Other than Lazar, that was painful to watch. Crowd was dead, team was sloppy, bench did nothing at all. Part of it was IPFW being unable to make a shot, the rest was MU going through the motions. We played down to their level.
I don't think you could be more wrong. We were getting all of our points out of the half court offense, which is good practice for Big East play. I thought we looked ugly when we were scoring 100 but playing a lot more loose. All in all we were efficient on offense and we held the other team in the 50's. Only time we really got loose or inefficient was when we had the bench guys in there. I guess, ecompt, it just shows how people have different perceptions about basketball. I was pleased with today.
Yes, we did play well in the halfcourt set. But we turned the ball over a ton and Cubes and Acker were absolutely awful. We need someone to come off the bench once in a while and give us a spark, and that didn't happen. I don't know, maybe I was spoiled by the UW game, but I saw no emotion today.
Wisconsin game, Finals, IPFW, they probably didn't play the way they should have. Look at the bright side, their next opponent lost by 15 at home to a then 2-6 Temple team!
I don't think you can call that the bright side. Tennessee is going to be getting a lashing by Pearl and will most likely come out a lot better for the game against us than they did today. When you lose by 16 to a team like Temple, you're bound to make it up in one of the next games.
Quote from: ecompt on December 13, 2008, 03:13:15 PM
Yes, we did play well in the halfcourt set. But we turned the ball over a ton and Cubes and Acker were absolutely awful. We need someone to come off the bench once in a while and give us a spark, and that didn't happen. I don't know, maybe I was spoiled by the UW game, but I saw no emotion today.
Turned ball over a ton? MU had 13 turnovers, which is right around what they've been averaging this season.
But we were playing a snail's pace compared to what we played early in the year, so put the 13 turnovers in perspective. Maybe I'm being too picky.
Quote from: esotericmindguy on December 13, 2008, 03:27:15 PM
Wisconsin game, Finals, IPFW, they probably didn't play the way they should have. Look at the bright side, their next opponent lost by 15 at home to a then 2-6 Temple team!
Temple is 5-3 by the way with losses at Buffalo, Clemson, and Miami (OH). They beat a pretty good Penn State team the other day at PSU.
Coming off finals and undoubtedly looking ahead to Tuesday, take the win and be happy. Good scheduling to have a gimme game like this to get the rust off b/4 Tuesday. That's the one that counts. Too bad they lost today--maybe they were looking ahead to Tuesday too. Dayton looked horrible the night before they smoked us. I'm sure Tenn is going to come out all fired up now on Tuesday. We'll need to shoot well to stay in it.
Hey, I'm happy with the win and maybe I expected too much on the day after finals ended and before a big game with Tennessee. I have a bad feeling, though, our free-throw shooting is going to bite us in the butt before this season is over.
Quote from: ChicosBailBonds on December 13, 2008, 03:59:45 PM
Temple is 5-3 by the way with losses at Buffalo, Clemson, and Miami (OH). They beat a pretty good Penn State team the other day at PSU.
Just checking in, still like Tenn over MU?
Quote from: mviale on December 13, 2008, 04:21:09 PM
Just checking in, still like Tenn over MU?
Hate to say it but yes.
Quote from: esotericmindguy on December 13, 2008, 03:27:15 PM
Wisconsin game, Finals, IPFW, they probably didn't play the way they should have. Look at the bright side, their next opponent lost by 15 at home to a then 2-6 Temple team!
2-6? I believe temple is 5-3
I am bullish on a MU win
Quote from: esotericmindguy on December 13, 2008, 03:27:15 PM
Wisconsin game, Finals, IPFW, they probably didn't play the way they should have. Look at the bright side, their next opponent lost by 15 at home to a then 2-6 Temple team!
The game was played at Temple, Tennessee was not at home.
It was a solid win but we really do need to get more from our bench. Cube needs to start knocking down those open 3s.
MU victory over Tenn if McNeil has a Christmas-like day. 35 points including 7-14 from 3pt land helped a lot.
unfortunately, we dont have a bench and we need more from our starting 5. I only expect 5 minutes of breathing time from the bench players.
Luckily the greedy networks allot 50 timeouts per game so a short bench is easier to handle.
Quote from: Stone Cold on December 13, 2008, 05:02:33 PM
Luckily the greedy networks allot 50 timeouts per game so a short bench is easier to handle.
I also think, we have not seen the best game from the 3 amigos yet. Could it be Tuesday? Burke, saddle up!
Quote from: ChicosBailBonds on December 13, 2008, 03:59:45 PM
Temple is 5-3 by the way with losses at Buffalo, Clemson, and Miami (OH). They beat a pretty good Penn State team the other day at PSU.
Yup, my fault.....was looking at the kansas score at the same time and mixed up records.
