Quarterfinal Game Thread 1130 Thursday against St. Joes - USA network

[GKiller]

23 - objectively it was a good season but the Mooney walks on water by the admin and some of fanbase bothers me. 3 ncaa in 19 years and 9-25 is also objectively terrible. I want Mooney to crush it I always root for the Spiders. But the COY was exposed to some degree by other a10 coaches down the stretch. We apexed early no debate there.

This was an all in year for us. I said it from beginning. I would not have predicted 1st but I certainly didn’t expect 11th. Too many established vets. Can u reload easier now? Yes. But we lose possibly top 4 players (Dji will have graduated & will have a few opportunities I believe so he’s tbd) plus role guy Harris. That’s a lot. Again objectively it’s hard to see a ncaa caliber team for a few years. Always bitter taste when knocked out but it’s very fair to have more ncaa & vcu expectations imo. We really needed that 2 out of 3 years in ncaa to build. 1 since 2011 doesn’t do it.

 

[Spider B]

It's just smart to never get too high on CM teams. This was a fun team IC and I certainly give CM and players credit for that. But again, we have nearly 2 decades of seasons to know that CM struggles in the A10 tournament. It's not worth getting mad or upset. We know what we have in CM and he isn't going anywhere. So if you believe the program could be much more consistent and win big like i do, you either become less invested or you drive yourself crazy expecting a different result.

 

[712LLC]

I did become less invested until this year which kind of brought me back in. Dumb of me to assume anything would be different. I know we can do better than this and there’s a lot of coaches out there who would jump at this job if given the opportunity. 3 ncaa bids in 19 years with the amount we pay mooney and what we put into the program isn’t acceptable. I said it earlier but really think about that, is there any program in the country that gets a worse return on investment for as much as they put in? I seriously don’t think there is.

 

[SpiderRick]

And there's VCU making another late season run. Doesn't matter who their coach is. My money is on them.

 

[spider23]

Yes, this team sucked me in. I did believe pre-season that we had top 4 talent (hoping SF doesn't look this up ), as someone noted early in the season, these are not geniuses voting on the pre-season poll, and with the portal it is a real crapshoot. We had a great run, but agree at pivot points, Moon did not adjust and offense was too reliant on hero ball. King was just super, but need to adjust and help him more.

 

[8legs1dream]

And there's VCU making another late season run. Doesn't matter who their coach is. My money is on them.

like clockwork.
Doesn't matter who the coach is, who the players are, who transfers out, who gets injured, how the season goes, they almost always find a way to weasel their way into the conversation at the end of the season.

 

[GKiller]

like clockwork.
Doesn't matter who the coach is, who the players are, who transfers out, who gets injured, how the season goes, they almost always find a way to weasel their way into the conversation at the end of the season.

& like Clockwork you’ll have half this board shoveling dirt on their grave at some point during the year too. They win 20+ year after year after year. Why anyone counts them out is beyond me.

 

[97spiderfan]

It's just smart to never get too high on CM teams. This was a fun team IC and I certainly give CM and players credit for that. But again, we have nearly 2 decades of seasons to know that CM struggles in the A10 tournament. It's not worth getting mad or upset. We know what we have in CM and he isn't going anywhere. So if you believe the program could be much more consistent and win big like i do, you either become less invested or you drive yourself crazy expecting a different result.

Yep, right there. Enjoyed the ride this year but I am fully aware of the engineer running our train and always prepared for him to run it off the tracks. It is what he does. Refuse to allow Mooney to drive me crazy any longer, he is who he is, he is flawed, we all know that and eventually his flaws are his and our teams undoing.

 

[spiderman]

Lots of great points but I really, truly want an answer on this one. We know we will never get it though.

I actually liked the decision to foul there, but I don't get paid to make calls like that.
no foul and they take the clock down to 11 seconds left and still may either score or get fouled.
we put a 62% FT shooter on the line for a 1 and 1.
he made 1 of 2.

we then got a clean 3 point shot from the right guy. he missed. that happens sometimes.

 

[ManiBenton]

Got clowned on the boards all season for my takes once we started 8-0. Even had me fooled for a bit but reality is reality.

 

[Eight Legger]

I actually liked the decision to foul there, but I don't get paid to make calls like that.
no foul and they take the clock down to 11 seconds left and still may either score or get fouled.
we put a 62% FT shooter on the line for a 1 and 1.
he made 1 of 2.

we then got a clean 3 point shot from the right guy. he missed. that happens sometimes.

