60 replies to this topic

[Chris B]

RMU up 12-2 over UK early on.

[BobPhelan]

Robert Morris up 11 with 8 minutes left. Good call Pete.

Btw, if anyone wants to get in my bracket pool for 5 bucks, gimme your email address.

[Chris B]

RMU wins!

[BSLChrisStoner]

RMU wins!

I was personally hoping for Kentucky to win, but great story for Robert Morris. Good for them.

[Chris B]

I was personally hoping for Kentucky to win, but great story for Robert Morris. Good for them.

Those students will remember that game forever. You get the 2012 National Champs in your own rinky-dink 3k arena. Love it.

[Oriole85]

Really cool for RMU, don't care what others say -- that's a big moment for students. How many people have ever heard of RMU? That game put them on the map, if only temporary.

[BSLChrisStoner]

St. John's 63 St. Joe's 61

Louisiana Tech 71 FSU 66

Alabama 62 Northeastern 43

Virgina 67 Norfolk State 56

Denver 61 Ohio 57

BYU leading Washington 82-75, 1:54 left.

[BSLChrisStoner]

8 Robert Morris
4 Providence

3 Arizona St
2 Baylor

1 Southern Miss
5 Louisiana Tech

3 BYU
7 Mercer

1 Alabama
4 Stanford

3 Denver
2 Maryland

1 Virginia
5 St. John's

3 Iowa
7 Stony Brook

[BSLChrisStoner]

Current Bracket:

Bracket A:
Robert Morris
Providence

vs.
Baylor

Bracket B:
Southern Miss
Louisiana Tech

vs.
BYU
Mercer

Bracket C:
Alabama
Stanford

vs.
Maryland

Bracket D:
Virgina
St. John's

vs.
Iowa

[BSLChrisStoner]

Current Bracket:

Bracket A:
Providence
Baylor

Bracket B:
Southern Miss
BYU


Bracket C:
Maryland

Bracket D:
Virgina
Iowa

[JeremyStrain]

Oy...that matchup with VA is just haunting me from earlier this year.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Baylor vs. BYU
Maryland vs. Iowa

[Oriole85]

Just a general question... how much better does this NIT run make Maryland's season? How much does it make it up for disappointment of not making the tournament? I think it allows them to end the year on a high note, but doesn't change the fact they didn't reach their potential this year. To me if you gave them a C+ for the year, they get bumped to about a B- at this point.

There's the general comparison on winning the NIT versus a first round NCAA loss. I think most would agree especially with basketball tradition such as MD's, the latter is better.

[Mackus]

It doesn't change my opinion of the season as a whole, but it does add to my confidence level moving forward. Real good to see them make strides at the end of the season, both the ACCT and the NIT, but I still feel they should have been able to make that progress in late Feb or early March and gotten enough done to make the NCAAs.

[Don Quixote]

I'd pretty much agree with Mackus here. Sputtering through the conference schedule after that non-con winning streak was pretty brutal; had they gotten things together a couple of weeks earlier than they did and had the same conference tourney showing, they could have gone in as maybe an 8-10 seed. It would be nice to see them win the NIT, even if it's "not that big a deal." It would help in the outlook to next year and show they could get things together for a lengthy postseason tournament, even if it's not the one we want to see them in. I'm looking forward to next season, even though I haven't been following things that closely over the last several years (mostly owing to time). If they can be consistent in conference play and just score more, they can be in the NCAA mix again.

[Baltimore Chop]

The important thing about this run is more the extra practice time than anything else, honestly. The fact that they've been playing well enough to beat some decent teams with a rather young team improves the outlook for next year.

The NIT is a good tournament for teams like this year's MD -- a lot of young guys who need a bit more experience to make the big dance, and hang around for a few rounds. So...I think the net effect of advancing deep in the NIT won't really be seen until next year.

[JeremyStrain]

The problem is some of the guys getting the extra practice won't be here next year. The team might have a different dynamic next year to get used to i.e. not going to Len outside the paint, or running certain plays, so anything in this run of the tourney may not help at all come next season.

[Mackus]

3 of the guys getting extra practice won't be here next year. I don't think a few extra weeks of practice is going to give them any sort of massive advantage, but it certainly can't hurt. Personally I think the extra games are far more important than the practice time, especially against solid competition on the road and at neutral sites, which obviously was a major weakness for the squad this year.

[JeremyStrain]

3 of the guys getting extra practice won't be here next year. I don't think a few extra weeks of practice is going to give them any sort of massive advantage, but it certainly can't hurt. Personally I think the extra games are far more important than the practice time, especially against solid competition on the road and at neutral sites, which obviously was a major weakness for the squad this year.

Yeah I mean the biggest plus that could come out of it is that Faust or Howard get a better idea of how to play point guard since that is the gaping Achilles Heel on this team.

I think the offense is going to be a totally different system next year though (assuming Len leaves) as colleges change all the time to adapt to the players they have.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I think the biggest gain is that the program as a whole has something positive to take forward.

Turgeon beat Duke for the first time, and did again. Turgeon got to the post-season for the first time with MD.
Even with saying goodbye to Len, Aronhalt, and Padgett; there is enough returning talent (and Peters, and Dodd) to feel good about where things are going.

Just human nature for the fan-base (and the players, and the coaches themselves) to feel better about things, ending the year putting some wins on the board, as opposed to if their season had ended completely with the ACCT loss.

If MD can win two more games, they will finish the year with 27 wins, and a title. Even if it's a title of little/no importance, it should be a boost in the sails of MD as the coaches go out and hit the recruiting trail, and start preparing for '13-'14.

The message will be, 'We've taken one step, now it is time to take the next."