Can we all now agree...

[MR.HAYWARD]

We can only be "very good" if Ewill gets minutes.  I am guessing Buzz reads the boards, if he does he would know Mu is 7-0 when Ewill plays and 3-5 when he does not.  We cannot be "very good" unless Ewill plays!

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

that this is a very good basketball team? Forget wins and losses, MU just played 3 straight games vs. the 6th, 8th and 12th ranked teams and except for a total of maybe 4 or 5 minutes out played each of them.  They are a very unselfish group of men who understand via Buzz that their only chance for success is to play as a team.  There doesn't seem to be any egos out there.

The other thing that is very apparent is that Buzz knows how to coach. He makes mistakes, yes, but the game plans in each of the last 3 games have put the team in position to win.

They are fun to watch.

They are better than I thought.

I am optimistic for the future (both immediate and long term).

I don't want to get into semantics like "very good" vs "good" vs "average" etc. etc.

[Golden Avalanche]

Well, they played really well versus Duke and crushed Ohio State on New Year's Eve.  I'm not sure this is an accurate statement.

I respect your opinion and its no surprise someone would see things differently.

To me, it was the best they played all season for those 15 minutes. They made every free throw. They got three of their four blocks in the game to stymie MU offense. They raced to a double digit lead (that got up to 17). Throw in a couple steals and great Madison-style positional defense as well as the heat they had from losing to Green Bay and it was as impressive a stretch as they'll have all season.

I understand they were good with Duke but seeing what the Blue Devils have done this season the evidence points more to a poorer performance from Duke then it being the Badgers best performance of the season.

And Ohio State was covered above by someone but all the games the Bucks play without Turner will have an asterisk. He's one of the 15 best players in America and its no surprise OSU would lose without him.

[Pakuni]

saying Wisconsin is a better overall team than both WVU and Nova I think is foolish.

Madison is a top 5 hardest place to win in college, but saying they're the best team we've played, idk about that.

Agreed. Villanova and WVU, IMO, are both better than Bucky.
What Bucky is, however, is the worst matchup MU has had all season. That, combined with the fact the game was in Madison, made it MU's toughest game of the season. But not best opponent.

[RubyWiscy]

I suppose "very good" is a bit subjective.  My view is this is supposed to be a rebuilding year especially with all the injuries and defections, so any game against a good team where we play well is a plus.

Now, if we play well against one top team, that's nice. Two top teams, looking promising. Three top teams, all in a row, that cannot be a fluke.  There is something going on here and it bodes well for for MU's season and future.

I am back to having raised expectations that this team will play well night in and night out.  How that translates to wins-losses, I don't know.  But they are a "very good" team that can compete with anyone IMO.

[Marquette84]

This is a very YOUNG team.

Our seven man rotation consists of three seniors, three juniors, and one soph.

There are many ways to describe our team,  "YOUNG" however, is not one of them.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

That Leuer kid was the best we have faced this year.

Was this supposed to be in teal. I really don't know if I can post on here anymore if my counterparts seriously believe things like this.

[RawdogDX]

Can we all now agree that anyone who starts a post with 'can we all now agree' has to wear a dunce cap for the rest of the afternoon and hold a sign that says "NO".

[Lennys Tap]

MSU won.  I missed the game, but the final score looked like a snoozer for sure.

Ken Pom has Big East 4th

Sagarin has Big East 3rd


RPI....Big East 1st 

Right now WVU is number 1 overall in the country in the RPI, how...I don't know.  It has Purdue at number 3, a team it lost to by 25 points.   MU is 79th in the RPI...I think we're better than that.

This is the second time in this thread you claim Purdue beat (or annihilated, ifyou will) WVU by 25. If I recall correctly it was a 5 point game at halftime and the final was 15 or 17.

[lurch91]

Purdue 77
W. Virginia 62

It was a 15 point game.

[MuMark]

Pomeroy has BE at 3rd not 4th.......close enough that it hardly matters however.



http://kenpom.com/conf.php?c=BE

[MDMU04]

Our seven man rotation consists of three seniors, three juniors, and one soph.

There are many ways to describe our team,  "YOUNG" however, is not one of them.

Three-sevenths of our rotation have a combined 56 games of NCAA Division 1 experience.  Of those 56 games, 26 of them are from Joe Fulce.  Joe played in 11 games last year for a whopping total of 62 minutes.

DJO and Buycks have played in 30 total games in their Division 1 careers, 6 of which are in Big East play.

