Biggest Surprise

[PGsHeroes32]

We have four freaking close losses Fluffy.  1, 2, 3, 4. All four against potential tournament teams as it stands currently.  We have two wins against potential tournament teams.  1, 2.  That means we are 2-4 in these contests and that is all that matters right now.  The fact that you get unhinged and stuff is a personal issue that hopefully you can solve in the future.

None of what you said is the debate between Panda and Fluffy.

[MuggsyB]

Yeah youre lost on this one. No offense but you cant tell someone they are "missing the point" when 5 posts ago you asked Panda to explain what is even going on haha.

None of this argument is about quality of opponent. Its all about whether close losses matter.

The close losses turned to close wins is not gonna be better than the blow out wins being turned to bad losses in almost any scenario.

Say we win Purdue and Wisconsin in close games. Heck yeah those are two big wins. But now if Baylor and Creighton wax us off the floor that is nullified.

Even more disasterous if we are swapping close losses and blow out wins would be if the blowouts of GT and ND turned into the losses in this scenario.

Our NET is going to be a huge key come tourney time. And one of the reasons we are top 30 right now with just a meh schedule is becaue we are boat racing teams, and losing tight games.

Yes. the NET matters and we're 2-4 vs the top 75. 

[jfp61]

Yes. the NET matters and we're 2-4 vs the top 75.

The NET matters.

And according to the NET our 4 loses are by a total of 10 points (OT loses are 1 pt) and our wins are by 20 (capped at 10). (minus the fact that they just basically use KenPom/another efficiency metric with this somehow.)

So technically Marquette is +10 in these games.

Marquette's NET is gonna be 25ish tomorrow.

[Newsdreams]

Yes. the NET matters and we're 2-4 vs the top 75.

Not how the NET works

[Newsdreams]

That's not the narrative.  Stop conjuring things from thin air.  All of us would like to win every game by 50 points Fluffy but that's obviously not realistic.  I and others have mentioned that we are 0-4 in close games because......well.....we're 0-4 in close games.  And we at minimum should have won two of them and more likely 3 of 4.  To completely disregard some of our performances in tight games down the stretch is foolish.  We will need to find a way to slam the door in these potential contests and it could be the difference in making the tournament and or advancing in the NCAA tournament.

Muggsy the only who can conjure is the Wizard of Scoop AKA TAMU

[Newsdreams]

What did I miss with Keeyan?  He is a walk-on?

Yes

[Newsdreams]

We don't talk about the past on Scoop

Never ever, except for Woj, Markus & Hausers

[Newsdreams]

Biggest surprise wuz Kolek sayin', "fook 'em" at a catholic university and such, aina?

Nah, Jesus said it first at the temple

[Newsdreams]

So hypothetically if we lose to XU twice, UCONN twice, and Creighton, Providence, and Nova once by a combined 10 points with chances to win all 7 games, Fluffy wouldn't be concerned whatsoever?  I'm a bit lost.  Ty.

No we would just be losing 7 games, now how we lose them will affect the NET. If we lose by less than we are supposed to lose it won't hurt us much or might help us.

[BLWarrior91]

Oso's improvement is off the charts.  He seems to be getting better by the game.  He just needs to start making free throws and he will take his game to a whole new level.

O-Max has also improved dramatically since last season. 

There will be frustrating moments but this team is a lot of fun to watch.  They've lost four games by a very narrow margin...let's hope they learn to close out some close games.

[GoldenEagles03]

Yes

When was this released?

[MUDPT]

Go back and watch the end of regulation against Wisconsin and maybe those that are upset about the close losses will change their mind. Every coach in America would have taken our last 5 possessions over Wisconsin's. And yet it went to OT and MU lost. Sometimes you have to accept the absurdity of sports.

[MuggsyB]

No we would just be losing 7 games, now how we lose them will affect the NET. If we lose by less than we are supposed to lose it won't hurt us much or might help us.

I can't imagine we could get in the NCAA tournament in my hypothetical example if we lost all of those games because of margin of loss.  Especially with possibly one or two wins vs the NET top 50.

