Realistically how far can this team go?

[Doris Burkes Thong]

Thoughts?

[4everwarriors]

One win in the Tourney

[DJO's Pump Fake]

Been debating this in my head a lot today.

We lack size and depth - no shocking news there.

We lost our best on ball defender and senior floor general - crushing blow.

However, lets look at the positives here.  we still have 3 1000 point scorers starting for this team.  We have 3 seniors in the starting line up - 2 of which have started every game they have played in (just about) since they were freshmen.  It takes senior guard leadership to win NCAA tournaments (and of coarse some luck).

We just hung in with 2 of the best teams in the country.  One at home while adjusting to a new line up on the fly.  The other on the road and were still in a position to win the game at the end.  I think it is a matter of time before this group gets back on the winning track.  I think they can definitely reach the second weekend and from there, many of us have learned, a lot of luck is involved.  But bottom line, sweet 16 is very doable.  We have the talent and the coach, we just need to find our rhythm.

[GOMU1104]

Its all about matchups. Can't really say how far they will go until the brackets are released.

[ErickJD08]

We still have playmakers.  Who knows?  Does anyone remember George Mason or Davidson?  That is the beauty.  Anything can happen.

[MR.HAYWARD]

well we lost to the best team in the country who had a guy go freaking off for 36 and then lost to the #6 team in the country by 4 in a game we really could of won.  i think we can get to the Final 4, will we IDK, but we can beat any team in the country. 

[Warrior97]

If we get 2 more wins before the tourney (Syracuse and 1 BET win) then I think we get a decent seed and we make the Sweet 16.  On a neutral court I think we have proven we can still hang with almost anyone and having 4 more games to work out the kinks of our new lineups will help alot.

Plus McNeal won't have another game like he did today.

[CTWarrior]

Before DJ went down, I thought 80% shot to reach sweet 16, 30% shot at elite 8 and 10% shot at final 4.

Now, <50% sweet 16, <10% elite 8 and <<1% Final Four.

[Hards Alumni]

well we lost to the best team in the country who had a guy go freaking off for 36 and then lost to the #6 team in the country by 4 in a game we really could of won.  i think we can get to the Final 4, will we IDK, but we can beat any team in the country. 

absolutely.

[BrewCity83]

Matchups and luck will play a huge role.

I still believe that we are a top-20 caliber team even without DJ.  Suppose this team gets hot shooting from the outside (which can happen).  We can still probably beat anyone if things fall right.  We will not need a miracle to get beyond the Sweet 16, but we will need some things to fall in our favor.

[The Man in Gold]

I think the Sweet 16 is a reasonable possibility as we "should" fall somewhere between a 3-6 seed depending how well this team does to close out the season.  Obviously a top 4 seed would be great as it hopefully sets up a first weekend close to home with a favorable matchup.

(Correct me if this rule has changed...) As always the real wildcard will be the Big East seeding as you still can't play another conference foe until the Elite 8 unless we get 9 teams in.  So that means only 4 teams can be seeded 1,4,5,8,9 or 2,3,6,7,10.  Ultimately that means that teams may get bumped up or down a seed depending on the conference placement.

[79Warrior]

Thoughts?

Not far at all. We have maybe two more wins before the NCAA tourney.

[ecompt]

There's as much chance of us winning two games in the tourney as there is us not winning another game. We just don't know. I thought we'd lose by 20 yesterday and we came close to pulling one out.

[nola03]

Sweet Sixteen is the ceiling unless we get Wisconsin-lucky and play a 13 seed in that round.

[NavinRJohnson]

Not far at all. We have maybe two more wins before the NCAA tourney.

What's wrong with that? I'd sign up for that right now (hopefully also includes Villanova losing to ND tonight as well).

[Hards Alumni]

so you'd be willing to win two games.

syracuse and then only the first game in the BET?

or lose out the season and win two in the tourney?

[NavinRJohnson]

so you'd be willing to win two games.

syracuse and then only the first game in the BET?

or lose out the season and win two in the tourney?

Yep. In a cocaine heartbeat.

I guess I am really confused about some of the angst I see relative to losing to Pitt. Why does anyone think we should win that game (with or without DJ), on the road against one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the country? Granted, I would love to win it, but there is no reason to expect it should or will happen.

Therefore, two more wins would likely mean...

Syracuse - W
Villanova - W
UConn - Loss

or

Syracuse - L
Villanova - W
UConn - W
Pitt - L

Oh the horror! Seriously, how could anyone ask for anything more than that?

[willie warrior]

Not very far with no front line and a 5'6" point guard.

I love MU, but the loss of James and no athletic big guy limits what we can do.

We could very well lose the rest of our games. I do not want that to happen, but it could very well happen. To beat any of our upcoming opponents, we will have to play near perfect--shoot the three at 40% or better, and 8 or less turnovers. And we cannot have McNeal play as poorly as he did against Louisville, including no D.

[MU_Warrior44]

Matchups and luck will play a huge role.

I still believe that we are a top-20 caliber team even without DJ.  Suppose this team gets hot shooting from the outside (which can happen).  We can still probably beat anyone if things fall right.  We will not need a miracle to get beyond the Sweet 16, but we will need some things to fall in our favor.

+1

It's all about the matchups. I'd say the most likely case scenario is one win. Very possible for Sweet 16. From there, I think we have a small but legit shot at getting to the Elite 8 (or further, again completely depending on matchups).  If this team can get hot, the sky's the limit.

[AlumKCof93]

Prior to the James injury, I would have been disappointed if we didn't make it to the Sweet 16 and then had hopes we could advance further from there.  With his injury, I'm expecting a first round win and believe we'll have a chance to win a second game.  But I'd now be happy just getting to the Sweet 16 instead of expecting it.

Cocaine heartbeat?

[NavinRJohnson]

Cocaine heartbeat?

Very fast.