Perspective

[RoseyMuskie]

Am I disappointed in the results from the past two games? Absolutely. But let's put this season into perspective.

We are a Creighton win away from finishing third in the third/fourth best conference in America.

Creighton has the NPOY. Nova is flat out loaded. I won't mull over finishing behind those two teams.

We are one BE Tourney win away from the ultimate goal. Anything can happen once you make the tournament.

Entering the season, I predicted a fourth place finish (you can check my vote on the preseason thread). Worst case scenario, we finish fourth. The concensus seemed to be in the 3-5 range. The team will finish on the upper or middle end of our expectations. Can't really complain about that.

When I examine the season results, I'm only kicking myself over the Seton Hall home loss. A week to prepare against a team that X should beat at home. If we had won that game, we'd be comfortably in the tourney. All other results fell in line with what I expected. And looking back on that game, I believe it was a product of the Big East. I don't think it's a mistake X makes next year.

We all have our complaints, whether it be the inconsistency of Dee, Myles cold stretch, or the athleticism of Philmore. But when I look back upon the season, I'm relatively pleased. New Year's Eve against St. John's was special. The storm back against Georgetown was one for the ages. And the Creighton victory is the reason we post on this board and are fans to begin with.

In the end, the season was one wild ride, and still isn't over. It's why games are played to begin with.

Here's to the BE Tourney and (cross my fingers) a crack at another tourney run.

[Cheesehead]

We'll said!

[GoMuskies]

To me, the expectations coming into the season were making the NCAA Tournament. Period. If it's the last team in as a #13 seed playing in Dayton, fine. But I expected to be in the Tournament. So we're really damn close to meeting expectations, and really close to missing them. Should be an interesting week.

[Backyard Champ]

Not trying to offend anyone, but I can't stand that type of thought. Expectations change throughout the season, and we shouldn't base our season on what we thought of our team BEFORE we saw them play a game.

We saw how good this team could and can be, and it's extremely frustrating seeing all of our blown chances. We absolutely should not be in the position we are in now, in terms of making the tournament. I'm not going to look back and be happy with where we are, because "before the season we didn't think we would be in this position." And, as GoMuskies said, expectations were making the tournament, IMO.

After watching this team and seeing its potential, this season is a bust if we don't make the tournament.

[KabeX]

Yep. Def agree.

I was hoping for .500 in BE with a top 5 finish AND a dance card. 2/3 of the way there. To add a little perspective to ... well... this perspective thread, those expectations go up somewhat significantly next year and certainly beyond.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

[XUFan09]

I'm disappointed only if Xavier misses the tournament. If they make it, everything is gravy. And like Rosey, I picked 4th.

Yes, we've seen how good this team can be, but we've also seen how bad they can be. They're inconsistent, which is common with inexperienced teams. And yes, this team is inexperienced, ranked 257th on Kenpom in experience weighted for minutes played. The only notable senior, Philmore, is just a role player.

[danaandvictory]

I'll also bring up something Brian Snow said on the podcast a few weeks back. This team is experienced when you look at classes and age. But only two scholarship guys on this roster -- Dee and Justin -- were on the team when X last played in a tournament game. And both of those guys were role players in their first year of eligibility at the time. Two of our upperclassmen - Isaiah and Matt - were on teams that resembled a Snipe Taco Bell fart their first couple of years. (I have not experienced a Snipe Taco Bell fart but I'm drawing a reasonable assumption here)

There's experience and then there's winning experience. We're short on the latter. Hopefully with a year of top level experience for our big contributors plus a guy like Abell who has been at the top level we'll be in a better place next year.

[XU2011]

But only two scholarship guys on this roster -- Dee and Justin -- were on the team when X last played in a tournament game. And both of those guys were role players in their first year of eligibility at the time.

That is scary. I never realized that. We have 2 guys in the Xavier program that know how to win an NCAA game. We have 2 guys in our program that have ever played in the NCAA tournament. Wow.

