It has been a bad several weeks for MU basketball and it has caused a great deal of disappointment and frustration to the fanbase. That said, am I the only one that still feels this team has a lot of upside and will get much better for the season ends?
I believe that adversity might be exactly what this team needs to turn things around. We have debated why the reasons the team has played poorly and things they need to improve on for 2-3 weeks and nothing new to be said, imo. Like many on here, I have watched every about 99% of the points scored during the Shaka era and that is a big body of work. There is no way this team is as bad as they have looked of late.
I will add, I do think there is a lot of unrealistic expectations on what good or very good basketball looks like. Not going to bring old topics back up, but even very good teams can play poorly. To be honest, I would rather they struggle now than a month from now.
Sure it is in their capability to turn things around, but really the only way that happens is if they shoot better.
Also depth is suddenly an issue.
Bless you, Goose. Perhaps you had forgotten how dystopian scoop becomes when the team is not playing well. Putting that aside....
The freshmen have an opportunity now. Step up, young men.
UConn started out with what record in the conference last year?
Stevie dropped 10 and 8 last night.
But it all comes down to this. TKo and Kam make this team go. When they break out of their slumps, the rest will fall into place. If they don't, it will be a long, cold rest of the season.
After last night, the only way to go is up.
The upside is dwindling in my mind as the shooting woes continue and the injuries pile up. I have a hard time seein this team do much in conference or the tournament the way they are playing now, and am losing confidence that they'll turn it around with a depleted bench.
My hopes for better upside are diminishing quickly. Not sure these guys can turn it around.
I'm not worried. Sucks that Sean is out but now Kolek will have to play more point guard which I think will help. This time last year we had 2 big east loses, now we have 3. It's not that big of a difference. I expect the shooting slumps to end and we'll all enjoy a trip to the promised land come March. Can't wait to make some tee times in Scottsdale
I am 100% convinced they will turn it around. I am not very convinced that it will be enough to meet pre-season expectations.
Sultan
I do not disagree on meeting preseason expectations entirely, but anything can happen in March. Again, I have said many times that this season feels like they have played 30 games already to me. Once Maui concluded I felt this was going to be the longest regular season I could ever remember. I did not care about BE title or BET run, I simply was looking at the tournament. Possibly that was similar mindset to the players.
These guys have played a lot of big games together and have been living 24/7 for two years together and that takes a toll, imo. They probably thought they were better than they were after Maui and got themselves into a funk. Again, last night they had a ton of wide open shots. When that stops, I will concede it could be a long, cold winter. Though, I simply do not see that happening.
Do think it is time to put the milkshakes away and put on their big boy pants. Maybe Kolek can do a lot less interviews, no podcasts and less showboating on social media. It is time to get work. These guys are kids and they have real money in their pocket for the first time probably in their lives, have received more national attention then they have earned of late and maybe it has gone to their heads.
Time will tell, but I am 100% still on the bandwagon. I am going to focus on this season and not worry if Gold can play the 5 next year or if the freshmen can actually play or not. We will learn that between now and early April.
Quote from: Goose on January 11, 2024, 07:37:12 AM
It has been a bad several weeks for MU basketball and it has caused a great deal of disappointment and frustration to the fanbase. That said, am I the only one that still feels this team has a lot of upside and will get much better for the season ends?
I believe that adversity might be exactly what this team needs to turn things around. We have debated why the reasons the team has played poorly and things they need to improve on for 2-3 weeks and nothing new to be said, imo. Like many on here, I have watched every about 99% of the points scored during the Shaka era and that is a big body of work. There is no way this team is as bad as they have looked of late.
I will add, I do think there is a lot of unrealistic expectations on what good or very good basketball looks like. Not going to bring old topics back up, but even very good teams can play poorly. To be honest, I would rather they struggle now than a month from now.
I think it's a slog from here on out. Overrated early. Somewhat exposed at WI. Smoked an overrated Texas, but eventually the weaknesses catch up. I'm hoping for no lower than 5th in conference. Not sure 6th gets a tournament bid. Our season seems rather similar to Wisconsin and North Carolina last year! Hot outta the gate, then a rough January/February that cost both those teams a ncaa tournament bid with bottom half conference finishes respectively.
