[SIZE=1][COLOR=#555555]posted: [I]Tuesday, November 14, 2006[/I] | [URL=http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2661074&type=blogEntry][U][COLOR=#000000]Print Entry[/COLOR][/U][/URL][/COLOR][/SIZE]
On Saturday, Charlotte beat a very good Hofstra team that has two big-time guards who could play anywhere. Loren Stokes has great scoring ability, and marks in many different categories during a game. He is very good in transition, gets to the rim, and has the ability to get his own shot. His running mate, Antoine Agudio, has the potential to make a roster in the NBA. He can shoot it and knows how to play.
Unfortunately for Charlotte, anyone evaluating their schedule will truly have to do their homework to see the value of that win. The 49ers played Hofstra at 3:30 pm on Saturday and then had to turn around and play a very quick, athletic and good-shooting North Texas team at 1 p.m. on Sunday. With the quick turnaround for Charlotte, North Texas seized upon the 49ers’ expected flatness and took the early lead. Charlotte played catch-up the whole game, but fell short.
What happened to Charlotte is one of the reasons that scheduling is so important. If Charlotte had won both games, few people would have even noticed. By losing to a solid mid-major on a short turnaround, though, Charlotte makes news. Some credit is given to North Texas for a good road win, but not enough. It will be Charlotte that gets beaten up over the loss. Sadly, that’s the way it seems to work.
Watch how this one is handled, especially in relation to results elsewhere. Bradley – a Sweet 16 team a year ago – beat DePaul by a whopping 20 points. On Bradley’s season resume, the win over DePaul will be listed as a quality win no matter how DePaul does during the season. But no Big East team will be accorded the same favor, especially if DePaul finishes in the bottom half of the league.
You will hear all season long that the teams at the top of the Colonial Athletic Association are really good, and they are, but will you see Charlotte get good credit for beating Hofstra? We need to give full faith and credit to wins against good mid-majors, and make sure that proper deference to the major occurs should an upset be pulled by a good mid-major. Until we do that, we will not have a fair system.
[B]Mental toughness award[/B] In the Hofstra game, Leemire Goldwire did something you rarely see at any level of play: He hit ten consecutive pressure free throws in an end-of-game situation. Goldwire finished with 26 points, and went 12-for-12 from the line for the game. Calmly stepping to the line and canning 10 in a row takes far more than a good free throw percentage and a quality stroke. It takes mental toughness, and Goldmire showed plenty of it.
Good read. Thank you UN! This is what I’ve been saying. We won a good game Saturday that has unfortunately been overshadowed by a tough loss to an athletic NT team. If the games were reversed in the sense that we lost to NT then beat Hofstra, I bet everyone would be singing a different tune, but unfortunately we have to wait 8 more days 'til we beat Syracuse.
I still don’t get it. Bilas said we were flat on Sunday, Lutz said we played bad, and Goldwire said we gave the opposition open looks. IF IT’S NOT WORKING, PLAY YOUR BENCH!!!
Jay has always been a champion for our cause when no one else is giving us any respect. So I’m not surprised with his latest comments. I definitely agree that most people outside of our program won’t put too much stock in us beating Hofstra, despite it being a really good win. And unfortunately, that wouldn’t have changed with another win on Sunday.
[QUOTE=survivor45;198940]Bilas was at the game on Saturday.
I still don’t get it. Bilas said we were flat on Sunday, Lutz said we played bad, and Goldwire said we gave the opposition open looks. IF IT’S NOT WORKING, PLAY YOUR BENCH!!! [/QUOTE]
Yeah, I saw Bilas sitting down at the media table with Gary Williams (WFNZ). They were near Swierad. Bilas speaks the truth.
More on our weekend from Gary Parrish of Sportsline:
You remember that earlier category, the one called "Win to brag about?" Well, I was sitting in the Gainesville (Fla.) Regional Airport Sunday afternoon, and I went ahead and filled that part in with Charlotte's victory over Hofstra from Saturday. Here's what I wrote: It might not sound like a big deal to the casual fan, but Charlotte's 88-82 win over Hofstra was a huge way to start the season. The 49ers led by 18 points at the half, then held on against the Pride, a borderline Top 25 squad and the favorite to win the Colonial Athletic Association. After I wrote that, I closed my laptop and flew home. When I opened it again, I saw that Charlotte had just spent Sunday losing to North Texas. At home. By 18. So I had to redo the whole thing. Wonderful. Until further notice, [b]Charlotte will be known as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Lutz[/b].
