Why is everyone so angry?

[willie warrior]

Two words:  Slap of five.

Two words: Thirtyeight points!!!!!

[mreezybreezy]

Two words: Thirtyeight points!!!!!

We just held the #2 offsense in the nation (according to Pom) to 49 pts. I think that's certainly a postive to draw on.

[willie warrior]

We just held the #2 offsense in the nation (according to Pom) to 49 pts. I think that's certainly a postive to draw on.

We just scored 38 points. Even more positive to draw on.

[4everwarriors]

Got that goin' or us, aina?

[pbiflyer]

Because not all of us are clueless.

No, just childish.

[MUSF]

People are drunk.

Truth!!!

[royceda5 9]

People are drunk.

Amen

[Nevada233]

We all kinda knew we would be at or about .500 the year.... Im not surprised..

[MU82]

Make a few FTs and limit some stupid TOs, and they could have been right in it.

Heck, we pulled within 6 and had the ball with 1:25 left when Carlino lost the dribble out of bounds. If we hit a 3 there instead of losing the ball, it's a one-possession game and maybe Bucky's sphincters get a little tight.

Unfortunately, Carlino did turn it over. And then I thought Wojo made a tactical error by letting Bucky dribble the shot clock away before Kaminsky hit the clinching 3.

We only had 3 team fouls. We needed to get super-aggressive and go for steals -- and if we committed some slapping fouls in the process that would have been fine, too. We needed the ball and we needed fouls so we could get them in the 1-and-1. Instead, Bucky dribbled away 30 seconds,Kaminsky hit his 3 and Duane missed another wild runner. Only then, with 30 seconds left and trailing by 8, did we start fouling. By the time we got them to the line, there were only 28 seconds left.

I am not "angry" at either Carlino or Wojo, though. Carlino was the only offensive weapon we had all game and was just trying to make something happen. Wojo is learning just as his players are.

[Tugg Speedman]

Two words:  Slap of five.

Shall we out together a list of stupid things complained about here?

Mayo's face
Buzz's hair
Vander's high five
National TV losses
The terrible student section attendance against crappy teams
Bucky fans at the Bucky game

Others please

[wildbill sb]

Heck, we pulled within 6 and had the ball with 1:25 left when Carlino lost the dribble out of bounds. If we hit a 3 there instead of losing the ball, it's a one-possession game and maybe Bucky's sphincters get a little tight.

Unfortunately, Carlino did turn it over. And then I thought Wojo made a tactical error by letting Bucky dribble the shot clock away before Kaminsky hit the clinching 3.

We only had 3 team fouls. We needed to get super-aggressive and go for steals -- and if we committed some slapping fouls in the process that would have been fine, too. We needed the ball and we needed fouls so we could get them in the 1-and-1. Instead, Bucky dribbled away 30 seconds,Kaminsky hit his 3 and Duane missed another wild runner. Only then, with 30 seconds left and trailing by 8, did we start fouling. By the time we got them to the line, there were only 28 seconds left.

I am not "angry" at either Carlino or Wojo, though. Carlino was the only offensive weapon we had all game and was just trying to make something happen. Wojo is learning just as his players are.

Bingo! +1000!  (I'm not angry either, but come on, it's basketball, not rocket surgery.  Enough of the "he's still learning, just like his young players" cachet; Wojo has been an assistant for more than a decade to the winningest coach ever, and does not deserve any pass for his boneheaded-ness in certain crucial moments.)  I like him and what he has done for MU so far and repeat, I am not angry. On the contrary, the future of MUMen'sBB looks very promising.

[murara1994]

I doubt that Wojos game plan was 'drive into lane and shoot out of control off balance layups.' Players need to execute. Attack the basket, but pull up or make the extra pass.

[Tugg Speedman]

I doubt that Wojos game plan was 'drive into lane and shoot out of control off balance layups.' Players need to execute. Attack the basket, but pull up or make the extra pass.

When Wojo was on Homer show after the game, he said the game plan was to drive the lane but then to dish to the open man on the wing.  We only did half of that.

Regarding the fouling after Carlino TO, that was never going to work anyway. Buckys is too good a foul shooting team to honestly expect them to miss enough front ends that we could've gotten back into the game.

[RubyWiscy]

When Wojo was on Homer show after the game, he said the game plan was to drive the lane but then to dish to the open man on the wing.  We only did half of that.

As anyone who has coached knows, there is a big difference between having a game plan and getting the kids to execute it. This team is progressing, but not fast enough to beat WI. The good news is the game was always in reach so a bit more schooling up plus add a few pieces, experience and I think we have a winner.

[MU82]

Regarding the fouling after Carlino TO, that was never going to work anyway. Buckys is too good a foul shooting team to honestly expect them to miss enough front ends that we could've gotten back into the game.

It's "never going to work" so you shouldn't even try?

