Am I missing something? JJJ/Freshman Impact

[MU82]

Boy, you'd think that a team making the Elite 8 would lead their fans to realize that they were better than people expected, including us. We didn't luck our way into it. We didn't back into it. We shared the Big East title because we took it. Because we were unbeatable at home and because we won some games away from home. We didn't get to the Elite 8 because we were lucky, we got there because against Davidson the shots finally fell in the final minute. If we shoot our average from 3, we wouldn't have needed a last minute comeback. We beat Butler because we were tougher and better. And we took a Miami team that many had as their trendy national title pick out behind the woodshed.



Why is it everyone still thinks this team wasn't very good? This was all just guys playing hard? No, they finally played to their potential, then had an awful game against Syracuse. It happens. It happened to Syracuse when they only scored 39 against Georgetown in the season finale.

Vander Blue was an all-conference player. Jamil Wilson is really good. Trent Lockett was a mini-Crowder in the way he did everything on the court. Gardner is a beast. Otule is so much better than everyone thought not just on defense but also on offense. And yet still we hear it was effort. Give me a break. This team was very, very good. This team had numerous future pros. I'd guess we had 2-3 future NBA players and more pros that will play around the world. Give this team some damn credit. Maybe it was 2 months ago, but they sure as hell earned it. Especially from their own "fans".

We did win because we got some breaks, but that's OK. Even the best teams need some luck and some friendly bounces. And we did win because we worked hard. Lots of teams are good, but when a good team also out-works its opponent, it deserves to win. We shouldn't feel we have to apologize for being labeled hard-working.

I agree with everything you say here except I'm not sure where you're finding the 2-3 NBA players on last year's team. I know from other posts that you think Vander is an NBA lock. I'm guessing Jamil is your other "sure thing"? Beyond that ... ?

brew, your stuff is always uplifting and positive, and I really appreciate that. You certainly were more up -- and more right -- than most about the 2012-13 Gold!

[MuMark]

Referring to Lockett as a "mini Jae Crowder" is more then a stretch......way more. Lockett was a role player....Crowder was BE player of the year and a 2nd team all american.....that like comparing Joe Chapman to Wade or close to it.....

MU had a great year.....could very easily have been out in the first round instead of going to the elite 8 which may have changed the perception just a bit........

[MUHoopsFan2]

Boy, you'd think that a team making the Elite 8 would lead their fans to realize that they were better than people expected, including us. We didn't luck our way into it. We didn't back into it. We shared the Big East title because we took it. Because we were unbeatable at home and because we won some games away from home. We didn't get to the Elite 8 because we were lucky, we got there because against Davidson the shots finally fell in the final minute. If we shoot our average from 3, we wouldn't have needed a last minute comeback. We beat Butler because we were tougher and better. And we took a Miami team that many had as their trendy national title pick out behind the woodshed.

Why is it everyone still thinks this team wasn't very good? This was all just guys playing hard? No, they finally played to their potential, then had an awful game against Syracuse. It happens. It happened to Syracuse when they only scored 39 against Georgetown in the season finale.

Vander Blue was an all-conference player. Jamil Wilson is really good. Trent Lockett was a mini-Crowder in the way he did everything on the court. Gardner is a beast. Otule is so much better than everyone thought not just on defense but also on offense. And yet still we hear it was effort. Give me a break. This team was very, very good. This team had numerous future pros. I'd guess we had 2-3 future NBA players and more pros that will play around the world. Give this team some damn credit. Maybe it was 2 months ago, but they sure as hell earned it. Especially from their own "fans".

Excellent post! I can't add to this. I agree 100% they made their luck by playing hard at the right time. And if they played any other team besides Syracuse like even Buzz hinted at and knew they would have gone to the Final Four.

They played several times! It was a horrible matching at that time. They were beat going into that game because Boheim knew us too well.
If they had anyone who could shoot with confidence they would have got to the Final Four. This year, there is hope that they would not be any worse then last year.

That is just common sense, not irrational to think that at all. They lost almost no one from last years team they cannot or have not replaced talent or skill wise and you have the unknown in heart and desire and toughness you cannot measure now, but you have 5 guys who might be exceptional in that.

I want to be cautiously optimistic but I am flat out charged up for the possibilities of this team for the next 2-3 on the National Title stage...

[MUHoopsFan2]

Exactly. Buzz always talks about being able to trust the guys he puts on the floor. He is not saying he wants to trust their jump shot.

He wants to be confident that they will be in proper position and defend well.

That will change when you bring in better scorers and shooters. That will change.

They may have better offensive guys this year then defenders. The M.O might be this teams offense and they might have to be creative on defense.

This is another reason why I think Juan Anderson starts...

