Message Board Myths (long)

[nc_hokie87]

Also, spare me the "well we lost some games we shouldn't have lost so we deserved it". Well so do a lot of other teams, but they still get picked.

Exactly. Everyone else loses games too.... how about Penn State losing to US yet still being invited? How about VCU's worse than ours resume? What about UAB beating no one? Utah State? We have been robbed over and over again, I don't care if we were "on the bubble".... lets be realistic... VT bball... how often are we going to be a LOCK? If we don't expect or demand fair treatment from the committee than we might as well give up because more often than not, given who we are, our fate will be in their hands.

Last season EVERYONE thought we were a lock, most predicting us as a 9ish seed. I already know the response... "win more games". Well, why does that only apply to VT? Why are we the only ACC team to finish top 4 in the conference and NOT make the ncaa? And why has that happened to us 3 times?

I don't care how good SG is, it is simply not realistic to expect him or ANY other coach to make VT bball consistently top 25 right now. It is just not going to happen unless we slowly build our program up (which SG clearly is doing). It isn't going to consistently happen overnight, like a lot of people here seem to expect. Those teams that make the tourney year in and year out have one thing in common: tradition and history of winning. It takes a long time to build that, but given the past 4 years were the winningest in school history, I'd say SG is well on his way....

[Hubman]

I was going to bring something like this up, but I figured i'd get bashed right away for it. It's not going to be easy for VT in the ACC to win enough statement games to be considered a "lock". Years like 2007 will happen every once in a while. Heck, even a few years ago when VT finished 4th in the ACC, teams behind them got selected in the tourny over us. Including a Wake Forest team we beat on the road. A lot of it had to do with Ron Wellman being on the committee. How is that fair?

Stop focussing on beating UNC and Duke, and focus more on beating UNLV, BYU, Kansas State, Minnesota, Seton Hall, Purdue, Temple, Wisconsin, Xavier.....you get the point.......the OOC slate has helped kill our chances every year......

[Groff]

So if it is not arbitrary, why are we one of those teams that has been predicted "with 95% accuracy" to make the tournament several times... then not get the invite? That has happened to us more than any other team during the SG era....

Umm...because we were on the bubble. I don't know how to be any clearer about this. When you are on the bubble, you're no longer part of the 94% of teams who everyone accurately picks to make the tournament. You are part of a handful of teams who have a much, much lower chance of making the tournament. I really don't understand how I could be any clearer about this.

And you do realize this is VT bball, right? It isn't that easy to just "not put yourself on the bubble".

We seemed to do it just fine in 06-07. Funny how that works, eh? Even against the vast and gigantic obstacle of "being Virginia Tech," we won, had a solid resume, and made the tournament with no problems, no questions, didn't sniff the bubble and didn't subject ourselves to the whims of the selection committee trying to discern between a handful of essentially the same team. We were just in and there was nothing "arbitrary" about it.

Which is exactly what I have been saying this whole time, weird.

The NCAA selection process for 94% of the field is not anything even close to resembling "arbitrary." That is a myth perpetuated by this board. I'm sorry the facts of the situation don't agree with the agenda of some people on this board, but either we are giving value to facts and discounting myths or we are not.

We don't get to pick and choose what is factual and what is mythical based on the rigorous criteria of "things I agree with."

[VTer]

Myth #12: VT basketball is entitled to be in the top half of the ACC, the team should receive regular bids to the NCAA tournament, and anything less than that is unacceptable and should be blamed on the coach.

I could not agree more with: "This has easily been the least enjoyable season on the basketball board that I can remember." Unrealistic, ignorant posts on this board are out of control.

[nc_hokie87]

You say that as if VT basketball only has one option: to suck. When will the ship sail that we JUST MAY be able to field a team that should make an NCAA tournament every now and then? I can take the pros and cons of CSG debate, but I cannot take the "we are VT, we are supposed to suck" assertions.

That is my point, WE DONT SUCK anymore like we did before SG. We are consistently winning 18-20+ games.... We have improved so much, and I have to think if SG stays we will continue that improvement. But to jump from cellar dweller to a top 25 team (about what it takes to be a "lock") consistently is just not realistic (yet. maybe down the road after we continue building a better bball tradition). Also, you say you want to make the tournament "every now and then". Well, we were a 5 seed under SG one year. And painfully close other years where many experts and non-VT fans said we were robbed. Combine the injuries, buzzer beaters and bad luck, and its been pretty damn amazing what SG has accomplished thus far.

