The NIT Decision Revisited

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I was among those here who was really pissed off when we chose to skip the postseason. After the evident good it did for our 2010 team, it seemed to me both a no-brainer to play in the NIT, and downright disrespectful not to.

I had a few intemperate but heart-felt words to say about that decision.

In retrospect, after seeing all the player shuffles - especially how quickly some of our players announced their departures - I'm wondering if Hubert decided to opt out because the team we'd see in the NIT wasn't going to be much like the 2023-24 team.

I mean how do you get up for the NIT - as a player OR a coach - if half the guys on the current squad won't be on the next squad? Under those circumstances, you're not going to get team building, or a good start for the next season, like the 2010 team did with its 4-1 run in the NIT.

So . . . I'm still disappointed that we didn't get to watch more games. But if that was the reasoning, it makes sense.

 

[tarheel0910]

I mean how do you get up for the NIT - as a player OR a coach - if half the guys on the current squad won't be on the next squad? Under those circumstances, you're not going to get team building, or a good start for the next season, like the 2010 team did with its 4-1 run in the NIT.

Or why would you want to play at a school that took that opportunity from you?

 

[itstartedwithmj]

I was among those here who was really pissed off when we chose to skip the postseason. After the evident good it did for our 2010 team, it seemed to me both a no-brainer to play in the NIT, and downright disrespectful not to.

I had a few intemperate but heart-felt words to say about that decision.

In retrospect, after seeing all the player shuffles - especially how quickly some of our players announced their departures - I'm wondering if Hubert decided to opt out because the team we'd see in the NIT wasn't going to be much like the 2023-24 team.

I mean how do you get up for the NIT - as a player OR a coach - if half the guys on the current squad won't be on the next squad? Under those circumstances, you're not going to get team building, or a good start for the next season, like the 2010 team did with its 4-1 run in the NIT.

So . . . I'm still disappointed that we didn't get to watch more games. But if that was the reasoning, it makes sense.

Those players entered the transfer portal, after their fathers or they openly expressed their displeasure with the team not participating in the NIT.

 

[DaveChapelle]

Those players entered the transfer portal, after their fathers or they openly expressed their displeasure with the team not participating in the NIT.

The NIT had nothing to do with any player's decision to enter the portal. They entered the portal because of what was said during their postseason player-coach meetings.

 

[Archer2]

My opinion hasn’t changed. It was embarrassing to opt out of the NIT. Piss poor decision by Hubert. Those who voted against playing should have been left home while the players with pride played in the NIT.

 

[gthreadgill7929]

Or why would you want to play at a school that took that opportunity from you?

Brother, if they weren’t good enough to make a difference, they weren’t good enough to play. It was a flawed team in ‘22, it was flawed in ‘23. Everyone has moved on.

 

[tarheel0910]

Brother, if they weren’t good enough to make a difference, they weren’t good enough to play. It was a flawed team in ‘22, it was flawed in ‘23. Everyone has moved on.

So the message to the ones who wanted to play is that you aren't good enough, so we don't care that you want to play? Seems like a bad message to send.

 

[gthreadgill7929]

So the message to the ones who wanted to play is that you aren't good enough, so we don't care that you want to play? Seems like a bad message to send.

Then go play for State

 

[itstartedwithmj]

The NIT had nothing to do with any player's decision to enter the portal. They entered the portal because of what was said during their postseason player-coach meetings.

Unless you know all of the players well enough to have had this discussion with them personally, that is pure speculation on your part. One thing we all know for sure was many of them weren't happy about the NIT decision.

ETA: FWIW, I don't believe the NIT decision was the sole reason anyone left, but I do think it added to the unrest.

 

[Ozheelfan]

It’s over, done and dusted…. I’ve moved on and I think the program has too.

 

[DaveChapelle]

My opinion hasn’t changed. It was embarrassing to opt out of the NIT. Piss poor decision by Hubert. Those who voted against playing should have been left home while the players with pride played in the NIT.

