Obsession with TOs - You Guys are WAY WAY off base

[Tugg Speedman]

We does everyone think the reason we lost eight games this year is Buzz's inability to call a TO?  I read incredulously that the reason we could not win against #2 at home, at #6, at #3 and home against #25 is because of Buzz's inability to call TOs.  You realize if we won the last four games we would be #1 in the country.  Are we the best team in the country?  Sorry we are not.

I've watched almost every game this year and a lot of games for 25 years.  Their is maybe three or four times A YEAR a timely TO helps.  Not three or four times a game as you guys think.

Buzz has a mentally tough senior laden team that knows what to do.  Calling a TO to setup up a play (as a million posters have suggested he should have done with 13 seconds left) would have been the wrong call.  It's so Tom Crean!

Buzz is right to let this team create and not let the D setup with a TO.



You wanna know what REALLY hurt this team.  No bench!  Why no Bench?  Because no Mbakwe and DJ and Fulce is hurt.  Sorry, the loss of these guys is the story of the last four games, not calling a TO. 

Anyone notice that we had a second half lead in all four games.  Why were we 0 and 4?  Because we lack a bench and tired down the stretch.  That is why our threes clank short late in the game.  Buzz is right not to play Hazel, Cubian, and Outle because they are not at players that compete at this level.  It's just that simple.

If you said these games were lost the first day of school when Mbakwe left you's be more correct than saying it was Buzz inability to call a TO.

[denverMU]

First, my biggest issue, isn't with Buzz not calling a timeout with 13 seconds left.  My MAIN issue is Buzz calling a timeout with 17 seconds left so Syracuse could set up a play.  They were out of timeouts, Rel had just made a great shot to put us ahead and the crowd was going crazy.  So Buzz calls timeout to let Syracuse regroup.  That makes no sense.  If that wasn't bad enough, the defense he does set-up allows a fast break!!!
Second, all I hear from Buzz lovers is how we have no bench, no bench.  Well last I saw we have players on our bench that MU gave scholarships to.  A good coach develops those players throughout the year.  A rookie coach plays 6 players all year and lets the other players stagnate.  For example, Bill Self and Kansas, they lost almost all their starters from last year.  It has taken most of the year but now the new players have developed and they are playing very well.
Finally, I do not think Buzz should be fired.  I think that talk is crazy!  But those folks who have been making excuses for Buzz's inexperience need to wake-up too.  We have a rookie coach who I think(hope) will learn from this year and work on developing all his players throughout the year, not just the best 6.

[Norm]

If you don't think time outs make a difference, go back and watch the UConn game. Calhoun used time outs at great spots and effectively stalled MU runs and momentum. Watch other coaches when they take time out, especially the last 4 games. Very rarely did opposing coaches allow MU to gain a lot of momentum before they called time out. I know Buzz relies on his seniors, but with James out, he should have been quicker on his time outs.

[CTWarrior]

I thought use of timeouts was atrocious against UConn and Pitt.  We would have lost both those games anyway, though, so complaints about them are probably misguided.  I think we may have beaten UConn with James.  Buzz called timeouts at the right times today, though.

My only complaint about Buzz in this game was the Tom Crean-esque stall with 2:40 to go and a 70-67 lead.  We had all the momentum in the world, we were on a roll of scoring in transition.  We got a long rebound of a Rautins three point miss, ready-made for a run out and instead we walk it up and try to run clock and end up starting our offense with 10 on the shot clock and throwing up a prayer as the shot clock expired, leading to a basket off a drive by Flynn against a scrambling defense to cut it to 1.

[Daniel]

Time outs are important to the game - that's why they are there.  I was happy with the time out usage today, though I was wondering why he called a time out with 17 seconds left too when Syracuse had none - - but I thought maybe he wanted to set up a defensive play based on what he had observed, so I defer! 

Bottom line is we lost today, with or without timeouts.   Some shots rattled in and out, some hit only air, we missed a  few free throws which would have come in handy, and we had some costly turnovers.  Going into overtime was definitely not on our side, playing so little of the bench, our guys were getting tired.

[Big Papi]

Game was tied in the second half of the Pitt game.  Pitt goes on an insane run over an 8 minute period.  Buzz used 3 timeouts and there were 2 official timeouts during that 8 minute period.  Timeouts were not the problem in that game.  We were outmanned and outgunned.

[Daniel]

Game was tied in the second half of the Pitt game.  Pitt goes on an insane run over an 8 minute period.  Buzz used 3 timeouts and there were 2 official timeouts during that 8 minute period.  Timeouts were not the problem in that game.  We were outmanned and outgunned.

+1.  We lost to a much better team in Pitt.  Timeouts don't always work.  But sometimes they do - and that's why they must be used and managed carefully.

[chapman]

Forget the "mental toughness" BS.  If that was the case, they wouldn't even have timeouts in the NBA.  There have been plenty of times when the other team is getting an advantage on us while our players aren't even getting back on defense.  If they're going to play the whole game or close to it, they should be given every extra stoppage possible.

[Rollout-the-Barrel]

Did Boeheim almost cost Syracuse the game by being out of timeouts and then having a 5 second call?  Yes, Acker bailed him out with a bad pass, but you can argue even hall of fame coaches make interesting decisions with time outs.  I did not agree with his time out usage throughout the season, but I believe he does believe he is making the best decisions for the team at that time.

[VegasWarrior77]

You wanna know what REALLY hurt this team.  No bench!  Why no Bench?  Because no Mbakwe and DJ and Fulce is hurt.  Sorry, the loss of these guys is the story of the last four games, not calling a TO. Anyone notice that we had a second half lead in all four games.

+1
I think the Otule/Fulce injuries hurt more than we can ever know.  Louisville won the league title.  On the broadcast of their game against WV last night the comment was made that "they are the deepest team in the BEast."

[NavinRJohnson]

My only complaint about Buzz in this game was the Tom Crean-esque stall with 2:40 to go and a 70-67 lead. 

Thank you. This was my number 1 complaint as well. I have no idea why he let off the gas at that point. We literally had them right where we wanted them at that point, and for some reason got away from what got us there. I put the loss on Buzz for that reason.

Also, as seems to have become typical, we had an 8-3 team foul advantage with 3-4 minutes to play, and completely failed to take advantage.

All this time out nonsense is exactly that, nonsense.

[HoopsMalone]

It's too bad that Buzz might make some rookie mistakes in a season where we have a chance to do some damage, but you can't expect him to be perfect.

The players love him, they seem to play hard for him, and I think he has done well prepping them and making in game strategies like going small and going to zones.  He may not be time out savvy yet, but that will come.

Plus, he recruited a class that is close to equal to the class that is graduating this year, if not better.  He had people like Snaer and Riley putting Marquette in their final few schools in his fist season.  He also represents the university with class.

I will forgive his lack of time out savvy, especially since we can't really call a time out and find someone to isolate in the post or anything.