Reasons for optimism so far this year.

[tower912]

1.   Wojo and his staff have shown pragmatism.    Going to a really good zone when all of their instincts are to play man shows courage.
2.   Duane Wilson.   He wasn't great today, but he is talented and aggressive.   He has the heart of a scorer.
3.   STjr and Juan have shown the ability to defend without fouling.   Granted, it hasn't always been great defense, but they have worked hard and stayed out of foul trouble, which was one of my concerns coming into the year.
4.   Sandy Cohen.   I thought he was an afterthought for Buzz, but he remained loyal when Wojo came and has shown some flashes. 
5.   Luke is eligible.   I don't know how much he will actually bring, but he can only help.

I am more optimistic now than I was a month ago.   

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I like your thought process. Agree on all points.

[Jay Bee]

1) Deonte not there yet. Top player not getting minutes.

[g0lden3agle]

Is it crazy to think that Cohen could start taking minutes from Juan?

[tower912]

1) Deonte not there yet. Top player not getting minutes.

Not earning them yet.  Gotta play d and rebound, too.   He will get better.

[RealWarriorFan]

I think this year will set the foundation of the Wojo Warrior chapter in MU history. So far I like it, we have some good players and they play hard.  

[Nukem2]

1.   Wojo and his staff have shown pragmatism.    Going to a really good zone when all of their instincts are to play man shows courage.
2.   Duane Wilson.   He wasn't great today, but he is talented and aggressive.   He has the heart of a scorer.
3.   STjr and Juan have shown the ability to defend without fouling.   Granted, it hasn't always been great defense, but they have worked hard and stayed out of foul trouble, which was one of my concerns coming into the year.
4.   Sandy Cohen.   I thought he was an afterthought for Buzz, but he remained loyal when Wojo came and has shown some flashes. 
5.   Luke is eligible.   I don't know how much he will actually bring, but he can only help.

I am more optimistic now than I was a month ago.   

3.  Juan is a senior.

[BCHoopster]

The Big East is better then most people thought, is it possible they could be the worst team in the Big East this year?  Guess Buzz is smarter then you think.  X pounding Alabama and st . Johns beat Syracuse. Hall crushed Rutgers and DePaul beat Stanford, 6 victories might be a stretch

[Groin_pull]

Ugly game, but I didn't expect anything else today. This season will be rough, but next year will be a lot more fun. The ride will improve.

[PGsHeroes32]

The lack of fouls has been really impressive. Our guys are doing tremendous at that. Badgers are a team that have been living at the line and we sent them there 9 times.

Burton is going to be unleashed soon, mark my words. Luke is going to help him a lot.

[tower912]

6.  We've played 3 ranked B1G teams, an ACC and SEC team, and competed with them all.   A couple of players and some maturity and consistency away from being pretty good. 

[GGGG]

Is it crazy to think that Cohen could start taking minutes from Juan?

Probably.  He looked decent today, but struggles defensively and doesn't bring the overall energy that Juan brings.  He is a better shooter, and I think has a bigger upside when all is said and done.

[MUfan12]

6.  We've played 3 ranked B1G teams, an ACC and SEC team, and competed with them all.   A couple of players and some maturity and consistency away from being pretty good. 

7. After this week, there's no restrictions on practice time for the next month.

[naginiF]

Totally agree with all your points and would like to thank you for taking a rational and supportive approach in your posts.

addition:  #8 - the teams ability to play with intensity, and the staffs ability to get them to play with intensity, when they know they are over matched.  the only time the intensity wanes more than a possession is when they are clearly exhausted.

[g0lden3agle]

Probably.  He looked decent today, but struggles defensively and doesn't bring the overall energy that Juan brings.  He is a better shooter, and I think has a bigger upside when all is said and done.

Juan's refusal to shoot from outside was killer yesterday.  I agree Juan is currently the better defensive/high energy guy, but he really needs to start getting comfortable with an outside jumper with how ineffective his inside game is against teams that can defend the paint well.

[Jay Bee]

7. After this week, there's no restrictions on practice time for the next month.

Wat

[muwarrior69]

The Big East is better then most people thought, is it possible they could be the worst team in the Big East this year?  Guess Buzz is smarter then you think.  X pounding Alabama and st . Johns beat Syracuse. Hall crushed Rutgers and DePaul beat Stanford, 6 victories might be a stretch

Starting New Year Eve we'll find out.

[brandx]

The Big East is better then most people thought, is it possible they could be the worst team in the Big East this year?  Guess Buzz is smarter then you think.  X pounding Alabama and st . Johns beat Syracuse. Hall crushed Rutgers and DePaul beat Stanford, 6 victories might be a stretch

I kinda wonder what your reasoning is. After being in a one possession game inside of eight minutes against the #2 team in the country has made you think this team is terrible? After being competitive in the 2nd half to another highly ranked team? With the addition of a tall person this week?

Could you explain your thought process?