Is NIT to NIT a good season?

B

Bigtenchamp

Well-Known Member
Thought about this a lot the last couple days.. we did improve our record however way too many blown games.

This year was a missed opportunity.

Hard for me to view it as a successful season.
 
It could have been a great season; however, this was still another solid year.
The blown games we to a degree unlucky but also a result of youth. We were starting 3 frosh for portions of the year.
Beyond the final results, this team has made huge strides in a number of areas that point to long term success.
 
Bigtenchamp said:
Thought about this a lot the last couple days.. we did improve our record however way too many blown games.

This year was a missed opportunity.

Hard for me to view it as a successful season.
Click to expand...

Any chance I get to see Fran's team play extra games is a success. The ultimate goal is the big dance but I will always take the NIT. The Lickloser years taught me a lot about not taking things for granted. This is a journey that could have a sweet outcome in the end but it is not a journey for the weak of heart.

The big dance has turned into the mid-major showcase so in some respects the NIT has some quality power conference teams that I hope we earn a chance to play.
 
It was a decent year considering where we were prior to Fran (the Lick Years). Acceptable, but not very good or great. Next year, the NIT would be unacceptable, but you would take what you could get.
 
I call it a good season. No signature wins is disappointing. A baby step forward is better than a step back...and the program I think is moving forward.
 
They had a better season than last year, so yes it was a good season. Most expected this team to be a year away from making the big dance and it turned out this team actually had a legit shot if the ball had bounced their way just a few more times.
 
I think winning the NIT could lead to big things. Take a look at last year, Stanford and Minnesota in the finals. Look how that catapulted both of them.
 
For anyone to look at this season as less than successful is unfortunate. My goodness- combine the hubris of Alford triggering departures, along with the absolute misery of watching Todd PaintDryer led teams and the mass departures there as well, and there was NOTHING other than R. Dev waiting for Fran. In three years, he has managed to bring in three Mr. Basketball recruits, depth at pretty much every spot on the floor, and an incredibly enjoyable brand of basketball to watch. Yes, a couple of good bounces this year would have probably gotten Iowa into the NCAA tournament, but such is life. We all started the season feeling the team was a year away. The lessons these players learned this season about not letting others decide the outcome for the team will pay huge dividends moving forward. My goodness, Iowa went several years starting the next season with less than 40% of the offensive scoring returning. No consistency. No building. Iowa State took a different path to get back to the tourney, and bully for them, it worked. I am far happier having the opportunity to see these kids progress for three and four years, watch their growth, and feel far more connected to the team as a whole than bringing in loads of JuCo and other transfer players. This season, by any metric, to all reasonable fans, has been a phenomenal success.
 
We started the season with three freshmen in the starting lineup...and we were a whisker away from the NCAA tournament. A couple of whistles at the right moment (or no whistle) and we are in the dance...that and if MSU hadn't been able to play football the last 5 minutes. This team was considerably better than last years team...just look at the defensive numbers...that tells you all you need to know. We just need to shoot the ball better and continue to improve defensively and on the glass.

There is no doubt next year, we are dancing and this team could develop into something special. It's all in the growth and maturity. Best of all, I think Fran knows what he's doing...that's comforting. He teams run a lot of stuff offensively and this team is going to be very seasoned next year...it will pay off.
 
Short answer--Yes.

I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. We didn't really deserve to be in the NIT last year. I think there was some back-roomin' going on.

We deserved to be in the NIT this year. That is improvement.
 
For example our opponent Oregon from the NIT last year is in the NCAA this season...

I'm not saying it was a bad season just not sure NIT to NIT is what I'd call success necessarily.

And I ya we were very bad under lick ect ect - but I'm talking last year to this year.
 
to be a little more blunt - we blew this season

We should have been in the NCAA but we let too many games dribble down our leg.

That's the cold reality - we were better perhaps but we didn't get the job done way too many times where we should have.
 
I don't think this season was a success or a failure as far as record. As far as team improvement it was a huge success. We were 5 timely baskets from winning the big 10. Last year we won a few close games to decent teams and kinda over achieved record wise. This year we lost a bunch and that kept us from over achieving again as far as record goes.

If we improve as much next year as we have the last 3 years and win half of the 50/50 games, we will have a very good season.
 
Minnesota catapulted.......straight down the hole of mediocrity or worse. Yes, they actually got worse and got rewarded for doing so.

Nuff about the Gooftroop. Next year, Big Dance will be expected out of the Hawks.
 
Bigtenchamp said:
to be a little more blunt - we blew this season

We should have been in the NCAA but we let too many games dribble down our leg.

That's the cold reality - we were better perhaps but we didn't get the job done way too many times where we should have.
Click to expand...

Any time you lose every single close game you can safely say you under achieved. The thing is tho we over achieved so greatly to play the way we did this year, it kind averages out.
 
The Gophers DID get off to a tremendous start. A season truly is a journey: at some point they took a misstep.
The NIT combined with the Euro trip are great opportunities.
 
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