man, I love this team!

[spiderman]

don't focus on what we don't do. don't worry that some players don't score. it's a common belief that our system needs 5 offensive threats and of course that would be ideal, but this team is proving that role players can have an important place out there as long as you have a few "go to" guys like we do that you can always rely on to get good shots up.

I'm on the record as saying Kendall is my favorite Spider ever. well, I gotta admit it's 1A and 1B now. I've joined the total man-crush crowd with TJ. I absolutely love his game, his enthusiasm, his intensity, his effort, his joy, his interviews ... everything. perfect Spider. CM was right all year subbing him out, but his defense has come light years as the season progressed. if he didn't score last night, he'd still have been effective for all he did defensively. he was awesome.

ShawnDre' is so smooth. Terry was dominant in that 2nd half. Kendall was Kendall. and Trey stood out to me with some huge rebounds. Zo struggled a bit, but everyone contributed. this is a really fun Spider team to cheer for.

 

[UR Fan 2]

+1

 

[Spiders42]

We are in the NIT not NCAAs....

 

[spiderman]

I know, 42. and I still love this team. one of the most enjoyable I've watched, in my opinion. a couple games got away and that cost us the chance to be considered an all-time great Spider team. but still, with all this teams gives us, I really enjoy this group.

 

[97spiderfan]

Agreed sman. If you didn't enjoy the game last night that is a shame. And really agree on tj' defense improving greatly throughout the season. Almost eliminates the need for defensive subs at end of game.

 

[Spider2015]

+2 I've enjoyed this postseason even though we did not make the big dance. If you told me this is where we'd be on New Years day this year I would take it given how bad our record was early.

 

[Spiderbymarriage]

I agree with the sentiments here. This team is playing with a lot of heart and energy right now, and it's a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Last night was a great game, and thrilling to see our guys come out on top. Honestly, I didn't think the NIT could be so much fun, but both teams were battling. Hidden benefit to the NIT is all the extra home games if you're a high seed. So nice to have some big programs coming through....

 

[Eight Legger]

I agree. We probably didn't deserve to be in the NCAAs with our resume, though I think it is obvious we could have won a game or two with the right matchups. But this is a great opportunity to play three home games against some good teams and maybe win a championship. It has been a lot of fun so far.

 

[64Spider]

42.....we are still playing. That's something a lot of schools can't say. And it is a meaningful tournament , especially to KO. So stop listening to what your RPI fans are telling you and enjoy.

 

[Stonewall D]

This team has taken on the character of its best player- Kendall Anthony. It is gritty, tough and has a never say die attitude. Can they do it again on 1 day's rest?

 

[spider fan]

The fun of these NIT games has been terrific - the team, the atmosphere in the Robins Center, and the three home games within the space of seven days - Wednesday, Sunday, and Tuesday. This experience is very addictive. It has been downright fun and you would have to be a curmudgeon not to be enjoying it. Agree with others who have observed we are getting some teams in our place that usually it is very tough to get them to play us at home. Go Spiders!

 

[64Spider]

Hey fan....I think it might get even harder to lure teams into the spider web

 

[spider fan]

64 - you are correct. Next year we will just have to play them on neutral courts in the NCAA tournament! unless we are in a "play-in" game against Dayton.

 

[PhiDeltaSpider]

That game last night was the best and most enjoyable game I have seen all year at the RC. Both teams played hard and tough. What a fun game to watch. The announcers on ESPNU (I taped the game) kept extolling the virtues of both teams and kept saying that this type of game is what college basketball is all about. They did a very good and fair job on the telecast.

 

[WebSpinner]

certainly would love to get some strong teams into the RC but as sendek was saying postgame, a team very hard to prepare for so most coaches are not breaking down the door to get us on their schedule and when they look at our roster next season with so many upper classmen, our coaches have their work cut out for them in scheduling any good teams whether away or home. personally don't care about home and homes or anything like that, just want us playing a tough schedule even if all are on the road.

 

[97spiderfan]

I don't think it should be that tough to schedule, especially on the road. We are a consistent Top 75 RPI team, that often does not play that well on the road. That should be enticing for a lot of programs looking to build a quality NCAA double resume. I get that it is probably tough to get BCS level programs to come play as at our place though.

