redken post=463458 said:
Adam post=463350 said:
Had St. John's gone last year then maybe they would've had a better year this year. Certainly couldn't have been much worse. They choked in every big situation and could've used more big game experience. Yes, the NIT games are still big. ...
Since only three of last year's players returned this year -- coupled with eight new players on the roster -- I don't think being in last year's NIT would have been of much benefit, if any at all, on how things played out this year's play -- especially if we didn't go deep in that tournament.
I disagree because Champ and Posh are often the players with the ball during late game sequences, such as last night. That's when games are won or lost.
Both players are awesome and I'd take them any year, but neither thus far has been a clutch "winner" like Ponds or Harrison. Maybe all it would've taken was some additional confidence from a couple NIT wins last year, which could've translated to more wins this year. On the other hand, a bad NIT loss could've pushed them more during the off-season the way Lavin's team that lost to Robert Morris came back and made the Tournament the following year. I really see no upside to declining an invite, and believe had we accepted last year we'd at a minimum be on the bubble this year.
I'm not blaming any one player, maybe Champ, Posh and Wusu wanted to play last year but the rest of the team didn't. That said, avoiding things has been a major issue with this team, from avoiding the NIT last year to avoiding a remotely challenging OOC schedule this year. It hasn't worked and hopefully the entire team is on board with an NIT invite. I really wanted to see them play in it last year and I'm looking forward to Selection Sunday this year.
I get it, I lived in Raleigh for many years (the heart of ACC country). Many consider the NIT a joke, but avoiding the NIT is a much bigger joke IMO.