My opinion hasn't changed. It was embarrassing to miss the NCAA tournament.

 

[sdingeldein]

I'm glad last season was put to rest without the NIT.

 

[ChiShankCity]

If not playing in the NIT had anything to do with the roster overhaul, then I’m in 10000% favor of skipping the NIT.

 

[gary-7]

I was among those here who was really pissed off when we chose to skip the postseason. After the evident good it did for our 2010 team, it seemed to me both a no-brainer to play in the NIT, and downright disrespectful not to.

I had a few intemperate but heart-felt words to say about that decision.

In retrospect, after seeing all the player shuffles - especially how quickly some of our players announced their departures - I'm wondering if Hubert decided to opt out because the team we'd see in the NIT wasn't going to be much like the 2023-24 team.

I mean how do you get up for the NIT - as a player OR a coach - if half the guys on the current squad won't be on the next squad? Under those circumstances, you're not going to get team building, or a good start for the next season, like the 2010 team did with its 4-1 run in the NIT.

So . . . I'm still disappointed that we didn't get to watch more games. But if that was the reasoning, it makes sense.

It was always the right decision.

 

[ChapelHeeled]

It was always the right decision.

The only postseason that exists for UNC Basketball is the NCAA Tournament. We play to win National Championships...🏀

 

[gary-7]

The only postseason that exists for UNC Basketball is the NCAA Tournament. We play to win National campionship

Look, I get some fan frustrations, and had that been a rebuilding team then the NIT thing might have been ok. but yeah, there was no good reason for that roster to put themselves on the NCAA bubble. Nothing was gonna be accomplished by playing any further, and time was better spent figuring out what the team was gonna look like moving forward.

 

[Archer2]

Sugarcoat it anyway you want but they quit, pure and simple.

 

[Heels5150]

This was on Hubert. Until he learns how to in game coach and uses his players and maximizes their capabilities and abilities this is going to continue to get ugly results. I’m hoping that last years embarrassing season will encourage him to rethink a lot of his decisions going forward

 

[kevindow]

This was on Hubert. Until he learns how to in game coach and uses his players and maximizes their capabilities and abilities this is going to continue to get ugly results. I’m hoping that last years embarrassing season will encourage him to rethink a lot of his decisions going forward

Amen to that !! HD was a solid college player and pro basketball player, but he has yet to convince me that he is a solid college basketball coach. We were blessed with Manek who was the single catalyst for getting to the finals, but last year there was no catalyst and a whole lot of chaos. And I'm also not convinced we have the best staff surrounding HD. And I really don't care if the assistants previously attended or played for UNC. I believe in meritocracy.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Amen to that !! HD was a solid college player and pro basketball player, but he has yet to convince me that he is a solid college basketball coach. We were blessed with Manek who was the single catalyst for getting to the finals, but last year there was no catalyst and a whole lot of chaos. And I'm also not convinced we have the best staff surrounding HD. And I really don't care if the assistants previously attended or played for UNC. I believe in meritocracy.

Looks like a good recruiter, though. I look forward to seeing what he can do with this carefully selected group.

This season will tell us a whole lot about Hubert's coaching acumen.

 

[ChiShankCity]

Amen to that !! HD was a solid college player and pro basketball player, but he has yet to convince me that he is a solid college basketball coach. We were blessed with Manek who was the single catalyst for getting to the finals, but last year there was no catalyst and a whole lot of chaos. And I'm also not convinced we have the best staff surrounding HD. And I really don't care if the assistants previously attended or played for UNC. I believe in meritocracy.

Interesting that Hubert getting to a National Championship game isn't playing any part in grading him as a head coach. Now, it was only Brady Manek for getting to the Finals. There's no indication that maybe last year was more of a fairer representation of what this core truly was... Yet Hubert coached that core plus Manek to the National Championship game.

