[BostonCard]

You know what other game was a root canal?  The national championship game against Arizona two years ago, a 54-53 win where Arizona had a chance at a game winning shot as time expired.  You will also recall that Arizona was good (top-25), but hardly one of the top teams in the country.  Had that game occurred at any point other than in the finals, we might have said "yuck, we aren't that good" and certain posters amongst us would have been very critical of the team and coach after that win.

Stanford is a good, but flawed team.  We are ranked in the top 4, which seems reasonable given our track record and the fact that aside from South Carolina and maybe Indiana, there really is no other team without flaws.  Most of those teams' flaws are more substantial than Stanford's.  I don't think that even the most optimistic poster here denies the existence of our weaknesses, and it means that once we get to the sweet sixteen, we won't be able to take any games for granted.  If/when we get to the final four, we will have to play better than we played today to move on.

But that is also not a reason not to celebrate that we beat a tough, ranked team, even if it was by the skin of our teeth.  And it is no reason to get histrionic about the team, the coach, or our prospects going forward.

BC

[BostonCard]

You know what other game was a root canal?  The national championship game against Arizona two years ago, a 54-53 win where Arizona had a chance at a game winning shot as time expired.  You will also recall that Arizona was good (top-25), but hardly one of the top teams in the country.  Had that game occurred at any point other than in the finals, we might have said "yuck, we aren't that good" and certain posters amongst us would have been very critical of the team and coach after that win.

Stanford is a good, but flawed team.  We are ranked in the top 4, which seems reasonable given our track record and the fact that aside from South Carolina and maybe Indiana, there really is no other team without flaws.  Most of those teams' flaws are more substantial than Stanford's.  I don't think that even the most optimistic poster here denies the existence of our weaknesses, and it means that once we get to the sweet sixteen, we won't be able to take any games for granted.  If/when we get to the final four, we will have to play better than we played today to move on.

But that is also not a reason not to celebrate that we beat a tough, ranked team, even if it was by the skin of our teeth.  And it is no reason to get histrionic about the team, the coach, or our prospects going forward.

BC