So ?? how unrealistic is it ??

[pie n eye]

I'm interested to see what HCGM and this group can work out in St. Louis if we avoid Thursday. Coach is definitely a person who is familiar with winning at conference tournament time and the team seems to be buying in at the right time.

Sure, we haven't performed well in St. Louis, but the tournament has only been held there since 1991. So basically it changed venues around the same time we started our loooong retreat to insignificance which we maintained until 2003. Even after WSU became a legitimate program again the furthest Turgeon's teams went was the semifinals. I'm sure MT would have won in St. Louis eventually but I submit that he might not have been the right man to lead us to wins in such a setting. As a head coach, MT has never won a conference tournament. In fact, his record in conference championship games is a whopping 0-0.

On the other hand, Gregg Marshall owns a 5 conference championships in 10 seasons as a head coach.

I don't want to turn this into a GM vs. MT argument. All I'm saying is that on the surface it looks like the Shockers have some sort of St. Louis curse, but when you look at the facts of the situation you realize that LUCK would've been the only thing that allowed us to win the tournament because we certainly weren't any good (until around MT's 3rd season).

I really like our chances to play a few games in St. Louis this year if we avoid Thursday and especially if we win @ SIU.

[WuDrWu]

I feel like ORU's team did many years ago when they came into HLA and beat a downtrodden Shocker team at the end of the season.

For those of you there, that team was very tough, somewhat talented, and excited about what they were accomplishing.

They wanted to get to the NIT and were EXCITED about the prospect.

You might have heard of their coach at the time. I am not comparing us to ORU necessarily but the feeling of accomplishment is similar.

[WuDrWu]

Can I point out that we are 2-3 against the RPI Top 50?

6-8 against the top 100. I think those numbers are better than I would have anticipated and shows that we can play with a lot of good teams.

[ShockerFever]

Can I point out that we are 2-3 against the RPI Top 50?

6-8 against the top 100. I think those numbers are better than I would have anticipated and shows that we can play with a lot of good teams.

I agree with that, but to finish your sentence..

'we can play with a lot of good teams'... at HOME.

[DUShock]

Right now, I'm kind of getting into "enjoying the ride" mode. I really like the maturation process the team has undergone the last few weeks.

We have shortcomings and issues that are going to be tough to overcome but I love the upside.

Winning at SIU would be outstanding and I'd be thrilled with getting to the semis and the finals would be simply gravy. They talked about the possibility of playing in one of the 2 smaller end of year tourneys on KGSO this morning as a reward for the team and I couldn't agree more....the team has fought and clawed their way to respectability and they would seem to deserve a reward for that.

:wsu_posters: :goshocks: :posterwu: :posterwsu:

Extra nice post. Exactly how I feel. Enjoy the ride.

What these two wise men said :good:

Go Shocks!!!!

[KC Shox]

I will let you toss me off my roof, if we even win at SIU, let alone two games in St. Louie. Three? I have a better chance winning tonight's powerball.

Come on man. You can't use that line again if you haven't owned up to it when you said it the last time.

I would own up to it if someone would actually PM me and offer to do so. Until then, if there are no takers then the offer still stands. :D

By the way, did I mention I have a rear sloping deck roof that is only 8 feet tall from the ground at the roof eave. That is where I will be pushed off.

[ShockerFever]

I will let you toss me off my roof, if we even win at SIU, let alone two games in St. Louie. Three? I have a better chance winning tonight's powerball.

Come on man. You can't use that line again if you haven't owned up to it when you said it the last time.

I would own up to it if someone would actually PM me and offer to do so. Until then, if there are no takers then the offer still stands. :D

By the way, did I mention I have a rear sloping deck roof that is only 8 feet tall from the ground at the roof eave. That is where I will be pushed off.

Ahh. tricky, tricky KC. I think someone thought of that theory before about you having a bizarre roof setup. Guess they were right.. :lol:

Way to put yourself out on a limb with your predictions..

[ABC]

I feel like ORU's team did many years ago when they came into HLA and beat a downtrodden Shocker team at the end of the season.

