Mista Wolf,
I have not read the entire thread….just the post mortuem. I was there. I do not disagree with your comments. But, my opinion and also Gott’s comments were that we have made tremendous improvements over the season. Your point about the 1 point loss is correct.
However, if we had not played sloppy (or had an OFF GAME) for the entire first half, then, as the Food Lion says….”Victory would have been ours”
That is what I believe folks are commenting on. We have shown some consistency and are rising above what the pundits said about it. BUT, when you rise above, you can not just stay there. Simple….if you want to be your best at anything (sports, computer programming, math, sexual prowess, etc.), then each time your participate or train, you have to set a goal that exceeded your last performance.
We did not play that way last night. On the positive side, I feared a total “What’s this here brown round thingy” opening. BUT, we were staying with UNC. In reality, being down only 6 when they shot 60+% and we were in the mid 30’s was really a victory. You KNOW that they are not gonna get better.
In the 1983 NCAA run, we played Utah. We shot 60% in the first half. Jimmy V told the team….do NOT LET UP. He said that he told them that the Utah coach was saying…..”We are STILL in this…they can NOT possibly continue shooting 66%” That was Gott’s message last night to the team. Same for ORW.
Note, Coaches can be WRONG….NCSU came out and shot 65% in the second half of the Utah game and we won it by 19…
BUT, back on point…..we came back last night. BUT we did not have the 2nd half shooting night like we did against Duke. Had we had that….we would have won.
I am more than pleased with how the season is unfolding. BUT, the losses to Wofford and UNC were MORE than winnable games….had we played up the level that we have, most of the time, played at. SO, my disappointment was the backsliding into the team that got on a downer last year and it took several games to restore our confidence.
As someone noted…as well as I. We need to play with confidence and poise ALL the time…especially the next 3 or so….just to get our rhythm and have momentum going into February.
