(NCAA-WEST/Providence) #10 Arkansas, Sat., Mar. 22, 2:40p, CBS

redmen89 said:
Feels more like the 1986 season
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We won the BET in 2000. Fun team to root for. Had a hot team that whole last month, came into the NCAAs blazing as a 2-seed and lost to the kind of team we didn’t play much during the regular season. I don’t know how it gets much more similar than that. I was only 9 in ‘86 but 2000 is definitely my comparison.
 
Section9 said:
Three things.

It's hard to win when two of your three best players have the worst games of the season.

It's hard to win when you miss layups on a regular basis.

The BE is not a physical conference and for the first time this year we faced a physical team and couldn't handle it. Kadary and RJ's games are predicated on getting to the rim an Ark swallowed them up when they tried.
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This team, like others in the past two decades, misses bunnies. They just missed more today, and I don't think it had much to do with the Razorbacks' physicality. Just my opinion.
 
SJU61982 said:
Pretty obvious, when watching Rick answer the question, that the "30 minutes" comment was a deflection. Something happened, but he doesn't want to say what. We can only guess.

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Side note - Zach always asks "how do you feel right now?". He's been doing this for how many years now and he can think of any questions of substance to ever ask?
 
guinness77 said:
I really think when RJ didn’t gun it down to a wide open Zuby on the block was Pitino’s last straw considering he was driving into oblivion the entire game.

Still, 5 minute left in your season and Richmond fouled out? He should have played.
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Pitino picked the worst possible time for a teaching moment re. RJ and yet Aaron Scott was just as pitiful offensively. Frustrated by the horrific offensive output by the trio of Richmond, Scott and Luis, Pitino let his emotions coach the final 5 minutes of the game.
 
paultzman said:
Two small points, w chance to go up by a few at end of first half, we missed a FT, made another error and ended up down four, psychological advantage Arkansas. That inability to seize the moment was replicated w the ball and down 2 in latter stage of game. At times it is all about the “little things”.
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Actually, I thought we were on our way to ending the half with a bang as we had seized momentum. The foul on Zuby (on Fland) stymied our momentum. If we go in at the half up 6 points then we may be talking about a different outcome.
 
Didn’t love some of the calls on Kadary, but the drawback of his “slo mo”-esque style is he can be pushed around a bit by quicker and bigger teams. Unfortunately that was probably the most athletic team we’ve played all year and they definitely got in our heads as a result

We were awful today but still had two chances to tie the game in the second half. First time, RJ forced a horrific shot and missed. Second time, Zuby had a point blank layup, he seemingly thought he got fouled, and just didn’t finish. Those two possessions will sting for a bit. The crowd was getting loud and I wonder if we had tied it if the momentum could’ve sent us over the edge.

I’m bummed but this teams shooting issues has lingered in the back of my head all season. I had a feeling it would put a limit on what we could accomplish in the dance. I think if we return our key guys, find some 3 and D’s in the portal, we will be right back in the round of 32 a year from now with a chance to make up for this.

I’ll get over this one and look back on this season fondly. Incredible ride. I bought both a 2025 big east regular season champion shirt and a BET champion shirt. No sports team i root for has allowed me to get that type of apparel. Grateful. Gutted for Aaron and Kadary. All time great Johnnies to me
 
MainMan said:
I’d be more positive about the future if RJ wasn’t glued to the bench those last minutes.
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He’s going to get a lot of offers this off-season. Will he remembered being planted on the bench in the biggest game of his life? Will it be a motivation to come back or move on?
 
guinness77 said:
That…I didn’t know.
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Part of the explanation for that is to win the conference championship you have been on a magical winning streak, more or less. Unless you are elite elite, a bad game and loss is likely then bound to happen at these levels. Paradoxically, losing in conference tournament might actually be better for big dance success. I think best thing that happened to SJU relative to big east regular season and and tournament titles was the nova loss. Same concept. Doesn't help with disappointment however.
 
Ok so Ive gotten a few texts already..and I'll say RJ is a tremendous talent and a great young man. This was not a teaching moment. Either you listen or you do not. Either you are committed to your teammates and this greater good or you aren't. As fans for YEARS guys were rightfully irate that inmates ran the ship....Rick did what he had to do to win, to build a culture and to help the young man learn. For now that's all I can speak to this
 
sju79# said:
Ok so Ive gotten a few texts already..and I'll say RJ is a tremendous talent and a great young man. This was not a teaching moment. Either you listen or you do not. Either you are committed to your teammates and this greater good or you aren't. As fans for YEARS guys were rightfully irate that inmates ran the ship....Rick did what he had to do to win, to build a culture and to help the young man learn. For now that's all I can speak to this
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You play for the name on the front.
 
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