They may be old in terms of eligibility, but not in terms of competing at this level of play.

[RawdogDX]

Three-sevenths of our rotation have a combined 56 games of NCAA Division 1 experience.  Of those 56 games, 26 of them are from Joe Fulce.  Joe played in 11 games last year for a whopping total of 62 minutes.

So basically this paragraph means that five-sevenths of our rotation has a good amount of experience. 

DJO and Buycks have played in 30 total games in their Division 1 careers, 6 of which are in Big East play.
They may be old in terms of eligibility, but not in terms of competing at this level of play.

But age does have something to do with how ready people are to compete.  You think DJO isn't better this year than he would have been as a freshman? He's bigger and stronger.  So while i agree that we are 'younger' than our team's driver licence may indicate, I have a hard time agreeing with someone who says that it is a VERY young team. 

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

So basically this paragraph means that five-sevenths of our rotation has a good amount of experience. 

But age does have something to do with how ready people are to compete.  You think DJO isn't better this year than he would have been as a freshman? He's bigger and stronger.  So while i agree that we are 'younger' than our team's driver licence may indicate, I have a hard time agreeing with someone who says that it is a VERY young team. 

Agreed.

I think we just need to call it "inexperienced" or "somewhat untested".

[ChicosBailBonds]

This is the second time in this thread you claim Purdue beat (or annihilated, ifyou will) WVU by 25. If I recall correctly it was a 5 point game at halftime and the final was 15 or 17.

My apologies....it was a 15 point final and they were up 25 points with 11 1/2 minutes to play in the game before calling off the dogs.   I watched part of the second half and it was a rout.  It took WVU almost 10 minutes to score 10 points while their defense had given up 29 in that same time period. 

The 25 point number was stuck in my head because that's how badly Purdue was kicking their ass in the middle of the second half.

[bilsu]

Neutral court

UW beats West Virginia
Villianova beats UW

[MDMU04]

So basically this paragraph means that five-sevenths of our rotation has a good amount of experience. 

Four sevenths actually...

[ChicosBailBonds]

Neutral court

UW beats West Virginia
Villianova beats UW

UW definitely beats WVU

For Nova, that would be an interesting game.  They are rated so closely in the computer rankings

They've played two common opponents.

1) Maryland.  And each team played Maryland on a neutral site.

Nova beat them 95-86....+9

Wisconsin beat them 78-69...+9

2)  Marquette.  Wisconsin played MU at home, Nova played MU on the road.

Nova beat MU 74-72....+2

Wisconsin beat MU 72-63...+9



What does Nova do to MU at Nova

[Lennys Tap]

My apologies....it was a 15 point final and they were up 25 points with 11 1/2 minutes to play in the game before calling off the dogs.   I watched part of the second half and it was a rout.  It took WVU almost 10 minutes to score 10 points while their defense had given up 29 in that same time period. 

The 25 point number was stuck in my head because that's how badly Purdue was kicking their ass in the middle of the second half.

LOL...So you were wrong. Admit it and let it go. The two paragraphs explaining how even though you were wrong you weren't really wrong are as sad as they were expected.

[ChicosBailBonds]

LOL...So you were wrong. Admit it and let it go. The two paragraphs explaining how even though you were wrong you weren't really wrong are as sad as they were expected.

My goodness....I thought when I said "my apologies" that was admitting I was wrong.  Good grief.  I simply explained why I had said 25 points.

It was an ass kicking any way you want to describe it.....a royal ass kicking.

Journal Review...."Showdown turns into BLOWOUT"

Here's the Wa Post headline.... "Purdue rips W.Virginia"

Chicago Tribune..."Purdue DOMINATES battle of unbeatens"

Spokesman Review.... "Boilermakers HAMMER on Mountaineers"

A few others

"Purdue delivers Haymaker"

"Boilers shoot WVU into meltdown"

[Lennys Tap]

UW definitely beats WVU

For Nova, that would be an interesting game.  They are rated so closely in the computer rankings

They've played two common opponents.

1) Maryland.  And each team played Maryland on a neutral site.

Nova beat them 95-86....+9

Wisconsin beat them 78-69...+9

2)  Marquette.  Wisconsin played MU at home, Nova played MU on the road.

Nova beat MU 74-72....+2

Wisconsin beat MU 72-63...+9



What does Nova do to MU at Nova

How can you say a team that DIDN'T beat UWGB would DEFINITELY beat WVU? I don't know which team is better but I'd guess Vegas would make WVU a very slight favorite on a neutral court but it could be a pick 'em.