With 20 seconds left, after we finally got them into 1-and-1, we fouled Gasser. He was shooting 91.6% from the line. And guess what ... he missed the front end -- which I guess was impossible because he's too good a foul shooter.

"Miss enough front ends" to get back into the game? We only needed them to miss two: Foul ... Gasser misses ... Carlino 3 ... foul ... Hayes (or whomever) misses ... Duane 3 ... game tied.

And maybe when we're being super-aggressive, we don't even get called for a foul. Maybe we strip the ball away and then turn it into a score for us.

Is all that a long shot? Of course. It also was a long shot that Lazar would clank FTs that let DePaul beat us a few years ago. It also was a long shot that we'd come back from 7 down with a minute to go against Davidson. Crazy stuff happens in sports. If crazy stuff didn't happen, we wouldn't enjoy sports so much.

All I know is that you always try -- as Wojo did when he instructed his team to foul down 9 with 30 seconds left. Wojo did it even though he had to know it was never going to work. Because you always try!!!!!

If you're gonna foul down 9 with 30 seconds left, there's no reason you shouldn't have fouled down 6 with 60 seconds left, especially when you only have 3 team fouls at that point. You have to at least go for some steals rather than sit back in a tight zone letting them dribble the clock away. Jeesh.

And again, I say this as one who likes Wojo and thinks he's doing a great job. Even the best coaches in history made mistakes sometimes.

[tower912]

Yes, MU should have started fouling sooner.   

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Bingo! +1000!  (I'm not angry either, but come on, it's basketball, not rocket surgery.

Shite, rocket surgery sounds intense!

[Tugg Speedman]

"Miss enough front ends" to get back into the game? We only needed them to miss two: Foul ... Gasser misses ... Carlino 3 ... foul ... Hayes (or whomever) misses ... Duane 3 ... game tied.

Three, stop, then another three and the game is tied.  I was waiting 39+ minutes for that too happen.  It did not and it was not going to in the last 30 seconds either.

So go ahead an bellyache that should have started fouling sooner.  If they did exactly what you suggested, guess what, we get exactly the same outcome.

[MU82]

Three, stop, then another three and the game is tied.  I was waiting 39+ minutes for that too happen.  It did not and it was not going to in the last 30 seconds either.

So go ahead an bellyache that should have started fouling sooner.  If they did exactly what you suggested, guess what, we get exactly the same outcome.

You don't know that to be true.

Meanwhile, I absolutely know it's true that by not fouling and just letting them stand 40 feet from the basket dribbling away the clock, we had no chance.

Wojo did eventually come to his senses and start fouling. And one of the 1-and-1s was missed by a 91% FT shooter.

I remember a Heat game where Ray Allen missed two FTs to contribute to a Heat loss, and he is the fifth-best FT shooter in NBA history. It was impossible to expect him to miss ... but he did. Stuff happens in sports. You at least have to try.

This is what drives me nuts about Scoop sometimes. You are so obviously wrong here but it somehow would affect your manhood to admit it. Hell, even Wojo admitted it!

[Lennys Tap]

This is simple. Maybe there ALMOST NO chance of winning if we foul. But there is NO chance if we don't. Foul and don't stop until "almost no" becomes "no".

[Tugg Speedman]

This is simple. Maybe there ALMOST NO chance of winning if we foul. But there is NO chance if we don't. Foul and don't stop until "almost no" becomes "no".

Exactly ... 82 sounds like those pathetic types that piss their money away on lottery tickets ... " you can't win if you don't play."

[mattyv1908]

Exactly ... 82 sounds like those pathetic types that piss their money away on lottery tickets ... " you can't win if you don't play."

Actually MU82 is making the sound logical argument for what every team should do in the circumstances just witnessed.

The fact that you're arguing against it is what's curious.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Big Frank's three was a statistical changer.

http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2014/12/06/wisconsin-49-marquette-38/flow

[Tugg Speedman]

Actually MU82 is making the sound logical argument for what every team should do in the circumstances just witnessed.

The fact that you're arguing against it is what's curious.

I'm not arguing that it is the wrong strategy, it just a long shot strategy, so long that you should not expect it to work.

As 82 said:

We needed the ball and we needed fouls so we could get them in the 1-and-1. Instead, Bucky dribbled away 30 seconds, Kaminsky hit his 3 and Duane missed another wild runner. Only then, with 30 seconds left and trailing by 8, did we start fouling. By the time we got them to the line, there were only 28 seconds left.

Instead of fouling, we were trying for a defensive stop.  I would argue that is the higher percentage strategy.

So I'm not sure what the "mistake" was in this instance.

[mattyv1908]

Simply because given the amount of time or lack of time, the proper strategy was to aggressively go for the steal but once the Badgers crossed half court it should have been immediate fouls.  I have no problem with them trying for force either a steal or a 10 second violation but once neither of those occurred a foul was in order.