[RoseyMuskie]

Not trying to offend anyone, but I can't stand that type of thought. Expectations change throughout the season, and we shouldn't base our season on what we thought of our team BEFORE we saw them play a game.

We saw how good this team could and can be, and it's extremely frustrating seeing all of our blown chances. We absolutely should not be in the position we are in now, in terms of making the tournament. I'm not going to look back and be happy with where we are, because "before the season we didn't think we would be in this position." And, as GoMuskies said, expectations were making the tournament, IMO.

After watching this team and seeing its potential, this season is a bust if we don't make the tournament.

I see the point regarding the tournament. And I do think the season would be somewhat of a bust if we missed it. But let's discuss that once we know.

Basically my point in posting is that I want everyone to look at the big picture. Not a bunch of missed threes the past two games, or whatever the complaint may be. I'm as guilty as any with whining about the missed shots, but when I took a took a step back while driving home tonight, I realized more good than bad occurred this season. And quite frankly, I feel a lot better for it. Everyone should give it a try.

[The_Mack_Pack]

That is scary. I never realized that. We have 2 guys in the Xavier program that know how to win an NCAA game. We have 2 guys in our program that have ever played in the NCAA tournament. Wow.

Villanova has one guy on their team who has ever been involved in an NCAA tourney win. I wouldn't put too much stock into that.

[XUFan09]

Villanova has one guy on their team who has ever been involved in an NCAA tourney win. I wouldn't put too much stock into that.

But more than one guy that has been on a tournament team. I think that matters more, as that is much more than one weekend in March. That's how a team plays and composes itself over an entire season. Villanova has seven guys that have played for a tournament-quality team and two guys that have played for two of them.

[xudash]

Am I disappointed in the results from the past two games? Absolutely. But let's put this season into perspective.

We are a Creighton win away from finishing third in the third/fourth best conference in America.

Creighton has the NPOY. Nova is flat out loaded. I won't mull over finishing behind those two teams.

We are one BE Tourney win away from the ultimate goal. Anything can happen once you make the tournament.

Entering the season, I predicted a fourth place finish (you can check my vote on the preseason thread). Worst case scenario, we finish fourth. The concensus seemed to be in the 3-5 range. The team will finish on the upper or middle end of our expectations. Can't really complain about that.

When I examine the season results, I'm only kicking myself over the Seton Hall home loss. A week to prepare against a team that X should beat at home. If we had won that game, we'd be comfortably in the tourney. All other results fell in line with what I expected. And looking back on that game, I believe it was a product of the Big East. I don't think it's a mistake X makes next year.

We all have our complaints, whether it be the inconsistency of Dee, Myles cold stretch, or the athleticism of Philmore. But when I look back upon the season, I'm relatively pleased. New Year's Eve against St. John's was special. The storm back against Georgetown was one for the ages. And the Creighton victory is the reason we post on this board and are fans to begin with.

In the end, the season was one wild ride, and still isn't over. It's why games are played to begin with.

Here's to the BE Tourney and (cross my fingers) a crack at another tourney run.

I like this post. It's almost mid-night after the Nova loss and I like this post. I understand the thought process that focuses on calibrated expectations. I do. But I have to come back to what the benchmark thought process was for this season. 7th place. 7th place in a new conference. Forget Georgetown's problems. Forget Marquette's problems. They didn't help us get to where we are: we got to where we are on our own and we failed to get further than that on our own.

Yet I'm okay this evening. Why can't these guys go to New York and take one away from St. John's on their home floor - again. I'd rather go into that game knowing that I've done that already than having to go into that game not knowing if I can do that.

These kids have fight in them, other than when they're playing a little too casually. Seton Hall at home was a killer, but I agree with you about Xavier growing in this conference.

I know we'll be fine long-term and we'll be that way with Chris Mack at the helm. I still believe we can make the Dance this year.