Quote from: mviale on December 13, 2008, 04:52:40 PM
unfortunately, we dont have a bench and we need more from our starting 5. I only expect 5 minutes of breathing time from the bench players.
Although this wasn't a game to write home about -- I was pleased that Buzz had the 2nd string in a lot more. They need the experience of playing in the game situation vs. practicing with no pressure, so that during the conference season when are starters are tired and fouling out we can keep up the intensity with a more experienced bench. Hopefully with a little more experience the bench can contribute more and be comfortable getting put into the game. Mo and Cooby do have work cut out for them, I agree.
Overall... definitely a little painful to watch, there was shoddy play going on at times, but like most games, the team did have positives. Making 50% shot percentage in 1st half, lots of rebounding (for the most part), getting many points from paint. On the other hand, we have to start making free throws consistently. It's killing me to watch them brick them time and again.
Win or lose, I am stoked for the Vols game. Finally an opponent we can sink our teeth into, or at least sharpen them with. Here is another case of "experience vs. relatively newbie coach" and I am excited for how Buzz rises to the challenge.
Let's go MU!
Glad to hear another Homer - I think we have a good shot Tuesday.
Quote from: mviale on December 13, 2008, 04:52:40 PM
unfortunately, we dont have a bench and we need more from our starting 5. I only expect 5 minutes of breathing time from the bench players.
Yup. The IPFW bench outscored ours!
Quote from: mviale on December 13, 2008, 04:21:09 PM
Just checking in, still like Tenn over MU?
Objectively looking at it, how can you not like Tennessee over MU?
Their neutral court success is more impressive then MU's this season; have a much deeper bench then MU; have better outside shooting then MU; and, the kicker, the game is in Nashville. Oh, they also have 4ever's most favoritest and dreamiest coach in the world.
Advantage: Volunteers.
Temple got just 7 points from their bench, compared to 27 from Tennesse's bench.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=283480218 (http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=283480218)
Quote from: rugbydrummer on December 13, 2008, 05:11:54 PM
Although this wasn't a game to write home about -- I was pleased that Buzz had the 2nd string in a lot more. They need the experience of playing in the game situation vs. practicing with no pressure, so that during the conference season when are starters are tired and fouling out we can keep up the intensity with a more experienced bench. Hopefully with a little more experience the bench can contribute more and be comfortable getting put into the game. Mo and Cooby do have work cut out for them, I agree.
Overall... definitely a little painful to watch, there was shoddy play going on at times, but like most games, the team did have positives. Making 50% shot percentage in 1st half, lots of rebounding (for the most part), getting many points from paint. On the other hand, we have to start making free throws consistently. It's killing me to watch them brick them time and again.
Win or lose, I am stoked for the Vols game. Finally an opponent we can sink our teeth into, or at least sharpen them with. Here is another case of "experience vs. relatively newbie coach" and I am excited for how Buzz rises to the challenge.
Let's go MU!
I agree, our top 4 players averaged 26 minutes played this game, which means they will be adequately rested heading into the UT game. There is no reason to play them more when the game is in hand. I'll take sloppy 19 point wins over subpar competition if it means our starters are getting the rest they need for much bigger games down the road.
Quote from: ecompt on December 13, 2008, 02:59:51 PM
Other than Lazar, that was painful to watch. Crowd was dead, team was sloppy, bench did nothing at all. Part of it was IPFW being unable to make a shot, the rest was MU going through the motions. We played down to their level.
The bench has been absent alll season.,
Understanding that it doesn't necessarily speak to the level of MU's play today, but this same IPFW played Michigan State within 11. I'm not going to get too worried about a 19-point win in which they were up 27 with five minutes to play.
Obviously MU can play better, but I don't feel bad about how they played today.
Do not forget that this was exam week.
Quote from: mviale on December 13, 2008, 04:36:51 PM
I am bullish on a MU win
We certainly can win and by no means am I saying that's not out of the question. My guess is that MU will be ranked 22nd, Tennessee about 14 or so, it's in Tennessee, UT will be favored by 4 to 6 points.
That all spells UT slightly ahead of MU.
If Prince doesn't play, that helps MU.
I'd give MU about a 45% chance of winning. Not sure what Kenpom says, but probably 40 to 45% chance of winning. Definitely we have a very solid shot, but I do expect Tennessee to win this game.
My favorite part of the game today that many probably didn't notice was at the end when Frozena was at the scorer's table, and I believe we scored, but Buzz tried to call a time out and was screaming for one and the ref didn't hear him. And Buzz was very upset and was arguing with the official like a call went against us in a tight game. He then called a time out at the next chance and Frozena got in. It just showed how much Buzz cares about his players, even the walk-on. Going back to the thread about how much interaction is too much, i think that Buzz really cares about these players and that they appreciate that and will fight for him as he will fight for them.