Quote from: Goose on January 11, 2024, 08:02:58 AM
Do think it is time to put the milkshakes away and put on their big boy pants. Maybe Kolek can do a lot less interviews, no podcasts and less showboating on social media. It is time to get work. These guys are kids and they have real money in their pocket for the first time probably in their lives, have received more national attention then they have earned of late and maybe it has gone to their heads.
Sorry but I think this is just too easy of a target. You can drink milkshakes and work hard. You can do interviews, earn NIL money, and still perform. In fact I would suggest that if that type of stuff can get basketball out of their head a little bit, it may not be a bad thing.
Most of us drank the early-season Kool-Aid. We thought, hoped, expected we had something truly special. Illinois, Kansas, Texas, UCLA all led to more Kool Aid being slurped as many of us, myself included, thought we were possibly the best team in the country.
We're good, but we're not THAT good. Last year, we snuck up on people. The fact that the coaches considered us one of the worst teams in the conference spoke for itself. That didn't happen this year. By the time we went to the Kohlhole, a formula developed on how to beat us. It's no secret that when we win, it's because we get hot from three-land. In our wins this year, we have shot threes at a near 50 percent rate. Last night, if Shaka had given the ball to one of our players at Bradford Beach and asked him to throw it into Lake Michigan, as Al did, I'm not sure many of them could have done it!
This is still a pretty good team, with lots of holes. Lest you think we're unique, look at the number of Top 10 teams that went down in the past 48 hours. Everyone has holes. It's not like UCLA of the late 1960s or Indiana of 1976.
Where this team goes is an open question. I don't have the confidence in them I did in December. Sadly, I don't think they have the confidence in themselves they did in December. That's one thing that showed last night. One thing we're going to begin to see is how good Tre Norman and Zaide Lowrey really are.
Here's hoping we regain what we had!
Sultan
They drink milkshakes on the bench, and I do not care. My point was simply there are more distractions this season than last season. Just maybe, it is not easy for 20y to manage instant "fame" and focus on the job at hand. You obviously are an exception to the rule on being able to handle more money than you have ever had in your life, school, social media, basketball and not let some things slip in your life. I think it is time to buckle down and playing basketball is the one thing that they cannot take out of their busy lives.
Quote from: dgies9156 on January 11, 2024, 08:18:58 AM
We're good, but we're not THAT good. Last year, we snuck up on people. The fact that the coaches considered us one of the worst teams in the conference spoke for itself. That didn't happen this year. By the time we went to the Kohlhole, a formula developed on how to beat us. It's no secret that when we win, it's because we get hot from three-land. In our wins this year, we have shot threes at a near 50 percent rate. Last night, if Shaka had given the ball to one of our players at Bradford Beach and asked him to throw it into Lake Michigan, as Al did, I'm not sure many of them could have done it!
Good lord. This is just factually incorrect.
Our three point percentages in big game wins.
Illinois: 29.4
UCLA: 32.4
Kansas: 24.0
Texas: 46.7
Creighton: 29.0
Anyway, Marquette was the defending Big East champion returning nearly all of its minutes. It had nothing to do with Kool-Aid. There was definitely reason to be hyped.
Quote from: Goose on January 11, 2024, 08:19:25 AM
Sultan
They drink milkshakes on the bench, and I do not care. My point was simply there are more distractions this season than last season. Just maybe, it is not easy for 20y to manage instant "fame" and focus on the job at hand. You obviously are an exception to the rule on being able to handle more money than you have ever had in your life, school, social media, basketball and not let some things slip in your life. I think it is time to buckle down and playing basketball is the one thing that they cannot take out of their busy lives.
I certainly am not the exception, but there seem to be plenty of players in college and in the pros that can manage it just fine. Again, I think its an easy target to assume these are actual distractions. And they could be! But who know if they actually are.
The people quickest to the bandwagon are the quickest to exit.
Quote from: Goose on January 11, 2024, 07:37:12 AM
It has been a bad several weeks for MU basketball and it has caused a great deal of disappointment and frustration to the fanbase. That said, am I the only one that still feels this team has a lot of upside and will get much better for the season ends?
