Tweet
A little perspective
I offer this as a comparison and to perhaps shine a little light and perspective on how impressive the last 4 years have been for WSU and Coach Marshall.
I am not implying that anyone doesn't appreciate it, I simply happened across this factoid and found it interesting and made me take a second glance at how difficult and unusual it is to win at this level.
I watched a little of the OKC v Houston game last night (honestly, I was doing laundry in the basement and couldn't find the remote and it happened to turn on to TNT). This kid for Houston had a big game, Chandler Parsons. I didn't remember him so I looked him up.
He played at Florida from 2007-11. Let's take a look at his 4 years at Florida:
07-08 NIT losing to UMASS in the semis after winning 3 home games.
08-09 NIT losing to Penn State in the QuarterFinals after playing every game at home.
09-10 NCAA as a 10 seed, lost in the 1st round to BYU
10-11 NCAA lost in the Elite 8 as a #2 seed to Butler.
And as a refresher, the last 4 years for WSU
09-10 NIT Lost in the first round to Nevada
10-11 NIT Won the NIT
11-12 NCAA As a #5 seed lost to VCU in the 2nd round
12-13 NCAA As a #9 seed lost to Louisville in the Final Four
That's Florida folks...just off back to back NCAA Championships. Same coach. Think recruiting was easy during that time? Money? Fan support? BCS conference bias? Even with all those advantages, sure looks to me like the Shocks had a better 4 year run.
I'm also going to add this. Those first 2 years, the Shocks should have been NCAA teams. They were one of the best at large teams available imho. They didn't get in for a variety of reasons and I have no desire to rehash those reasons.
I believe next year, given the exact same scenario, WSU will get in. They'll get the benefit of the doubt now.
Of course, next year, they are NOT going to need it.
I am not implying that anyone doesn't appreciate it, I simply happened across this factoid and found it interesting and made me take a second glance at how difficult and unusual it is to win at this level.
I watched a little of the OKC v Houston game last night (honestly, I was doing laundry in the basement and couldn't find the remote and it happened to turn on to TNT). This kid for Houston had a big game, Chandler Parsons. I didn't remember him so I looked him up.
He played at Florida from 2007-11. Let's take a look at his 4 years at Florida:
07-08 NIT losing to UMASS in the semis after winning 3 home games.
08-09 NIT losing to Penn State in the QuarterFinals after playing every game at home.
09-10 NCAA as a 10 seed, lost in the 1st round to BYU
10-11 NCAA lost in the Elite 8 as a #2 seed to Butler.
And as a refresher, the last 4 years for WSU
09-10 NIT Lost in the first round to Nevada
10-11 NIT Won the NIT
11-12 NCAA As a #5 seed lost to VCU in the 2nd round
12-13 NCAA As a #9 seed lost to Louisville in the Final Four
That's Florida folks...just off back to back NCAA Championships. Same coach. Think recruiting was easy during that time? Money? Fan support? BCS conference bias? Even with all those advantages, sure looks to me like the Shocks had a better 4 year run.
I'm also going to add this. Those first 2 years, the Shocks should have been NCAA teams. They were one of the best at large teams available imho. They didn't get in for a variety of reasons and I have no desire to rehash those reasons.
I believe next year, given the exact same scenario, WSU will get in. They'll get the benefit of the doubt now.
Of course, next year, they are NOT going to need it.
Comment