Trying to Guess the Complaint

[Tribby]

It doesn't have to be late in the game for this to happen. See Nutter, Jamar against us last year.

Agreed. So let's minimize the risk and not play our starters once the game is effectively over, hmm?

[NavinRJohnson]

You people are nuts. Would Wes Matthews playing 3 or 4 fewer meaningless minutes really make a difference tomorrow? They had to expend no emotional energy from about 5 minutes into the first half.

As far as who finished the game, who the hell cares? X minutes is X minutes.

[NavinRJohnson]

Agreed. So let's minimize the risk and not play our starters once the game is effectively over, hmm?

Right! Since the game was over at halftime, Cubillan Fulce, O'Tule, Hazel, and Frozena should have played the entire second half. Since you don't want the starters playing, those are your options.

[MU111]

Had MU cleared the bench and gone into a shell with 12 minutes left, and St. John's got back in the game, half of you would be going apesh*t about it.

I was thinking the same thing.  I had no problem with the minutes the starters played toward the end of the game.  A big St. John's run to close it out on account of all the starters sitting wouldn't have helped our confidence going into tomorrow.

[Big Papi]

We are down to 10 scholarship players.  THis silly complaint about playing time is much ado about nothing but par for the course around here after every game.

[Tribby]

We are down to 10 scholarship players.  THis silly complaint about playing time is much ado about nothing but par for the course around here after every game.

As is the absurd degree to which some posters refuse to acknowledge that Buzz Williams isn't the second coming of Dean Smith.

[NavinRJohnson]

As is the absurd degree to which some posters refuse to acknowledge that Buzz Williams isn't the second coming of Dean Smith.

Please show me one person who has asserted as much. Just one.

[lab_warrior]

Qualmless...a great word right there.  Count me in the qualmless camp.  Glad to see Cubillan get some shots to go down, we're going to need his shooting at some point here.

[Big Papi]

Sorry Tribby I have you on ignore but I did see your post from Navin's quote.  No I don't think Buzz is the second coming of Dean Smith.  He has a lot to learn as he is inexperienced but some of you nitpick every single thing he does that it looks like we have a complete moron for a coach which is absurd.  We Hazel apparently gone.  Mbakwe transferring and DJ out for the year we are down to 10 scholarship players.  I don't know what you guys really wanted today.  

Do you really think Buzz or any coach for that matter was going to play a starting lineup of Otule, Fulce, Cooby, Frozena and take your pick of Acker/Butler/Burke????????????????  That lineup for 10 plus minutes does it for you???????  Really???????  The minutes played today was not perfect but there was nothing wrong with what Buzz did today.  

But hey lets talk about how he didn't burn all of his timeouts today.

[MilWarrior]

No complaints. Nothing bad happened. Everything worked out. If we lose tomorrow it will have absolutely nothing to do with what happened today.

[Tribby]

Do you really think Buzz or any coach for that matter was going to play a starting lineup of Otule, Fulce, Cooby, Frozena and take your pick of Acker/Butler/Burke????????????????  That lineup for 10 plus minutes does it for you???????  Really???????

With a 30+ point lead? Hell yes it does. And if somehow things did get hairy (and I keep being reminded how St. John's was playing with zero energy or emotion, so that seems unlikely), this isn't baseball; you can indeed take a player out of the lineup and still reinsert him. I promise, they still allow that.

[MUfan12]

As is the absurd degree to which some posters refuse to acknowledge that Buzz Williams isn't the second coming of Dean Smith.

What an idiotic statement.

[tower912]

I was watching the game with about 8 minutes left and I was predicting that some knucklehead would complain about the minutes.   My buddy, a non-MU alum asked if I was serious.   I had to admit I was.   Thanks for making me look good.

[Pakuni]

With a 30+ point lead? Hell yes it does. And if somehow things did get hairy (and I keep being reminded how St. John's was playing with zero energy or emotion, so that seems unlikely), this isn't baseball; you can indeed take a player out of the lineup and still reinsert him. I promise, they still allow that.

Ah ... but since you're so concerned with injuries - and not just looking for a reason to complain about the coaching - wouldn't you admit that a player is more likely to get injured after sitting on the bench 15+ minutes (real time), getting cold and then trying to re-enter the game and immediately go full throttle in a "hairy" situation?

Seems like a recipe for a pulled hammy, if you ask me.

A wiser person might suggest the better course of action would be to rotate players in and out to give everyone rest, but also keep them loose.

[JMcSteal]

We shall see how these extra un-needed minutes will affect the players tomorrow and I hope the people that think we are dumb for complaining about the minutes will keep there side if we play sluggish tomorrow

[SWARM!]

With a 30+ point lead? Hell yes it does. And if somehow things did get hairy (and I keep being reminded how St. John's was playing with zero energy or emotion, so that seems unlikely), this isn't baseball; you can indeed take a player out of the lineup and still reinsert him. I promise, they still allow that.