I'm not saying that Hubert is good, bad, or average. I think he's probably a below-average in-game coach but if he's a great recruiter, that can negate many things. But if you think performance in the NCAA Tournament matters (which I think everyone does), then Hubert overachieved massively in year one. Year two? Depends what you thought of the team.

But I feel crediting the players in year one, then blaming the coach in year two is more of a sign that fans dislike Hubert as a head coach.

Again, I don't really know right now how HD is as a coach. I think it will be interesting that if he flops this year and a change is needed, who will we go after? I hope we consider everybody.

Also, if you think Hubert is a bad coach... Wouldn't it be better for the program if Hubert flops this year? The worst thing for this program is if Hubert is a bad coach, yet the team still wins 25+ games and gets to the second weekend. If you want a coaching change, aren't you rooting for another disastrous season?

 

[tarheel0910]

Interesting that Hubert getting to a National Championship game isn't playing any part in grading him as a head coach. Now, it was only Brady Manek for getting to the Finals. There's no indication that maybe last year was more of a fairer representation of what this core truly was... Yet Hubert coached that core plus Manek to the National Championship game.

I'm not saying that Hubert is good, bad, or average. I think he's probably a below-average in-game coach but if he's a great recruiter, that can negate many things. But if you think performance in the NCAA Tournament matters (which I think everyone does), then Hubert overachieved massively in year one. Year two? Depends what you thought of the team.

But I feel crediting the players in year one, then blaming the coach in year two is more of a sign that fans dislike Hubert as a head coach.

Again, I don't really know right now how HD is as a coach. I think it will be interesting that if he flops this year and a change is needed, who will we go after? I hope we consider everybody.

Also, if you think Hubert is a bad coach... Wouldn't it be better for the program if Hubert flops this year? The worst thing for this program is if Hubert is a bad coach, yet the team still wins 25+ games and gets to the second weekend. If you want a coaching change, aren't you rooting for another disastrous season?

The issue with his first year was that we were a bubble team, at best, for most of last year. So, it wasn't like we were a great team all year that was expected to be there. The question coming into last year was did Hubert finally get them to turn the corner or was it false advertising with a magical run. It appears that it was just a magical run based on last year's results. I've always said that it wouldn't be until year three before we found out what kind of coach he will be, because he needs his own players. There's no excuse this year because almost all of them are his.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

...if Hubert is a bad coach, yet the team still wins 25+ games and gets to the second weekend...

I could live with that. Especially if you throw in an occasional ACC championship and deeper NCAAT run.

Hmm, my excerpt misrepresents your point. Sorry. I just wanted to say that I think most people would be OK with 25+ wins and getting to the 2nd weekend. That's a pretty high standard, and plenty of wins to enjoy.

OTOH, if we never do better, some will become restless. Especially if they think a different coach could have done better.

 

[ChiShankCity]

The issue with his first year was that we were a bubble team, at best, for most of last year. So, it wasn't like we were a great team all year that was expected to be there. The question coming into last year was did Hubert finally get them to turn the corner or was it false advertising with a magical run. It appears that it was just a magical run based on last year's results. I've always said that it wouldn't be until year three before we found out what kind of coach he will be, because he needs his own players. There's no excuse this year because almost all of them are his.

That core group ended up being a bubble team for 2 years in a row. Maybe that tells you something about that core? That core group also was tremendously mediocre in Roy's last year too. Maybe they were just mediocre. And of course, it was just a magical run, lol. I also disagree with "no excuses". We have to see how the season plays out. If Hubert goes 20-13 again but Bacot and Cadeau each miss 20+ games due to injury, it's hard to fairly grade him based on the "no excuses" standard. Context matters.

I could live with that. Especially if you throw in an occasional ACC championship and deeper NCAAT run.

Hmm, my excerpt misrepresents your point. Sorry. I just wanted to say that I think most people would be OK with 25+ wins and getting to the 2nd weekend. That's a pretty high standard, and plenty of wins to enjoy.

