One Year Ago ...

[Tugg Speedman]

We lost to UW and then J-May quit the team.  Here is what this board said ....

Acker + Cubillan = loooong year http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=16654.0

I love 'em both, but DON'T START CUBI AND ACKER TOGETHER http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=16669.0

Has Buzz lost control? http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=16714.0

In other words, this team was as helpless 365 days ago as this board thinks it is today.  Then we lost out best recruit and his dad announced we would never win another game (hopefully this doesn't happen again).

As we all know, all this analysis was dead wrong.  The team recovered, won more than 10 BE games and was again a 5 seed in the tourney.

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Note to mods .... could you start an investment blog?  I can have a programmer have my online account automatically do the opposite of what everyone here thinks and without any effort I could be a multimillionaire.

[rocky_warrior]

Good point.  This game in particular brings out a lot of emotion.  However, we did lose to an unspectacular Wisconsin club, and look totally disorganized (on offense) doing so.  I actually though defense look good about 75% of the game today.

[Steve Buscemi]

Note to mods .... could you start an investment blog?

NO, CRY ABOUT IT

[cheebs09]

I agree, but at that point we had wins over Xavier and Michigan. Now Michigan turned out to be very overrated, but it still showed we could beat a non-cupcake. Right now our best win is either Bucknell or UWM on the road. We have a lot of opportunities for big wins coming up in conference, but we need to do better than close losses.

[nyg]

One year ago we had Lazar Hayward.  There is no Lazar Hayward on this team. 

[Tugg Speedman]

Hayward?  We have Jamail Jones!  This thread last spring said he was better than John Wall

   
"The John Wall" is weak ... how about "The Jamail Jones"?  http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=20230.0

[muhoosier260]

We lost to UW and then J-May quit the team.  Here is what this board said ....

Acker + Cubillan = loooong year http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=16654.0

I love 'em both, but DON'T START CUBI AND ACKER TOGETHER http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=16669.0

Has Buzz lost control? http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=16714.0

In other words, this team was as helpless 365 days ago as this board thinks it is today.  Then we lost out best recruit and his dad announced we would never win another game (hopefully this doesn't happen again).

As we all know, all this analysis was dead wrong.  The team recovered, won more than 10 BE games and was again a 5 seed in the tourney.

------

Note to mods .... could you start an investment blog?  I can have a programmer have my online account automatically do the opposite of what everyone here thinks and without any effort I could be a multimillionaire.

WHO CARES

[MarquetteDano]

In other words, this team was as helpless 365 days ago as this board thinks it is today.  Then we lost out best recruit and his dad announced we would never win another game (hopefully this doesn't happen again).

As I said in another post this team will improve much more than last year's team.  A lot of younger/inexperienced players that will get better as the season progresses.  I think people believe this as good as this team will be.  But this team will improve.

I truly believe this team will be playing its best ball in March.  I just hope the improvement comes in time so we wont be playing our best ball in the NIT.

[mu_hilltopper]

I agree, but at that point we had wins over Xavier and Michigan. Now Michigan turned out to be very overrated, but it still showed we could beat a non-cupcake. Right now our best win is either Bucknell or UWM on the road. We have a lot of opportunities for big wins coming up in conference, but we need to do better than close losses.

Bingo, +1

We are 0-3 versus quality competition this year.  Last year wins vs X, Michigan, and lost to FSU by a point after leading them.  This year, we were never in danger of winning any of our non-cupcakes, regardless of the 3-6 point loss totals of those 3 .. we closed big gaps to make the loss look nicer, that's all.

I think expectations were different back then, too.  We were all pretty surprised (on the upside) that we'd done well in that November tourney in 2009.  This year, I think we're surprised on the downside with how weak we look.

I'd like to think we'll look different after 20 games than 10 this year, but it's hard to see through our performance so far.   It's not just 10 games, these guys have been playing together since July, day in, day out.

