-homes against 'bottom-of-the-barrel' ACC and SEC teams is disappointing."
Of course Bob had to jump in after that last statement and say "you can't help how good or bad those P5 teams are."
I wouldn't call Bama a bottom SEC team. That could easily be a quad 1 game for us. Wisky, Bama, Vandy, BC, and maybe Auburn is a pretty solid P6 slate for a mid major. With ODU and Charleston, I am liking this schedule as far as an at large is concerned.
"Their out-of-conference schedule isn't super-tough this year; it's going to be hard for them to make that [at-large] resume."
"Home-and-homes against 'bottom-of-the-barrel' ACC and SEC teams is disappointing."
Of course Bob had to jump in after that last statement and say "you can't help how good or bad those P5 teams are."
Noah sees a lot of what we see, it's just not strong enough for a team with NCAA at large expectation. Better go 2-0 up at Barclays.
Broc do you think it was strange Bob didn't chime in about that mystery NCAA team as the last game when they were discussing the schedule? The one Bob was explicit was coming.
The comment about the P5 teams is a head scratcher. Vanderbilt for example is universally predicted as the last place team in SEC. You know exactly what you're getting. Bob makes it sound like scheduling P5s are equal upfront and then how they end up is completely random.
We're fortunate to have Bob but he's had a bad year on the air. He's entitled more than most, and I imagine the stress from his voice problems did not make it easy.
Nobody called Bama that. They were talking about BC and Vandy. Do we have a H&H with Bama?
Neither would Noah. They were referring to Vanderbilt.
Andrew, a Bama fan/alum(?), referred to Alabama as a mid-lower SEC team.
I merely posted the opinion of a journalist - with considerable access - that our OOC is not good enough. We know you like the schedule. I am sure he'd love to hear your disagreements the next time you bump into him.
I was surprised Noah was so blunt about the schedule. I don't know about 2-0, but clearly we hope we get to face Auburn instead of New Mexico.
No, I didn't think about the NCAA team, although they all mentioned there was one more game to be filled. I guess that was an opportunity, but he didn't bring it up. Let's wait and see who it is; maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.
What bothered me most about the segment was the idea that a 4 seed was grounds for an extension.
The P5 comment is just more disingenuous boosterism. Sure, nobody knows exactly where a team will finish in their conference next season, but we have a pretty good idea of the general vicinity. Plus, we have a scheduling consultant! It reminded me of when he tried to say Hampton 2018-19 was not so bad because they won a tourney game a few years back (a 16/16 game, and still finished with a losing record!).
I am glad that Bob got the surgery. I was thinking how much better he sounds. I am happy for him.
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The way I see it is:
@Bama, Wisky, plus @Dayton, @Davidson, @VCU as Quad 1
2nd day in Brooklyn, and maybe mystery game (if say Tulsa level and Neutral) plus Home vs Davidson& VCU as Quad 2
BC, @ODU, Vandy, Charleston & South Alabama as Quad 3
Maybe 13 Quad 3 total, 9 Quad 4 total. Maybe 2 of the Quad 3 move to Quad 2 if only a bit better than expected?
What would say:
2-3 Quad 1
2-2 Quad 2
11-2 Quad 3
8-1 Quad 4
23-8 overall get us?
@Bama, Wisky, plus @Dayton, @Davidson, @VCU as Quad 1
2nd day in Brooklyn, and maybe mystery game (if say Tulsa level and Neutral) plus Home vs Davidson& VCU as Quad 2
BC, @ODU, Vandy, Charleston & South Alabama as Quad 3
Maybe 13 Quad 3 total, 9 Quad 4 total. Maybe 2 of the Quad 3 move to Quad 2 if only a bit better than expected?
What would say:
2-3 Quad 1
2-2 Quad 2
11-2 Quad 3
8-1 Quad 4
23-8 overall get us?
Sure, 12-0 against the known opponents will do the trick.
He said it would be hard, not impossible.
I'm sure St. Mary's felt that way in 2018.
There's no way we are going 23-8. The most wins i see is 19. Seems like too much of a jump. We couldn't beat weaker teams last year. This year the A-10 is stronger and we aren't playing a bunch of a cupcakes.....
The suggestion today was made that Mooney basically changed to a man defense because of Francis and his ability to defend that way. Just when you think the weight put on this kid's shoulders can't get any greater – now Mooney after 14 years has abandoned his precious defense for one player?
Francis is either going to become an All-American this year or we're being sold a ridiculous bill of goods. The way the coaches and others close to the program are hyping him is incredible and not really fair to him. I think he's going to be a solid player, but they are expecting him to deliver a better defense, be the best three-point shooter on the team and lead us to the NCAAs. That's all!
Francis is either going to become an All-American this year or we're being sold a ridiculous bill of goods. The way the coaches and others close to the program are hyping him is incredible and not really fair to him. I think he's going to be a solid player, but they are expecting him to deliver a better defense, be the best three-point shooter on the team and lead us to the NCAAs. That's all!