[MUHoopsFan2]

Thanks for making my point. 39 or 46 demonstrates our offensive challenges, and we lost Blue's 14 plus another about 16 with Lockett and Cadougan.

We will need to score much more to go further and IMO the newbies will need to make up a lot of that, because I don't believe that Otule, Anderson, Thomas and De. Wilson will upgrade much in scoring. Hope they prove that wrong.

What?????????? What are you...lol, this is crazy. You won't have to worry about scoring with this group. I have no idea what in the world you are talking. That will be their strength this year.

The guys who left can't score! You got beat by Cuse' because it was a bad matchup to play them at that juncture in the Tournament.

When you beat Butler and Miami, you can score. But next year you will have to guard them. And if they get the system down look out.

I don't think many of you know or realize how big DEPTH and having a bench of switchables is.

There is no way you can defend that if all the guys have around the same ability and are locked in like this team seems to be. That is why Lousiville won it all.

If they stay healthy with key players in Buzz's 9-10 man rotation and really jell as a unit this team will wear you down!

Impossible to defend or contend on the college level with so many teams different from year to year.

[Vasalos]

Hi everyone,

Just visiting. I think you have a very strong team for next year and I think the Big East will be a great conference. Your RPI will be very strong because the competition in your conference will be very strong. I do my own bracketology and I think you win the Big East next year. Good luck with your season.

www.explorertownbracketologist.com

[bilsu]

Thanks, I also think we will win the Big East next year. Where Buzz's record needs to improve is the conference tournament. Our record the last two years was 53-17 (very good), 28-8 in Big East (excellent), 5-2 in NCAA's (very good) and 0-2 in conference tournament (horrible).

[GGGG]

Terror

Give me a break. I stated last year was huge success and kudo's to all involved. My comments on the team you posted would  be similar to my saying "my kid has a bad temper"...is that bad mouthing my kid?

The equivalent would be your kid graduating from high school with a 3.8 GPA and you saying "you know, he really isn't all that smart, he just got lucky with some teachers who liked him."

I especially don't understand why you would call people "delusional" who don't believe that this team could repeat last year's performance if they had to do it over.  Why couldn't they repeat the performance???

[Skatastrophy]

Your RPI will be very strong because the competition in your conference will be very strong.

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[WarriorInNYC]

I agree with everything you say here except I'm not sure where you're finding the 2-3 NBA players on last year's team. I know from other posts that you think Vander is an NBA lock. I'm guessing Jamil is your other "sure thing"? Beyond that ... ?

Not sure why you quoted "sure thing" as that was never said in Brew's post.  He did say "I'd guess we had 2-3 future NBA players".  "I'd guess" is quite a bit different than "sure thing"

If he thinks Vander is an NBA'er (I personally don't think so, but hopes he makes it) then I would say Jamil and Steve Taylor would be another two.

[Dawson Rental]

The equivalent would be your kid graduating from high school with a 3.8 GPA and you saying "you know, he really isn't all that smart, he just got lucky with some teachers who liked him."

I especially don't understand why you would call people "delusional" who don't believe that this team could repeat last year's performance if they had to do it over.  Why couldn't they repeat the performance???

Speaking just to the NCAA tournament performance, the comeback win against Davidson was highly improbable.  Would that be repeated?  If not, would they be a NCAA "flameout" as you called the team Acker's senior year?

[MU82]

Not sure why you quoted "sure thing" as that was never said in Brew's post.  He did say "I'd guess we had 2-3 future NBA players".  "I'd guess" is quite a bit different than "sure thing"

If he thinks Vander is an NBA'er (I personally don't think so, but hopes he makes it) then I would say Jamil and Steve Taylor would be another two.

Fair enough. I didn't mean to misrepresent.

I don't think any of them are NBA players, certainly not long-term NBAers, but I hope I'm wrong. And I still like brew's positive energy!

[GGGG]

Speaking just to the NCAA tournament performance, the comeback win against Davidson was highly improbable.  Would that be repeated?  If not, would they be a NCAA "flameout" as you called the team Acker's senior year?

If they played Davidson 10 games, they would beat them 8 or 9 times.  I never said that they would have to repeat the last minute comeback every time.

[bilsu]

I think first round games are iffy. You often get the champion of a non-high major conference who is use to winning and has nothing to lose. You never know when you are getting an FGC team that is going to play at a very high level. Georgetown never knew what hit them. Unfortunately for Goergetown the game was close at half, So Thompson kept them on their slow pace until it was too late to salvage the game.

