Still feels like a dream

4,883 Views | 17 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by TallTexan
djsfw57
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I keep thinking I'm gonna wake up and realize the Duke game was an awesome dream. Every morning I wake up and get online to see if I can find a story about the game. It blows me away that we not only beat mighty Duke, but that they were #1 in the country and we beat them at their house. I never get tired of watching the overtime period, and my heart thumps out of my chest when I see Nate hustling down to score. Gives me chills every time. I gotta admit there are times I still get misty watching the last 5 seconds. This is something I never dreamed would happen.

I remember when we learned Coach Underwood was leaving. It hurt my heart because I was afraid our team would never enjoy the kind of success we had under him. But I'm not at all sure we would have beat Duke with another coach. Keller is very special. I can't wait to see where he takes us. We're in the middle of something that I believe can lead SFA to becoming the next Gonzaga. I sure as hell hope so! It'll be interesting to see what kind of effect this Duke win will have on recruiting.

Thanks for letting me ramble and GO JACKS!!!!!!!!!!
SFA, Class of 1979
nacluth
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It's great, isn't it?

I have thought of writing something about why I think Keller's offense is ultimately better than Underwood's. Just writing that is almost laughable if you compare the offensive output of Brad's 3 seasons to Kyle's 3 seasons. But, I think it's why we beat Duke and why Illinois has been terrible.

There's so many intangibles, and I don't really want to compare coaches. I think they are both good. No one will ever have a better tenure than Underwood had here. We had zero chance of keeping him.

Keller is a different guy. His teams are never going to look like Brad's teams. But, I think we have potential to be great under him. I think we may have Sweet 16 aspirations under him. I don't think he leaves with Kevon like Underwood did with Walkup. I think he can coach. I think he did in that Duke game. LSU, Baylor, Duke. Those are all big wins, and I think there's more. I think this could be a good year.
SFA Jack Fanatic
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Well, Keller and his staff are proving to be better recruiters than Underwood.
jboy93
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Without going back and looking at the schedule, did Underwood have any regular season signature wins? I know he had the two an almost a third in the tournament. Keller has some good wins (LSU, Baylor, Duke) so now he has to get those tournament wins!
Rev007
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It's interesting to see the mostly positive comments about Coach Keller. Last year, many wanted to run him out of town and said he wasn't worth his high dollar contract. Personally, I like him. I don't know if he is a great coach or a great recruiter or both. One thing is for sure, he and his staff did a 180 degree turnaround this year.

How long has Coach Few been at Gonzaga? I'm guessing over 20 years. They must be compensating him well and he must also like living in Spokane. We can have the same situation here. We already have great recruiting, and the victory over Duke has given us better name recognition. If we are able to beat Alabama, recruiting will be that much easier. Recruits also want to know that the coach who recruited them will be around. It's time to start thinking about a contract extension. If Coach Mason is our primary recruiter, guess what? Pay him!
TallTexan
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jboy93 said:

Without going back and looking at the schedule, did Underwood have any regular season signature wins? I know he had the two an almost a third in the tournament. Keller has some good wins (LSU, Baylor, Duke) so now he has to get those tournament wins!
Believe we beat Memphis in his tenure. And his 2nd game at SFA we took UT to the wire. Lots of Longhorns there that night thought they were beat until the final minute.
BigJack85
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TallTexan said:

jboy93 said:

Without going back and looking at the schedule, did Underwood have any regular season signature wins? I know he had the two an almost a third in the tournament. Keller has some good wins (LSU, Baylor, Duke) so now he has to get those tournament wins!
Believe we beat Memphis in his tenure. And his 2nd game at SFA we took UT to the wire. Lots of Longhorns there that night thought they were beat until the final minute.


I was at that UT game. Purple Out was there also. It was some sweet home cooking that got UT across the finish line.
Axe 'Em Jacks - Class of 85'
Ballwatch
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"Loose! Kensmil's got it, they got a time out, they don't use it,....... BAIIIINNNN!!, YESSS!! The Lumberjacks have done it!!!"

What a call
TallTexan
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I'm incredibly thankful for the announcers. They could have been homers, but instead they called a great game & fit the moment perfectly.
TallTexan
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BigJack85 said:




I was at that UT game. Purple Out was there also. It was some sweet home cooking that got UT across the finish line.
Former colleague of mine had seats a few rows behind the SFA bench and took me with him for that game. Thouroughly enjoyed it, though I wish SFA would have pulled it out.

