Playing with a purpose. Cincy over Louisville by 14 right now

[ChicosBailBonds]

I hope we have that same purpose on Saturday.  Cincinnati has a must win tonight, and they are playing like it.  MU needs to do the same against the Hall.

[79Warrior]

We are now going to be 11th in the BE. The ship has sailed for this team.

[GoMarquette32]

How can you say that. Have you seen cincys schedule?

[79Warrior]

How can you say that. Have you seen cincys schedule?

Seriously, they are now 7-6, we are 6-7. that puts them ahead of us unless my math is off.

[GoMarquette32]

4 of the rest of there 5 games are against ranked opponents. 1 of our next 5opponwnts are ranked.

[timinatorx3]

I hope we have that same purpose on Saturday.  Cincinnati has a must win tonight, and they are playing like it.  MU needs to do the same against the Hall.

I thought last night was that game for MU; hopefully not though, as it would be mighty discouraging for that to be the "must win" effort.

[Tugg Speedman]

4 of the rest of there 5 games are against ranked opponents. 1 of our next 5opponwnts are ranked.

Exactly, you cannot look at rankings, have to look at who they play.

Cincy's last five
@Prov
@GU
Uconn
@MU
GU

They could be 1 and 4 with this finish

MU's last five
SH
@Uconn
Prov
Cincy
@SH

We could be 4 and 1 with this finish

[79Warrior]

4 of the rest of there 5 games are against ranked opponents. 1 of our next 5opponwnts are ranked.

Which means wins like tonight really help them alot. We have one more shot to help ourselves. After that we have potential "bad losses"

[Tugg Speedman]

Which means wins like tonight really help them alot. We have one more shot to help ourselves. After that we have potential "bad losses"

Huh?

[Fred Garvin]

Congrats to Cincy,they got there first win over a ranked team this season.We've had wins over ND and Syracuse.And you might as well throw in West Virginia.

[groove]

Congrats to Cincy,they got there first win over a ranked team this season.We've had wins over ND and Syracuse.And you might as well throw in West Virginia.

and they stay ahead of us in the standings

[ChicosBailBonds]

They also just lost to SJU by 2 points 2 days before we lost to the same team by double digits.

[79Warrior]

Huh?

Can't figure it out? we have one more against Top 25. the rest of our games are against teams lower in the BE than us with worse records. Thus, potential "bad" losses.

[Tugg Speedman]

Can't figure it out? we have one more against Top 25. the rest of our games are against teams lower in the BE than us with worse records. Thus, potential "bad" losses.

Cincy has one win over a ranked opponent ... tonight against Louisville.  We have three wins over ranked opponents.

to go 4 and 1 the rest of the way, Cincy HAS TO beat at least two ranked opponents.  We do not.  We can go 4 and 1 without beating a ranked opponent.

[groove]

what makes you think we will play any better than last night's pitiful performance. did buzz check out a library book on defense sometime today?

[Tugg Speedman]

what makes you think we will play any better than last night's pitiful performance. did buzz check out a library book on defense sometime today?

WVU, Syracuse, and ND

[Boone]

Those games seem like years ago. Who we are now is a team that struggles to beat S. FL. and loses to everyone else.

[Tugg Speedman]

Oh I see only the last game counts as a trend and we should expect the team to play like that forever. 

So, after the Syracuse game where you buying final four tickets to watch MU play?

[Tugg Speedman]

Syracuse was January 29.  Today is February 16.  So the game 18 days ago no longer counts?

[nyg]

BTW, those Cincy uniforms tonight were awesome. 

[Boone]

It hasn't been one game, it's been the last 3 (4 if you count 'Nova), or maybe you've been under a rock somewhere. You really can't see that we're trending downward? Really?!

[Tugg Speedman]

its been the last 3 (4 if you count 'Nova), or maybe you've been under a rock somewhere. You really can't see that we're trending downward? Really?!

Nova was top 10 (when we played them) and on the road.  
GU is top 10 this week and was on the road.  
USF was on the road.  
St, Johns could be ranked next week.

Yes we have played poorly.  That's not the issue.  The issue is expectations.

I expected us to be 2 and 2 in this stretch.  We went 1 and 3 so I was only mildly disappointed.  So, my disappointment extends to the last 15 minutes of the game yesterday.  You apparently expected us to be 4 and 0, or 3 and 1 meaning you were expecting a road win against a top 10 team and if you did not get one it's because we suck.

You know how many top 10 teams have lost at home this year in all of basketball?  I looked it up using this week's current top 10.  Nine of the 10 teams have not lost at home this year.  The one that has was  #9 Georgetown and they lost to #5 Pitt and #23 (at the time) WVU at home.  That's it, two home losses among the top ten all year.  

Did you expect us to make it four last week?

[Boone]

I expected 2-2...but at 1-2 we desperately needed to beat SJU and we looked godawful. That does not bode well for the rest of the season and THAT is the real issue!

[TJ]

Nova was top 10 (when we played them) and on the road.  
GU is top 10 this week and was on the road.  
USF was on the road.  
St, Johns could be ranked next week.

Yes we have played poorly.  That's not the issue.  The issue is expectations.

I expected us to be 2 and 2 in this stretch.  We went 1 and 3 so I was only mildly disappointed.  So, my disappointment extends to the last 15 minutes of the game yesterday.  You apparently expected us to be 4 and 0, or 3 and 1 meaning you were expecting a road win against a top 10 team and if you did not get one it's because we suck.

You know how many top 10 teams have lost at home this year in all of basketball?  I looked it up using this week's current top 10.  Nine of the 10 teams have not lost at home this year.  The one that has was  #9 Georgetown and they lost to #5 Pitt and #23 (at the time) WVU at home.  That's it, two home losses among the top ten all year.  

Did you expect us to make it four last week?

Not going to check the rest of them, but Kansas lost to Texas at home.  So that's at least 2 of 10.

I really don't get how you can forget about everything that happens during a game and only judge your feelings the next day based on what you thought would happen a week ago.  Just strange.

[Tugg Speedman]

Not going to check the rest of them, but Kansas lost to Texas at home.  So that's at least 2 of 10.

I really don't get how you can forget about everything that happens during a game and only judge your feelings the next day based on what you thought would happen a week ago.  Just strange.

You're right, I did not check Kansas ... overlooked them.

I don't understand your second comment.  This year I thought MU was a middling BE team with around a .500 record.  We are 6 and 7 with the easier part of the BE schedule coming.  I also still believe this is good enough for the NCAA tourney bid.

Sure I was disappointed about last night and about Louisville.  But I did not forget about WVU, ND and Syracuse or about pulling it out against USF.  So, in the end, it all balances out.

The vitriol and booing last night suggests the many expected much more than me.  Otherwise, why get upset like a lot are on this board.  Too many had this unrealistic expectation about how any games we were going to win and failure to meet this is dominating the threads on this board.