Upset as many of you. I know, I know, we lost, line up the firing squad for KK. When we beat Hofbrauhaus next week, we should offer an extension.
Ugly, ugly, horrific game between two terrible offensive performances. As ugly as it gets. Look at what St Mary’s was held to, no way UNLV should ever lose. Look at what SMU held UNLV to, no way they should ever lose that game.
The loss is “bad” perception wise. We are below 500. An ugly loss. But perception isn’t reality and I don’t care what other people think.
Once we lost to Northern by double digits at home, the writing was already on the wall. Dropped those two uglies in Florida, it became cemented. Goal 1, earning an at large is completely gone. So what’s that leave you with? Winning the MWC outright, which is a pipe dream but still in play. That will be blown up first half of conference play, most likely. So let’s not look at a pipe dream, let’s look at what’s realistically possible. Getting a top 5 finish in conference so you skip the opening round of the MWCT. Rather play 3 than 4. Is that still a pipe dream? No. It’s real.
is winning the MWC a pipe dream? Not quite, a longshot, but it’s the best we got at this point and it’s more of a reality than going 16-2 in conference.
Losing sucks. I don’t like any of it. But if you were holding for some insane fantasy … don’t know what to tell you … this was written in November … the games after Florida “don’t matter” … win or lose, the resume was completely SHATTERED after the Florida trip.
Beat SMU today, doesn’t matter. Lose to Creighton the other night, doesn’t matter.
So the goal is and HAS BEEN three games at the Mack in March instead of 4. And it’s been that way since Turkey Day.
What DOES matter is improving and that isn’t always determined by wins and losses. You have to improve to get to the top 5 and have that long shot. The record in December doesn’t matter, it’s whether you keep improving and gain consistency.
Yeah, perhaps it’s a defeatist attitude, but I’m trying to look at the bigger picture, perhaps grasping at straws. One of the only things I am pretty sure of is that half the teams in the conference, including us, can “fluke”, or long shot themselves to a conference tournament championship. We’ve seen it happen several times before. That’s all we got imo, so let’s make it three instead of four days.
