Does Valley Conference Play Prepare a Team for the NCAAs?

[valleychamp]

I quoted your post to respond to a statement you made, which I did in my first paragraph.

So the statement that I quoted was just a general rambling since NO ONE HAS USED THIS AS AN EXCUSE AND YOU JUST MADE THAT UP AND THREW IT OUT THERE FOR NO REASON?

Got it.

Excuse me? What did I "make up and throw out there for no reason"???

Is this thread an illusion? Because I thought we were discussing whether or not the MVC makes teams ill-prepared for the NCAA tournament. I stated that anyone that uses that as an excuse is a loser. Did I say that anyone did? Did I call you a loser? NO.

I stated my opinion on the matter, just as you did. But you cherry picked one sentence out of a long post, and you not only misinterpreted it, but you chose to be offended by it for some reason.

[Wufan]

General ramblings...

There was no reason to say that except to imply that it was used as an excuse. It would not have changed your post one way or another had you left it out, yet you felt compelled to add it.

[Ace Dad]

There is an advantage to the layoff:

Our injured or tire-legged players can heal.

[glm38]

I watch quite a bit of college basketball and I think the MVC is a pretty rough and physical league. I just don't agree that MVC league play and arch madness don't prepare us for the ncaa's.

It is true that we generally don't get the elite athletes that are sprinkled throughout the bcs schools. But we get plenty of very good athletes to the degree that I don't see this as a big issue.

As previously stated there have been plenty of teams from the "mid major" conferences that have made the sweet 16, elite 8, and even final 4. Schools like Gonzaga, Butler, etc, etc. Do these conferences better prepare those schools for the ncaa's than the MVC? I don't think so. In most cases you could argue the opposite.

The original question posed is interesting. But it just doesn't hold water. As a conference we need to stop making excuses and WIN. Schedule tougher OOC games and win those. Then win in the NCAA tourney.

[TylerDurden]

It's always easier to blame someone or something other than yourself.

Plenty of MVC teams have had NCAA success, so placing blame on the league competition is a petty cop out. Own up to the fact that you got out-coached and out-played.

The reality is that when one team comes prepared from the start and executes, they tend to win. That is what happened.

Don't hold yourself up as superior, lay an egg, and blame others.

This question wasn't about blaming anyone. It's not about whether or not teams have had success. You just rewrote the question and provided your own answer. The question is whether or not The Valley prepares teams to play against up-tempo, physical defensive teams. The answer is no! With the disappearance of floor-burn U, there isn't a physical defensive team in this league. There are teams that guard and hand-check, but not like VCU (in fact there aren't many in the country). What this league prepares you for is intelligent teams that execute offensively. It's not better or worse, just different. The match-up with VCU was a bad one for the Shockers, and as was pointed out, the Shockers didn't handle it well and didn't make shots that we normally make. That's not on the league, that's on the Shockers. It still doesn't change the question and it's answer. This is a relatively unathletic league when compared to it's relative success.

Try again. I address what Ace Dad asked.

Question: Do you agree that Valley basketball is good enough to prepare our teams for the NCAAs or do you believe that Valley play may handicap a team?

The history of success shows it does prepare teams for athletic (and other) opponents in the NCAA tournament.

You're the one rewriting the question based on the opinions on ShockerNet as to why WSU lost its first game. The ShockerNet posts may not have come from you, but it is about blame. Marshall was passing the buck in St. Louis and his apologists are doing it now.

Again, it might not be coming from you, but there is a ton of it going on and it's nothing more than an excuse.

[Wufan]

There's plenty of blame on Shockernet...blame the coach, blame the players (oddly not much blaming the refs), blame the seeding, blame the Valley. The question still wasn't about blame, it was about preparedness and style of play. The Valley doesn't prepare teams for that style of play, heck, few conferences (if any) do as VCU is statistically the best in the nation at that paticular style.

Again, this is a good discussion topic if we can stay on track as to the Valley's style of play versus other conferences. Is it better or worse? Is it the same?

In my mind, physical defense is not the strong suit for this conference, unless you consider grabbing flopping physical.

[TylerDurden]

I agree, that's a fine discussion, but the question did not ask about style of play. It asked about preparedness for the NCAA Tournament. History says the MVC does prepare its teams for the NCAA tournament.

Style of play is a tangent discussion. It's related on some level, because the NCAA tournament is as much about dictating your style as anything else.

In this case, VCU has had success the past two seasons against teams from every league. During this postseason and last, they've beaten teams from the MVC, Pac 12, Big East, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 and lost to a Horizon League team.

It's tough to make the case that a lack of athleticism in those leagues is what failed to prepare those teams. In fact, I think a team like Butler, the last team to beat VCU in a postseason tournament, helps support what I'm saying.

Is the HL filled with physical, athletic teams? No, it's not. Did that seem to impact Butler against anyone? No, it did not. It was about Butler being tough and prepared for every game.

I just can't agree that the level of athleticism and style of play in the MVC is the reason for a loss like what WSU just had.

[Wufan]

I agree, that's a fine discussion, but the question did not ask about style of play. It asked about preparedness for the NCAA Tournament. History says the MVC does prepare its teams for the NCAA tournament.

Style of play is a tangent discussion. It's related on some level, because the NCAA tournament is as much about dictating your style as anything else.

In this case, VCU has had success the past two seasons against teams from every league. During this postseason and last, they've beaten teams from the MVC, Pac 12, Big East, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 and lost to a Horizon League team.

It's tough to make the case that a lack of athleticism in those leagues is what failed to prepare those teams. In fact, I think a team like Butler, the last team to beat VCU in a postseason tournament, helps support what I'm saying.

Is the HL filled with physical, athletic teams? No, it's not. Did that seem to impact Butler against anyone? No, it did not. It was about Butler being tough and prepared for every game.

I just can't agree that the level of athleticism and style of play in the MVC is the reason for a loss like what WSU just had.

I agree with all of the above.

[MetDrakeFan]

Match ups, guys. Most of us knew that VCU was a terrible matchup with WSU. So this year, the valley did not have an equivalent VCU team. But if the shocks played, say, Wisconsin, I think they would match up well, and probably win. And then would we thank the Valley for preparing the Shocks for a Wisonsin because we have deliberate teams? I doubt it.

I think the committee did a poor job with the valley match ups this year, as both our teams got bad matchups. NCAA is called madness for a reason, so it takes the perfect alignment of stars to make a deep run (unless you have NBA talent on your team.) I thought 2 years ago UNI was going to the final four until they got Izzo'd. Those were favoable circumstances after they knocked off Kansas.

I think the valley prepares us pretty well for the big dance, we've got good coaches, good players, good defense, and good offensive execution. Matchups always seem to be the biggest factor, and this year the Valley bad ones.

How bout this? Forget seeding. play the regular season to get a good enough resume to make the dance. Then when the teams are set, break them down into four regions as usual, but then throw all the names into a hat for each region and draw em out!

[pafan]

Since the 2006 extravaganza, the Valley's record in the NCAAs by the conference of the opponent.

SEC: 2-0 (Alabama, Tennessee)
CAA: 0-2 (VCU, George Mason)
Big East: 1-3 (Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Va., Georgetown)
MWC: 1-0 (UNLV)
Big 12: 2-1 (Kansas x 3)
Big Ten: 0-2 (Michigan St., Purdue)
Sun Belt: 0-1 (Western Ky.)
Patriot: 1-0 (Holy Cross)
ACC: 1-0 (Va. Tech)
WAC: 0-1 (Nevada)
CUSA: 0-1 (Memphis)
Big South: 1-0 (Winthrop)