I just caught the reference to me and my kid above from the dude.  Anyone stupid enough to try use someone else’s kid as a way to attack another poster is obviously not arguing in good faith.  Troll should have been banned a long time ago.

Dude - Does the turnaround get more votes than Mark Few National Championships or less votes than Mark Few DUIs? Just asking for a friend.

If we finish 9-8 in the A10, I'd consider the season a big success.

4-14 was what looked like where we were headed

 

I guess it's the eating crow thread, sort of ..

Here's what I had..

Overall -- 13-17 (Pretty depressing)
A-10 -- 5-13 (Bottom four of A-10)

Well, like many here, I thought we would easily have a winning record in a weak OCC schedule.  But, hey we did better in the A-10 than many here thought. And here we are 7-7 and 11-15 headed to my  "pretty depressing" 13-17 if, for example, we beat Fordham and Duquesne and lose to Mason and in the first round of the A-10.  So on the bright side.... we showed improvement over last season. And maybe if we can have another weak non-conference schedule and get it together earlier in the season  (got to keep Brayon and Bam) we can have a winning record next season. But still not where we hoped JC would take us.

 

Before the season I predicted 18-12 (8-10) which was definitely an “everything went right” scenario.

Happy with the conference performance. OOC? Not so much.

This week's Tuesday-Wednesday games are in the books.  Another GW win (barely, but still), and another move further away from the 13th place finish that The Dude tried to shove down our throats based on what "all of the experts were saying", despite the fact that: a) who he primarily cited were advanced metric guys relying almost entirely on historical data and b) other experts, journalists and forecasters were not predicting a 13th place finish for GW, thereby negating the phrase "all of the experts."  Yes, with this week's results, GW can now finish in no worse than 8th place in the conference, and will finish in 7th place with either a win at Fordham or a George Mason loss to UMASS on Saturday.

As we prepare to reminisce over more of The Dude's pre-season wisdom, please understand that I am not repeating any of the quotes you will read here.  Sure, there's a certain similarity, theme if you will, to his monotonous posts.  But as David Letterman was fond of saying on his Viewer Mail segment ('these are actual letters from actual viewers"), the following are actual posts by The Dude, exactly as he wrote them..  Enjoy.

"So question for GWRising (and others?), do you think predicting a 5th place finish with "worst case scenario 9th" is overstating expectations, considering things like a 14th place ranking in Bart Torvik?"

I just want to jump in for a moment here.  I do not recall anyone here PREDICTING a 5th place finish.  Maybe that was someone's upside or best case, but most folks with brains understand that this is not the same thing as a prediction.  As for the rest of the question, no, I don't think that suggesting a worst case scenario of 9th was overstating expectations at all.

Now, back to The Dude.

"273! Yikes.  Well, not all that surprising."

"Likely going to be very long year.  245 in CBS Sports."

"It figures to be a bottom 4 year.  Maybe Freeman and Nixon help initiate a surprise season."

Let's end with what's already an instant classic.  Of course, the following was incorrectly stated by The Dude in response to ratings which by their very nature are subjective:

"Facts are stubborn things."

Yes they are Dude.  Yes they are. 


   

GWRising, no it doesn't.  My point though was that I don't feel you ever predicted a 5th place finish.  You mentioned 5th as a ceiling...as if should everything break right.  That's not the same thing as saying you think this team will finish in 5th.

Then a troll comes along to attempt to purposefully change the meaning of what you said, claiming that you predicted a 5th place finish, which of course was not the case.   

With GW losing to Fordham, it looked as if something was finally going to break The Dude's way.  A Mason win over UMASS would mean that GW would slide to the 8 seed and be only 5 places better than the number The Dude attempted to force down our throats before the season began.  But those Patriots refused to oblige and GW stayed in 7th place, a full 6 places higher than what The Dude would have you believe was going to be the case.

Of course, everyone is entitled to think the way they choose, and I would not get on anyone else's case who issued 1-2 posts on why they thought this team would finish in 13th place.  However, in the case of The Dude, I feel it's important to provide frequent reminders about just how wrong he was about all of this. This is what happen when you make countless numbers of posts more or less saying the exact same thing.   Many of us realized an upgrade in talent would lead to a better finish.  Personally, I said here that playing in the 8-9 would be a realistic goal.  Others had similar reasons for optimism.  The Dude accused myself and others of artificially inflating expectations so that we can gripe about the coach after he failed to meet them.  No, that's not what was being done here at all.  We were giving our honest take on what we thought would happen.  Meanwhile, seemingly incapable of developing his own independent thoughts, The Dude continuously pointed out preseason KenPom and Torvik rankings, which really aren't season-long predictions at all but which are instead starting points based largely on historical data, and mindlessly turned their rankings into "what all the experts are saying."  By contrast, I had pointed out 4 other forecasts which called for a 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th place finish for GW.  So much for "all the experts."

For the final time this season, let's look at and revel in one more series of actual posts by The Dude, in advance of this past season.  

The Dude: "Writers and coaches coming in at 13th, confirming the 2 most respected data based sites, also 13th."

FQ: "Dude, that's a lie.  The most respected data sites are NOT forecasts.  They make that clear.  And you know that.  Stop trolling."

The Dude: "Using the word "lie" rather casually bub.  You're quibbling over semantics."

"I try to spread some good will and optimism, but it's become pretty pointless here."  (Note To Dude:  Making what was probably hundreds of posts attempting to win a debate that other people's goals or expectations are too high is not considered optimistic or spreading goodwill in any way.)

"Two years into the JC era there's as of yet no clear sign the program is moving upward.  Being picked 13th, year 3, that's the actual reason for concern. "  (There's that optimism again.)

"What's the argument, on paper, for GW being much better than 11th-13th?  Lost Battle, lost Moyer.  The team was in the low 200's last year with them.  Then lost Ira Lee to injury.  You can see why GW is being picked across the board near the bottom of the A10."

"I'll wager the actual A10 looks largely like KenPom predictions, with GW up 2-3 spots out of sheer optimism."

Let me go out on a limb and suggest that The Dude did not make this wager against anyone.  Since he would have lost this wager had he made it, I'd like to suggest that he make a donation to the men's basketball program in the amount that he would have wagered.  This is a far better resolution than had he lost to another individual.  This way, the program benefits.

Congratulations to GW's coaches, players and athletic department on the 7th place finish.  While there is still much work to be done, the 2022 conference season represented a first sizable step in the right direction.  Who knows, maybe riding this momentum, The Dude will predict GW to stay out of the play-in games next season.  We'll just have to see what Ken Pomeroy and Bart Torvik have to say on the subject.

  


 

Dude -your favorite fake Doctor-as you private messaged me last year-is fake concerned about you.
“Have you no shame”?Thank you Mayhem.

Two types of Coach of Year winners.  Guy with the best team (most common) and guy who most exceeded expectations

An example For Coach of the Year from Exhibit B

Macarchuk won Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year honors after the Rams went 12-15, including a 5-11 mark in conference.