[checkmate]

If I am not misaken some on this board were very critical of the exhibition loss last year.
Maybe we should realize how talented some DII are. Grand Valley State just beat Michigan St(who is pre-season #1 in Big Ten). This will not be the same Barton team with out Atkinson at the point. We did start the year 6-1, won fifteen games and finished third in what some say was the best year for Big South basketball.

[SuperJon]

I don't care how talented a DII team is, we're always going to be critical if one of them beats us.

[checkmate]

If we use the first game of exhibition to play a variety of line-ups to evalutate then it isn't the same as maybe even the second exhibition after some ratation decisions are made by the coach. Of course like Grand Valley they see it as their shot at glory. Spring training baseball and pre-season football games don't count and it is obvious they are handled that way.

[El Scorcho]

We did start the year 6-1,

And then promptly proceeded to go 0-8 in the 8 outings after that. So, wouldn't it be just as accurate to say we started the year 6-9?

...won fifteen games...

Out of 31.

...and finished third in what some say was the best year for Big South basketball.

Third place was two games above .500 in a conference that was ranked 29 out of 32 on the RPI index.

Stop trying to sugarcoat 06-07. It was what it was.

[SuperJon]

Spring training baseball and pre-season football games don't count and it is obvious they are handled that way.

Because they're played against teams that are the same level of them.

As Scorcho said, stop sugarcoating it.

[checkmate]

No for the record they play college teams as well. The point is simply coaches view it differently than season.

06-07 we played 6 games vs 5 NCAA tournament teams. Throw the Barton game in there and you have two NCAA national champions. That is sugarcoating?

[LUconn]

yes.



although, it's a preseason loss so who the funk cares?

[jmdickens]

well didn't Barton just lose very badly to Dook??? I am not a transitive property advocate, but I hope we will beat Barton or atleast make it close.....that is a real indicator of where we stand in college basketball


I do believe we will look better than last season, because I believe our players will look be more disciplined and probably in better condition


Checkmate, you sound like RD did at the end of last season when he was fired

[checkmate]

I am just trying to see the facts. I did appreciate more than you what rd got done. Strength of schedule is an issue in any division. Are you playing to get better or just to get w's. Hope the guys have a great night!

[jmdickens]

well if you looked at our schedule last season, it looked like we were playing to get the W's

[checkmate]

06-07 we played 6 games vs 5 NCAA tournament teams. Throw the Barton game in there and you have two NCAA national champions. That is sugarcoating?

[jmdickens]

06-07 we played 6 games vs 5 NCAA tournament teams. Throw the Barton game in there and you have two NCAA national champions. That is sugarcoating?

I was talking about in that 6-1 start you were implying was so impressive

Houghton almost got in
East Carolina didn't
St. Francis um, not a chance
Southern Virginia was considering going 3A high school next season
Longwood was a big W for us I am sure

Oklahoma
Florida
BYU
Oral Roberts
Niagra

all good teams, but not one W in the bunch; not even a close ball game except 81-90 loss to the play in team (Niagra)

yeah, you are sugarcoating

[Rocketfan]

06-07 we played 6 games vs 5 NCAA tournament teams. Throw the Barton game in there and you have two NCAA national champions. That is sugarcoating?

I was talking about in that 6-1 start you were implying was so impressive

Houghton almost got in
East Carolina didn't
St. Francis um, not a chance
Southern Virginia was considering going 3A high school next season
Longwood was a big W for us I am sure

Oklahoma
Florida
BYU
Oral Roberts
Niagra

all good teams, but not one W in the bunch; not even a close ball game except 81-90 loss to the play in team (Niagra)

yeah, you are sugarcoating

Dickens are you telling me we should have beaten multiple teams on that list?

[Schfourteenteen]

If youre gonna tell us that we played well last year youre out of your mind.

Please dont bring up playing Florida, anchors from Sportscenter were making fun of us the next morning.

With reference to sugarcoating I think it has more to do with you as opposed to the schedule. You cant pull out 1 or 2 things from last year and say "Oh yeah last year was a good year for us." It wasnt. We lost in the first round of a terrible conference playoff. We started 6-1, sure, but then we went what 9-15? Say what you want last year was a dissappointment.

I dont know what to expect from Barton, and to be honest I dont care if we lose, because I dont have the "we should win this game" attitude, because no one knows what this LU team is gonna do this year(minus WEF)

[Schfourteenteen]

06-07 we played 6 games vs 5 NCAA tournament teams. Throw the Barton game in there and you have two NCAA national champions. That is sugarcoating?