I remember thinking we hired a lunatic with as much as Underwood screamed that game.
FLK_LMB
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Rev007 said:

It's interesting to see the mostly positive comments about Coach Keller. Last year, many wanted to run him out of town and said he wasn't worth his high dollar contract. Personally, I like him. I don't know if he is a great coach or a great recruiter or both. One thing is for sure, he and his staff did a 180 degree turnaround this year.

How long has Coach Few been at Gonzaga? I'm guessing over 20 years. They must be compensating him well and he must also like living in Spokane. We can have the same situation here. We already have great recruiting, and the victory over Duke has given us better name recognition. If we are able to beat Alabama, recruiting will be that much easier. Recruits also want to know that the coach who recruited them will be around. It's time to start thinking about a contract extension. If Coach Mason is our primary recruiter, guess what? Pay him!
I noticed that too, how quickly opinions have changed on Coach Keller from even this point last season. Perhaps it's proof that winning really does cure everything...

From what I've heard (and I have nothing solid to corroborate this information, but I believe my sources), this team is Coach Cox's. He recruited them, he got them to sign and he should be receiving a lot of credit for helping to turn this team around.
Pilotgirl
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I think Coach Cox flies under everyone's radar. I saw several players go up and hug him right after the win.
RedRiverLa
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nacluth said:

It's great, isn't it?

I have thought of writing something about why I think Keller's offense is ultimately better than Underwood's. Just writing that is almost laughable if you compare the offensive output of Brad's 3 seasons to Kyle's 3 seasons. But, I think it's why we beat Duke and why Illinois has been terrible.

There's so many intangibles, and I don't really want to compare coaches. I think they are both good. No one will ever have a better tenure than Underwood had here. We had zero chance of keeping him.

Keller is a different guy. His teams are never going to look like Brad's teams. But, I think we have potential to be great under him. I think we may have Sweet 16 aspirations under him. I don't think he leaves with Kevon like Underwood did with Walkup. I think he can coach. I think he did in that Duke game. LSU, Baylor, Duke. Those are all big wins, and I think there's more. I think this could be a good year.

My family is from Illinois so I've been following Illinois basketball for 40 years. It always seems to take a longer time to build a program in the big ten after being down so long than usual. Just how it's been when you have powers like Indiana, Michigan State, etc. I don't think you can judge Underwood's coaching style yet as not working up there (I dont mean you specifically, the universal 'you') The program is turning around and he's had some big wins over several top 10 wins, including a big one against Michigan state last year. But having said that, Keller has something special in his style and tactics. I thought he was a good coach from what I saw the first year, and I don't think it was proven by the win over Duke only, but how this team felt completely different than last year's team by the second game. How you coach after failure proves it to me.
Lumberjack Battalion
Lumberjacks make great US Army Special Ops Officers - AxeEm!
No-look
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Last year was about as low as one could get because of all the issues we were dealing with. I remember Keller saying during the summer (I think) about this years recruiting class. He said that all the current new players committed quickly. Which was something odd because it seemed too easy.
It appears that this team has good chemistry and they feed off each other. It seems that there is something very special about SFA basketball. Who would have thought after last year that we would be back at this competitive level. Watching Duke take down their opponent last night in that fashion was neat. And realizing that we took them down on their home court was really neat! Now, we need to bring our A game every game!
djsfw57
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So I've been moved to a rehab hospital in Cleveland. This morning I was in the gym working with my therapist. I was wearing an SFA shirt. One of the other therapists walked over, shook my hand, and said, "SFA! Did you see them beat Duke?" It was pretty cool to see that so far from home. I love the name recognition and publicity we got from that game.
SFA, Class of 1979
Rev007
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Get well soon! I'll be praying for you. I hope you can attend the Southland Conference tournament in March. It will be my first time there.
djsfw57
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Ballwatch said:

"Loose! Kensmil's got it, they got a time out, they don't use it,....... BAIIIINNNN!!, YESSS!! The Lumberjacks have done it!!!"

What a call
"The Lumberjacks have done it!!!" needs to be on an SFA shirt, along with "SFA 85, #1 Duke 83"
SFA, Class of 1979
djsfw57
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Rev007 said:

Get well soon! I'll be praying for you. I hope you can attend the Southland Conference tournament in March. It will be my first time there.
Thank you. I learned today I get to go home December 18! It's been a long 2 months, but I'm blessed to be alive and healthy. By the way, I walked without assistance today for the first time! It was just a few steps, but represents so much more to me.
SFA, Class of 1979
TallTexan
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Awesome! Glad to hear it.
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