OTOH, if we never do better, some will become restless. Especially if they think a different coach could have done better.

If people think Hubert is a bad coach and wrong for UNC, winning 25 games and making the second weekend of the NCAA this year will go down as a disastrous season because it's delaying a needed change.

Would you take it if Hubert's UNC tenure was like Tubby Smith's at Kentucky? Tubby Smith won a lot of games there. Won 4 SEC regular season championships. Made it to the second weekend 5 times. I know Tubby won a National Title his first year there. Let's ignore that for this argument. Would you take the rest of Tubby's tenure for your standards of UNC basketball? A coach who won a lot of games, but never really threatened winning it all.

If people think Hubert is the wrong guy for the job, it's best for this season to be a disappointment if that guarantees a coaching change. If we have a (and I'll use my famous words for this) fake good season, that could end up wasting 3+ years.

 

[imajericho]

It's embarrassing, and we should be ashamed.

 

[tarheel0910]

I also disagree with "no excuses". We have to see how the season plays out. If Hubert goes 20-13 again but Bacot and Cadeau each miss 20+ games due to injury, it's hard to fairly grade him based on the "no excuses" standard. Context matters.

Obviously something like that would impact judgement. I didn't think it was necessary to add something like that since it's something everyone knows.

 

[DSouthr]

So far Hubert has in my opinion been a better than expected recruiter in BOTH the high school recruiting as well as the portal, I do very much like the talent he has brought in for this coming season. But his coaching decisions have at times for me gone well past "he wasn't ready to be a head coach", some of his decisions have me ask if he should be in coaching at all. He made decisions, that no coach should make, not as a college, not as a high school coach, not even as a middle school coach, just really unexplainable things that I have talked about to the point of being really tired to talk about them more.

Last season I saw a team that was NOT developed, not as individuals and not as a unit and I know why and the why is not good. Hansbourgh, in a fit of rage told us all we needed to know, that team was not working to get better in the last off season, they went thru the motions. How many times did we actually see the team take the floor for the opening tip and just not match the intensity of the opponent, they simply went thru the motions and got embarrassed. AS a head coach you can not let that happen, if guys are on the floor that are not going full on then you sit them and put someone that does really want to play in the game and frankly, if that means you play the whole game with blue steel you do it. If it means members of the team decide they have to leave and take care of a sick relative (you darn right that is a gig at Garcia) then so be it, better off without them.

Caleb Love is the perfect example of what I am saying, don't blame Caleb for all those misses from bad shot selection, you blame the coach for allowing it to continue and that is totally in his hands to handle. Hubert made a deal out of having players stop by his office at least 3 times a week and talk about anything but basketball, maybe they should have talked more about basketball than how they were getting along with their girl friend or what their favorite cookies were?

This off season, I like the talent he has brought in but recruiting was never my main concern with him, he has yet to show that he can develop the talent he has in to a real team. WE got to the natty game his first season and that was great, ended K's career with a loss, that was great. But if you had the talent to get to the natty game then why were they a bubble team up to the last couple games of that season??? Last season, we returned 4 of the 5 starters in that natty game, we added a kid that was in the NBA combine that elected to play 1 more season of college ball and we don't even make the NCAAT, after being pre-season #1 in the rankings? That equals out to me as 2 seasons of less than stellar play with the first one we having a hot streak at the perfect time. The run thru the NCAAT was more the deviation than the norm, last season was the norm as was the majority of the season before.

So I am left with this, Hubert met with all his players after the season and as result of those meetings several left because they had to hear real talk that they didn't want to hear. I sincerely hope our AD had a similar talk with Hubert, that the mistakes from the last 2 seasons can not be repeated, Hubert and I like the guy but his seat should be blazing hot right now. I want to see how this coming season goes and I am not demanding anything as it goes to win totals or deep marches in to the NCCAT, though there really is no excuse other than dramatic injury as hit us in Bacot's freshman season. But the head scratching decisions have to really dramatically improve and if they don't he needs to be handed walking papers the day after our last game is played next season. And if that happens, don't know what the school would do but if up to me, I would give Kelvin Sampson or Danny Hurley a blank check and have them fill in the amount that it will take for them to be our head coach. Just my opinion.

