The most important game of the year was....

the Xavier game at MSG.  Had to be, IMO.

1.  We were on a roll of a bunch of wins followed by a real close loss to Nova on the road.  This was a game we had to win against the #3 in the BE to keep us rolling and on track.  Yes, due to deaths and stuff we may not have been in the best mindest for this game, but Jordan actually played OK (and Sanchez despite likely not sleeping for a few days played very well).  We had to win that one.

2.  Xavier was one of the Last Four In --- I think very likely if we had won that game, we would have replaced them.

3.  It would have gotten us #3 in the BE regular season at 11-7, which would have had to count for something.

4.  We would have played Marquette first round of the BET, not Providence, so perhaps we win another game there.  But even if we didn't it may have been enough.

Of course we can talk about the PC loss at home, the PC loss in the BET, the DePaul loss, etc., but THIS was the game that we had to win to stay on track and keep rolling, and in my opinion, would have gotten us into the dance.

This team didn't treat many games as if they were important.  That being said, the last game we play will be the most important.

the Xavier game at MSG.  Had to be, IMO.

1.  We were on a roll of a bunch of wins followed by a real close loss to Nova on the road.  This was a game we had to win against the #3 in the BE to keep us rolling and on track.  Yes, due to deaths and stuff we may not have been in the best mindest for this game, but Jordan actually played OK (and Sanchez despite likely not sleeping for a few days played very well).  We had to win that one.

2.  Xavier was one of the Last Four In --- I think very likely if we had won that game, we would have replaced them.

3.  It would have gotten us #3 in the BE regular season at 11-7, which would have had to count for something.

4.  We would have played Marquette first round of the BET, not Providence, so perhaps we win another game there.  But even if we didn't it may have been enough.

Of course we can talk about the PC loss at home, the PC loss in the BET, the DePaul loss, etc., but THIS was the game that we had to win to stay on track and keep rolling, and in my opinion, would have gotten us into the dance.

Yes, Kid, we know. We all know.

This team didn't treat many games as if they were important.  That being said, the last game we play will be the most important.

I assume you meant the last regular season/BE tourney game....

Quote from: newsman13 on March 17, 2014, 10:27:19 AM

This team didn't treat many games as if they were important.  That being said, the last game we play will be the most important.

I assume you meant the last regular season/BE tourney game....

I mean the game we haven't played yet.

...the Syracuse game.  Up 60-58 with 5 minutes to go. National stage.  We proceed to go 0/10 from the field and 3/7 from the line and turn the ball over twice. Cuase won 68-63 but they didn't play lights out during that five minute stretch.  They were 3/5 from the field, 4/9 from the line and also had 2 turnovers.

The obvious take-away is that winning this game would have been a spring board to a better start in Big East play, and most likely the team would not have started out 0-5.  But more importantly, the team would have learned how to finish out games, which was a huge issue all year.  A large part of that is coaching, but the other part is having the confidence to do so from having done it previously.

...the Syracuse game.  Up 60-58 with 5 minutes to go. National stage.  We proceed to go 0/10 from the field and 3/7 from the line and turn the ball over twice. Cuase won 68-63 but they didn't play lights out during that five minute stretch.  They were 3/5 from the field, 4/9 from the line and also had 2 turnovers.

The obvious take-away is that winning this game would have been a spring board to a better start in Big East play, and most likely the team would not have started out 0-5.  But more importantly, the team would have learned how to finish out games, which was a huge issue all year.  A large part of that is coaching, but the other part is having the confidence to do so from having done it previously.

It's just speculation whether the Cuse game would have taught the team how to close out a game had we won.  However, a win aganist Cuse would have given us a desperately needed win against a top 10 team (something Xavier had against Cincy), and therefore could have afforded us the same breathing room Xavier had, who finished with the exact same record as us, but is playing in to dance.  I agree with Kid that the Xavier loss was the killer for our "at large bid" hopes in retrospect. 

Good question.  Hard to give one answer.

Syracuse would have been a marquee win and likely would have given them confidence to start the BE season stronger.

Depaul was our worst loss.  It mght have hurt us quite a bit.

Nova at their place would have given us a signature win over the conference leader.

Xavier at MSG would have put us ahead of them in the BE standings.

Providence in the BET.  We might have won the whole thing (or at least get to the finals) and make the Dance.

I agree that it was the cuse game.  Win that game and likely in the ncaas.  close second would be @nova (home to nova maybe work too).  then this would be a 21-win team with 2 marquee wins.

as far as a win that would have kept this team on the "right track" -- it's hard to say, but that xavier game is a good choice

This team didn't treat many games as if they were important.  That being said, the last game we play will be the most important.

Pleas explain how our last game (not played yet) would be our most important game? It would seem that winning games now is somewhat meaningless to most fans.

 I don't think winning the NIT Championship would be meaningless to most STJ fans.

 Winning it could go a long way going into next year.

I don't think winning the NIT Championship would be meaningless to most STJ fans.

 Winning it could go a long way going into next year.

Agree Boo.  This may not be the "youngest team in the country" but we sure don't have much meaningful game experience!  Winning some games against other similarly ranked teams in a tournament setting can only help the team's confidence, help them gel more, and perhaps get them even hungrier next year knowing what they could have had they not had so many lapses last year.

Especially for guys like Jordan, Jakarr, and Obekpa, this could be a spring board to them taking "the step" next year.   For recruiting, it could help so Lavin can say, this team is about to make the leap, you want to be on board before we do. 

It can only do good and cannot do harm to be playing in the NIT.  Everyone against it or deeming it meaningless needs to get a reality check.  There have been plenty of years in the last decade where we didn't even qualify for the NIT...

..and don't twist what I said into me saying I'm happy to be in the NIT.. I don't even know who we playing the NIT, but usually teams that win the thing have good success the following season.

As far as games we played already-  the most important game of the season Providence in the BE conference. We choked.  Missed 50% of our FTs, Dom missed 3 layups himself, and our biggest defensive stopper played 2 minutes.

I don't think winning the NIT Championship would be meaningless to most STJ fans.

 Winning it could go a long way going into next year.

The last time we won it led directly to running a train on a skank the next season

I don't think winning the NIT Championship would be meaningless to most STJ fans.

 Winning it could go a long way going into next year.

Maybe, but winning this year's NIT won't mean anything to me if the team is back in the NIT next year

Quote from: boo3 on March 17, 2014, 01:11:35 PM

I don't think winning the NIT Championship would be meaningless to most STJ fans.

 Winning it could go a long way going into next year.

Maybe, but winning this year's NIT won't mean anything to me if the team is back in the NIT next year

Totally agreed.  Winning the NIT only means something if it leads us into more mature, calm cool and collected play where we finish close games, are top 25, and make a run in the NCAA next year.  Then we can all look back on this fondly.  Otherwise, blech.

Xavier #2...ship was righted...we were playing like a team with a sense of urgency and then came out like a team that thought it was walking on the red carpet...

Anybody think the 1st creighton game was the biggest? I mean beating them on their home floor, learning how to close out games, to come from behind etc. That game was still a big confidence boost, but that would have been a huge win.