I was talking about in that 6-1 start you were implying was so impressive

Houghton almost got in
East Carolina didn't
St. Francis um, not a chance
Southern Virginia was considering going 3A high school next season
Longwood was a big W for us I am sure

Oklahoma
Florida
BYU
Oral Roberts
Niagra

all good teams, but not one W in the bunch; not even a close ball game except 81-90 loss to the play in team (Niagra)

yeah, you are sugarcoating

Dickens are you telling me we should have beaten multiple teams on that list?

Hes saying checkmate cant say we were good last year by labeling teams weve played, because we lost to them. We werent good enough to beat any of them. Actually we were embarrassed by most of those teams, so checkmate please tell me how we can say last year was even close to good?

[checkmate]

I am sure we all would like to just snap our fingers and have a program that can go on the road and win. I believe that is what rd was building towards again. But RM knows with his 8-41 road record at New Mexico how tough it is. You are going to have to go through it in order to build. Or hope the BSC is as weak as it is in football this year. I certainly don't think we were embarrassed by Okla, BYU, FL or Seton Hall. We stunk against Winthrop at home and ORU.

[Schfourteenteen]

Or hope the BSC is as weak as it is in football this year. I certainly don't think we were embarrassed by Okla, BYU, FL or Seton Hall.

Yeah Florida wasnt that embarrassing, we were only down by 26 at half. We only lost by 32 to ORU. And finally we put up a MONSTER 12 Points in the first half against Oklahoma.

Not too embarrassing.

[TIMSCAR20]

I do remember saying last year that Barton was a very good team and it was not an embarrassment to lose to them even though they are division II. I didn't know they would win the national championship but I did think they had players that would compete in the big south and do very well. I was very impressed with them last year. I won't be at the game tonight but I don't plan on missing too many this season. I may get the big south edge package so I can see the road games in conference. Can't wait to see what the new blue jerseys look like. I like the white ones from the pics online.

[El Scorcho]

Now, folks, I hope you'll take a step back with me and look at what we have here...

I believe that is what rd was building towards again.

1. A pat on the back for Dunton.

But RM knows with his 8-41 road record at New Mexico how tough it is.

2. A backhanded compliment for Coach McKay.

Or hope the BSC is as weak as it is in football this year.

3. Aaaaand a cheap shot at the football program.

Park, is that you?

[Schfourteenteen]

I think its lureal hahaha

And by the way, RD was building toward it ummmm every year

[Rocketfan]

I think its lureal hahaha

And by the way, RD was building toward it ummmm every year

You can only make the joke if you were actually here for all of his years, otherwise its just dumb.

[Schfourteenteen]

I think its lureal hahaha

And by the way, RD was building toward it ummmm every year

You can only make the joke if you were actually here for all of his years, otherwise its just dumb.

So just 3 doesnt count? okay my bad I wont I apologize, although it wasnt necessarily a joke but okay

[jmdickens]

I was here for all but the first year head coaching mistake of RD.....(4 years, right?)

now, I do get to witness Rich McKay and watch how he runs the team, and notice the difference

barton is a good team, no one is denying that....But, the d2 status makes most of us assume that LU is suppossed to win this game...

checkmate.....you have no more moves, so you should admit it now, RD was a bad coach and did not move our program in a positive direction.....

[Rocketfan]

I was here for all but the first year head coaching mistake of RD.....(4 years, right?)

now, I do get to witness Rich McKay and watch how he runs the team, and notice the difference

barton is a good team, no one is denying that....But, the d2 status makes most of us assume that LU is suppossed to win this game...

checkmate.....you have no more moves, so you should admit it now, RD was a bad coach and did not move our program in a positive direction....(HMO, I almost brought it up, but I didn't).

Dickens, seriously your bitterness towards a man you only knew from the sidelines is laughable. Get over yourself and RD. You don't even know Mckay, and you haven't seen him coach yet, but anyway you can throw a dig it at RD we all know you will. I mean you don't even know how many years he coached here, but your obsessed with him, are you kidding? Plus your "no more moves" line for checkmate shows your creativity....weak.

[LUconn]

RD was a bad coach and did not move our program in a positive direction..

I was trying to ignore this rehashed discussion in hopes that it would go away, but I can't just sit back and not tell you that you are stupid. Or at least so filled with disdain that you are blind. You can say or think anything you want about Dutton, but you cannot say he didn't move us in the right direction. That's not even an opinion that can be debated. We sucked before he got here. We were in contention most of the years he was here. It may not have been to the degree that you expected, but at the very least we were better than the previous regime.