 

[DSouthr]

LOLOLOL some classic jung-isms and ALL from the same post !

"That core group ended up being a bubble team for 2 years in a row. Maybe that tells you something about that core?" And maybe it tells you something about the coaching in it's 2 seasons???

"Would you take it if Hubert's UNC tenure was like Tubby Smith's at Kentucky?" What has Tubby Smith got to do with this? I mean that may qualify for STRAW MAN argument of the year! LOL

"If people think Hubert is the wrong guy for the job, it's best for this season to be a disappointment if that guarantees a coaching change." LOLOLOL No, what is best is for the coming season to NOT be a disappointment period the end, drop mic!

"If we have a (and I'll use my famous words for this) fake good season" LOL, yet again with the "fake good". I mean, you do realize there are only 2 out comes right, either good or bad, there is no such thing as fake good or fake bad? As the master told Poe (sorry but I love Kung Fu Panda) "there is NOW a level ZERO! LOL

 

[ChiShankCity]

LOLOLOL some classic jung-isms and ALL from the same post !

"That core group ended up being a bubble team for 2 years in a row. Maybe that tells you something about that core?" And maybe it tells you something about the coaching in it's 2 seasons???

"Would you take it if Hubert's UNC tenure was like Tubby Smith's at Kentucky?" What has Tubby Smith got to do with this? I mean that may qualify for STRAW MAN argument of the year! LOL

"If people think Hubert is the wrong guy for the job, it's best for this season to be a disappointment if that guarantees a coaching change." LOLOLOL No, what is best is for the coming season to NOT be a disappointment period the end, drop mic!

"If we have a (and I'll use my famous words for this) fake good season" LOL, yet again with the "fake good". I mean, you do realize there are only 2 out comes right, either good or bad, there is no such thing as fake good or fake bad? As the master told Poe (sorry but I love Kung Fu Panda) "there is NOW a level ZERO! LOL

And maybe it tells you something about the coaching in it's 2 seasons???
Definitely a possibility. And I never said the coach wasn't at fault. In fact, I've said over and over again that I think Hubert is probably a below average in game head coach.

What has Tubby Smith got to do with this? I mean that may qualify for STRAW MAN argument of the year! LOL / "If people think Hubert is the wrong guy for the job, it's best for this season to be a disappointment if that guarantees a coaching change." LOLOLOL No, what is best is for the coming season to NOT be a disappointment period the end, drop mic!
Of course Tubby has nothing to do with this particular discussion. But I'm saying if you think Hubert is the wrong guy for this job, it's probably better to be really disappointing this season. Then you end the relationship with Hubert and move on before it has a chance to linger on like Tubby Smith's tenure at Kentucky where they were a good program, but never really a national title threat.

And I also disagree with the second part. If Hubert turns out to be the wrong guy, I would rather know that this season. Suck, get it over with, and try to bring in the right guy. Unless you think Hubert can win a National Championship, while still being the wrong guy for this program, then I would rather be disappointing and make the change earlier than later. Tubby Smith, Mike Davis... Pick your pick. For Mike Davis especially, making the NCAA Final in his second year probably ended up being a net negative for Indiana's program as a whole.

LOL, yet again with the "fake good" I mean, you do realize there are only 2 out comes right, either good or bad, there is no such thing as fake good or fake bad? As the master told Poe (sorry but I love Kung Fu Panda) "there is NOW a level ZERO! LOL
I've made the comparison to other teams whose records or performance don't nearly indicate the level of team that they really are.
Minnesota Vikings last year. They go 13-4 and win the division. So that's great right? Well, negative 3 point differential for the season. I think they went like 6-0 in one score games. Things that aren't sustainable. They weren't as good as their record was. They were fake good.

