xubrew
03-29-2018, 01:03 PM
For starters, I'm not mad, or pissed, or even upset.
Two reasons: These things happen when you're dealing with coaches who disregard collateral damage and the feelings of strangers for their own best interest, and that is virtually ALL coaches.
The other is that I'm not all that convinced that we were going to get any better. I don't mean that to sound negative, or even as a slam on X or Chris Mack. Just my own assessment.
I think Chris Mack is very good. Had he stayed, I think he would have continued to be very good. But I do think we were kind of at our ceiling with him.
In the last three years, Xavier has won five games against teams that actually finished the regular season in the rankings. Two of those were Florida State and Arizona last year in games that, had we not beaten Butler in a Big East Quarterfinal, we wouldn't have even gotten to play.
This year, we had one win against a team that finished the season ranked (Cincinnati). We beat no one that went beyond the Round of 32, and only beat (I think) 4 teams that made it that far. One of those was Marshall. Barely, as you may recall. We got a #1 seed. We were very good. We won all the games we were supposed to win. But, we really were one of the weaker #1 seeds of all time in terms of how good our best wins actually were. People that were saying that weren't wrong. That's still good. That's still very good.
Of all the tournament games that we won under Chris Mack, only 5 were against single digit seeds, and three of those were last year. Another was against Pittsburgh on a missed last second shot, and another was against Notre Dame. Half our Sweet Sixteen runs featured no wins against single digit seeded teams. The bracket collapsed, and we were essentially playing teams that wouldn't have even made the NCAA Tournament without the automatic bid.
Now, I'm not trying to downplay anything. That's very good. We would win virtually all the games against unranked teams, we'd go far in the tournament if the bracket collapsed and wouldn't if it didn't (other than the E8 run last year). We may beat a ranked team during the regular season. Maybe two. That's pretty good. That's very good.
But, I think that's all we were gonna be had he stayed. And that's fine. I can live with that. 335 out of the 351 teams would probably kill for that. But, if we want to be better than that, and I do think that's what we want, then maybe it was time for someone else. We have a TON going for us.
So, I don't really care that he's gone. I would've been happy had he stayed. I think he was very good while he was here. I think he'll be very good at Louisville (and I don't think they'll be happy with that, but that's not my concern). But I also think we are in a position to improve, and maybe his leaving....well....maybe it really was time. For both of us. So, NEXT UP!!
Two reasons: These things happen when you're dealing with coaches who disregard collateral damage and the feelings of strangers for their own best interest, and that is virtually ALL coaches.
The other is that I'm not all that convinced that we were going to get any better. I don't mean that to sound negative, or even as a slam on X or Chris Mack. Just my own assessment.
I think Chris Mack is very good. Had he stayed, I think he would have continued to be very good. But I do think we were kind of at our ceiling with him.
In the last three years, Xavier has won five games against teams that actually finished the regular season in the rankings. Two of those were Florida State and Arizona last year in games that, had we not beaten Butler in a Big East Quarterfinal, we wouldn't have even gotten to play.
This year, we had one win against a team that finished the season ranked (Cincinnati). We beat no one that went beyond the Round of 32, and only beat (I think) 4 teams that made it that far. One of those was Marshall. Barely, as you may recall. We got a #1 seed. We were very good. We won all the games we were supposed to win. But, we really were one of the weaker #1 seeds of all time in terms of how good our best wins actually were. People that were saying that weren't wrong. That's still good. That's still very good.
Of all the tournament games that we won under Chris Mack, only 5 were against single digit seeds, and three of those were last year. Another was against Pittsburgh on a missed last second shot, and another was against Notre Dame. Half our Sweet Sixteen runs featured no wins against single digit seeded teams. The bracket collapsed, and we were essentially playing teams that wouldn't have even made the NCAA Tournament without the automatic bid.
Now, I'm not trying to downplay anything. That's very good. We would win virtually all the games against unranked teams, we'd go far in the tournament if the bracket collapsed and wouldn't if it didn't (other than the E8 run last year). We may beat a ranked team during the regular season. Maybe two. That's pretty good. That's very good.
But, I think that's all we were gonna be had he stayed. And that's fine. I can live with that. 335 out of the 351 teams would probably kill for that. But, if we want to be better than that, and I do think that's what we want, then maybe it was time for someone else. We have a TON going for us.
So, I don't really care that he's gone. I would've been happy had he stayed. I think he was very good while he was here. I think he'll be very good at Louisville (and I don't think they'll be happy with that, but that's not my concern). But I also think we are in a position to improve, and maybe his leaving....well....maybe it really was time. For both of us. So, NEXT UP!!