Of course people think that! Ive thought that! (Fear that its put up or shut up time)
The most recent Celtics championship. The team had fallen short of winning it all a couple years in a row, and the excuse that Brown/Tatum were still young had been used up by the previous years of falling just short, and you cant really point to supporting cast either because the duo had played with a lot of different players.
It was put up or shut up time for the dynamic duo of Tatum and Brown, and they rose to the occasion and met the expectations.
But going into that year, I was getting nervous because more was at stake vs lets say 3 yrs prior when JT was 22 and Brown was 24 where even a playoff birth would be gravy. But the point is the stress/expectations werent there when your team is super young but they come as that team matures.
My beloved PC Friars, our coach Kim English has not had a last good couple of years. I like Kim English, so Im more nervous this year because the excuses are running dry.
Same thing with a QB. If you love Drake Maye and he struggles year 1, you are like no biggie, rookie. If he struggles year 3, and you are a fan, you start getting nervous.
When its put up or shut up time when its do or die time, there is an elevation of nerves. Some people dont like that and seek to convince themselves that its not put up or shut up time, that any year is just like any other.
But not every year has the same amount on the line. Look at the Bruins a couple years ago. THey had such a good reg season, it was bergy and krejci last year, it was a huge year. We were supposed to win it all. But we fell on our face. That was a harder end to bruins season than most because of what was at stake.
Being backed against the wall is scary. Last chance is scary.