For those of you there, that team was very tough, somewhat talented, and excited about what they were accomplishing.

They wanted to get to the NIT and were EXCITED about the prospect.

You might have heard of their coach at the time. I am not comparing us to ORU necessarily but the feeling of accomplishment is similar.

When was this ?
__________________________________
We can certainly win 3 in St Louis. I am not predicting that, but we've beaten all of the top 3 teams in the league.

We've had a poor record in St. Louis which is exactly why the odds are that that won't continue.

[Zardoz]

It isn't to realistic to think that this team could win the MVC tournament. It was too realistic to think a team that started 0-6 in the Valley and 6-11 overall has a good chance of avoiding playing on Thursday or finishing over .500 on the year. This is also a team that the experts said had no shot at even sniffing a win in Fla. and picked to finish 9th in the Valley.

Anything is possible in St. Louis. Maybe not likely or realistic, but it is possible.

[WuDrWu]

When was this ?
__________________________________
We can certainly win 3 in St Louis. I am not predicting that, but we've beaten all of the top 3 teams in the league.

We've had a poor record in St. Louis which is exactly why the odds are that that won't continue.

Seemingly, I have mixed up my memories but according to what I was able to find, the year ORU beat us here was near the end of the 95-96 season but they didn't make the NIT that year, they made it the next season. They still wanted to get to the NIT in 95-96 as it was the talk of all their fans that were at the game...and there were plenty.

[ShoxFan963]

When was the last time we won the tournament? I don't think we have even won in St. Louis.

[ABC]

We have never won the tourney since its moved to St. Louis.

We last won the tournament in 1987 on Tulsa's home floor, if I recall, as we did in 1985 with X man.

Our 1987 team was likely to get an at-large bid, I think our 85 team was less likely to get an at-large bid.

[C0|dB|00ded]

3 in St. Lou?

I just wanna make sure we're locked into the Top 6. You guys are assuming a lot. We haven't clinched a single thing yet.

We are a whisper from finishing in the top 5. That is ONE spot from the top four, a position you mocked incessantly.

If we finish at #5 you will still need to eat a couple bites of humble pie and let Forevershockerfan feed it to you.


T


...8)

[Ricardo del Rio]

3 in St. Lou?

I just wanna make sure we're locked into the Top 6. You guys are assuming a lot. We haven't clinched a single thing yet.

We are a whisper from finishing in the top 5. That is ONE spot from the top four, a position you mocked incessantly.

If we finish at #5 you will still need to eat a couple bites of humble pie and let Forevershockerfan feed it to you.


T


...8)

I am pretty sure Fever will be more than willing to open wide in the event of a news shaking finish. I will be so happy, I will help him eat the humble pie.

The future is so bright, I gotta wear shades....to borrow a phrase.

[C0|dB|00ded]

We have never won the tourney since its moved to St. Louis.

We last won the tournament in 1987 on Tulsa's home floor, if I recall, as we did in 1985 with X man.

Our 1987 team was likely to get an at-large bid, I think our 85 team was less likely to get an at-large bid.

All that doesn't mean anything all...

We are one of the two hottest teams in the league right now and we have a VERY good chance of winning it all.

Curses, voodoo, etc. are all just a bunch of hogwash. The players will be ready to give it their all and if they continue on their current trend will be even better in St. Louis than they are right now.

GG has always been the kind of coach that has his teams playing their best ball at the end of the season. We are seeing that now. It was a must in the Big South if one wanted to make any noise at all, but it also doesn't come easily. A coach must continue to train a players mind that the season is a process and where we finish is a lot more important than where we currently are. To do this takes a level-headed approach during tough losses in mid-season. You can't break the young men's spirit over one loss. This way they keep their heads up for the "big finish".

I wouldn't be surprised at all if we win it all. I am expecting one and possibly two wins.

It's amazing that after all this team and its fans went through this year, I may be getting my expectation fulfilled of GG having a .500 conference season. We are only one win away from that and it is amazing that he could accomplish it after how horrible our team started this year.


T


...8)