[TheWildJacko]

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

Well, one person's histrionics is another's reality check.

My view:  This is a very talented team that unfortunately is not playing up to its potential in terms of consistency and the ability to keep the hammer down and break the game open when opponents make mistakes.  The team has FF potential but it's not going to get there if it plays like it played last night.

The fan spectrum is wide.  I think one end ("fan-atics") wants to win win win at all costs and is heavily emotionally invested in every game (and probably every play).  I think the other end tends to focus more on the experience ("participation trophies" are the extreme example).  The former tends to have higher expectations and is therefore much more exposed to frustration and disappointment.  The latter tends to accept outcomes more readily as long as the experience is on the whole positive.  

This board has the whole spectrum, and I think everyone has a right to be the type of fan they want to be.  I will say that I think the criticisms based on observations of game play are very valid; those based on speculation (e.g. motives, personalities, etc) are not.

I agree with you in general, I just think the spectrum isn’t that clear. Like, I get VERY emotionally invested in each game and every play, and even pissed off sometimes (more often than I’d like) if I don’t think we’re playing the way we should. I also pretty much expect us to win every game (I still think we should have beaten So. Carolina). I just don’t subscribe to the mindset that whatever expectations and/or hopes I may have justify trashing the team/coaches on a message board by calling them “pathetic” or “embarrassing.”

[TheWildJacko]

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

Well, one person's histrionics is another's reality check.

My view:  This is a very talented team that unfortunately is not playing up to its potential in terms of consistency and the ability to keep the hammer down and break the game open when opponents make mistakes.  The team has FF potential but it's not going to get there if it plays like it played last night.

The fan spectrum is wide.  I think one end ("fan-atics") wants to win win win at all costs and is heavily emotionally invested in every game (and probably every play).  I think the other end tends to focus more on the experience ("participation trophies" are the extreme example).  The former tends to have higher expectations and is therefore much more exposed to frustration and disappointment.  The latter tends to accept outcomes more readily as long as the experience is on the whole positive.  

This board has the whole spectrum, and I think everyone has a right to be the type of fan they want to be.  I will say that I think the criticisms based on observations of game play are very valid; those based on speculation (e.g. motives, personalities, etc) are not.

I agree with you in general, I just think the spectrum isn’t that clear. Like, I get VERY emotionally invested in each game and every play, and even pissed off sometimes (more often than I’d like) if I don’t think we’re playing the way we should. I also pretty much expect us to win every game (I still think we should have beaten So. Carolina). I just don’t subscribe to the mindset that whatever expectations and/or hopes I may have justify trashing the team/coaches on a message board by calling them “pathetic” or “embarrassing.”