Sat 1/3 (5 Games): Nova-Hall, PC-MU, X-DeP, But-STJ, CU-GTwn

[ivet]

Lavin usually gets some late signees. You guys don't have any strong recruits at all? Would it be too late to fire/let him go at this point since kids aren't buying into him anymore?

[notkirkcameron]

Lose to Omaha....win two games in Orlando over F5 schools....lose game to Wisconsin and two players to transfers...Go on 4-game winning streak with new-look Luke Fischer....lose to DePaul...beat defending Big East Tournament Champion Providence...

New Marquette Fight Song

[SecureDaBall]

Lavin usually gets some late signees. You guys don't have any strong recruits at all? Would it be too late to fire/let him go at this point since kids aren't buying into him anymore?

one transfer, one freshman are academically ineligible.

[milksteak]

Yeah, but I'm not calling out Butler for "having cracks in their armor" now am I? Responding with some stats about the game in question. I'm beginning to see why Butler fans have a reputation for being sort of douchey. Off night plus good defense, it happens, well maybe not to the great, beyond awesome, and otherworldly Butler program.

Oh wait it did at the pavilion the other night.

You're implying the "off-game" rule applies to Villanova only? Give me a break.

We are the "douchey" ones, but you cook up a ridiculous response like that. You're a joke.

[gmoser1210]

I'm beginning to see why Butler fans have a reputation for being sort of douchey.

Don't lump us all in with milksteak. You can't really judge a fan base based on people who post on a conference message board. I don't think it's a leap to say that the average message board poster is someone who is more than a casual fan, so a poorly-worded criticism is taken more harshly than intended, especially after a frustrating defeat. I also don't think it's a leap to posit that many people who participate in a conference board (and especially those who go to an opponent's message board) are doing so at least in part to confront opposing fans and their views about the home team or to correct any perceived slights (real or imagined). The people who post here are the especially passionate fans. Most of us are going to come across as douchey from time to time.

If you go back and read HoosierPal's first post again, I don't think he was ever saying that Villanova is a bad (or even average) team. He just mentioned that he thought Nova showed some minor weaknesses during the Butler game. Other coaches watching game tape could potentially come up with a game plan that would take advantage of those minor weaknesses. I think we'd just about all agree that Villanova didn't have a very hard time handling Butler. I also don't think he was putting down Villanova by mentioning that he thought the team was bigger. It was just an observation.

For the record, I don't agree with HoosierPal's analysis, but I don't think he was trying to do anything other than add to the conversation.