I believe that adversity might be exactly what this team needs to turn things around. We have debated why the reasons the team has played poorly and things they need to improve on for 2-3 weeks and nothing new to be said, imo. Like many on here, I have watched every about 99% of the points scored during the Shaka era and that is a big body of work. There is no way this team is as bad as they have looked of late.
I will add, I do think there is a lot of unrealistic expectations on what good or very good basketball looks like. Not going to bring old topics back up, but even very good teams can play poorly. To be honest, I would rather they struggle now than a month from now.
I think your points are fair but losing Chase and JTY really hurts Goose. Zaide is certainly capable and perhaps Norman but that was an abomination yesterday. Good teams also find ways to win when they play poorly, especially against mediocre teams who play poorly for 30 mins. Butler was very good vs UCONN over the weekend, they weren't last night. Monday is absolutely critical. It's a must win at home for our psyche and moving forward. My take is we will get it done but I'm still dumbfounded by our performance last night.
They may be able to turn it around, but very good teams shouldn't lose to lower conference foes at home. But, Butler as with numerous BE teams, have relied upon the portal transfers to solidify and add experience to the team. Butler started five players who all transferred in.
Future results will, as all noted rely upon making the threes, but the bench is crucial, now with the injuries. After watching Lowery get significant minutes, and playing effectively, I hope this is his moment to display to the coaching staff that he is capable of playing in BE games. Norman, not so good so far and Amadou is MIA.
Ben Gold is next man up, but he has one role on the team. He stands at the three point line perimeter, awaiting a pass to take a three. So far this season:
Has taken 66 field goal attempts, 47 of which are threes. 71% of his shots are threes and has not made a three since the Georgetown game.
Has had one free throw attempt in the last 8 games and has taken 7 the entire year, with 4 of them in the first two games against the cupcakes. Thats 3 free throws in the last 14 games played.
Maybe he can drive to the basket bit more, who knows. Last night I thought he had a good rebounding game, but hopefully more inside presence as the remainder of schedule goes.
Lowery and Gold hopefully are going to step it up and assist the struggling issues of the starters that have been discussed in detail. Lastly, the look on Kam Jones's face and waving his arms in air in frustration, after actually hitting a three from the right corner when game was already decide, was precious. Almost like, finally. But too late.
Did Shaka serve the team milkshakes at halftime? Of the four quarters of last night's game, MU won three (up 10 points) but lost the quarter out of halftime 24-7.
Why? Matta said he made defensive adjustments to muck up the paint. Just like MU's other losses. Cause and effect.
Basketball is much easier when you make baskets :P
Quote from: nyg on January 11, 2024, 08:35:06 AM
They may be able to turn it around, but very good teams shouldn't lose to lower conference foes at home. But, Butler as with numerous BE teams, have relied upon the portal transfers to solidify and add experience to the team. Butler started five players who all transferred in.
Future results will, as all noted rely upon making the threes, but the bench is crucial, now with the injuries. After watching Lowery get significant minutes, and playing effectively, I hope this is his moment to display to the coaching staff that he is capable of playing in BE games. Norman, not so good so far and Amadou is MIA.
Ben Gold is next man up, but he has one role on the team. He stands at the three point line perimeter, awaiting a pass to take a three. So far this season:
Has taken 66 field goal attempts, 47 of which are threes. 71% of his shots are threes and has not made a three since the Georgetown game.
Has had one free throw attempt in the last 8 games and has taken 7 the entire year, with 4 of them in the first two games against the cupcakes. Thats 3 free throws in the last 14 games played.
Maybe he can drive to the basket bit more, who knows. Last night I thought he had a good rebounding game, but hopefully more inside presence as the remainder of schedule goes.
Lowery and Gold hopefully are going to step it up and assist the struggling issues of the starters that have been discussed in detail. Lastly, the look on Kam Jones's face and waving his arms in air in frustration, after actually hitting a three from the right corner when game was already decide, was precious. Almost like, finally. But too late.
I wouldn't ignore Ben's rebounding.
I don't understand the 3 point shooting of TKO and Kam (who was magnificent in the first half going to the bucket- Matta adjusted by reminding his team that Kam is left handed and he was stymied the rest of the game on the drives). That has to turnaround, and it can.
