Experience

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The problem with blaming bad games on roster construction is that we have games where we play like a top 25 team. We played Nova tight for 40 minutes, blew out a very good Seton Hall team, beat a good (but sliding) Providence team on the road, and we played top 10 X to within a bucket or two.

If we're capable of competing in these kinds of games, I think it shows that this year's team could be a top 25 team if they were more consistent. I think part of the lack of consistency comes relying on younger guys, but I think the biggest part comes from coaching. There are too many games where we are surprised out of the gates and don't figure out how to slow our opponent down mid-game. And the continually porous defense under Wojo, regardless of roster, is telling as well.

For me, the bigger question is - Can Wojo become a top 25 coach?

0-8 against KenPom top 25
13-1 outside KenPom top 25

That's pretty consistent. We're a bubble quality team who consistently loses to teams better than us and consistently beats teams worse than us. Could another coach have us doing better? Definitely. Could another coach have us doing worse? Definitely! I would guess the 2nd list is longer than the 1st one.

[skianth16]

That's pretty consistent. We're a bubble quality team who consistently loses to teams better than us and consistently beats teams worse than us. Could another coach have us doing better? Definitely. Could another coach have us doing worse? Definitely! I would guess the 2nd list is longer than the 1st one.

You're probably right. But when we get so close in some really big game, it's hard not to think that a little bit better gameplan could have pushed us over the edge. Then again, it's probably fair to say that we were only in the game because of the good plan and that we were nearing our ceiling. Ifs and buts...

[goldeneagle91114]

The problem last night wasn't because our guys are young. If anything, the only decent performances last night came from our young guys.  Markus and Sacar both had pretty good games, Greg did a decent job and logged a ton of minutes. Sam wasn't great, but he at least went at the hoop more than usual. The biggest disappointment last night was our senior.

I think last night's problem was more our young coach than anything else. There was no gameplan in place to slow Wideman down. When Rowsey came out cold, we had issues running an offense for Sam. Even when we went small, we did a poor job of pressuring the ball. All those things fall on the coaching staff.

Don't give Wojo an out as being a "young" coach. Butler's coach has one prior year of HC experience at UWM, and his team came out ready to play.

[skianth16]

Don't give Wojo an out as being a "young" coach. Butler's coach has one prior year of HC experience at UWM, and his team came out ready to play.

Fair. I wasn't really trying to give him an out, because I fully agree that he's been around long enough that he should be more consistent than he's been. I do think it takes much longer to become a mature coach than player, but I still think that based on his resume, we should expect a lot from him.

[Aircraftcarrier]

Other than Duke,Kentucky and maybe Michigan St. does any team play as well as MU that 7 out of there top 8 players are Fr. and So.

[MattyWarrior]

We still should be showing improvement on D as the year goes by. No consistency at all!!