[Lennys Tap]

My goodness....I thought when I said "my apologies" that was admitting I was wrong.  Good grief.  I simply explained why I had said 25 points.

It was an ass kicking any way you want to describe it.....a royal ass kicking.

Journal Review...."Showdown turns into BLOWOUT"

Here's the Wa Post headline.... "Purdue rips W.Virginia"

Chicago Tribune..."Purdue DOMINATES battle of unbeatens"

Spokesman Review.... "Boilermakers HAMMER on Mountaineers"

A few others

"Purdue delivers Haymaker"

"Boilers shoot WVU into meltdown"

My goodness... Good grief...Sigh...Another admission followed by by a bunch of junk that I guess "explains" all the good reasons why you were wrong. Did anybody say it wasn't a rout? Did anybody say it wasn't an "ass kicking"? Of course not. Boy, I would have loved to have watched you argue with your 3rd grade teacher about the nuances in some true/false question back in the day.

[ChicosBailBonds]

How can you say a team that DIDN'T beat UWGB would DEFINITELY beat WVU? I don't know which team is better but I'd guess Vegas would make WVU a very slight favorite on a neutral court but it could be a pick 'em.

WVU took a minor miracle to beat Cleveland State.  Let's see how Wisconsin does at Purdue, my guess is at no point in the game will they trail by 25 points.

I just don't like WVU's team that much.  Their guard play isn't strong enough to be an elite team.  I saw them play here in Anaheim in person, saw them play against MU and Purdue.  They're good, but they aren't an elite team by any stretch.  At least not today.  Maybe they get better at the guard position.

[ChicosBailBonds]

My goodness... Good grief...Sigh...Another admission followed by by a bunch of junk that I guess "explains" all the good reasons why you were wrong. Did anybody say it wasn't a rout? Did anybody say it wasn't an "ass kicking"? Of course not. Boy, I would have loved to have watched you argue with your 3rd grade teacher about the nuances in some true/false question back in the day.

I see.   So if I used the word rout instead of annihilate.,..the panties would not have wadded?


Dude, seek help.  Really


ob·ses·sion    (əb-sěsh'ən, ŏb-)  
n.  

  1. Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or emotion, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety.
  2. A compulsive, often unreasonable idea or emotion.

ob·ses'sion·al adj., ob·ses'sion·al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

[Marquette84]

But age does have something to do with how ready people are to compete.  You think DJO isn't better this year than he would have been as a freshman? He's bigger and stronger.  So while i agree that we are 'younger' than our team's driver licence may indicate, I have a hard time agreeing with someone who says that it is a VERY young team. 

I still question why so many think that Juco transfers or players returning from injury are assumed to be on a par with true freshman in terms of skills development, maturity, "playing away from home," physical development, etc.

I don't see how it matters if a junior spent his first two seasons at MU or at Indian Hills CC--he's still two years more mature, has been coached and developed skills, spent time in the weight room, has learned to deal with living in a dorm, traveling to games, playing out of state, etc.

The only difference is that he has not spent two years learning one particular coach's game plan.  And I have to ask if it really takes more than two or three months to become proficient?  Bo Ryan managed to put together a decently coached team in just a few weeks for his university games team--I would think that two to three months would be enough for a juco to grasp

Here's the juco first team all-americans that moved on to D1 this year. (Of the 10 players, 3 were frosh who are still in JUCO).   Of the 7 players, 6 are regular starters and contributors.  

Casey Mitchell G 6-5 205 So. Chipola College  West Virginia - 5 starts, 8 ppg
DeAndre Brown G 5-11 160 So. Navarro College La. Tech - 15 starts 11 ppg
Darius Johnson-Odom G 6-2 190 Fr. Hutchinson - MU - 5 starts - 12 ppg
Dwight Buycks G 6-3 185 So. Indian Hills - MU - 10 starts - 8 ppg
Ridge McKeither F 6-5 245 So. ND State Coll. of Science - Chattanooga - 11 starts, 9 ppg
Chris Hines F 6-8 220 So. SW Illinois College - Alabama - no starts, 3 ppg
Jarrid Famous C 7-0 235 So. Westchester C.C. - USF - 14 starts, 9 ppg

There is no reason for the assumption that a first-team Juco player would not contribute significantly.