2016-2017 Season

[UCalum08]

Our starting five is going to be good, really good. I can't wait to see Washington, Caupain, Evans and Clark play together. (I know that's only 4 lol) Let the rest play out. I am one of the few that has confidence in KJ.

[jacobkdoyle]

Originally Posted by UCalum08

Our starting five is going to be good, really good. I can't wait to see Washington, Caupain, Evans and Clark play together. (I know that's only 4 lol) Let the rest play out. I am one of the few that has confidence in KJ.

This is a perfect sentence imo. I shouldn't have even bothered making a prediction bc I know how fans (fans in general, not UC fans) get with the preseason expectations. Nothing has gone wrong yet, so on paper we are perfect. Take away the exact numbers of my prediction, what I'm basically saying is we'll be the same, if not a little better than the other previous 6 UC teams that have made the tournament. Could something special happen? Sure. But I have to see something different to believe it. That take was fine all offseason, but now that the schedule is out and the buzz is starting, I'm treated by some like I shouldn't even be allowed to root for the team. Relax guys! We all want the same thing. I'm just not taking the bait this year on all the buzz. I got burned pretty bad last year doing that. If people want to predict things that have only happened once in the last 10+ years, go for it. It will probably be that much sweeter if you're right. But I'm with UCalum, just letting it play out.

[2bearcatdad]

Originally Posted by jacobkdoyle

Why bother what? I have to have unrealistic expectations and buy into the preseason hype every year to be a fan?

I think we'll go 22-9 and 13-5 in the conference. Is that ok with you? Or should I stop rooting for my favorite team bc I think that? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "Mick's best team" line has been used before...like last year. How'd that go? So bc I'm not putting those expectations on again, I shouldn't even bother? Good grief man.

There's nothing wrong with taking a 'show me' attitude towards the season. Jacob is correct, most of us felt like last season would have been more successful than it turned out. He's not saying he thinks this team is going to flop - just that he's going to remain a little skeptical until the team shows him some results. No problem there.

I'm optimistic regarding the potential for this team; that's ok too.

This forum allows for viewpoints on both sides of the aisle. The only poster I took issue with was NTS because he didn't appear to be a fan at all. That apparently has been addressed by the mods and I am grateful for that.

I don't view Jacob in that light at all. I believe he is a fan and friend of the program, he's just a little more skeptical of the state of the program than some others. Nothing wrong em with that.

We're all fans of the program. We can view things differently, but let's try to avoid attacking each other just because we may see things a little differently. I'm glad Jacob is a regular contributor.

[#BearcatNation]

Originally Posted by jacobkdoyle

Why bother what? I have to have unrealistic expectations and buy into the preseason hype every year to be a fan?

I think we'll go 22-9 and 13-5 in the conference. Is that ok with you? Or should I stop rooting for my favorite team bc I think that? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "Mick's best team" line has been used before...like last year. How'd that go? So bc I'm not putting those expectations on again, I shouldn't even bother? Good grief man.

I was half-kidding. Don't take it personally. I just find it funny when people go "yeah well we've heard that before", when we have also heard them say that before... (I definitely remember you saying that last year). There's nothing wrong with being skeptical (I think 22-9 is somewhat fair). But to get annoyed by people saying "this is Mick's best team" isn't fair, when saying "yeah we've heard that before" every year is equally annoying. Does that make sense?

I'm really not this eternal optimist some of you think I am. I pitch in at the excessively negative banter to balance it out and say positive things, so people end up thinking I'm just an "everything is perfect no matter what" kind of person. This program has some flaws that I'd rather not dive into right now.

There are plenty of things that worry me about this year, but balancing that out with the starting five everyone has pointed out, plus some new faces, we could wind up having a great year. If you can't see that, I don't know what to tell you. People aren't putting us in their preseason top 25 for nothing.

[Bearcatboy]

Originally Posted by 2bearcatdad

I don't even know why we play these games - after all, the result is guaranteed.

I agree that 24-7 is a decent regular season result, but I'm hoping we could even be a game or two better.

Guaranteeing wins or losses at this point is silly.

When we fall short year after year in big games you can start to predict the future....

[jacobkdoyle]

Originally Posted by #BearcatNation

I was half-kidding. Don't take it personally. I just find it funny when people go "yeah well we've heard that before", when we have also heard them say that before... (I definitely remember you saying that last year). There's nothing wrong with being skeptical (I think 22-9 is somewhat fair). But to get annoyed by people saying "this is Mick's best team" isn't fair, when saying "yeah we've heard that before" every year is equally annoying. Does that make sense?

I'm really not this eternal optimist some of you think I am. I pitch in at the excessively negative banter to balance it out and say positive things, so people end up thinking I'm just an "everything is perfect no matter what" kind of person. This program has some flaws that I'd rather not dive into right now.

There are plenty of things that worry me about this year, but balancing that out with the starting five everyone has pointed out, plus some new faces, we could wind up having a great year. If you can't see that, I don't know what to tell you. People aren't putting us in their preseason top 25 for nothing.

I definitely hear what you're saying. I was one of the ones last year saying it'd be Cronin's best team though. I predicted either 25-6 or 26-5 (I don't remember which). I bought into the "2 year plan" with that team. I was going crazy after the first few games. Feels like a long time ago, but I was all in. I just can't do that again. My "put up or shut up" year was last year. We didn't put up. So I'm sticking to that unless I see a reason to change my tune.

[jacobkdoyle]

Originally Posted by 2bearcatdad

There's nothing wrong with taking a 'show me' attitude towards the season. Jacob is correct, most of us felt like last season would have been more successful than it turned out. He's not saying he thinks this team is going to flop - just that he's going to remain a little skeptical until the team shows him some results. No problem there.

I'm optimistic regarding the potential for this team; that's ok too.

This forum allows for viewpoints on both sides of the aisle. The only poster I took issue with was NTS because he didn't appear to be a fan at all. That apparently has been addressed by the mods and I am grateful for that.

I don't view Jacob in that light at all. I believe he is a fan and friend of the program, he's just a little more skeptical of the state of the program than some others. Nothing wrong em with that.

We're all fans of the program. We can view things differently, but let's try to avoid attacking each other just because we may see things a little differently. I'm glad Jacob is a regular contributor.

I appreciate that. I enjoy your posts as well.

[L-T]

Originally Posted by jacobkdoyle

Why bother what? I have to have unrealistic expectations and buy into the preseason hype every year to be a fan?

I think we'll go 22-9 and 13-5 in the conference. Is that ok with you? Or should I stop rooting for my favorite team bc I think that? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "Mick's best team" line has been used before...like last year. How'd that go? So bc I'm not putting those expectations on again, I shouldn't even bother? Good grief man.

Jacob, if one thing for sure has happened during the Cronin era, it's don't buy into the hype. It happens every year. It's like the boy who cried "Wolf". I understand exactly what you are saying and agree 100% with you. I'll believe it when I see it, just like you. I'm somewhat excited about this team, but you know....it's the same coach. This same stuff was being tossed out there last year and now many want to act like it was really this season where the change is going to happen. No, it was last season. We bought into the hype and the season was a joke. I think we'll have a better record this year than you do, but I understand where you are coming from. The lower we set the bar, the better chance we'll have of being somewhat content at the end of it all. It's so much easier than doing the reverse and getting disappointed every season.

[#BearcatNation]

Originally Posted by L-T

Jacob, if one thing for sure has happened during the Cronin era, it's don't buy into the hype. It happens every year. It's like the boy who cried "Wolf". I understand exactly what you are saying and agree 100% with you. I'll believe it when I see it, just like you. I'm somewhat excited about this team, but you know....it's the same coach. This same stuff was being tossed out there last year and now many want to act like it was really this season where the change is going to happen. No, it was last season. We bought into the hype and the season was a joke. I think we'll have a better record this year than you do, but I understand where you are coming from. The lower we set the bar, the better chance we'll have of being somewhat content at the end of it all. It's so much easier than doing the reverse and getting disappointed every season.

Haven't seen one person with that thought process, so I'm curious where you're getting that. I had way higher expectations last year, and I think most/everyone here did as well. We were deeper. The JuCos + Shaq disappointed. I don't know why you seem to think everyone is so blind.

[L-T]

Originally Posted by #BearcatNation

Haven't seen one person with that thought process, so I'm curious where you're getting that. I had way higher expectations last year, and I think most/everyone here did as well. We were deeper. The JuCos + Shaq disappointed. I don't know why you seem to think everyone is so blind.

Many, including myself, uttered the words "Final Four" last year. On paper, last year's team was much deeper, and more experienced. I obviously must have been one of the few that actually attended that pre-season scrimmage and went off the deep end over what I saw from Jenifer and Evans. I saw the promised land. So, my fall was extreme. It just seems like many forgot how we viewed last year at this same time (2 mos. before the season). You can't help but to be cautious this time around.