Posted by shoe3 on 8/3/2015 12:32:00 PM (view original):
I know you're not complaining about the specific loss last night as much as your runner-up streak. While I feel for you there, you're still up on me for NTs 9-1, so sympathy is limited. :)
To be honest, I came into the season thinking I had the best team in the country. Definitely the best 4-player core. A couple bad losses where I utterly failed as a coach notwithstanding (against 2 perennial powerhouses and #1 seeds, no less), I think we showed that throughout the season. I don't mean to hijack your thread, just saying I think you might be a little spoiled by the insane amount of success you've had. You're definitely among the toughest and most successful coaches I've gone up against. 3 straight national title games is a crazy good accomplishment.
Carlton certainly had a very good claim on best team in the country, and with the win last night, I'd say no one is going to really fight you on it. But I really thought Shenandoah had a pretty good claim as well. Returned all 12 players from a team that made the title game last season. Earned a 1-seed despite our two best scorers coming off the bench all season (in an attempt to develop depth for tournament play). Had leads of at least 19 points in every tournament game until the title.
You definitely had the superior four-player core, but I probably would've given myself 55/45 on winning going into last night. And with less than two minutes left, Shenandoah was down 2 despite going a laughable 12/22 from the free throw line. Even 68% (below our average) would've given us a lead late, and then who knows what would happen. But whether it was 55/45 for me or for you, it's close either way, and little things like that make the difference in close games.
Certainly not taking anything away from Carlton, who was obviously one of the handful of legit title contenders and who earned it on the court. Also not taking anything away from Centenary (who crushed us last year) or Redlands (who won another 50/50 title game two seasons ago--coming back from down five in the last minute to take the title game to OT. . . that one stung). It's just been a series of one thing after another at Shenandoah. We have a second round loss as a #1 seed to a team that we beat in the regular season. We have a Sweet Sixteen loss as a #1 seed to a team that we beat in the regular season. We have an elite eight loss as a #1 seed to a team that we crushed in preseason (without either running an experimental lineup, as I recall) who eventually won the whole thing. And we have two coin flip title losses. Certainly don't mean to say my overall WIS luck has been significantly below average, but at Shenandoah in particular, it's just disappointing to churn out so many top three teams and have nothing to show for it.