Official Final Four Melt Down Thread

[ShockRef]

BOBB,
You are also correct. Louisville is no Alabama A&M and top flight status.
But the opportunity was there. Right there for the taking. They were on their heels and and feeling the pressure.

12 point lead, in serious foul trouble and no swagger at all.

It was the OSU game all over but instead of 20 point lead to cushion, it was 'just' 12 points.

This time, the lead was not enough and the time was too short.

And you can shove your jackass comment.

[ShockerFever]

Shock Ref, what were your expectations going into the year? And then what if I told you we'd be out 3 starters for a 1 month period and without 2 for a 2 month period. Then what would your expectations have been?

[GoShockers89]

Over/under on number of times SR will jackhammer home the same dumb point in this thread?

So far we're at 3.

[ShockRef]

Shock Ref, what were your expectations going into the year? And then what if I told you we'd be out 3 starters for a 1 month period and without 2 for a 2 month period. Then what would your expectations have been?

My expectations at the start of the year have nothing to do with where this team was at the end.

When it counted, they were a fine tuned, well oiled machine and no one, and I mean other team was better than them.

I can assure you none were satisfied in that locker room after the game.

[ShockRef]

Sometimes it take multiple times for a J.O. like you to get the point.

At least you are paying attention for once.

[GoShockers89]

The irony of your shtick is funny, I will give you that.

The sports equivalent of an IRS agent acting like such an insufferably arrogant dbag is excellent trolling.

[shoxlax]

I'm sure the players are torn up about this. They should be. Its our job as fans to lift them up right now and not wallow in what could've beens.

You really have to be crazy if you think a 12 point lead is anything against Louisville.

This is the same team that put a 44-10 run on Syracuse.

[Ixiah]

Good game - great season - sincere thanks to all the players and coaching staff.

Ix

[Rlh04d]

Just too much 'I'M satisfied' on here for me.

It's not being satisfied when you celebrate after a win. Why is it being satisfied when you acknowledge the success of our entire season following the end of it?

We weren't satisfied when we beat Gonzaga. We took a moment to celebrate our accomplishments and move on. Did the same against La Salle. Did the same against tOSU.

Sucks that we lost, but we still have a LOT to celebrate. This was a tremendous team and they had a tremendous year. They had the chance to do more, but they have NOTHING to be ashamed of.

This team deserves to celebrate their overall accomplishments right now. It has nothing to do with being satisfied with how it ended.

[Rixtoy1]

Hmmm,
Too bad there isn't a way to measure the blood alcohol of a poster from reading his/her post . . . might be insightful.

Been reading a lot of national comments tonight - almost universal repsect for the Shockers and a LOT of "CBS fix is in with the refs" to get a "Big Boy" match up. Interesting stuff. but, at the end of the day, have to wish those seniors the best in whatever comes their way and the slate is clean for next year.

Oh crap - taxes are almost due - I seem to have been distracted.

See you all at the first game - REALLY looking forward to unfurling that F4 banner.
I was so proud when the shocks won the NIT, but this - this is special.

[TulsaFanInNYC]

Here was the meltdown I witnessed. After the TV Announcers went 4-0 against us before the game, they were blaming Pitino (a great Coach) at halftime. We woke up some people that were playing the 'blame game' at halftime as we were upsetting the apple-cart.

The Cardinals are prolly going to win this here Dance and they looked quite worried and frustrated so much of this game. Don't blame that on their great Coach. Credit our great Coach and our team of 'All Americans in the Heart and Effort Department'!!! All of our beloved players played tonight and they all left it all on the floor and did their very best. I could not be more proud of our beloved Shockers!!!

Bingo -- I said the same thing watching that the Cards looked frustrated... the key to me was Baker not shooting the three but passing to the post ... although fouled the post man (big dude whose name I am not even going to attempt to spell) throws an air-free throw. Cards walk on hits the first of two consecutive three's ... to me that was a HUGE momentum turning point cause the Cards were unraveling up until then...

[shocksrbest]

Bingo -- I said the same thing watching that the Cards looked frustrated... the key to me was Baker not shooting the three but passing to the post ... although fouled the post man (big dude whose name I am not even going to attempt to spell) throws an air-free throw. Cards walk on hits the first of two consecutive three's ... to me that was a HUGE momentum turning point cause the Cards were unraveling up until then...

Nail on the head. I thought the same. Even though the play gave their big a 4th foul, I would rather have had the 3 points than the 4th foul...big swing.

[garylee]

Personally, I thought the ref's really cost us. Probably the game. I didn't want to sound like a sore loser and make this call earlier but having heard SO many ex players and expert commentators say the same I thought I'd say so, as well. Here is what I have heard the expert analysts say that confirmed what I thought at the time the plays actually happened. First, there seems to be consensus that the ref's suddenly became very inconsistent with their calls once we were ahead by 12. All of a sudden, they started to allow the LU guards to be overly aggressive and ignored their constant bumping of our guards bringing the ball up - and this with us in the double bonus. Had the ref's been consistent, as they are SUPPOSE to be we win going away at the line. The double foul was atrocious and should have been two shots for Baker instead of their ball and , of course, there was the quick jump ball call at the end. In reality, had the ref's been consistent neither call would have mattered because we would have had a safe lead. IMHO, the shocks deserved to win the game but, unfortunately, that doesn't always happen.

[BostonWu]

They still should have won.

Ahead 47-35 under 10 and your opponent is in serious foul trouble, you should win the game.

Opportunities like this come along once in a life time.

If Armstead has a Drake like game they win. However, he had a Southern Illinois game and therefore they lose.


Proud of them?

Absolutely.

But the opportunity was there for the taking and it was missed.

That is all.

Name calling is uncalled for. SR simply stated they should have finished off the game and gave reasons why. This in no way means we aren't all proud of these guys.

IMO two things really hurt down the stretch:

1) I believe WSU was in the double bonus with 13 minutes left and I thought this is key to protecting the lead...hit our free throws and we're good. Well we never really capitilized on their foul trouble. Thought we would have attacked the rim relentlessly at that point. We hardly got to the line for the remainder of the game.

2) Too many inefficient possessions dribbling around the perimeter milking the clock to under 10 seconds until we started the offense. This prevent defense mode barely got us past osu but didn't quite work against a better team.

[jocoshock]

Just too much 'I'M satisfied' on here for me.

Yes, they played their hearts out. But I bet if you ask them "Are you satisfied just getting close to beating Louisville?" none will answer yes.


Winners laugh and tell jokes. Losers say shut up and deal.

They had one heck of a season. But losing a game they all knew they should have won is no reason to pat each other on the back and say "nice try."

That's bullshit.

The game is over. We played a great game, but came up short. This is a situation where we were the odds on favorite and let a lesser team beat us.. It's easy for people typing on laptops to give their opinions on would, coulda, shoulda. We weren't on the floor playing the game. We don't have to be satisfied with the result of the game. We can be adult enough to tip our hat to the victor an move on.

I think the majority of people posting choose to focus on the many positives versus the few negatives. We have much to be thankful for and are looking the future. Rick Pitino is now 2-6 in national semifinal games. i am sure he as at least 6 games where he feels like Marshall does and his fan base feels like we do.