[QUOTE]What happened to Charlotte is one of the reasons that scheduling is so important. If Charlotte had won both games, few people would have even noticed. By losing to a solid mid-major on a short turnaround, though, Charlotte makes news. Some credit is given to North Texas for a good road win, but not enough. It will be Charlotte that gets beaten up over the loss. Sadly, that’s the way it seems to work. [/QUOTE]
Jay, in a very clear & direct approach, sums up my frustration with 2006-07 49ers mens basketball program…as of 2007-November-14.
Who you play has to be balanced against the timeframe of when you play them.
That is true, but we won’t be able to play “a fair” schedule - meaning balanced between excellent foes with great RPI and those pretty damn good teams who are trying to climb the respect ladder, with those teams who are anually horrible- until we prove we can beat the big boys about 50% of the time and NOT lose to the little boys.
Unfortunately, they’re both right. I appreciate the support from Bilas, but we were more than just flat Sunday. We were bad.
Still, despite the unlikelihood of North Texas shooting that well again anytime this season, that team wasnt terrible at all. They have two solid bigs and some athletic wings. They’ll win enough games for that loss not to look terrible, I suspect.
Bobby had a reasonable schedule for this team, as stated in another thread.
I think it was :
Friday, November 10 - UNC Asheville
Wednesday, November 15 - Hofstra
Wednesday, November 22 - at Syracuse
Saturday, November 25 - Georgia State
with the N. Texas game added for 11/12. Progressing thru Asheville, N. Texas and then Hofstra (over 5 days) made A LOT MORE sense than Hofstra and N. Texas in under 24 hours.
I’m still rather pissed that he had to make schedule change because of Charlotte being the host school (or whatever it is) for the preseason NIT. IMO, the priorities are MISguided. The Athletic Department should look out for their OWN best interests first. The priority SHOULD BE its own programs first, foremost and always.
The manipulation of the schedule tells me otherwise. Proof that there are too many agendas in the Athletic Dept?? I don’t know nearly enough to prove that, but I am disappointed to be thinking about it.
[QUOTE=SilvioDante;198965]I’m still rather pissed that he had to make schedule change because of Charlotte being the host school (or whatever it is) for the preseason NIT.[/QUOTE]
Well, if WE are the host school, then why are UNC-Chapel Hole and Winthrop playing in it and we are NOT! Fordham is playing in their THIRD Preseason NIT, while the Niners have played in NONE! As in NADA, ZILCH, ZERO, NEVER, etc. Geez! :rolleyes:
[QUOTE=run49er;198967]Well, if WE are the host school, then why are UNC-Chapel Hole and Winthrop playing in it and we are NOT! Fordham is playing in their THIRD Preseason NIT, while the Niners have played in NONE! As in NADA, ZILCH, ZERO, NEVER, etc. Geez! :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]
Thanks…for pouring…err, uh, I mean DUMPING salt on my wound.
[QUOTE=uncommon-niner;198951]That is true, but we won’t be able to play “a fair” schedule - meaning balanced between excellent foes with great RPI and those pretty damn good teams who are trying to climb the respect ladder, with those teams who are anually horrible- until we prove we can beat the big boys about 50% of the time and NOT lose to the little boys.[/QUOTE]
Beating the big boys will not help us get more home games against them. It will usually lead to less games unless we agree to road games only. Winning consistantly in the NCAA Tourney is the only way I think we’re going to ever get marquee games at home. Some teams that do not win consistantly in the Dance still manage to get on TV because of their historical reputation or the conference that they’re in, but the majority of teams on nationally broadcast games have been the teams that consistantly win in the NCAA Tourney. UMass and Temple both had many nationally televised games when they were successful in the 90’s. St Joe’s and Xavier got (and are still getting) extra TV games from their Final 8 run three years ago. George Mason has 15, yes 15, televised regular season games after having only 5 last season. That tourney run makes a big difference.
[QUOTE=X-49er;198974]George Mason has 15, yes 15, televised regular season games after having only 5 last season. That tourney run makes a big difference.[/QUOTE]
I just want more than 1 on a station that I actually get… Of course 15 would be nice! I wonder how Hofstra feels about that added publicity? :biggrin:
[QUOTE=X-49er;198981]Probably that the NCAA Selection Committee is still screwing them. [/QUOTE]
Hey, we know how that feels. We’re in the same boat since the NCAA clearinghouse is screwing us! :cuss:
