Positives from Louisville game

[tower912]

Nobody got hurt, a la SJU.    And JJ got some serious run.   He will be good.  And........uh.......nobody got hurt. 

[brewcity77]

About it for me too. I would've rather had a closer margin, but at least it wasn't another heartbreaking buzzer-beater loss. I still hate Louisville, they're still evil, and must still be destroyed (in the future) but at least it wasn't a classic soul-wrecker.

Hopefully only having to play two games a weekend for the next 3 weeks will allow our boys to be better rested 

[willie warrior]

I didn't see much in the way of positive there. What a beatdown. Outplayed and outcoached. Thoroughly embarassing!

[TallTitan34]

I didn't see much in the way of positive there. What a beatdown. Outplayed and outcoached. Thoroughly embarassing!

You amaze me.

[GGGG]

I would ask willie why he thought we got out coached in that game, but I think he put me on ignore because he got tired of me asking him such questions. 

[CTWarrior]

The biggest positive I took out of this game is that Jamail Jones looks like he's going to be a valuable player.

[MUMac]

The biggest positive I took is now we get to rest.  Another game or two would not have mattered to get in, IMHO, but may have had a negative cumlative effect on the body and recovery time.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Positives:
Leading Rebounder - JJ.

For those watching, get to enjoy Marra jacking 3s which no doubt will be looking more like Jae's first 2 free throws last night (boy were those ugly).

Margin of defeat less than Cincinnati.

Baby Blues can get laundered and their reputation for bad results has been restored.

I can get some actual work done tonight.

[willie warrior]

I would ask willie why he thought we got out coached in that game, but I think he put me on ignore because he got tired of me asking him such questions. 

Here's why. Louisville all game did dribble penetration and kicked out to the open man for the wide open three. They hit I believe a respectable 40% from three. We had no defensive answer for that from the guru. Louisville played tough defense and we passed the ball on the perimeter way too much looking for those cherished paint touches, which we did not get many of. Buzz tried nothing else.

And of course you are amazed because when I say we were outplayed and outcoached, you instantly want to make derogatory comments. The facts are: we were ouplayed and outcoached--we lost by 25 to a team that we previously melted down with but only lost by 1. When you cannot argue the facts, throw sarcastic insults. There, you now have your answer--cannot wait for some smart aleck comment. It was a beat down.

Marra was a season 27% 3 point shooter, but we made him look like an All-American.

[tower912]

Letting a 27% 3 pt shooter shoot 3 pt shots is usually a sound strategy.   It is almost surreal.   I watch teams close out on our 3 pt shooters and they miss.   I watch our guys be one step away with their hands up contesting or even fouling and the ball goes in.   Yes, our help and recover defense has been problematic, but it is the same scheme most m2m defenses do in some manner.   It is almost like other teams read the scouting report and come in believing they are going to shoot a high percentage from 3 and therefore DO shoot a high percentage.    There was one last night where Crowder closed perfectly and was close enough that his hand was between the shooters arms and above his head.   Nothing but net.   But we still leave too many guys open at the line. 

[GGGG]

I said nothing derogatory willie. You cab stop playing the victim any time now. Our defense was the same it has always been. Poor. We were slow on our rotations no doubt. But letting a 27 pct shooter shoot is generally sound strategy. The idea that fatigue played no role in your world is just bizarre.

[MarquetteDano]

Letting a 27% 3 pt shooter shoot 3 pt shots is usually a sound strategy.   It is almost surreal.   I watch teams close out on our 3 pt shooters and they miss.   I watch our guys be one step away with their hands up contesting or even fouling and the ball goes in.   Yes, our help and recover defense has been problematic, but it is the same scheme most m2m defenses do in some manner.   It is almost like other teams read the scouting report and come in believing they are going to shoot a high percentage from 3 and therefore DO shoot a high percentage.    There was one last night where Crowder closed perfectly and was close enough that his hand was between the shooters arms and above his head.   Nothing but net.   But we still leave too many guys open at the line. 

I have to disagree.  There is very little luck involved in this.  We are simply an average defensive team.  We allow a lot of dribble penetration.  We are often out of position to defend kick-outs to threes.  We give up a lot of offensive rebounds to teams.

Really the only things we do well defensively is not foul and we get a decent number of steals in the half court.

[NotAnAlum]

There is something about our Krama that enables bench players of other teams to shoot like the second coming of Steve Novak against us.  I really don't think that MU is doing anything particularly wrong on defense.  I will say that I really hate, hate, hate bringing Otule or Gardner out on hedges beyond the 3 point line.  To me it does very little to stop the other team from driving into the paint (it just means they have to pass it to another guard and he drives) and because the center is so out of position it sets you up for bad rotations and open shots.  That is assuming your center doesn't pick up a stupid foul 25 feet from the basket.

[Da 'Lanche]

The major positive I take is not from the Louisville game but from the BEast tournament itself.   Given the last two games (and losses) of the regular season, MU came out and showed energy, heart and an ability to win when they needed to in a critical environment.  I honestly thought they did not look like an NCAA tournament caliber team in their losses to Cincy and Seton Hall but they managed to step it up and play like we hoped.    That is what is frustrating about this team....at times they can look very average and other times they look like they can hang with anyone in the country.   Playing 3 games on consecutive days will have impact, no question that got them last night.

I also see some real positives with the younger guys developing and that gives me hope that our future is on an upswing.   So, get some rest gentlemen and go play with that fire next week...no matter where and no matter the opponents.

[4everwarriors]

MU played their way into the Tournament. That is all.

[Henry Sugar]

We made more free throws than our opponent attempted.

edit:  just in case anyone needed further validation of why this stat is over-rated.

[TallTitan34]

How about the positive of moving away from an 8 or 9 seed closer to a 10 or 11 seed?

[4everwarriors]

Hank Carb, that stat is negated when your opponent gets half their points from 3-point territory. Now, how did we do with deflections?

[mileskishnish72]

I wish we'd start making more field goals than our opponents attempt - then we'd have some decent results.