This was definitely a moral victory IMO. I wasn't much for moral victories with lickliter, but it's hard not to be excited about what fran has put on the court this year. We went toe to toe with the #14 team in the nation, and were inches away from winning. I thought we were going to lose by about 20 last night. This team battled until the very end of that game when we were smaller, younger, and not as deep. Like people have been saying, I am fine with moral victories, but I don't want my coach or players to invest in them. Clearly fran and the players did not.
I'm a fan. I'm claiming a moral victory last night.
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SteveGarvey
Well-Known Member
I know it was really bad during the Lick era but there were still a few times at least when we hung close with a few top teams at CHA and people claimed "moral victories".
tweeterhawk
Well-Known Member
I don't think anyone is upset about the team's progress or the effort it gave against a talented Wisconsin squad. But ColumbusHawk nailed it: moral victories are for losers. Pretty sure Fran was not pleased with the loss, and I doubt any of the players were, either. Fran saw some things the team did well as well as things the team could have done better. If he doesn't continue to push, the program will not advance.
That is all.
That is all.
Iowafarmgirl
Banned
If playing well in a loss is a moral victory, is playing poorly in a win a moral defeat? I mean, according to Newton's third law, any action requires an equal and opposite reaction. I mean, in all systems, an idea exists only in realtion to its opposite, but this concept of "moral victories" seems to be some sort of philosophical anamoly.
My head hurts.
My head hurts.
SteveGarvey
Well-Known Member
No, there are no moral defeats. It all comes down to spinning it in the best way possible for each respective fan base. Wisconsin can say "we played poorly but came through when we needed to and got the win on the road blah blah blah". Or, I've heard this one a lot: "We didn't play our best but fortunately came through with a win. We learned a lesson but not the hard way" or something like that. Iowa can claim a moral victory because the program's been down so long.
Iowafarmgirl
Banned
See, that still doesn't reconcile my belief that moral victories are not possible without moral defeats. You guys are dividing by zero here.
SteveGarvey
Well-Known Member
I think you're actually right that there are moral defeats. What you say does make sense. However, in the world of sports the moral defeats never bubble to the surface as they get buried under sports-speak and such.
You're definitely not the typical farm girl when I look at your analysis (no offense to farm girls).
HawkeyeShane
Well-Known Member
Which one?
1977Hawkeye
Well-Known Member
I think it's ok to call the Wisconsin game a moral victory if we choose to. I'm not a fan of moral victories at all, but this year I am just wanting to see a team improving and playing competetive basketball. That's what we are getting right now, so win or lose, I take our performance as a sign of life. That's encouraging.
A couple years from now, we won't be able to call a game like this a moral victory, because we should expect to be winning more games. On the same token, we can't expect to win every time we play another ranked opponent. Wisconsin is a good program.
That said, I am glad that Fran is not content with just pushing our opponents down to the wire. He wants to win, with no excuses for losing, and will keep pushing the team to improve after every game. I think that's great.
A couple years from now, we won't be able to call a game like this a moral victory, because we should expect to be winning more games. On the same token, we can't expect to win every time we play another ranked opponent. Wisconsin is a good program.
That said, I am glad that Fran is not content with just pushing our opponents down to the wire. He wants to win, with no excuses for losing, and will keep pushing the team to improve after every game. I think that's great.
Iowafarmgirl
Banned
Shane, are you insinuating I am some kind of a hydra-like creature? Is it just because my mere tracks can kill a man?
HawkeyeShane
Well-Known Member
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
Every team has a night when they just can't hit a dunk! We have to move forward and hope the 3 dunks and 2 layups go in the next game. Seriously, it was a fun game to watch other than the final score. I hope we make it far enough to play Wisky in the BTT. They didn't get our best shot and we still could have beaten them.
ibahawkeye
Well-Known Member
To be fair, we didn't get their best shot either and this was a home game. If we play them in the BTT, it will be a neutral floor.
I'm afraid we had our chance to beat Wisconsin this year and couldn't make it happen.
HawkeyeShane
Well-Known Member
Have to agree with ibahawkeye on this one...you can't just look at what Iowa didn't do and think there'd automatically be a different outcome next time around...Wisky had plenty of things go wrong for them as well...like their first half shooting...it was horrendous and probably wouldn't be duplicated the next time around. But I'm with you too, Windsor...I want another shot at them anyway!
