Is there a better/worse loss?

[Gorilla '69]

Although there is no such thing as a good loss, which is the lesser of two evils?

End your season by: ( not taking into account which round )
2017: 24 points
Or
2016: 3 points on a last second shot

[Shadow]

Apples & oranges.

[xu koop scoop]

That was a good loss as we won 3 & lost 1 in the big dance.

[rickf]

Prefer this one by a wide margin

[ChitownSteve]

Last night our group all agreed that losing one at the buzzer would have been too heartbreaking.

While it would have been preferable to have scored more, the loss took nothing away from this year's run.

[skyhops]

Great tourney and proud of this team. Last night was disappointing especially since only JP seem to play with any urgency. Still unsure why we can play man to man defense.

[Anti-Homer]

I don't think there's any question, that any competitor would rather lose in a close, highly contested game, which went down to the wire, than get blown out. The latter validates the notion that your team can't compete at the highest level. Tre's sobbing was Exhibit A. Do you think when Tre tries out for the NBA, and a team is looking at 5 players, and planning on keeping one, he would be happier knowing he was the 1st to be eliminated from consideration, rather than be the runner up? When the student-athletes graduate and go into the workforce, do you think they'd rather not be granted interviews, rather than go thru 3 or 4 before being eliminated from consideration? Nah baby nah.

Secondly, I thought X stayed in the zone waaay too long, and their continued insistence on doubling the bigs, leaving the best shooting team X has faced all year arguably, was a flawed strategy. For the players who play significant minutes for the Zags, they average shooting about 40% from 3 point land, and 50% on 2s. The math is obvious: shooting 33% from 3's is equivalent to 50% from 2's.

I think starting off in zone, and even doubling down of the bigs was fine to start with, but when it is clear the strategy won't work, you adjust. That being said, Gonzaga was clearly the superior team, and X already overachieved in the tourney, thanks to the coaches and players. Getting throttled wasn't pretty, but the players and coaches gave a great effort, and have added another Elite 8 to the program.

Thanks to all, most notably Gaston, MB, & Tre,( who I think is gone), and also the walk-ons who sacrifice their time for very little reward. The growth of the players and coaches makes me optimistic for the future. I hope X continues to keep recruiting high caliber and character players, and eliminate recruiting those with nefarious backgrounds (eg. Eyikor). The program has proven they can thrive without them.

[kyzrex]

From personal experience, I disagree with AH. Although I admit to never being at a really elite level as a competitor, I did aspire to that level. In my case, after a 14-1 regular season at X, and a 2 point loss to the eventual champion in NCAA tourney, I tried out for the Olympics. I promptly got smoked by a double digit margin to another competitor in the trials. To this day, the 2pt loss haunts me more and I wonder what I could have done differently during preparation and the match. But all I can do is tip my hat and laugh about the loss in the trials. Some 20 years later I actually made it to the Olympics, as a spectator, and witnessed multi-time world champions also get beat by double digit margins and falls. Sometimes you just walk off the court, field, mat, etc. and just have to realize it just wasn't your day and you really didn't have a chance. It's the close losses that really haunt you, not the blowouts.

[Anti-Homer]

From personal experience, I disagree with AH. Although I admit to never being at a really elite level as a competitor, I did aspire to that level. In my case, after a 14-1 regular season at X, and a 2 point loss to the eventual champion in NCAA tourney, I tried out for the Olympics. I promptly got smoked by a double digit margin to another competitor in the trials. To this day, the 2pt loss haunts me more and I wonder what I could have done differently during preparation and the match. But all I can do is tip my hat and laugh about the loss in the trials. Some 20 years later I actually made it to the Olympics, as a spectator, and witnessed multi-time world champions also get beat by double digit margins and falls. Sometimes you just walk off the court, field, mat, etc. and just have to realize it just wasn't your day and you really didn't have a chance. It's the close losses that really haunt you, not the blowouts.

First of All,

I'm seriously impressed you even qualified for the Olympic Trials. I completely disagree with you, but wish I can walk away with a smile on my face after getting smoked - and that was not a sarcastic comment. Just ain't in me. I agree you credit the winner, and you take your loss with class, but I suspect CM like me would rather lose a close game than be blown out.

[kyzrex]

No need to be impressed, getting into the trials in most sports isn't real tough, and just about anyone can do so. However, being competitive and actually succeeding is unbelievably tough. Then the competition at the actual games even goes up from there.

I think the effect a loss has on a person really depends on the person. Lombardi usd to say "the harder you work, the harder it is to quit". I could always deal with a blowout loss fine, as long as I knew I didn't quit or give up. For me, it was always the 1-2 point losses that really bugged me. Not because I quit, but because I knew that I had a real chance to win them, but didn't. When I got blown out (happened a few times, not often), I knew that I just wasn't on the same level as my competition. This didn't piss me off, it made me want to work harder so that the next time we met, I would have a better chance. I used blowouts as motivation. They were also a humbling experience.