A Season Is A Lifetime

[Snipe]

Skip Prosser used to like to say that "A season is a lifetime", and I think that is true.

We are in for another roller coaster season. We will have ups and downs. We lost today and it would have been a huge victory with even bigger chances ahead. I am bitter about the loss, as probably you are too.

But a season is indeed a lifetime. Where we travel from here in these few months will seem like light years away by the time that this is done. That is just the way these things play out. I am still pumped about the season ahead, and I am bitter about a loss that could have been a victory.

Bad Losses

Some people say that bad losses are against low talent RPI foes that hurt you with the committee. I think bad losses are those you could have won, but didn't in the final seconds. It tears your heart out. And if it tears you heart out, imagine the effect on our kids that play these games. If we got blown out by Belmont by 12, I wouldn't regret it near as much as if we held the lead against a ranked Iowa team only to surrender the game in the final minute. You can't get around that, that is why we have this pain.

And it is pain, and I am a bitter man. But a season is indeed a lifetime. We were not eliminated by this loss from anything, and we can still win the Big East. Not that we are favored or anything. Last glance puts us in 7th place from the prognosticators. Think about that. 7th place and an also ran in the new Big East, no soup for you.

I wish this team would go undefeated, but I knew this day would come. Actually, I was impressed by the 5-0 start.

IMAGINE

Try to imagine if we won tonight's game, what the hell ripping hoopla would be going on right now. We played a undefeated ranked team and we lost our best player for the second half, and still took them to overtime and still had a chance to tie it again at the buzzer. Iowa never led once in regulation. It kills me to think how many chances we had to win this game. It also pains me to look at the box score and imagine if we had won.

Justin Martin had 15 points. What a hero he would be right now.

Stainbrook plays like a leader vs. big competition. The kid is a player and don't sell him short. He is a competitor.

For the long range vision of this team, it is nice to see Reynolds and James Farr playing well against top talent. Farr had 10 rebounds in 17 minutes, which is nothing short of incredible for a young Sophomore with little playing time in his first year. That man is hot right now, and I can't explain any of it. I barely knew his name last year and he is cockstrong and front of the class right now. I don't think it is an illusion, this guy can ball. He can also hit the three. Jalen played well, blocking shots and doing his thing.

Had we won this game without our star player, imagine the banter on this board right now!

It would have been incredible. When we took the big lead without Semaj with Myles and Dee hitting threes I thought it was incredible.

We look at boxscores a lot differently when we win vs. when we lose. That is just the way it goes. Todays heros become goats. The guys that got it done become the guys that didn't do enough, just because of a point or so. It is magnified when you lose in overtime.

These young kids played their balls off today. I know we aren't supposed to have moral victories, but I am still hopeful.

I am not happy with the loss at all. I am happy being a Xavier fan. I wish we would have won, but a season is a lifetime.

I am worried about the overtime loss and fitness for tomorrow. I think after a loss like that we could come out flat and lose again. I almost expect it, because that is the way it works sometimes. Teams that go to overtime in the Big Dance rarely win the next game, and the statistics are horrible. If we win tomorrow it is a huge plus for us, no doubt in my mind. I hope the kids can tighten it up and pull it together. I also hope that our best player can play. That would be a plus. If we do lose, it would not surprise me. Early on with a young and talented team like this you just got to roll with the punches.

I see great things ahead. The close loss in overtime without our star player makes me bitter as hell. When this team comes together I am going to be one happy man. I can see it happening, and when it does I am going to be acting like a proud parent of the Xavier family, as if I had anything to do with it in the first place. I think it will happen, and I intend to take all the credit. Write it down.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I think we all have a lot to be thankful for. I think our program is poised for a monumental run, and all of us are about to witness the birth of the new era of Xavier basketball. Next years record rating class is not what I am talking about. I think it starts here and now. I love this team and my dreams of what they can become. Next years class we just be a bonus when we cross that bridge. I love the players we have now, and I think they will find a way to bring it all together. Come March you will be looking back at days like this like they are the distant past, now just months ago, because a season is a lifetime.

[Retire33]

Refreshing outlook and one I subscribe to.

[fellahmuskie]

All I got to see was the boxscore this morning (tip-off at 4 am where I live), but that was more than enough to rip my heart out. Fantastic game from the team last night, gut-wrenching loss. Thanks for helping bring closure, Snipe, even to someone who didn't watch the game.