I'm gonna burn a little of my anti Mooney cred here. But I kind of like the schedule. I think the key to building a quality non-conference schedule is scheduling the best competition you can beat. Wisconsin, Bama, ODU, COC, South Alabama all have potential to be really good wins. If we were to beat Wisconsin (probably not gonna happen, but then we most likely get Auburn, which is another BCS game. That is 6 potential really good games, with a good mix of potential sneaky good mid majors and big name BCS programs. I agree Vandy and BC are bottom feeders in their conferences but they a still are BCS opponents and presuming we win them will look nice on the "TV" resume to get us talked about. Richmond has wins over 2 SEC teams and 1 ACC team this year, type of talk that will occur in February.
Bob's comment about not being able to help the quality of BCS program burns me though. Dude, we scheduled Vandy this year, coming off an 0-18 season and having fired their head coach. We knew exactly who we were signing. I love Bob's passion for UR and his play by play, but as a sports commentator, Bob needs to be better than this. This is insulting to the intelligence of your listeners.
We also need to get that 13th game scheduled, although if I were a betting man, I think we stay at 12. Kind of like leaving an open schollie for a year, you shouldn't ever play less than your allotted amount but we've done it before and probably will do it again this year.
Bob's comment about not being able to help the quality of BCS program burns me though. Dude, we scheduled Vandy this year, coming off an 0-18 season and having fired their head coach. We knew exactly who we were signing. I love Bob's passion for UR and his play by play, but as a sports commentator, Bob needs to be better than this. This is insulting to the intelligence of your listeners.
We also need to get that 13th game scheduled, although if I were a betting man, I think we stay at 12. Kind of like leaving an open schollie for a year, you shouldn't ever play less than your allotted amount but we've done it before and probably will do it again this year.
On a positive note, Open Scholie is set up to have an incredible game vs. Open Game. I can't wait to not watch him/it.
We are going to end up losing that open game, when open scholie is the 6th man on the floor and we get T'd up in last minute of the game.
Mooney will praise open scholie after the game as competing hard and something he will learn from in the future.
like Broc said if you win at the highest levels you can get in with most any schedule. That's not too realistic though.
adding tougher games and winning would help >> adding tougher games and losing would hurt.
The former helps more than the latter hurts imo. When you come down to the bubble at our level, and comparing to other bubble teams, SOS and OOC SOS are big factors. If I'm truly on the bubble I want to be on the SOS side more than having 1 or 2 more wins. Quantity over quality such as Quad 1 and 2 wins.
Plus I think our team is good, you can get it tougher with it still being manageable. Nobody is advocating for a murderers row but I think we can handle a tougher schedule myself.
That was Bob Black suggestion. Earlier this summer I mentioned Bob hyped Blake Francis more than any player I can ever remember. And that's fine. Excitement is good. But lets' hope someone affiliated with the AD is right for once.
I wouldn't call all those really good wins. Some of them would be solid wins but anything else is a stretch. COC and S. Alabama won't be Quad 2. ODU probably not either but has a chance. They are projected to be down this year, how much we'll see. I don't see how a last place Vandy team would even help us on "TV" unless Lunardi is doing it for ulterior reasons. Tho I think BC actually has chance to help us more than anticipated.
I like plenty of elements of schedule too. Last year schedule is on our mind and anything looks fantastic compared to that. But this and next year have to be strong schedules, you have to give your team chances. To me it is not definitely good enough but hope to be proven wrong. That last game has to be very strong.
And per Broc Bob Black was very explicit on the radio we were going to have another NCAA team on schedule. I think it's now fair to say Bob was full of it, unless he actually knows the last game and we are keeping it secret for some reason.
Here is Bob's exact quote so you can stop attributing it to me:
"...there's at least, Andrew, two more NCAA teams from last year that will be on Richmond's schedule that they have not yet announced. One of them's pretty obvious that they've played every year. The other one's a newcomer to the schedule. So I think there's at least two more NCAA teams so I think you're up to maybe a half dozen NCAA teams from last year not including VCU and Saint Louis, obviously."
We had just announced Vanderbilt, BC and Charleston. They had already talked about at least one of Wisconsin and Auburn in the Legends Classic.
The "obvious" team is ODU.
That last statement is bizarre. If you count Wisconsin and Auburn, plus ODU and the mystery team, that's at most four. How the heck does he get a half dozen?
"...there's at least, Andrew, two more NCAA teams from last year that will be on Richmond's schedule that they have not yet announced. One of them's pretty obvious that they've played every year. The other one's a newcomer to the schedule. So I think there's at least two more NCAA teams so I think you're up to maybe a half dozen NCAA teams from last year not including VCU and Saint Louis, obviously."
We had just announced Vanderbilt, BC and Charleston. They had already talked about at least one of Wisconsin and Auburn in the Legends Classic.
The "obvious" team is ODU.
That last statement is bizarre. If you count Wisconsin and Auburn, plus ODU and the mystery team, that's at most four. How the heck does he get a half dozen?
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This is the off season hype, that they think us dumb fans will lap up but not really pay attention to when it turns out to be wrong.
Both of these things burn me up (leaving open scholarships and not filling out all OOC games). But I don't know if it's just because I'm looking for things to be critical of and it's actually pretty common. Or is it a rarity that should truly be called out?
I'm assuming leaving an open scholarship happens fairly often, especially with the current rate of transfers and how inexact recruiting can be. But leaving an open game on your schedule should not happen in my opinion (and maybe it still won't).
Serious question that someone here might have some insight on. How common is it to leave open scholarships and/or not max out your allowed OOC schedule?
