Belmont thoughts

[tower912]

1.   Age, experience, execution over youth and energy.
2.   MU had streaks when they got 3 happy.   Can't have it. 
3.   Defense was just sloppy and weak. 
4.  Henry is the real deal.   Just maybe.   But the call at the end was the right one. 
5.  Apparently emphasizing and practicing free throws doesn't always pay off. 
6.  Freshmen act like freshmen sometimes. 
7.  Roller coaster.   Game of runs.   Pick your cliché. 
8.   Duane has to make a better decision with the ball, up 1, Belmont disorganized.    Worst possible choice.   
9.  There is talent.   This team will get better.  But we can put away the rainbows/unicorns/bubbles of the Italy trip.    This is a young team with a lot of growing to do.   
10.   Going back to the preseason picks, I am officially 1-0.   

[real chili 83]

Good call Tower

[ChicosBailBonds]

We play young, which is expected.  Not surprised at the loss at all.  Defense, needs a lot of work.  Decision making, the same.  Energy good, team will be fun to watch.  Basketball IQ, I hope is due to inexperience and will improve.

[WarriorFan]

11.  Disappointed not to see a few minutes from Wally.  I was hoping he would add maturity for brief stretches.
12.  Haanif > Traci
13.  Need the ball in Duane's hands in tight spots
14.  Badgers lost to a directional school

When we're "on the bubble", this will be viewed as a "good loss".

[avid1010]

thought wojo could have put the freshmen in better situations to end the game.  ellenson in the post would have been better than ellenson at the top of the key.  he must feel comfortable with tracy's handle, but... 

duane couldn't hit from outside...thought luke continues to look too weak down low at times...no fire in him. 

[geps]

80 points should win you most games. If they played any D.....at all?

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Tower is the best. Agree on all counts. Tough loss, but Belmont is an excellent team. Very youthful mistakes on our part. We have some studs.

[Newsdreams]

Too many poor decisions, really expected better from D Wilson. Missed too many easy shots. Need to improve D, although it felt like it improved during second half.

[Norm]

The decision by D Wil to shoot that 3 with south time on the shot clock was horrible and turned the game Belmonts way. But I still don't like Wojo's coaching in close games - we never win them under him so far.

[known cynic]

Long time listener - first time caller.
Past: Belmont makes a lot of shots. We don't
Future: Other teams make a lot of shots. We better.
Who changed D. Wilson's shot?  Elbow way underneath vs. Italy tour and last year.
Worship Wojo but even the announcer in the first half said Belmont can't guard H.E. one-on-one but we did not go to him. Al always said "give it to the shooter"
H.E. has a long way to go to be the 6th pick in the NBA
Cheatham ... Awesome.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

One more thing...didn't see much of Cohen in the 2nd half. Was I  missing something?

[brewcity77]

Was expecting a loss tonight. Belmont and LSU are two toughest non con games on the schedule. Still looked like Henry got undercut on that late drive from my angle. Oh well, my hope was 11-2 outside Big East play, so not disastrous.

[AlumKCof93]

Fun team to watch, a lot of energy and clear talent out there.  But a lot of freshman mistakes and too many missed free throws.  Ellenson was as billed and encouraged by sandy, thought he looked good.  Some disappointments;

1.  Fischer needs to go up strong, still fades.  Poor defense, step slow and got burned far too often on pick and rolls.
2. Cheatham seemed a step slow on defense.
3. Duane needs to make a better decision than take that 3 when up 1 and Belmont down a player.  Can't happen.

But we played a quality opponent and would have won if we made our free throws and made some of the easy ones that just rimmed out.  Arrows pointing up but easy to see Henry as 1 and done.

Also, hard to win with freshman point guards.

[hdog1017]

With that roster, there's no way Buzz loses that game. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

With that roster, there's no way Buzz loses that game.

Buzz couldn't get that roster as Henry was never going to play for Buzz.

[AlumKCof93]

Overall, thought refs did a good job.  I thought they missed some in first half, but can't really complain.  Definite charge on Henry at the end. 

While Belmont is good, hard not to feel we should have won this one.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Also, hard to win with freshman point guards.

Most important point

[MilWarrior]

The decision by D Wil to shoot that 3 with south time on the shot clock was horrible and turned the game Belmonts way. But I still don't like Wojo's coaching in close games - we never win them under him so far.

We've never won them because our team was awful last year

[mattyv1908]

Replace Henry Ellenson with Matt Carlino and our late game offense looks exactly the same.  The offense looks better when it's being ran in a concept, so why switch away from it when it matters?

When the best play from a front court player comes from Belmont despite the huge size advantage it's a bad sign.  If Henry and Luke are going to pad their stats it's in games like these.

Thought Wojo got outmaneuvered throughout the game.

Thought Johnson and Cohen looked both much stronger and more confident.  Anim's play was a bright spot.  I think Cheatham has promise but Carter is going to be really good when he get's the college game under his belt.  Carter and Anim remind me of the old (read hardnose, gritty, and more entertaining) Big East.

Somebody needs to sanitize the equipment because the 'Derrick'is still hanging around with all the missed lay ups and free throws.

Dare I say we could have used some Taylor Jr. today?

[Warriorfish]

Buzz couldn't get that roster as Henry was never going to play for Buzz.

True, but it's a good question.

Does MU win that game with that roster if Buzz  is the coach?

[mattyv1908]

Buzz couldn't get that roster as Henry was never going to play for Buzz.

That's true Chicos, but that doesn't make his statement any less valid.

[mug644]

I only listened to Homer and Mac, but I had the impression that Duane wasn't as prominent towards the end as I think he should've been. Yea, he hit the big 3 (but then took an overly-ambitious one) and he took the last shot, but it seemed like he was deferring to others (esp. Henry) perhaps more than he should've. For example, where was Duane when Traci brought the ball up and lost it off his leg? Of course, this is simply hindsight looking at the disappointing errors by the freshmen down the stretch.

[MU82]

Biggest criticisms were some poor defense throughout and a godawful decision by Duane on the 3-pointer attempt with us 5-on-4 because their guy had a cramp. It would have been fine had he been "feelin' it," but he struggled all night. Just have to get a better shot than that up 1 with them in trouble.

Otherwise, I'm not especially surprised. I hosted three fellow Warriors and I told them all beforehand that this was no cupcake.

Thankfully, the beer was cold.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Most important point

Which is my biggest concern for the entire year.  It's a guards game.

[ChicosBailBonds]

True, but it's a good question.

Does MU win that game with that roster if Buzz  is the coach?

Don't know and don't care.