The bigger concern for me is lack of depth. Teams will try to get us into early foul trouble.
But not giving up by any means. Every team at the top of the rankings has lost in the past couple of days and hasn't looked good doing it. It is our first home court loss in 21 games- it had to happen some time.
Surprisingly (to me at least), we only dropped to 19 in the NET. Still a lot of basketball to be played. Our starting backcourt surely has to snap out of their funk.
There's no way they continue to shoot 3's this bad. They'll adjust to the mean, whenever their mean will be, and everything will be easier. Depth may be an issue, but all the starters are in place and Chase should come back (I think, right??) and we'll need freshmen to step up a bit.
Still lots of potential here and the ceiling is high. As stated by others, this might be the thing that gives the team back their fighting edge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdGFtwCNBE
Quote from: UWW2MU on January 11, 2024, 09:05:25 AM
There's no way they continue to shoot 3's this bad. They'll adjust to the mean, whenever their mean will be, and everything will be easier. Depth may be an issue, but all the starters are in place and Chase should come back (I think, right??) and we'll need freshmen to step up a bit.
Still lots of potential here and the ceiling is high. As stated by others, this might be the thing that gives the team back their fighting edge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdGFtwCNBE
The potential is there, I think that's why so many people are perplexed/frustrated.
I agree Goose, and thanks for starting this thread. Its a welcome respite from the cesspool of fan entitlement elsewhere on here right now. Of course we all were on-the-edge-of-our-seats giddy with expectations for this year, and of course legit analysis and debate is why we're all here. But the way posters see guys be successful and then assume any future lack of success must be due to lack of effort, behind the scenes drama, or whatever else is gross (and also just not how basketball works). We got really spoiled during last season's conference run. I believe last year's roster had 0 missed game in the first 6 rotation players. That's unheard of and unrepeatable. TK became a cheat code. OMax flashed in a way that made him a first round NBA pick.
This year's team has legit things to work through, and likely won't be BEast regular season champs. Asking Jop to slide in the OMax role has not only not replaced OMax, but has made Jop less effective. We don't have the personnel to consistently shoot a high enough 3pt% to be a good fit for Shaka's outside-in approach. TK is going through it. Injuries are piling up. But this team is still going to defend and create TOs at a high level, the ceilings of TK, Oso, and Kam are still sky high. Since the Providence game, this had the feel of a team that might take a step back during the regular season and then explode back onto the scene in late Feb/March, imo. Even if the lows are lower than we would have thought, this still feels like that kind of team. If anything, I hope it takes some of the weight off the guys shoulders to shed the conference championship expectation, sink into the 20s in the rankings, and just do them.
Quote from: Goose on January 11, 2024, 07:37:12 AM
It has been a bad several weeks for MU basketball and it has caused a great deal of disappointment and frustration to the fanbase. That said, am I the only one that still feels this team has a lot of upside and will get much better for the season ends?
I believe that adversity might be exactly what this team needs to turn things around. We have debated why the reasons the team has played poorly and things they need to improve on for 2-3 weeks and nothing new to be said, imo. Like many on here, I have watched every about 99% of the points scored during the Shaka era and that is a big body of work. There is no way this team is as bad as they have looked of late.
I will add, I do think there is a lot of unrealistic expectations on what good or very good basketball looks like. Not going to bring old topics back up, but even very good teams can play poorly. To be honest, I would rather they struggle now than a month from now.
You are not alone. TK and KJ need to shoot better from three and the wins will come.
I've talked myself off the ledge. MU is going through a slump. These things happen. Kolek, Jones and Joplin (hopefully) are not this bad.
Too much size and strength, all these teams look buffed compared to us
The team has revealed its vulnerabilities over the last few weeks. It will now depend on how they react and respond to that revelation. Work harder and get your swagger back, or give up and believe you are doomed. I think they will work harder.
The injuries are a major issue and hindrance going forward, Zaide and/or Tre will have to step up. Gold will have to be used in different ways... more driving to hoop etc. And Al?