[smileyy]

/like

[XU-PA]

I still tend to live and die emotionally with the results of games played by XU men and women, as well as the Bengals Reds etc,,,,, But I've learned much in my years especially from following my daughter in hoops, and the several college teams that I've done PA announcing for over the past 15 years.
The winning is great, losing is horrible, but it's the game above all. I've really become a fan of sport and the game. It's so amazing to watch young men and women, especially when you look at college and high school, putting themselves mentally and physically on the line for the fans. the twists and turns, the streaks, the amazing shots, dives, slips, falls and crashes into other bodies.
Such amazing things we all can sit and watch, the actions of a ball and 10 people, and we can watch it, listen to it, even be there in person just about anytime we want.
I love these Xavier Musketeers, they won't win every game, there will probably be a worse heart breaker for us down the road this year, but they will without fail scrape themselves off the damp locker room floor, put on a clean uni and sneakers, and do it all over again for you and me. The wonder of sport!

[vee4xu]

Sometimes teams learn more about themselves in a loss than do in a win. Had X won that game last night, then the lesson they learned about young players having to make it happen on a big stage without their star player and big man (in OT), would have had to be learned at some point. The sooner last night's lesson was learned, the better.

[waggy]

If Iowa is #23 in the country, X is top 10. Screw them.

[Snipe]

Coming off a dramatic overtime loss in a big game, we had to play in less than 24 hours and we came out flat. That doesn't surprise me. Still hurts, but doesn't surprise me. Not very many teams are able to rebound from that, and we played to type. It is frustrating. If we could have found a way to close out that game in regulation we would have been playing a different team tonight.

I wish Xavier losing didn't depress me so much. My boys don't like it either. My youngest gets really upset, then my wife gets angry at me because I have brainwashed my children to think that life begins and ends with Xavier basketball.

[OTRMUSKIE]

Good teams find a way to bounce back from a heart breakng loss. I believe the cryers who lost the same way to Baylor but came back the next night and handled Cal. This team was just not prepared. All,of this is a moot point if we just win tomorrow and go into Big East play at 10-2 9-3. We learnd a lot about our depth this weekend and I expect to see more of a 7-8 man rotation from here on out. However I don't know anything so we could very well see Dee Davis tomorrow for 30 mins.

[Xavgrad08]

As frustrating as it is for fans it is a lot more frustrating for coaches and players. Think of all the preparation that goes into each game and season. I guarantee that there were a lot of upset faces in the locker room after the last two games. This team will improve as the season goes along. As a fan I am looking forward to watching the improvement and cheering them on.

[GoMuskies]

Thank God it's a lifetime.

[xavierj]

Thank God it's a lifetime.

I agree. I would rather play the best basketball in march rather than in November. That is the goal for all teams not named Dayton.

[gladdenguy]

We also know this team is mentally weak and carried over the Iowa loss to the Tennessee game. Congrats coach....you have a lot of work to do.

[xavierj]

We also know this team is mentally weak and carried over the Iowa loss to the Tennessee game. Congrats coach....you have a lot of work to do.

Yep a lot of work to do. Better than being maxed out. should be fun to see how this team grows. I think with having young talented guys it should be rewarding later in the year. First thing they need though is to get Semaj to start playing better and look to make his teammates better.

[BMoreX]

The other good news is that these losses aren't "bad" in terms of the opponent. Sure, the performance of Xavier was pretty disappointing, but these losses aren't to Long Beach St. or Hawaii. They were to a ranked team and to a team, picked third in their conference, who we had already beat.

[nuts4xu]

It would be nice to at least win one of these games, we need to put a hurtin on these so cal fruits!

[GoMuskies]

The other good news is that these losses aren't "bad" in terms of the opponent. Sure, the performance of Xavier was pretty disappointing, but these losses aren't to Long Beach St. or Hawaii. They were to a ranked team and to a team, picked third in their conference, who we had already beat.

That's true. That's why this USC game is huge, because USC is horrible, and would be a very, very bad loss as opposed to the first two.

[XUFan09]

That's true. That's why this USC game is huge, because USC is horrible, and would be a very, very bad loss as opposed to the first two.

Yup. Our next three games are against some pretty bad opponents: #161 USC, #258 Bowling Green, and #142 Evansville. Xavier needs to sweep these and hopefully by a wide margin to set themselves up for the remainder of the non-conference schedule against #33 Cincinnati, #58 Alabama, and #73 Wake Forest.

[GoMuskies]

"A season is a lifetime"

I'm afraid this one is going to feel like it. We need that infusion of talent that's due to arrive next fall.

[Cheesehead]

I think some of our players might want to "pursue other opportunities" elsewhere.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Call it whatever you want but this trip was an epic tank job if I ever saw one. I get Iowa, it was close. Tennessee clearly came out playing tough but to drop one to USC is aweful. I put the on the coach and just not being prepared. This team has talent. They just didn't show up at all in the Bahamas. As punishment they should be sent to the great Alaskan shoot out if that still exists.

This was nothing short of embarrassing for those guys. I still back them 100 percent but If Mack isn't reaming them in the flight back he is failing them .