[NersEllenson]

Bingo, +1

We are 0-3 versus quality competition this year.  Last year wins vs X, Michigan, and lost to FSU by a point after leading them.  This year, we were never in danger of winning any of our non-cupcakes, regardless of the 3-6 point loss totals of those 3 .. we closed big gaps to make the loss look nicer, that's all.

I think expectations were different back then, too.  We were all pretty surprised (on the upside) that we'd done well in that November tourney in 2009.  This year, I think we're surprised on the downside with how weak we look.

I'd like to think we'll look different after 20 games than 10 this year, but it's hard to see through our performance so far.   It's not just 10 games, these guys have been playing together since July, day in, day out.

-1

Michigan was horse crap last year..Xaiver sure the hell wasn't Duke..and we lost ot UW last year too.  DJO is in a major funk...not close to the DJO he was last year..even in November and December last year.  This team has a lot of upside..and I for one will not be surprised if the team does go to Vandy and beat Vanderbilt..and then go on to be 11-7, or 10-8 in the Big East..and that will be enough for the team to make the NCAA..

[mu_hilltopper]

-1

Michigan was horse crap last year..Xaiver sure the hell wasn't Duke..and we lost ot UW last year too.  DJO is in a major funk...not close to the DJO he was last year..even in November and December last year.  This team has a lot of upside..and I for one will not be surprised if the team does go to Vandy and beat Vanderbilt..and then go on to be 11-7, or 10-8 in the Big East..and that will be enough for the team to make the NCAA..

Indeed, UM and X did turn out to be less than amazing victories.  However, at the time, they were quality wins and gave hope to fans, which was the point of the thread .. what we were talking about after losing to UW in 2009.

And for the record, I hope you are right that we beat Vandy and win 10 or 11 in the BE, and will yell myself hoarse rooting the team on. -- But.  I believe the chances of that is very low.  I picked the team for 9 BE wins, and 20 wins total.  I've already missed two wins.

[warriormom]

The Final Four season we lost to Dayton, ECU, and Notre Dame going into January.  How about we let them play the games, be as optimistically supportive as we can and see how it shakes out?
Maybe that is the female perspective, but what the heck is the purpose of the doom and gloom that goes on around here?????
Pick apart the games already played, but why fortell a dismal future???
What has negativity ever accomplished?

[mu_hilltopper]

Warriormom .. welcome to the internet.

[NersEllenson]

Indeed, UM and X did turn out to be less than amazing victories.  However, at the time, they were quality wins and gave hope to fans, which was the point of the thread .. what we were talking about after losing to UW in 2009.

And for the record, I hope you are right that we beat Vandy and win 10 or 11 in the BE, and will yell myself hoarse rooting the team on. -- But.  I believe the chances of that is very low.  I picked the team for 9 BE wins, and 20 wins total.  I've already missed two wins.

Fair enough...I guess the way I see it..Gonzaga is probably the only loss we can point to and be legitimately angry about..Duke is Duke..and UW is UW.  As much as all of us hate to say it..UW is a good team.  It took UW 20 second chance points, and DJO being terrible...to beat this MU team.  It is still early.  And yes..this thread was great..as we got to see everyone knee jerk after losing to WI last year...and how bad MU would be...and as we all know..last year's team gave us a highly entertaining, and enjoyable and productive season last year.

[ChicosBailBonds]

The Final Four season we lost to Dayton, ECU, and Notre Dame going into January.  How about we let them play the games, be as optimistically supportive as we can and see how it shakes out?
Maybe that is the female perspective, but what the heck is the purpose of the doom and gloom that goes on around here?????
Pick apart the games already played, but why fortell a dismal future???
What has negativity ever accomplished?

One's person's reality is another person's negativity.  It's all in the eye of the beholder.  If you say the team has significant holes is it being negative or is it realistic?

That 2003 team had 3 future NBA players, including DWADE.  Notre Dame went to the Sweet 16 that year, Dayton went to the NCAAs as well. 

