It seems to me that the “must win” talk is always the kiss of death in regular season games. I hate it. Of course, I know it’s basically superstitious nonsense in regard to me but if it infiltrates to the players as extra-pressure causing tightness and tentativeness then maybe that talk really can have a negative impact.
Hate the "Must Win" narrative.
- Thread starter HipTer
- Start date
Kentucky is approaching a point where we would need to win the SEC tournament to make the NCAA tournament. We don't have to win all the next few games but we better win most of them.
That’s their own fault for half assing it all year. It is the coaches fault for recruiting duds and backups to be stars. To not recruit shooters in a system that requires them. To go get defenders, who don’t defend.
Time is running out quick to build a tournament resume. A loss would make them 6-5 with St. John’s and a tough SEC slate. At some point if you want to play in the NCAA tournament you have to win games against power conference teams.
Better to have IU in Rupp as a must-win game than St. John's and Bama, which are can't-win games.
Have you heard the other phrases?
"the next [insert number] games will tell us something"
"just a weird recruiting year"
"plenty of season yet" (when it's in March)
"come and watch [insert name of player milking an injury or hiding until the NBA draft] him practice"
WE PLAY FOR MARCH
The sound of a losing team year to year trying to justify losing most of the year to pretend there’s a reason for it. When the rest of the powerful are just curb stomping along and wanting blood anytime they take the court. Some of this base has been brainwashed to accept a bad product and make exuses for it.
that’s okay here and there when it’s not working and you make a great run and come together. But if that’s happening constantly, then you aren’t a blue blood, you’re a middling program trying to always hold on and make a run. We are forgetting who we are which is what this administration has been trying to do for years.
Rupp didn’t hold on and pray for a run. Neither did Pitino. Neither did Joe. Tubby didn’t even do that. It’s not who we are and I am sure as hell not accepting it. The year has already been a failure in many ways when you’re Kentucky. We are literally accepting the opposite of what guys like Nick Saban would tell you is a program of excellence.
While a "must win" narrative is often silly. I think it fits this game. Pope was on the ropes after losing to ALL of his noteworthy non-conference opponents (including in-state UL and "blue blood" UNC). A loss here would have caused all of the the over-50 crowd (who remembers when IU was a blue blood) to recoil. Those folks represent a large portion of the donor base. If there ever was a regular season "must win," this was it.
IMO each and every game should be approached as a must win. That's how we got the alltime win record.
If you don't think the IU game was a must win for Pope, the team, and for BBN, I don't know how to explain it to you.