Hell, even us during Tyler Hansbrough freshman year were probably not nearly as good as our seeding indicated. We overachieved that year. Got a seed that matched our record and got beat in the second round.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Would you take it if Hubert's UNC tenure was like Tubby Smith's at Kentucky? Tubby Smith won a lot of games there. Won 4 SEC regular season championships. Made it to the second weekend 5 times. I know Tubby won a National Title his first year there. Let's ignore that for this argument. Would you take the rest of Tubby's tenure for your standards of UNC basketball? A coach who won a lot of games, but never really threatened winning it all.

Maybe not, but that's mainly because I (we) have been spoiled by Dean and Roy.

In 10 years at UK, Tubby got tothe NCAAT all 10 times. In addition to the championship, he made it to 3 Elite Eights and 1 Sweet 16. And he had a 76.0% winning record.

Which is to say, I could live with that.

You probably remember back to when State dumped Herb Sendek. His record was worse than Tubby's yet still an above-average record. Made the NCAAT his last 5 straight years, made it past the first round 4 of those, and to the Sweet 16 once. A lot of schools would kill for that level of success. We won't accept that, and neither did State.

I wonder how many State fans wish they could have Sendek back?

 

[ChiShankCity]

Maybe not, but that's mainly because I (we) have been spoiled by Dean and Roy.

In 10 years at UK, Tubby got tothe NCAAT all 10 times. In addition to the championship, he made it to 3 Elite Eights and 1 Sweet 16. And he had a 76.0% winning record.

Which is to say, I could live with that.

You probably remember back to when State dumped Herb Sendek. His record was worse than Tubby's yet still an above-average record. Made the NCAAT his last 5 straight years, made it past the first round 4 of those, and to the Sweet 16 once. A lot of schools would kill for that level of success. We won't accept that, and neither did State.

I wonder how many State fans wish they could have Sendek back?

Hubert got to a Title game year one. Tubby won it in year 1.

One more year down for Hubert. So for the next 8 years, would people on this board take:
- 0 national titles
- 0 finals fours
- 3 elite 8’s
- 4 sweet 16’s

So largely out of the National Championship picture for the next 8 years (maybe once in 8 years). Is that acceptable at UNC?

 

[Mrs.Jeans15]

A chance to show your game.

Absolute most embarassing decision Ive seen from a group of athletes or a coach.

 

[dtodd4475]

Hubert got to a Title game year one. Tubby won it in year 1.

One more year down for Hubert. So for the next 8 years, would people on this board take:
- 0 national titles
- 0 finals fours
- 3 elite 8’s
- 4 sweet 16’s

So largely out of the National Championship picture for the next 8 years (maybe once in 8 years). Is that acceptable at UNC?

1 part I would disagree with is that if you lose in the elite 8 you were out of the National Championship picture. There were 8 teams left, you were 3 wins from the crown. You were most definitely "in the picture".

 

[strummingram]

A chance to show your game.

Absolute most embarassing decision Ive seen from a group of athletes or a coach.

A UNC basketball team that quit is never a good thing.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

A UNC basketball team that quit is never a good thing.

Back in the day when only 1 team per conference could go to the NCAAT, the Maryland team - arguably the 2nd best in the nation - chose not to go to the NIT after losing to NCSU in the ACCT.

They had a much better reason. But I still thought they were pussies.

Keep playing for pride, if nothing else.

 

[DSouthr]

A UNC basketball team that quit is never a good thing.

Interesting question, exactly who is it that quit? My understanding is that Hubert made the official decision to not play in the NIT, maybe he talked with a couple players but not to every player. Directly after the realization that your team has just gone for pre-season #1 in the country to not making it to the NCAAT, of course the players are going to be extremely down. Clearly the players would not have had their minds on anything but the disappointment of that season. But that doesn't say to me they quit, says to me they were very disappointed. How many teams that did actually play in the NIT really wanted to be there, some maybe but most felt they deserved to be in the NCAAT but they used the NIT to show they deserved better than maybe their records indicated.