Quote from: Daniel on January 11, 2024, 10:00:11 AM
The team has revealed its vulnerabilities over the last few weeks. It will now depend on how they react and respond to that revelation. Work harder and get your swagger back, or give up and believe you are doomed. I think they will work harder.
The injuries are a major issue and hindrance going forward, Zaide and/or Tre will have to step up. Gold will have to be used in different ways... more driving to hoop etc. And Al?
if Amadou can't grab some playing time at this point, his acclimation to high D-1 must not be going well. It's not like Gold has a lock on off-the-bench minutes.
Quote from: MattyWarrior on January 11, 2024, 09:52:46 AM
Too much size and strength, all these teams look buffed compared to us
We certainly get bumped a lot, which I like being allowed, but we have to either get mentally stronger and battle or we have to move much much more on offense to make the physical defense more difficult
Quote from: tower912 on January 11, 2024, 07:43:36 AM
Bless you, Goose. Perhaps you had forgotten how dystopian scoop becomes when the team is not playing well. Putting that aside....
The freshmen have an opportunity now. Step up, young men.
UConn started out with what record in the conference last year?
Stevie dropped 10 and 8 last night.
But it all comes down to this. TKo and Kam make this team go. When they break out of their slumps, the rest will fall into place. If they don't, it will be a long, cold rest of the season.
UCONN was healthy and absolutely dominant in the non-Big East portion of their schedule. Marquette had two great wins (at IL and vs. Kansas) and a good performance in a close loss to Purdue. But the game against UCLA is looking brutally bad, and while Wisconsin is proving to be a good team, that was still an absolutely stinker of a game.
2023-2024 Marquette is not 2022-2023 UCONN.
Quote from: MattyWarrior on January 11, 2024, 09:52:46 AM
Too much size and strength, all these teams look buffed compared to us
I do agree with this...both Hall and Butler are teams of 22+year olds who are physically bigger than most of our guys. The physicality has really bothered Kolek, Kam, Jop and Gold. And now we lost our two most physical players in Sean and Chase.
I'm confident Shaka will adapt in recruiting, and we may see him realize he needs to take some proven 4th year transfer guys who are physically matured/Big East body ready.
Quote from: wadesworld on January 11, 2024, 10:17:33 AM
UCONN was healthy and absolutely dominant in the non-Big East portion of their schedule. Marquette had two great wins (at IL and vs. Kansas) and a good performance in a close loss to Purdue. But the game against UCLA is looking brutally bad, and while Wisconsin is proving to be a good team, that was still an absolutely stinker of a game.
2023-2024 Marquette is not 2022-2023 UCONN.
Putting 22'23 UCONN in the same sentence as this team is laughable. Like, not even remotely close to last year's UCONN.
Was way more frustrated than usual last night and blamed team chemistry issue as the reason. Though after some time has passed and rewatching a bit of the game, I don't feel that way any more. Think there is currently just an odd vibe with the team causing a degree of tentativeness and uncertainty. It goes back to Shaka's theme from last year of approach vs avoidance. They are being too calculated and trying to avoid a mistake vs just playing with confidence.
The injuries have sucked this year and MUs good fortune of health in recent years is catching up to them. Though I think they will respond well to that adversity and end up in a better place in a few weeks due to having experienced this rough stretch.
I thought of coach crean's message to the team at the beginning of the season:
https://x.com/marquettembb/status/1713607272402702623
Quote from: MurphysTillClose on January 11, 2024, 10:24:05 AM
Putting 22'23 UCONN in the same sentence as this team is laughable. Like, not even remotely close to last year's UCONN.
Sure..except our team beat UCONN 2 of 3 last year with the exact same squad, minus O-Max. O-Max was valuable for sure, but let's not discount the reality that we beat that UCONN squad 2 of 3 last year. The team is in a massive shooting slump and that's all that's going on as to why we aren't winning.
Quote from: UWW2MU on January 11, 2024, 09:05:25 AM
There's no way they continue to shoot 3's this bad. They'll adjust to the mean, whenever their mean will be, and everything will be easier. Depth may be an issue, but all the starters are in place and Chase should come back (I think, right??) and we'll need freshmen to step up a bit.