Agreed, it's not like we had demonstrated any ability to stop them (Reynolds) at that point anyway. So might as well hope someone missed a FT, because otherwise they were likely to run the clock down and Reynolds would make some crazy three to kill us.

 

[GKiller]

I actually liked the decision to foul there, but I don't get paid to make calls like that.
no foul and they take the clock down to 11 seconds left and still may either score or get fouled.
we put a 62% FT shooter on the line for a 1 and 1.
he made 1 of 2.

we then got a clean 3 point shot from the right guy. he missed. that happens sometimes.

Yeah agree with sman. I didn’t find fault there based on the shooter. Were they even in double bonus? Maybe I don’t remember. Either way it’s not what cost us. We just couldn’t close after having many chances.

 

[8legs1dream]

hindsight is 20/20 I guess. Would have just liked to see how that played out with a stop there. Our ensuing possession would look a lot different. Oh well.

 

[I-M-UR]

Oh well, a decent season. Hopefully we’ll get an NIT bid and we’ll see how motivated they are.. Very disappointing finish. Yes we tied for the conference regular season championship…and once again we’re not in the NCAA, the big consideration is we played in what is very likely could be a one bid conference.… I guess it’s what your goals are that determines your satisfaction with the results.
So TPC viewing for the weekend.

 

[712LLC]

like clockwork.
Doesn't matter who the coach is, who the players are, who transfers out, who gets injured, how the season goes, they almost always find a way to weasel their way into the conversation at the end of the season.

Because they have very clear expectations and alignment in their athletic department. Have to tip your cap to them honestly, must be nice to have that.

 

[RichmondNative]

Great game for Neal Quinn.

Unfortunately, the pressure of having to win got to this team. They played with such confidence this year and then did not have it at the end of this game.

The achilles heel of rebounding was the difference.

Spiders had a much better year than I expected, but couldn’t keep the momentum.

 

[kneepadmckinney]

I actually liked the decision to foul there, but I don't get paid to make calls like that.
no foul and they take the clock down to 11 seconds left and still may either score or get fouled.
we put a 62% FT shooter on the line for a 1 and 1.
he made 1 of 2.

we then got a clean 3 point shot from the right guy. he missed. that happens sometimes.

We didn't foul on purpose until it got to Fleming, who we then fouled. Of all the things we didn't do right today, I didn't have this one on the list.

 

[kneepadmckinney]

I feel for you Rick, it is a Mooney world you will be living in. If I don't stop eating cheeseburgers he will probably be the last coach I see at Richmond too.

I know truther nation hates any criticism of Mooney, but I will say I was a big fan of his early when he was losing, and then when he broke through to the NCAA's but even then I always thought our model was to find the next guy. But we handed out a 10 year contract, he lost momentum - that is human nature.

He has put together good years 2 out of the last 3 years - even though really underachieved in the regular season with the NCAA team. So there is some hope he is figuring things out. I do like our young talent, and he has done pretty good in the portal - but still only one NCAA since 2011. Which I don't think is acceptable, but most here do. Hopefully McGlothin and Robinson are that guy and we can build around, but its tough in this landscape to expect too much with a young team.

Put a name on the posters on here who think that one NCAA since 2011 is acceptable. I think you will struggle to get to "most here". I certainly don't.

 

[spider23]

Put a name on the posters on here who think that one NCAA since 2011 is acceptable. I think you will struggle to get to "most here". I certainly don't.

You are probably right. And just like the posters that come on here in only the bad times, we have a sub set that also comes on only in the good years. We could take a poll, but then we would have to have a big debate about the Covid year.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Can we get Vandy to make a call to the A10 Coach of the Year?

View embedded media

#HireMooney

 

[wr70beh]

Put a name on the posters on here who think that one NCAA since 2011 is acceptable. I think you will struggle to get to "most here". I certainly don't.

I think most of the posters here don't think it's acceptable. I think a lot of the season ticket holders, especially the gray hairs in the cushy seats on one side, aren't bothered by this. They will still buy tickets no matter what and take what the Athletic Department gives them. It's hard to say we're not winning when the Athletic Department sees "sold out" every night during conference season.