Tribby, you are so way off base it hurts. We have 10 (TEN) scholarship players and Frozena.  This isn't an NBA roster; outside of Bulter and maybe Fulce, there is nothing even remotely resembling high D1 talent on our bench.  If Buzz follows your logic, Hazel, Otule, Fulce, Cubillan, and Butler/Frozena play all 15-20 minutes in the second half and get their asses handed to them.  So you'd rather they basically play the first few minutes of the half, completely blow the 30 point lead (down to 10 or so most likely), and make our starters re-establish the lead for a second time?  And don't try to convince me that this wouldn't happen.

You can indeed play good players who happen to start, when your options are limited, as opposed to playing your worst players simply because you have a big lead.  I promise, they still allow that.

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

Seriously, Tribby and McSteal, did you even watch the game and how Buzz was managing it?  For most of the 2nd half, there were at least 2 bench guys out there at a given time with the starters, maybe 3 in spots. 

No one played more than 31 minutes (Wes), Burke played 19, Fulce had 13, and Hayward/Butler/Acker/Cubillan/McNeal had 25-27 each.  So I think our legs should be in pretty good shape tmrw, plus Buzz went 8 deep in giving Cooby and Fulce extended minutes.  What more did you want Buzz to do?

Here's the box scores from last year's 3 BET games if you care to compare how Crean managed minutes last year to what Buzz did today.  Seems pretty similar to the ND game from what I can see. 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=280720269 (Seton Hall)
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=280730087 (Notre Dame)
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=280740269 (Pittsburgh)

[tower912]

Wes 31, Lazar 27, JM 26.   If those aren't the low minute totals for each of them for the year, its close.     'Nova is tough.   Even if they hadn't played a minute in the second half, it is still going to be a tough game and if we don't get quality minutes from each of our current top 7, we are going to lose.  

[bma725]

To me, this is an argument in favor of playing them FEWER minutes today. These guys have been playing insane minutes all season long, and it will catch up with them at some point (if it hasn't already). Why pile on more minutes when you don't need to?

It's not a question of need, one of them is going to have to play.  We started the year with 11 available scholarship players due to Mbakwe leaving and McMorrow sitting out.  With DJ's injury and Hazel's issues that leaves us with 9 scholarship players available.  That means 1 starter is going to have to be on the court unless you want Frozena playing 10 minutes.  That starter isn't Burke, and it isn't Acker because Cubillan needs the time.  That means that either McNeal, Matthews or Hayward is going to have to play.

[Robyrd5]

Geez, I usually try to avoid this board after a loss because of all the negativity, but even with a blowout win, people still find something to bitch about.

[muwarrior87]

you people do realize we had 10 different players get minutes and 7 of those ten played 20 to 30?  Wes played 31 minutes and that was the max. It was said earlier in the thread that these guys exert more energy during practice than most games and that is true, especially today. We were able to give everyone, sans Hazel, minutes and 3 bench players played at least 13 minutes. How about we be happy that the bench was utilized that much. 

[JMcSteal]

Here's the box scores from last year's 3 BET games if you care to compare how Crean managed minutes last year to what Buzz did today.  Seems pretty similar to the ND game from what I can see. 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=280720269 (Seton Hall)
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=280730087 (Notre Dame)
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=280740269 (Pittsburgh)

The problem i have with this is we never crushed a team by 30.

I understand what you guys are saying, I just wish Hazel (don't know the whole transfer thing) would get some PT and Buzz could have gave Otule a little more than the 4 mins he got esp if he is our C next year. We were winning by 30 so even though he looked lost it couldn't have hurt to play 10min instead of 4.so then I wouldn't have to hear the announcer saying to get McNeal out of the game

And no I'm not saying play Frozena the whole 2nd half at all

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

The problem i have with this is we never crushed a team by 30.

I understand what you guys are saying, I just wish Hazel (don't know the whole transfer thing) would get some PT and Buzz could have gave Otule a little more than the 4 mins he got esp if he is our C next year. We were winning by 30 so even though he looked lost it couldn't have hurt to play 10min instead of 4.so then I wouldn't have to hear the announcer saying to get McNeal out of the game

And no I'm not saying play Frozena the whole 2nd half at all

Seriously, who gives a crap what the ESPN announcers have to say about how Buzz is managing our rotations?

As I've said before on this board, Pat Hazel is not playing because of Pat Hazel.  Simple as that. 

Also, whether Otule gets 4 minutes of PT or 10 minutes of PT at this stage of the season in a 30 point blowout is going to be of ZERO consequence of whether he starts next year or not.  He's not very good right now, as 95% of freshman post players tend to be, nor is he going to be of any sort of consequence down the stretch this season because he missed so much time in non-conference play.  What matters most for him going forward is what he is doing in practice and what he does in the offseason, not what he does in garbage time during a blowout. 

[mugrack]

Too many puds on this board

[Lennys Tap]

MU wins in a rout on the home court of a Big East team that has won 4 of their last 6 and Tribby bitches about Buzz. Saturday MU lost in OT to Syracuse and Tribby bitched about Buzz. Tomorrow MU plays Villanova and win or lose Tribby will bitch about Buzz. Good old even handed Tribby. What would we do without your insightful, well balanced analysis?