Still lots of potential here and the ceiling is high. As stated by others, this might be the thing that gives the team back their fighting edge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdGFtwCNBE
I agree with this take.
If we hit only 25% of our threes last night, we win that game. And 25% is still poor shooting.
This is still the best time of the year to have a slump.
Quote from: WarriorFan on January 11, 2024, 10:51:15 AM
This is still the best time of the year to have a slump.
Good point.
You're not alone Goose. I share a lot of the frustration of many here, but not the loss of hope. Most concerning to me is how unconnected everyone is when things hit the fan. Shots, I get--the should be falling more (perhaps tired legs for some?). However, the battle to play for and with each other seems to falter in some of those stretches and the ball gets REALLY sticky and no one is moving into the empty space to help the guy driving in the lane. It was encouraging to see the fight at the end of the game. Hopefully this is a struggle that forges better relationships and connectedness going forward.
We need to see more out of the frosh to help keep the team, well, fresh. Zaide has earned more playing time due to effort on the defensive end. Tre will only have the game slow if he actually gets to play in them. Al could probably get a short run given his nose for the ball. There is a lot of upside, even with the depth of the team taking a hit.
A lot of day after rationalizing going on bundled up with a heap of lowering expectations. Will they be fine? Depends on your definition of fine. They'll win games and make the tournament. I'll be shocked if this is a special season in the end. That should be disappointing to everyone because it could have been. They could get hot at the right time and some of you will be able to puff out your chests and say I told you so. However, it's pretty difficult to see that right now. They have a lot of issues that seem to indicate this is more than a slump.
I think we've all seen enough knee injuries to know Sean's season is very likely over. Who knows though, maybe we get lucky.
Regardless I expect him to be down for a long time if not the year. I also read an NBA study that said shoulder dislocations took on average 7.6 weeks to return to action. That would put Chase out until almost March.
Tyler
Kam
Stevie
David
Oso
Tre
Zaide
Ben
Al
We need to find 200 minutes out of those 9. I suspect the brunt of the increase will come from Joplin and Stevie expanding roles. Less rest for Kam. Zaide and Ben getting 15-20 minutes each night. Shaka won't win any awards because of the overall record this year but even he has an opportunity to show just how good he is.
The freshmen are going to have to really step up, and they are going to get the opportunity to do it. I have no idea if they are up to the challenge or not, but there are freshmen playing significant, productive minutes all over the college bball landscape -and not just 5* recruits. Ben Gold and David Joplin are also going to have to take on more responsibility. But, most importantly, Tyler, Kam, and Oso have to realize that things have really changed and they, as the team leaders, have to adapt and lead the group.
Quote from: Elonsmusk on January 11, 2024, 10:22:42 AM
I do agree with this...both Hall and Butler are teams of 22+year olds who are physically bigger than most of our guys. The physicality has really bothered Kolek, Kam, Jop and Gold. And now we lost our two most physical players in Sean and Chase.
I'm confident Shaka will adapt in recruiting, and we may see him realize he needs to take some proven 4th year transfer guys who are physically matured/Big East body ready.
So... you think Sean is one of our most physical players?
What we have seen the last couple of games is individual lack of confidence in shooting the ball, hesitation to take the shot, passing to someone else with the thinking, hey better you shoot and miss than me.... And so , lack of confidence 8n team mates as well.
We need to regain the individual and collective cream confidence, and get back to, give me the ball so I can hit this critical shot..... which we saw over and over again before from Tyler, Kam and Oso ..and others.
We will get back there. Soon. I have confidence in this team and staff, We will be back soon!
Quote from: Daniel on January 11, 2024, 01:14:42 PM
We need to regain the individual and collective cream confidence,
If that comes with two scoops and chocolate sauce, sign me up!
There's nothing like good ol' cream confidence to bust a slump.
Yes, until I see the upside. Sorry!
I hope they all get gout
Remember Uconn had this stretch last year and won 15 of their last 17 and a national title. Not saying it'll happen, there are real concerns, but teams do go through it at times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB-QQAM1GDM
Warrior69
If you did not see the upside against Kansas or Texas, you will not see the upside this year. My remaining optimistic is that I did see the upside in November.