[The Sultan]

We have four freaking close losses Fluffy.  1, 2, 3, 4. All four against potential tournament teams as it stands currently.  We have two wins against potential tournament teams.  1, 2.  That means we are 2-4 in these contests and that is all that matters right now.  The fact that you get unhinged and stuff is a personal issue that hopefully you can solve in the future. 

Yeah youre lost on this one. No offense but you cant tell someone they are "missing the point" when 5 posts ago you asked Panda to explain what is even going on haha.

None of this argument is about quality of opponent. Its all about whether close losses matter.

Yep.

English language Muggs. Learn it. Appreciate it.

[Newsdreams]

I can't imagine we could get in the NCAA tournament in my hypothetical example if we lost all of those games because of margin of loss.  Especially with possibly one or two wins vs the NET top 50.

What could really kill MU is losing to DePaul & Georgetown, then MU might have to win all remaining games to get in. Right now if MU lost those 7 games and won all other games, 12-8 BE = MU in NCAAT

[Uncle Rico]

I can't imagine we could get in the NCAA tournament in my hypothetical example if we lost all of those games because of margin of loss.  Especially with possibly one or two wins vs the NET top 50.

Muggsy at a birthday party while everyone sings Happy Birthday:

"I guess it's a happy birthday but you're just one day closer to death.  Are you planning your funeral yet?"

[Newsdreams]

Muggsy at a birthday party while everyone sings Happy Birthday:

"I guess it's a happy birthday but you're just one day closer to death.  Are you planning your funeral yet?"

LOL

[MuggsyB]

Muggsy at a birthday party while everyone sings Happy Birthday:

"I guess it's a happy birthday but you're just one day closer to death.  Are you planning your funeral yet?"

I don't see the analogy.  We're going to have to figure out how to win close games.  It's not rational to think we'll blow out teams, continue to lose close games, but still make the NCAA tournament. 

[muwarrior69]

I'd feel better if we won 2 of the 4 close games we've been in this season.

I still feel good about this team. Would be more encouraged if we performed better in the close games we played this season.

Winning close games is a skill. I know some posters brains may explode with this one but look at providence last year. They had multiple guys who could score in various ways in the half court, great OOB sets when they needed buckets out of timeouts, played very organized tough half court defense and rebounded the ball well. Some Kenpom subscribers called that lucky because they "stole" a bunch of close games, but they were built to win those games.

We haven't showed those qualities yet in close games. That's not to say we can't be that team this year, but with younger players in new roles, it isn't a shock we haven't been great at closing out games.

The skill that is missing is so obvious...rebounding!

[The Sultan]

I don't see the analogy.  We're going to have to figure out how to win close games.  It's not rational to think we'll blow out teams, continue to lose close games, but still make the NCAA tournament. 

The point is they don't have to "figure out" anything. You win close games the same way you win blowouts.

[StillAWarrior]

I voted for Keeyan as my biggest surprise. By nature, I'm generally an optimist when it comes to MU basketball, so I really didn't want to vote for one of the more negative choices...but it is the biggest surprise for me this season. I really expected him to be a solid contributor and I was looking forward to seeing him play. My optimistic nature returns when I think that the team is doing pretty well even without the contributions I expected from Keeyan. I'm still hopeful that he'll be a big part of MU's success at some point.

Oso's outstanding progress and the offense would be my next two choices. Seeing Oso and O-Max improve so much is very encouraging and I'd love to see Keeyan right there with them.

[panda]

The point is they don't have to "figure out" anything. You win close games the same way you win blowouts.

And yet we haven't done it yet this year. It takes a different mentality and strategy to win back and forth close games then blow outs.

[Uncle Rico]

And yet we haven't done it yet this year. It takes a different mentality and strategy to win back and forth close games then blow outs.

And luck

[panda]

And luck

Ask providence about all their luck last season.

[Uncle Rico]

Ask providence about all their luck last season.

Worked out great.  It wasn't some brilliant end of game coaching strategies