I would have hope to have seen this staff send the message to the team, if you think you are better than the results of this season then let's go out and prove it, let's go win the NIT and prove to everyone that we were better than our record. Let's just go out and play like we know we can play and if the NIT is the only place we can now show what we can do then lets go out and win the darn NIT.

But yeah, that didn't happen... Ya know what, life doesn't always go like you want it to, sometimes for what ever reason you get knocked down, life does that and when it does it hurts for sure. But you either lay down or you get back up on your feet and you move forward. In other words you either quit or you move forward, you either quit or you don't. Some one quit, who was sit? Did the players quit on their team mates as well as themselves or did this coaching staff quit on them? Quitting did occur, no doubt about that because they still had games they could have played and the decision was made to not play them, so quitting did occur, you may not like the way that sounds but it did actually happen.

My question is who quit on who?

 

[ChapelHeeled]

Back in the day when only 1 team per conference could go to the NCAAT, the Maryland team - arguably the 2nd best in the nation - chose not to go to the NIT after losing to NCSU in the ACCT.

They had a much better reason. But I still thought they were pussies.

Keep playing for pride, if nothing else.

So, you must then think the same thing about the UNC team from this past season! Oh, nice choice of words as well...

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Quitting did occur, no doubt about that because they still had games they could have played and the decision was made to not play them, so quitting did occur, you may not like the way that sounds but it did actually happen.

My question is who quit on who?

Agree with both points.

I really wanted to see more games.

Then again, what if we played and got shellacked in the first round?

Only 1 team gets to win the NIT. Only 2 get to the championship game. We probably wouldn't be one of those teams.

But we could have TRIED, and held our heads up.

Still, to get back to the OP point, if it was already determined that we were dumping several players, then the question may not so much be quitting, as moving forward.

I mean how do you ask guys you know have no future on the team - guys you're going to invite to leave in a few days - to go to the NIT and play their hearts out for . . . what? . . . Family?

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

So, you must then think the same thing about the UNC team from this past season! Oh, nice choice of words as well...

Glad you liked it.

 

[strummingram]

Interesting question, exactly who is it that quit? My understanding is that Hubert made the official decision to not play in the NIT, maybe he talked with a couple players but not to every player. Directly after the realization that your team has just gone for pre-season #1 in the country to not making it to the NCAAT, of course the players are going to be extremely down. Clearly the players would not have had their minds on anything but the disappointment of that season. But that doesn't say to me they quit, says to me they were very disappointed. How many teams that did actually play in the NIT really wanted to be there, some maybe but most felt they deserved to be in the NCAAT but they used the NIT to show they deserved better than maybe their records indicated.

I would have hope to have seen this staff send the message to the team, if you think you are better than the results of this season then let's go out and prove it, let's go win the NIT and prove to everyone that we were better than our record. Let's just go out and play like we know we can play and if the NIT is the only place we can now show what we can do then lets go out and win the darn NIT.

But yeah, that didn't happen... Ya know what, life doesn't always go like you want it to, sometimes for what ever reason you get knocked down, life does that and when it does it hurts for sure. But you either lay down or you get back up on your feet and you move forward. In other words you either quit or you move forward, you either quit or you don't. Some one quit, who was sit? Did the players quit on their team mates as well as themselves or did this coaching staff quit on them? Quitting did occur, no doubt about that because they still had games they could have played and the decision was made to not play them, so quitting did occur, you may not like the way that sounds but it did actually happen.

My question is who quit on who?

The team... the staff and the players... had the opportunity to play on and improve and show that they still represented the University of North Carolina and had the will to play (and improve and compete and ideally to win).

They all, collectively, gave up and said "No, thanks." They quit on the school, on the program in general, on the legacy, on the fans, and ultimately, on themselves.