How Come UConn Isn't Tired?

[brewcity77]

It really is an interesting question.

UCONN showed zero signs of fatigue and yet MU looked like they were stuck in quicksand from about 10 minutes in.

One thing to remember, though, is that MU is so slow on defensive rotations when they are fresh that any decrease in energy makes them look dead tired.

I do agree that too many MU fans love to make excuses.  It was the refs, the team was tired, it was a bad matchup, the team is young, etc.  Sometimes you just get your butt kicked.

We did get our butt kicked. But we looked slow in the process. After the initial run to take the early lead, we simply never looked like we were fully in the game. We were outplayed, outworked, and outhustled. But I think that one of the main reasons for that is because our guys were gassed.

Why do people try to make being tired into an excuse? Maybe we aren't as well-conditioned as UConn. Maybe they don't play at as fast a pace as we do. Maybe their big star is that much brighter and they do better at rotating their players. I haven't been able to watch every UConn game, so I don't know what all the reasons are that they have been able to keep on rolling while we flamed out. Why they won while we got beat badly. I do know that our team looked tired. Is that the reason they lost? Might Louisville simply have been on that night and we were off? That could be it as well.

But when you see a Marquette team that is a step slow on both ends, it seems logical to try to figure out a reason. Them being tired seems like a logical reason. Either way, we lost. It sucks, but we're still going to the tournament, and I'd rather start focusing on that than rehashing every little nit that can be picked about the Louisville game. It's over. We won't have to play three games in three days again this season, so why worry?

[MUSF]

Very simplistic definition.  But I did not exepect anything more from your response.  

I try to dig deeper in an analysis and not be superficial.  But to each their own.

Okay, enlighten me.  What are your complex and deep definitions for reason and excuse?  Is there a difference between the two?  If not, why are there two different words?

We got our rear ends whooped by a team that was better than us in almost every aspect of the game.  Fatigue was probably a factor but it doesn't justify or EXCUSE our overall poor performance.  Let's hope this game opened our eyes and pissed us off a little bit.  I wouldn't want to be MU's next opponent.

[willie warrior]

OK, I apologize--the we were tired/gassed/pooped/fatigued, etc. and that is why we lost is the reason. I'll accept that from the reason suppliers.

So we lost by 25 to Slick Rick and it was because we were tired, what about the 13 other losses, I am sure there are other valid reasons, or maybe we were tired in those games too. Maybe we were outcoached or outplayed.

UCONN has had no problems with fatigue, so maybe the answer is elsewhere.

It could be that: we had very little experience prior to this season; or SH just had a good night, or Wisky was lucky, or Louisville got hot, or we are playing many top 25 teams, or our coach is still learning, or we have two many JUCO's, or everybody knows that you have to have seniors that have played together for 4 years to win, or Milwaukee is too hard to recruit to, yada, yada, yada.

We were outplayed and outcoached. We are weak on defense--not adequately protecting the three. Beating ND by 22 must have been a fluke--maybe they were tired that night.

[CTWarrior]

I started an original thread wondering why we looked so gassed against Louisville.  We looked cooked in that game after the second media timeout.  We weren't going full bore after loose balls, we were leaving shots short, not finishing at the rim and a ton of other things.  I don't know how you could have watched our game against Louisville and not thought "Man, they have no energy left at all tonight."  Of course part a big part of it was our opponent, who is deep and high energy.

Since Buzz has taken over, this is not uncommon for us when playing consecutive nights.  Last year against Georgetown (hardly a high energy team) was the same thing.  We simply couldn't compete in the third game of the BET.  It seems to be worse for us than other teams, and UConn is an obvious example  because we just finished watching them beat a top team on their 4th consecutive night of games.

So naturally I wonder if there was something in Buzz' approach (e.g. our notorious hard-working walk-throughs on game day, his other-worldly intensity all the time, the way that our defense has our players working so hard running all over the place) that contributes to this phenomenon.  Why wouldn't I?  Given all I've seen and read and heard it seems we give more than enough attention to conditioning I wouldn't think that would be a particular problem for us. 

[willie warrior]

Actually willie, I think most people on this board have a better understanding of basketball and capability of breaking it down than you.  All I have seen from you is b!tching and whining.  Nothing of critical substance, nothing of intelligent basketball thought.  That is what a BS'er trully does.

Maybe you should elevate your reading interpretation, instead of insult.

[LON]

Well I guess going forward we should just make sure we get a double bye, so that way if we are too tired in the 3rd game at least it was the BET championship.

[MUMac]

Maybe you should elevate your reading interpretation, instead of insult.

Seriously, you actually typed that?  How ironic.  Use an insult to whine about an insult?  Isn't that a tad hypocritical, there Willie?  Or do you need reading interpretation to understand what you wrote?   

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

This kind of thread title just tees it up for Willie so you can't blame him for pulling out the driver and taking a whack at the ball.  You may not like the blunt way he words it, but he has a valid note.

They certainly looked tired (observation, not excuse) but the reason for that is up to debate.  Probably a little of everything here - third game in three days, LV a better team, LV style of play, etc.  I'm not sure I blame Buzz so much since he did extend the rotation (wish I'd seen that earlier) and limit minutes in the previous 2 games.

[MUMac]

Okay, enlighten me.  What are your complex and deep definitions for reason and excuse?  Is there a difference between the two?  If not, why are there two different words?

We got our rear ends whooped by a team that was better than us in almost every aspect of the game.  Fatigue was probably a factor but it doesn't justify or EXCUSE our overall poor performance.  Let's hope this game opened our eyes and pissed us off a little bit.  I wouldn't want to be MU's next opponent.

Show me where I or anyone said fatigue justified or excused our performance?  It was a factor in our poor play, yes.  That is what was stated.  

You chimed in that it was an excuse, not I.  Do you believe that UL is 23 points better than MU?  If not, why were they on Thursday?  It certainly comes across by your comment in that post that any explanation to you was an excuse.  Followed by your "definition".  

The team came out and looked ready to play.  They took a 9 point lead early on and had energy.  Energy that disappeared as the game wore on.  Sure looked like they were tired to me.  But then again, that is an excuse.  Ooy!

[brandx]

Fatigue is just an excuse when you lose. These ae 20 year old kids who are used to playing hours and hours at a time day after day.

In the NBA playoffs you hear the opposite excuse when they lose - they had to much time off if they won 4 straight and then had to wait a week to play again.

[willie warrior]

Seriously, you actually typed that?  How ironic.  Use an insult to whine about an insult?  Isn't that a tad hypocritical, there Willie?  Or do you need reading interpretation to understand what you wrote?   

Remember--you started it. I am now finished with it.

Warriors forever.

[JD]

I never did understand the "Tired" arguement. 

I remember playing in soccer tournaments all weekend in 80+ degree heat, 3 games a day and fatigue never was a problem.  I just don't see how 20 year olds get tired after ONE basketball game a day??  I'm not saying this has anything to do with soccer, but just to put it in perspective.