[Windyplayer]

Hi everyone,

Just visiting. I think you have a very strong team for next year and I think the Big East will be a great conference. Your RPI will be very strong because the competition in your conference will be very strong. I do my own bracketology and I think you win the Big East next year. Good luck with your season.

www.explorertownbracketologist.com

Something tells me DePaul, Providence, and Seton Hall got the same message.

[willie warrior]

What?????????? What are you...lol, this is crazy. You won't have to worry about scoring with this group. I have no idea what in the world you are talking. That will be their strength this year.

The guys who left can't score! You got beat by Cuse' because it was a bad matchup to play them at that juncture in the Tournament.

When you beat Butler and Miami, you can score. But next year you will have to guard them. And if they get the system down look out.

I don't think many of you know or realize how big DEPTH and having a bench of switchables is.

There is no way you can defend that if all the guys have around the same ability and are locked in like this team seems to be. That is why Lousiville won it all.

If they stay healthy with key players in Buzz's 9-10 man rotation and really jell as a unit this team will wear you down!

Impossible to defend or contend on the college level with so many teams different from year to year.

Sorry, I do not buy that we do not need to worry about scoring for next year. And this post is referring to the returnees--not the newbies. They will need to score, at least two averaging 8 plus points per game.
What evidence do you have about the returnee scoring that makes you so confident?
I already addressed Ox and Wilson as key scorers. Look at the rest:
De. Wilson: what is his career average-maybe 2 PPG
Anderson: maybe 4 ppg
Otule: after 5 years, maybe 5 ppg. And if he improves significantly in scoring, it will be at expense of Gardner minutes, unless Buzz wises up and plays Gardner at PF
Thomas: 2ppg
Taylor: hopefully we get 8 ppg next year.
I simply do not see Anderson, Otule and De. Wilson as competent to consistently score next year.

[MerrittsMustache]

Sorry, I do not buy that we do not need to worry about scoring for next year. And this post is referring to the returnees--not the newbies. They will need to score, at least two averaging 8 plus points per game.
What evidence do you have about the returnee scoring that makes you so confident?
I already addressed Ox and Wilson as key scorers. Look at the rest:
De. Wilson: what is his career average-maybe 2 PPG
Anderson: maybe 4 ppg
Otule: after 5 years, maybe 5 ppg. And if he improves significantly in scoring, it will be at expense of Gardner minutes, unless Buzz wises up and plays Gardner at PF
Thomas: 2ppg
Taylor: hopefully we get 8 ppg next year.
I simply do not see Anderson, Otule and De. Wilson as competent to consistently score next year.

What BE PF is Gardner going to guard? MU would need to go 2-3 zone if Gardner and Otule are on the floor at the same time.

[bilsu]

I think we will have a zone defense team and a pressing defense team and Buzz will continuly alternate between the two to mix opposing team up. As soon as they appear to get confortable against the zone you hit them with the supper quick team and vice versa.

[Sunbelt15]

I hope JJJ has that "killer instinct". That will be the making of a MU superstar.

[Dawson Rental]

If they played Davidson 10 games, they would beat them 8 or 9 times.  I never said that they would have to repeat the last minute comeback every time.

Wow, Davidson was in complete control of that game for 38 minutes.  It was their game to lose, fortunately for us they did.  I have a hard time thinking that we'd beat them 5 out of ten times.

Would you say that Miami would have beaten MU 8 or 9 times out of ten?

[GGGG]

Wow, Davidson was in complete control of that game for 38 minutes.  It was their game to lose, fortunately for us they did.  I have a hard time thinking that we'd beat them 5 out of ten times.

Well, I apparently have more faith than you do.

Would you say that Miami would have beaten MU 8 or 9 times out of ten?

Oh hell no.  Marquette throttled them.

Butler would be a 50/50 proposition though.

[Galway Eagle]

Wow, Davidson was in complete control of that game for 38 minutes.  It was their game to lose, fortunately for us they did.  I have a hard time thinking that we'd beat them 5 out of ten times.

Would you say that Miami would have beaten MU 8 or 9 times out of ten?

We matched up well against Miami, we'd beat them more times than we'd bear davidson out of ten.  The thing is though I feel like we'd have had better luck against davidson when they aren't playing in the tournament as if they have nothing to lose. 

[ATL MU Warrior]

Wow, Davidson was in complete control of that game for 38 minutes.  It was their game to lose, fortunately for us they did.  I have a hard time thinking that we'd beat them 5 out of ten times.

Would you say that Miami would have beaten MU 8 or 9 times out of ten?

We shot 10 percentage points below our season average FG % against Davidson. 

If we had shot at our average, we'd have made about 6 more baskets.  You do the math.

[bilsu]

Coaches tend to go conservative in NCAA tournament, which is what gets the higher ranked team in trouble.