 

[Long Time Spider Fan]

What a frustrating game. Definitely ruined my day and upcoming weekend. Why I continue to let what happens on a basketball court when 18-23 year olds are competing upset me so much is baffling, but I can't help it. As bad as I and others on this board feel, I"m sure it pales in comparison to what the players are feeling. They work hard year round, had a great regular season, and then just couldn't get it done in the tournament. I appreciate what they did this year and wish them the best, by all accounts it was a close knit team, and I don't think it was for a lack of effort that they lost. Not sure about the NIT but will be small consolation if we compete in it, and I imagine the players feel the same way.

 

[SpiderRick]

What a frustrating game. Definitely ruined my day and upcoming weekend. Why I continue to let what happens on a basketball court when 18-23 year olds are competing upset me so much is baffling, but I can't help it. As bad as I and others on this board feel, I"m sure it pales in comparison to what the players are feeling. They work hard year round, had a great regular season, and then just couldn't get it done in the tournament. I appreciate what they did this year and wish them the best, by all accounts it was a close knit team, and I don't think it was for a lack of effort that they lost. Not sure about the NIT but will be small consolation if we compete in it, and I imagine the players feel the same way.

You feel bad because you are a real and diehard fan and you want nothing less than success. You are frustrated because after 20 years, we continue to see the same glaring mistakes regardless of who the players are. We are not willing to accept "we competed" or "gosh we won a bunch of games so quit complaining ". We are lifelong fans who remember how good it feels to be successful.

 

[Spiders4ever]

What a frustrating game. Definitely ruined my day and upcoming weekend. Why I continue to let what happens on a basketball court when 18-23 year olds are competing upset me so much is baffling, but I can't help it. As bad as I and others on this board feel, I"m sure it pales in comparison to what the players are feeling. They work hard year round, had a great regular season, and then just couldn't get it done in the tournament. I appreciate what they did this year and wish them the best, by all accounts it was a close knit team, and I don't think it was for a lack of effort that they lost. Not sure about the NIT but will be small consolation if we compete in it, and I imagine the players feel the same way.

We let it happen because we are fans and college basketball is fun, and if you live in the Richmond area, there is really no other game in town.
Closest thing to the major leagues that we have.

 

[spiderman]

nobody wants to dance more than the players, their families, and the coaches. these players work year round for this goal. they sacrifice. they get like 3 days off at Christmas. this hurts.

I want water cooler bragging rights as much as the next guy, but I feel for these players right now. Jordan, Neal, Isaiah and Tyler don't get another shot at this.

 

[fatherspider]

We were 7-4 down stretch of season. Mediocre. All we cared about was A10 reg season title when this year it was more of an empty prize since it didn’t mean a bid. Had to be locked in on much more. Mindset.

Exactly. CM got all he needed from the season. He knows this locked up another 10 years/$25M. Who needs NCAA bids?

 

[URWilk110]

Put a name on the posters on here who think that one NCAA since 2011 is acceptable. I think you will struggle to get to "most here". I certainly don't.

Anyone who is ok with this has a loser mentality. Which is apparently the AD and administration and all fans who continue to buy season tickets.

 

[SpiderDad75]

Gonna have to hold the rage back on this one. F*ck chris mooney is the best way to sum it up. He’s a joke man idc what anyone says. Put all the money we put into basketball and pay him 2.5 million to be mediocre for the most part and piss down his leg when it matters. In what other business anywhere would this be acceptable? He’s soft as cotton and the team reflects that attitude, said it so many times. How about you take coaching basketball more seriously rather than your fancy suits your spending all that not hard earned money on? Get us a more serious coach man. Season is now a failure and if you view it as anything other than that I have to assume you have a losers mindset. Seems to be a common theme around spider basketball.

I would love to meet you and see how “soft” you are…that take is total BS. You might have the dumbest take up here. NOTHING on this team screams soft or loser mindset…we don’t need fans like you. I expect dumb sh$& like this from dayton and vcu fans & in fact been going back and forth with them all day. Come up here and see this 🤡 💩 Go away!

 

[GKiller]

Anyone who is ok with this has a loser mentality. Which is apparently the AD and administration and all fans who continue to buy season tickets.

I wouldn’t put on season tix holders. AD and admin valid. I’m not local but if I was I’d have season tix and I don’t find acceptable. But I’m no bandwagoner and enjoy going to games.

U need that base through good and bad times. Unfortunately I do think the school wrongly attributes attendance partially to Mooney and as a full vote of confidence. Except for those real close the Moon’s orbit (pun!) ppl go to games for Richmond. I mean heck we took out 2000 seats during Mooney’s tenure. I also feel like their “we’ll just get new fans” approach we’ve heard b4 is a stupid stupid strategy for a small school like UR.