Also, no matter how bad the ACC is, if you finish 4th in the league, you are usually in a PRIME position to get to the tourney. The fact that we have been in that position and missed the tourney tells you that the committee sees SIGNIFICANT flaws in our resume

Well, we are just looking at it differently, I suppose. When you say (and you are right) that EVERY acc team that finishes top 4 makes the tourney... I say we have clearly been robbed when we finish top 4 several times recently and haven't been let in. You can blame it on SG... but I have our coach's back and support our school and program in reaching its goals... we were robbed. Blatantly. Last year was the worst... ask ANY "expert". And you can say it is our fault... but other schools (who you could make the same argument against) are let in time and time again. Utah State. UAB. Penn St. Just to name a few... there have been countless others over the years of robbery

[bfloyd89]

We seemed to do it just fine in 06-07. Funny how that works, eh? Even against the vast and gigantic obstacle of "being Virginia Tech," we won, had a solid resume, and made the tournament with no problems, no questions, didn't sniff the bubble and didn't subject ourselves to the whims of the selection committee trying to discern between a handful of essentially the same team. We were just in and there was nothing "arbitrary" about it.

Unfortunately, that season wasn't unlike others, other than beating UNC twice and Duke on the road. If we have to beat Duke and UNC three times between the two of them every year to make the tourney we're screwed.

[Groff]

How about VCU's worse than ours resume? .

Oh geez, do we really need to bring out the numbers (facts) every time you try to post this?

This "VCU's resume was worse than ours" thing is another myth perpetuated by this board. I thought we were against that now.

Why are we the only ACC team to finish top 4 in the conference and NOT make the ncaa? And why has that happened to us 3 times?

Because of unbalanced scheduling, finishing in the top 4 in the regular season doesn't necessarily mean much, certainly as much as it did when there was 9 teams and they played round-robin.

I don't care how good SG is, it is simply not realistic to expect him or ANY other coach to make VT bball consistently top 25 right now.

The only people I ever hear mentioning anything even close to resembling expectations of "finishing top 25 every year" and "making the tournament every year" are people who tell us that we shouldn't expect that. No one expects that. It's a straw man argument created because it's easier to argue against made up unrealistic expectations than what people are actually saying.

[Groff]

Myth #12: VT basketball is entitled to be in the top half of the ACC, the team should receive regular bids to the NCAA tournament, and anything less than that is unacceptable and should be blamed on the coach.

Myth #13 - Anyone on this board expects what you just wrote.

[nc_hokie87]

Umm...because we were on the bubble. I don't know how to be any clearer about this. When you are on the bubble, you're no longer part of the 94% of teams who everyone accurately picks to make the tournament. You are part of a handful of teams who have a much, much lower chance of making the tournament. I really don't understand how I could be any clearer about this.



We seemed to do it just fine in 06-07. Funny how that works, eh? Even against the vast and gigantic obstacle of "being Virginia Tech," we won, had a solid resume, and made the tournament with no problems, no questions, didn't sniff the bubble and didn't subject ourselves to the whims of the selection committee trying to discern between a handful of essentially the same team. We were just in and there was nothing "arbitrary" about it.

Which is exactly what I have been saying this whole time, weird.

The NCAA selection process for 94% of the field is not anything even close to resembling "arbitrary." That is a myth perpetuated by this board. I'm sorry the facts of the situation don't agree with the agenda of some people on this board, but either we are giving value to facts and discounting myths or we are not.

We don't get to pick and choose what is factual and what is mythical based on the rigorous criteria of "things I agree with."

What did that 06 07 team have that recent teams don't ? Talent AND experience....

Last years team was on pace to do even better than that team you mention, until the season was completely derailed by an unreal amount of injuries.

This year everyone is freaking out despite a team full of freshmen and more injuries. I just don't understand where the urgency to oust SG comes from... I understand people want to win, but jesus, patience is really what everyone around here needs, IMO.

[DCU_Hokie]

The OP deserve rep, green nipples, +1 or something.