UConn Game Thread II

[BirdBoy]

Mr. Ashworth... I wasn't familiar with your game. Hopefully, they don't have a honeymoon hangover. Lots of opportunities to shoot for an even higher seed.

[Jaybird]

I regret calling him garbage.

You’re still a sanctimonious poseur, but I definitely regret calling him garbage, and for most of the reasons you cited.

Put another way. “I was wrong. You accurately called me out and explained why I was wrong. Those reasons were legit and I agree with them. But because I was called out and my feelings were hurt, I’ll still calling you a sanctimonious poseur.”

Again, well played.

It wasn’t just you. That entire UNLV game thread was embarrassing for many posters. I could not believe what I was seeing.

Okay. That was fun. Rule of thumb: Don’t attack players personally. Moving on…

If you're going to write his apologies for him, why does he even have to? (Although by my count, he's already apologized twice, and at least you kept the "sanctimonious poseur" line).

What next? Do you want him to walk down the middle of Dodge Street while we all yell "Shame"? And the UNLV thread? That was two months ago. You've been nursing this for that long? Well, I remember being critical of Ashworth too. And, so I can beat you to the punch, I apologize six ways from Sunday. But, if memory serves, weren't you at least a tiny bit critical of Ash too, somewhere along the way? I'm not going to go try to find it, and I'm not a walking archive so I don't remember if it was page 12 of the Iowa thread or the tail end of the Cent Mich thread, or it could be I'm just wrong, in which case, I apologize--or maybe I should just wait for you to write it for me.

[HandDownManDown]

He was bored and wanted to virtue signal, and decided it was my day in the well.

Save those apologies. The next time he’s bored it might be your day.

[vivid_dude]

Plenty of people were critical of Ashworth’s play. No issue with that. I question calling college kids garbage. Is this really a controversial position?

[JayMob]

As far as the fans and Hurley goes, I was ahead of my time with the double birds.

I think everyone was critical of Ashworth because he played like garbage, I'm sure starting with Ashworth himself.

Losing starters' minutes and being benched in the biggest game of the nonconference season, nobody has anything to apologize for as far as criticisms of his game. They were all warranted. It's a good thing he's figured it out and turned it around, but that doesn't mean he didn't play terribly previously.

I want my players to carry that chip and have that mentality but it's weird when fans of the same team try to pull receipts on each other instead of, you know, celebrating the biggest regular season win in program history.

[vivid_dude]

During the December 2013 game thread for the Arkansas Pine-Bluff game, I recall a certain poster calling Avery Dingman a disappointment. Please know I will come for you if that type of unacceptable behavior continues.

If my sanctimonious poseurosity makes folks think twice about personally disparaging college kids, I’m fine with the title. Not all heroes wear capes.

[JacobPadilla]

As far as the fans and Hurley goes, I was ahead of my time with the double birds.

I think everyone was critical of Ashworth because he played like garbage, I'm sure starting with Ashworth himself.

Losing starters' minutes and being benched in the biggest game of the nonconference season, nobody has anything to apologize for as far as criticisms of his game. They were all warranted. It's a good thing he's figured it out and turned it around, but that doesn't mean he didn't play terribly previously.

I want my players to carry that chip and have that mentality but it's weird when fans of the same team try to pull receipts on each other instead of, you know, celebrating the biggest regular season win in program history.

To be fair, the players on the team and those around them are pulling receipts too. They saw the talk and didn't take kindly to it. That goes for Steven as well.

I think the message to learn here is the college season lasts 5 months and 30+ games and there's plenty of time to figure things out and improve (which Creighton has a track record of doing under McDermott). Ashworth had an extended track record of being a great shooter and a good player, and he didn't suddenly forget how to play when he got to Omaha. History said it was more likely that he was going to start hitting shots more consistently than to shoot under 30% for the season, especially with the looks that he was getting, which is why the overreactions (saying he couldn't play in the Big East, declaring him a complete bust, calling for Farabello and Dotzler to play ahead of him) were always likely to look silly at some point.

Even when he "was playing like garbage," there were glimpses of what he could do and what this team could be with him in the lineup. Like Matt said on the podcast, it's important to judge the process as much or more than the results. Criticism and concern in the face of sub-par play is one thing, but I don't understand the tendency to go overboard so quickly. That goes for the team as a whole (9 seed incoming, etc.), but it's important to remember when it's focused on individual players that these are real people we're talking about and a lot of that stuff filters through to the players themselves these days.

[JacobPadilla]

Two contributions for now (in addition to the 2-hour podcast).

1) Here's my post-game story: https://hurrdatsports.com/creighton-men ... ked-uconn/

2)

Additional contribution: a short Jasen Green highlights thread.

[DC_JAY]

While I have not called a player "garbage," I'll wade into this...

* If players keep receipts and use those receipts as motivation, good for them. Do what works.

* The "they're just kids" argument is coming to an end in major college athletics. Ashworth is a grown, married man making a not insignificant amount of money to play at Creighton. He is not a shrinking violet. He does not need a knight in shining armor riding to his rescue on an anonymous message board.

* That said, I, too, questioned early in the season whether he was ready for Big East play. His progression has been nothing short of phenomenal, and we are so lucky to have a warrior like him wearing a Creighton jersey.

Go Jays!

[jays34]

SA is a gamer. Forget stats and metrics, he knows how to win and refuses to lose. Love the kid and hope we see him another year.