[79Warrior]

-1

Michigan was horse crap last year..Xaiver sure the hell wasn't Duke..and we lost ot UW last year too.  DJO is in a major funk...not close to the DJO he was last year..even in November and December last year.  This team has a lot of upside..and I for one will not be surprised if the team does go to Vandy and beat Vanderbilt..and then go on to be 11-7, or 10-8 in the Big East..and that will be enough for the team to make the NCAA..

I would be shocked if we beat Vandy. I just do not think this team has as much upside as many posters think. Even if DJO turns it around, we have very few guys who can hit shots. Out whole offensive revolves around driving to the hoop. Play zone against us and we are dead.

[MUBurrow]

I agree that the Vandy game on paper is a tougher one than getting Wisco at home.  But it also becomes extraordinarily important now to get in. we are already projecting to be a bubble team.  Barring an exceptional BEast season to the tune of 12+ wins, we really need an out of conference win against another likely tourney team.  Our margin for error in conference is very very small as it stands, it becomes non existent with a loss to Vandy.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Fair enough...I guess the way I see it..Gonzaga is probably the only loss we can point to and be legitimately angry about..Duke is Duke..and UW is UW.  As much as all of us hate to say it..UW is a good team.  It took UW 20 second chance points, and DJO being terrible...to beat this MU team.  It is still early.  And yes..this thread was great..as we got to see everyone knee jerk after losing to WI last year...and how bad MU would be...and as we all know..last year's team gave us a highly entertaining, and enjoyable and productive season last year.

It's not like UW-madison shot well yesterday.  To suggest that it was just 20 second chance points and DJO not being able to hit is the only reason we lost is not accurate.

Wisconsin shot poorly from 3 point land, shot below us for the game from a FG perspective.  At one point they had taken 1 free throw to our 16, their best player was in major foul trouble, etc, etc.

[Lennys Tap]

It's not like UW-madison shot well yesterday.  To suggest that it was just 20 second chance points and DJO not being able to hit is the only reason we lost is not accurate.

Wisconsin shot poorly from 3 point land, shot below us for the game from a FG perspective.  At one point they had taken 1 free throw to our 16, their best player was in major foul trouble, etc, etc.

Wisconsin shot poorly yesterday? In the 5 games they have played away from the Kohl Center this year, this was the BEST shooting game they've had, both overall and from "3 point land".

[Mr. Nielsen]

It's a long season. Things will change for the better for MU!

[ChicosBailBonds]

Wisconsin shot poorly yesterday? In the 5 games they have played away from the Kohl Center this year, this was the BEST shooting game they've had, both overall and from "3 point land".

Exactly....and why do you think that is....we seem to allow a lot of teams to shoot better than their trends.  That's part of my point.  UW-madison didn't shoot that well yesterday and will certainly have games they shoot better.  In other words, MU didn't just lose because DJO wasn't shooting well and we couldn't rebound....it's not like UW-madison lit up the twine either. 

We seem to make a lot of teams look better...UW-madison, UW-milwaukee, Bucknell, Gonzaga, etc.

We have some significant holes to fill. 

[brewcity77]

I agree that the Vandy game on paper is a tougher one than getting Wisco at home.  But it also becomes extraordinarily important now to get in. we are already projecting to be a bubble team.  Barring an exceptional BEast season to the tune of 12+ wins, we really need an out of conference win against another likely tourney team.  Our margin for error in conference is very very small as it stands, it becomes non existent with a loss to Vandy.

We were projecting as a bubble team before the loss to Bucky. Right now we're well outside. Beating Vandy gets us back on the bubble, and probably needing 11 BEast wins to be assured a bid. But agreed that our margin for error is slimming down quickly. Lose to Vandy and anything less than 12 wins will probably mean we miss out. These players need to become a team and quick.

[mu_hilltopper]

On the plus side .. if I'm Buzz, I'm reminding the guys to forget the 0-3 record, and look at the fact that they've got about 15 more quality games ahead.  Lots of chances.

Think of a team like Gonzaga .. they lose in pre-season, they need to win out in their weak conference to sniff the bubble.  (Zags at 4-5 right now.. ouch.)