Yeah, Houston hadn't beaten Arizona yet when I posted about Gonzaga losing. Houston, Arkansas, Villanova all got to the Elite 8 on the strength of DEFENSE. The "many different ways to win" thing may be true to a degree, but relying on defense is by far the most common way in basketball and in all sports. In hoops, when shots don't fall, your defense keeps you in games and gives you a chance to win. WIthout it, you're done when shots don't fall.triplec2195 wrote:Let's not forget Houston and what could've and should've been and Houston is doing all of this without Marcus Sasser. How about that.Wags wrote:Arkansas has come a long way from its loss Hofstra, which transitive property-wise, is now the best team in the NCAA tournament without having made the NCAA tournament.
Gone, 'Zaga.
Where Arkansas and Houston are now, show just how inconsistent Hofstra was this year - losing at W&M, getting blown out in the second half at Stony Brook, getting blown out by Charleston in the CAA tourney, after beating one Elite 8 team on the road, and having another on the ropes before losing in OT. Question for the staff for next year is why were there such extremes and how do they prevent the bad extremes from happening again if they once again have a team (which will be different next year) that is capable of the very good extremes?
Happens to a lot of teams though - HU certainly not alone with the extremes. it's just part of college basketball. If it goes one way, it goes the other. People could likewise say: Arkansas reached the Elite 8 on one hand, yet lost to Hofstra.
Iona beat Alabama yet lost to Rider in the MAAC quarters. Before St. Peter's beat Kentucky and Murray State, they lost to St. Francis, Canisius, Rider and Siena twice.
There are many teams across the nation that were as perplexing as Hofstra. Just how the sport goes. Just how any sport goes. The Bengals lost to the Jets, then reached the Super Bowl. But champions either find more consistency or do what St. Peter's did and sort of get the bad losses out of the way early and play their best in March. That's what HU needs to be able to do. They did it two years ago. They need to get back to that and get better. Test yourself in November and December, learn about yourself in January, play well in February and be great in March. Can't be the opposite trend or you won't survive March.