Quote from: UWW2MU on January 11, 2024, 12:57:14 PM
So... you think Sean is one of our most physical players?
Definitely...think he's the most physical/violent guy on the team. Chase probably second. Stevie third. Oso 4th. Kolek 5th. Zaide 6th. Tre7th. Joplin 8th. Gold 9th. Kam 10th. Al 11th
Worst thread topic I've seen on scoop in years, unfortunately.
Quote from: Elonsmusk on January 11, 2024, 02:54:28 PM
Definitely...think he's the most physical/violent guy on the team. Chase probably second. Stevie third. Oso 4th. Kolek 5th. Zaide 6th. Tre7th. Joplin 8th. Gold 9th. Kam 10th. Al 11th
Physicality only does so much good when a player is under 6ft. With that said, he makes the most of it. What MU needs is for 4 of the 5 starters to start playing with more of an edge and aggression. I feel like MU hasn't had the edge physically for over a decade.
Quote from: Markusquette on January 11, 2024, 05:06:55 PM
I feel like MU hasn't had the edge physically for over a decade.
Aint talkin bout physically I'm talkin bout mentally
I am not worried about a bid, but not sure they'll do better than 12-8. Need Tyler to figure it out in a hurry.
Quote from: Warrior of Law on January 11, 2024, 09:45:53 AM
I've talked myself off the ledge. MU is going through a slump. These things happen. Kolek, Jones and Joplin (hopefully) are not this bad.
Good job getting off the ledge. The way this team has melted down shouts that you will be on the ledge again.
Quote from: willie warrior on January 11, 2024, 07:31:29 PM
Good job getting off the ledge. The way this team has melted down shouts that you will be on the ledge again.
Thanks, Wladislaw
Quote from: Goose on January 11, 2024, 02:25:33 PM
Warrior69
If you did not see the upside against Kansas or Texas, you will not see the upside this year. My remaining optimistic is that I did see the upside in November.
...but we're not the same team that played in November. Losing one player to injury is bad, but two? Now let's see if we sink or swim with our frosh. I hope you are right.
Need Ben Gold to get back to being on the All American track and get this truck out of the rut.
I share Goose's optimism, in part because it beats the hell out of lamenting "woe is us," and in part because we still have a real good team.
And I agree with tower and others who say that if our players simply return to their norms as 3-point shooters, and if Kolek and Kam get back to playing like the best versions of Kolek and Kam, a lot of ills will be cured.
Main concern is not knowing if the guys left on the bench (Gold, Lowery, Norman, maybe even Amadou) are ready for expanded roles. Also, Shaka's veiled references at his press conference to a little discord in the room could be something to watch.
Quote from: JamilJaeJamailJrJuan on January 11, 2024, 05:40:24 PM
I am not worried about a bid, but not sure they'll do better than 12-8. Need Tyler to figure it out in a hurry.
I don't disagree. If I'm Shaka though, I think now is the time to try to strip things back a bit for TK, then build it back up. The success, accolades, and expectations all came crashing so fast, it seems like his mind might be spinning a bit. Something like putting him on a soft shot limit to get him back into the mindset of looking to distribute and facilitate as his first and second options. Its still early enough in the season that if we're looking to peak in March, you can withstand lowering his ceiling for the next month to try to raise it back up again come March.
Quote from: Goose on January 11, 2024, 02:25:33 PM
Warrior69
If you did not see the upside against Kansas or Texas, you will not see the upside this year. My remaining optimistic is that I did see the upside in November.
Quote from: muwarrior69 on January 12, 2024, 08:54:12 AM
...but we're not the same team that played in November. Losing one player to injury is bad, but two? Now let's see if we sink or swim with our frosh. I hope you are right.
I am seeing the upside, Goose. Winning with 2 or 3 players down, that is not just upside it is a sight to behold.
The unsung hero, for me at least, and the real stud of the game is Stevie, he quietly and invisibly just keeps us in the game. Our bench is doing what they're suppose to do.
I was wrong and not too proud to admit it.
I think our guys coming off the bench have been stepping up and getting better each game.. After Jop's monster grab last night I hope that signals a new aspect of his game and he realizes he can compete under the rim.