Remember when...

[wadesworld]

the week we lost to Dayton was the last week we were going to be ranked this year?  Where did those people go?  I can't hear them anymore.

[lab_warrior]

Yeah, ALOT of crickets.

[Warrior]

Tonight is the game that will shut most of those people up and make them believers. This game is HUGE for many reasons. I realize this is not a must-win and I would be satisfied with winning one of the next two.   

[Pakuni]

Tonight is the game that will shut most of those people up and make them believers. This game is HUGE for many reasons. I realize this is not a must-win and I would be satisfied with winning one of the next two.   

Conversely, should MU lose tonight they'll be out in droves.

[ErickJD08]

Not a must win (as most road games are not must wins in the BE) but for many reasons, I would rather win tonight and lose on Saturday if I had to choose.

[Pepperoni_Cannoli]

My favorite part about message boards is not posting (obviously) but reading the flow of overreactions from fans.  Turn to P.22 to read some of the posts after the Dayton game ("Dayton's coach is better than Buzz," "We'll never be ranked again," "Jerel needs to stop shooting," etc).

Of course, also keep this page bookmarked in case the season goes way downhill from here.  If we do tumble hard, some of the back-patting after our recent victories will sound just as silly.

[Djgoldnboy]

the week we lost to Dayton was the last week we were going to be ranked this year?  Where did those people go?  I can't hear them anymore.

I also miss all the rodent fans coming over and telling us how bad our team is and  that they are so much better than us even though we beat them.

Ahh, the good ol' days.

[rocky_warrior]

the week we lost to Dayton was the last week we were going to be ranked this year?  Where did those people go?  I can't hear them anymore.

I'll be honest - I didn't fret much after Dayton, but I did after Tennessee.  I figured the way they got us into foul trouble was a blueprint for any other "decent" teams to beat us.  Kudos to Buzz and the boys for learning and adjusting.

[Marquette_g]

I'll admit to being concerned about this team after both games.  I'm delighted by where they are right now, but I'm also cautious about jumping in head first based on these first 6 games.  We don't have to apologize for beating the teams on our schedule, but I do think we will know a lot more 7 days from now.

If I could sign up for 1-1 right now I would.

[CTWarrior]

I was one of those who were very concerned early.  I went into this season worried about our inability to match up with large, quick teams, and after Dayton and Tennessee I considered my fears to be well-founded.  If we couldn't beat you with our quickness what could we beat you with?  At that time I figured we would be a borderline NCAA team unless Fulce or Otule was able to provide significant help in the middle.  Even when we beat NC State on the road, I still was not impressed because we had no one to match up with Costner and we were lucky to hold on against a bottom feeder in the ACC.

Mostly what I've figured out since then is that there just aren't a lot of big, quick, talented teams out there, so while we still have the glaring weakness in the middle it isn't as important as I thought it would be.  I still can't figure out how we find a way to beat Louisville or UConn or Pitt, but not too many teams will find a way against those guys.

So back after Dayton & Tennessee I though we were somewhere between 30 and 45 in the nation, now I think we are somewhere between 15 and 30.  I still mentally group us with WVU and Nova and ND rather  than UConn and Pitt and Louisville.  I'm making progress, but I am not there yet.

[muhoops1]

I was at the Dayton game and I was freaked out.  Of course I over react to every situation.  I am not ashamed of being a passionate, emotionally invested, reactionary fan.

[HoopsMalone]

Dayton was when everyone was still getting used to their roles under the new coach.  That's before Butler started contributing more and Cube was still in the rotation.  Burke is actually playing better now too.  The team is used to the new system now and are adequately prepared for these next games.

Hopefully the role players will continue to gain experience and confidence.  If we played Dayton or Tennessee right now, we would have them.  The top of the Big East is better than those two teams, however.

[Warrior]

There is plenty of room on the wagon guys!

[mug644]

Mostly what I've figured out since then is that there just aren't a lot of big, quick, talented teams out there, so while we still have the glaring weakness in the middle it isn't as important as I thought it would be.  I still can't figure out how we find a way to beat Louisville or UConn or Pitt, but not too many teams will find a way against those guys.
[/quote]

That's it, right there. Truth is there are few teams that are strong enough inside, while solid enough with their guards, to beat us. We played most of the 2nd half with the smallest we could play, against the team with the likely BEast player of the year--a big man--and outplayed them.

It, again, gets me back to Villanova a few years ago. We don't necessarily hit from the outside like they did, but we are better at getting in the lane.