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The Sky Is Not Falling.

1/30/07
by Joe Dlugosz

To say that the 2006-07 Loyola Ramblers basketball season has been a disappointment to date would be an understatement.  Nearly every pre-season publication and every internet “expert” had the Ramblers placed squarely atop the Horizon League standings and nearly as many had already punched the Ramblers ticket to the NCAA tournament.  So to see the Ramblers at 14-9 and just 5-5 in conference is more than a bit unsettling.

To see other Horizon League teams like Butler and Wright State playing so well when one thought it would be the Ramblers sitting comfortably atop the standings makes it that much more difficult.  But now 23 games into the season we are forced to take a deeper look at the Ramblers.  We are forced to realize that maybe they didn’t deserve all the pre-season hype.  People were expecting a team that had managed back-to-back 9-7 conference seasons and zero appearances in the tournament finals to make a big leap.

Going back to October that leap seemed plausible.  The Ramblers had a player of the year candidate in Blake Schilb, a top notch defender in Majak Kou and a decent looking supporting cast around them.  It seemed logical that the Ramblers would be able to make that jump.  Or did it?

So many obstacles had to be overcome, so many things had to happen for the first time and so many next steps had to be taken for the Ramblers to achieve their lofty expectations.  Was fair or reasonable to think that the Ramblers would head out on the road and pick up much-needed wins to boost their RPI in the pre-conference when that had not been done before?

Was it fair or reasonable to think the Ramblers would play above .500 basketball away from the Gentile Center in conference, that they’d break two road losing streaks that stretched over a generation at Detroit and Butler, that Blake Schilb and Majak Kou would become grizzled seniors when they’ve never faced a situation in which to gain the experience?

Was it fair to think that a team that had never even played in a conference tournament final or spent much time atop the Horizon League standings would be able to withstand the pressure of playing with the pre-season favorite bull’s-eye on their chests? 

I don’t think it was fair.

I don’t think it was fair and I was one of the masses that picked the Ramblers to finish atop the standings.  I had already put in time at work to go to the NCAA tournament; I was counting down the days until the Horizon League tournament was at the Gentile Center.  Heck, I scheduled my wedding for March 24, after the first two weekends of the NCAA tournament.  I was convinced, but I was wrong.

In a league that had experienced teams, players and coaches that had been to the post-season it was a bit much to assume the Ramblers would overcome.

I know it’s disappointing to look at this season and see a lot of the expectations go by the wayside, but one has to look at how far the Ramblers have come.  The Ramblers were 19-11 last season and they still have a decent shot of posting a similar record this season.  Five years ago Ramblers fans would have soiled themselves with happiness for back-to-back seasons above .500, much less knocking on the door to 20-wins. 

The Ramblers won in Detroit this season.  That is something that hasn’t been done since Toronto Blue Jays were a competitive baseball team.  We should be happy about that; it’s one less monkey off the Ramblers back. 

The Ramblers beat Milwaukee this season for the first time since Larry Farmer was a promising head coach for Loyola.  That’s another monkey off the Ramblers back.

The Ramblers have another shot at Butler in late February to exorcise another demon.  They could get that elusive win at Hinkle.  If I’m not mistaken George Bush was president and the United States had yet to fight Iraq for the first time when that last happened.

Things are happening this year that we as Ramblers fans have been dying to see, but we’re missing them because of those lofty expectations.  Sure, the Ramblers need a miracle to win the Horizon League and another one to get to the conference finals and probably one more to win the conference tournament and advance to the NCAA’s, but stranger things have happened.

Despite all the disappointment we seem to enjoy reveling in, perhaps us Ramblers fans should look at what is happening around us.  The core of this Ramblers squad next season will be sophomores and juniors.  They now have the experience of knowing what it is like to play with that bull’s-eye on their chest, they know they can win in Detroit, they know they can beat Milwaukee, they know they have to leave it all out on the floor every night to get a victory and even then it may not be enough.  They are getting experience.  They are getting experiences that no player on this year’s squad has had before.  They are getting the experiences that will make them and the Ramblers better in the future, and the future may still yet be this year.

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