I actually had no problem with tonight...

[Big Papi]

When things go bad, there is always a scapegoat and a large number of fans are pointing their fingers at D. Wilson.

He has been disappointing as I don't see any improvement out of him from last year.  We don't need three point shooting out of him but it would be nice if he could hit any sort of jump shot even at a below average level.....not the abysmal level he is currently displaying.

The main problem I see is that other than Mayo, I don't see any significant improvement from anyone else from last year.

J. Wilson needs to elevate his play and be a stud on the floor and he has not stepped up at all.

I would have thought Jake would be hitting at a better percentage that he did last year.  Starter, bench player, role player or whatever but he has not.

I would have thought Juan or Steve would have elevated their offensive games and they have not.

I would have thought that one of the freshmen from this highly ranked stellar class would be able to hit a jump shot and they have not.

Gardner and Otule are fine but they can't initiate the offense by themselves and now defenses are sagging on them.

This is an immensely talented team that is just plain dysfunctional.  I know things will get better but I was fully expecting a top 20 team this year.  Unfortunately, that is far from where this team is at that I don't know if it will ever get there this year.

[MU82]

The defense in the second half was not solid. We led 21-19 and went down 8 points very quickly as Ohio St repeatedly drove to the rim. The biggest reason they scored only 33 points in second half is from the 7 minute mark on they ran the clock down to almost zero, before they scored. That to me was very frustrating. The chance of winning the game was very small at the 7 minute mark, but the only way we were going to have a chance to win was to foul a team that was shooting under 50% from the free throw line in that game. Instead we spent the last 7 minutes letting Ohio St. use 35 seconds on every possession.

Thank you for beating me to this point.

Ohio State blitzed us quickly in the second half, got the lead it wanted, and milked it for all it was worth. Our defense was a non-factor in the second half, which still put it light years ahead of our offense!

[Aughnanure]

I AM THRILLED WITH BUZZ'S COMMENTS!

Let's all stop pretending that everything is OK. The coach isn't pretending.

The defense has been fine, although in the one game when it was really tested, it caved in pretty good in the second half. Ohio State did what it wanted after halftime. So even that gets a thumbs-up with an asterisk.

It's OK to be optimistic, or at least to want to be optimistic (if that makes sense), but pay attention to your coach.

Things will not "just work out" or "just be OK." This team has a lot of work to do, and the fact that Buzz recognizes that -- and recognizes that the players who had been getting lots of minutes might be major sources of the problem -- is the first encouraging thing about this team that I've witnessed in a week.

Hard to continue being great on D when you're always missing a shot and have to run back down the court every time. I think that gets to you and your defense. The D is the most encouraging thing on this team.

[Aughnanure]

Really good post, bilsu.

Derrick and Jake are both quality role players who are being asked to carry more of the load this season. The results haven't been pretty so far but there are really no viable alternatives.

Can we stop throwing the word quality around like it doesn't mean anything. They're role players. Not terrible role players or great role players, just playable role players.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We definitely have critical issues on offense, but our defense is reason for optimism. We don't just have an ok defense, we have an elite defense. We are top 5 according to KenPom. I'm not sure if we will be top 5 all season but we will be up there. Even an offense as bad as ours has been can win with a top 5 defense. The shooting will come, there's no way we can truly be this bad at shooting.

[Markusquette]

We're settling far too much for the outside shot and poor isolations.  Aside from Grambling, which is an anomaly, we haven't made that many plays.  Aaaron Craft more than doubled our whole team's assists.  The team can't get in a rhythm shooting a bunch of free throws.  What we need is better passing for easy buckets to build confidence and momentum. 

[Eldon]

I AM THRILLED WITH BUZZ'S COMMENTS!

Let's all stop pretending that everything is OK. The coach isn't pretending.

The defense has been fine, although in the one game when it was really tested, it caved in pretty good in the second half. Ohio State did what it wanted after halftime. So even that gets a thumbs-up with an asterisk.

It's OK to be optimistic, or at least to want to be optimistic (if that makes sense), but pay attention to your coach.

Things will not "just work out" or "just be OK." This team has a lot of work to do, and the fact that Buzz recognizes that -- and recognizes that the players who had been getting lots of minutes might be major sources of the problem -- is the first encouraging thing about this team that I've witnessed in a week.

Totally.  For all of the praise we are getting on defense, I'm wondering to myself "yo, were these guys watching the 2nd half?"  tOSU probably could have been throwing triple alley-oops to each other if they wanted to

[Buzz Williams' Spillproof Chiclets Cup]

Worth pointing out that Villanova survived a scare from Delaware at home tonight, and St. John's didn't really ever slam the door on Monmouth, also at home, and these are also teams expected to finish in the top half of the league.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Look what other teams are scoring: 80s & 90s. Not 30s &50s
Something happens with Buzz's teams that  they can't shoot over zones

[MU82]

Look what other teams are scoring: 80s & 90s. Not 30s &50s
Something happens with Buzz's teams that  they can't shoot over zones

Something else happens with Buzz's teams: They make long NCAA tournament runs.

[blikemike2]

You have to make the tourney to make a run. Jamil has to run the point for this team to succeed, De Wilson's minutes have to be drastically cut. Every team is different, what Buzz has done with previous teams has nothing to do with this team, lets face it the loss of Vander, with no replacement (ready) is really going to be the downfall of this team.

My prediction, no NCAA tourney bid for this team and I HOPE I'm wrong.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

You have to make the tourney to make a run. Jamil has to run the point for this team to succeed, De Wilson's minutes have to be drastically cut. Every team is different, what Buzz has done with previous teams has nothing to do with this team, lets face it the loss of Vander, with no replacement (ready) is really going to be the downfall of this team.

My prediction, no NCAA tourney bid for this team and I HOPE I'm wrong.

Has to huh? Fire Buzz! Hire blikemike2 for coach!

[MU82]

You have to make the tourney to make a run. Jamil has to run the point for this team to succeed, De Wilson's minutes have to be drastically cut. Every team is different, what Buzz has done with previous teams has nothing to do with this team, lets face it the loss of Vander, with no replacement (ready) is really going to be the downfall of this team.

My prediction, no NCAA tourney bid for this team and I HOPE I'm wrong.

My comment merely was in response to a negative comment about what "happens" to Buzz's teams. That's all.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

You have to make the tourney to make a run. Jamil has to run the point for this team to succeed, De Wilson's minutes have to be drastically cut. Every team is different, what Buzz has done with previous teams has nothing to do with this team, lets face it the loss of Vander, with no replacement (ready) is really going to be the downfall of this team.

My prediction, no NCAA tourney bid for this team and I HOPE I'm wrong.
[/quote

You'll be wrong.

[blikemike2]

Has to huh? Fire Buzz! Hire blikemike2 for coach!

I'm not calling for Buzz's head, this team would be infinitely better had Vander not unexpectedly left. Also, you can see Jamil is getting more involved running the offense.

Unless we win the Big East tourney I think we're out, we're going to have 4 or 5 non-conference losses, this is going to be a tough year fellas.

Go MU