 

[SpiderK]

It seams the way the RPI and SOS works, we would be better off playing Kentucky 31 times and losing every game. We would be a 3 seed in NCAA!!!

I know that is overly dramatic, but not far off.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Originally posted by WebSpinner:
certainly would love to get some strong teams into the RC but as sendek was saying postgame, a team very hard to prepare for so most coaches are not breaking down the door to get us on their schedule

I think this is a key point. We play a unique style that few teams see elsewhere. Big schools probably view playing us as high risk / low reward.

 

[SpiderK]

Mo, no doubt that is true. UVA and Tech won't play us for that reason.

 

[spiderman]

it's fun to play a hard schedule, but it's not smart to play all of the tough games on the road. I know they get weighted in the rpi calculations, but we need to win games. 13 losses doesn't get you dancing. it's really tough to win road games against good teams. we need to continue to work towards a balanced schedule. this year's didn't have as many big names as we'd like, but the SOS turned out plenty tough. intead of jumping off the ledge next fall when the schedule comes out, we need to trust the staff a little that they know what they're doing.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Originally posted by spiderman:

this year's didn't have as many big names as we'd like, but the SOS turned out plenty tough. intead of jumping off the ledge next fall when the schedule comes out, we need to trust the staff a little that they know what they're doing.

Fair enough. Is it still OK if we gripe if we end up in some of the Gazelle Group's BS, though? I think the major frustration was with that mess.

 

[SpiderTrap]

We either need to get a good tourney next season (The Gazelle group killed us with the Pepperdine game) or we need to go out and schedule two big road games with likely no return game at the Robins Center at the future.

Agreed - you can't schedule too difficult and this season's schedule appeared to work out, but there was a LOT of luck involved in that as well. Not that luck will not play in every year, but I think this year - we got really lucky with our schedule and its a shame we were unable to take advantage.

What do I mean by lucky?

ODU - they become a top 50 RPI team and were even ranked in the top 25 during the season. They were picked 4th in C-USA and no where on the national radar, but turned into a top 25 team and top team in C-USA.

Northern Iowa - we all knew this was a good game before the season, but I don't think anyone in the country saw Northern Iowa climbing to be a top 10 team nationally and contend with Wichita St. for the league title.

NC State - picked 9th in ACC preseason poll. Finish 7th and strong enough to make NCAA tourney and a run to the sweet 16.

Davidson - everyone in the country thought they would struggle and be near the bottom of the A10 in their first year. I thought they would be in the middle somewhere. Instead - they win the league title in year 1. And we got to play them twice.

William and Mary and High Point - both teams end up at the top of their conferences. Maybe not a huge surprise to many, but when you decide to play lower level conference opponents, this is the best scenario possible - play teams who will win or be in top 2 of those conferences.

Did the coaches know all of this before the season - maybe some. But there is some level of lucky involved as well and I think this year, looking back (hindsight is 20/20) the stars aligned perfectly for us to make an NCAA run and we just fell probably 2 games short.

 

[spiderman]

Originally posted by MolivaManiac:

Originally posted by spiderman:

this year's didn't have as many big names as we'd like, but the SOS turned out plenty tough. intead of jumping off the ledge next fall when the schedule comes out, we need to trust the staff a little that they know what they're doing.

Fair enough. Is it still OK if we gripe if we end up in some of the Gazelle Group's BS, though? I think the major frustration was with that mess.

yeah, I'd love to know the real story there. the chance to play at MSG was great, but we were lead to believe there would be better games. I hope we learned our lesson.

 

[97spiderfan]

We got scammed by the Gazelle group. They promised us a high level BCS game at MSG and couldn't deliver. Ultimately, that failure rests with the Gazelle group, but hopefully next time we do our due diligence before we sign one of these contracts. The Gazelle group runs the CBI, which should give you a reference point for there credibility.

 

[Stonewall D]

Originally posted by MolivaManiac:

Fair enough. Is it still OK if we gripe if we end up in some of the Gazelle Group's BS, though? I think the major frustration was with that mess.

Please explain, for those of us not in the know.