 

[plydogg]

I wouldn’t put on season tix holders. AD and admin valid. I’m not local but if I was I’d have season tix and I don’t find acceptable. But I’m no bandwagoner and enjoy going to games.

I’m with you here. If I lived local I’d have season tickets no matter how good or bad we are. That’s just how I’m wired and sounds like you are the same.

 

[fatherspider]

This game was what we have thought and known for a while now, especially since we entered A10 play. If King doesn't lead us and score near 20 or more, we will have trouble. Doesn't mean we can't win - but it becomes very difficult. And I feel bad for King. He has been the A10 POY all season long, with the exception of his last 2 games - and unfortunately - those last 2 games really stung. Quinn had 21 - but it was all 2's, and every 2 he takes and makes is one less 3 someone else, especially King makes.

Then add on we got nothing from Hunt and Bigelow, and our bench was again not there - it was a struggle.

Overall good season. Lets just hope VCU doesn't win the A10 tourney, that would be the salt in the wound.

I want VCU to win it again. Sorry local Richmonders. It will show just how much more they want to WIN than UR and how much better their program is. Of course, it won’t light any fires under the UR administration to expect better, but it should. VCU does not accept mediocrity.

The number of VCU at-large and overall NCAA appearances compared to CM is laughable. Mooney has one at-large in 19 seasons. 12 total bids to 3, and many were at large bids. I hope they make it 13.

Cutting the nets down before actually winning the championship, with photos like they won the NC, then to play abysmal basketball after that speaks volumes about what he cares about.

 

[whampas]

I want VCU to win it again. Sorry local Richmonders. It will show just how much more they want to WIN than UR and how much better their program is. Of course, it won’t light any fires under the UR administration to expect better, but it should.

I want VCU to get lost in the depths of the subway system never to be heard from again. How can you be a Spider fan and wish for that?

 

[spider23]

Oh fatherspider, you are exactly right. It will not move the needle one way or another. I used to think that, the more VCU success the more it would motivate Mooney, Hardt, etc. But year after year under different coaches they won, and won some more. Instead we get posters slam dunking on Hardts success after we finally make the fcs playoffs again ( how many teams play fcs level)?, and the ladies have a great season. Though he has sat on his hands for years. And PQ goes on Facebook to validate how hard it is to win with a leafy campus. The beat goes on.

 

[GKiller]

23 - don’t look but your boy DistrictBaller is back trolling us by trying to get Mooney a lifetime contract! Like he even needs that help. But pretty good work by the DB.

& DB must be in between surgery shifts has to be a successful doctor by now.

 

[spider23]

Kid is probably 35 now. We deserve it. We don't care. I am actually DistrictBaller, not Manibenton.

 

[wr70beh]

I’m

23 - don’t look but your boy DistrictBaller is back trolling us by trying to get Mooney a lifetime contract! Like he even needs that help. But pretty good work by the DB.

& DB must be in between surgery shifts has to be a successful doctor by now.

he has a lifetime contract. It just isn’t written as a lifetime contract, but there’s no appetite to change the status quo in the men’s basketball program. Sold out Robins Center and big draws at tournaments means that they’ll keep things the way they are.

 

[GKiller]

Kid is probably 35 now. We deserve it. We don't care. I am actually DistrictBaller, not Manibenton.

He used to brag about his plans to go to Med school. It was funny. But I hope he is a doctor. I’d ask him to write me a prescription for fentanyl right now.

 

[KE Spider]

The game depressed me. Reading the board depresses me even more.

 

[GKiller]

He used to brag about his plans to go to Med school. It was funny. But I hope he is a doctor. I’d ask him to write me a prescription for fentanyl right now.

It makes me think about that scene from Spies Like Us.

Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. And Doctor.

But I loved me some Donna Dixon back in the day. Her dad owned a bar near me called Hillbilly Heaven. No joke. Legendary. I think it started my love of dive bars.

 

[fatherspider]

I want VCU to get lost in the depths of the subway system never to be heard from again. How can you be a Spider fan and wish for that?

I didnt grow up in Richmond. Why would I hate VCU? They are a good program that cares about winning very much, and I respect that. Its a program to be proud of if your a fan. Hard to say that about Spider basketball under Mooney and 1 bid since Ive been watching since 2012. I root for UR because my son went there.