Seton Hell

[nyg]

SH had 22 turnovers and still won. MU self inflicted themselves.

Down two after big Joplin three, then:

Joplin miss open three
Joplin turnover
Joplin miss open three
Mitchell miss open three
Kolek miss open three

Two of misses were then layups because of no transition defense, like they gave up. Those above five straight possessions after being down 10 was the difference. Shaka don't mind them shooting threes though.

To be really technical:

Six SH points on fouling threes
Mitchell missing front end free throw before half
8 points.....

[PointWarrior]

the definition of "playing stupid"

SH had 22 turnovers and still won. MU self inflicted themselves.

Down two after big Joplin three, then:

Joplin miss open three
Joplin turnover
Joplin miss open three
Mitchell miss open three
Kolek miss open three

Two of misses were then layups because of no transition defense, like they gave up. Those above five straight possessions after being down 10 was the difference. Shaka don't mind them shooting threes though.

To be really technical:

Six SH points on fouling threes
Mitchell missing front end free throw before half
8 points.....

[NolongerWarriors]

Shaka does what he always does.  Started subbing between the first and second media timeouts.    Sticking to his substitution patterns was not what cost MU the game.

Nonsense.

Sticking to a rigid plan with no feel for what's going on in the actual game did cost MU the game.

I don't think much of the guy, but sitting Sean Jones at about the 5 minute mark (?) also was a horrible decision.

[tower912]

SH had 22 turnovers and still won. MU self inflicted themselves.

Down two after big Joplin three, then:

Joplin miss open three
Joplin turnover
Joplin miss open three
Mitchell miss open three
Kolek miss open three

Two of misses were then layups because of no transition defense, like they gave up. Those above five straight possessions after being down 10 was the difference. Shaka don't mind them shooting threes though.

To be really technical:

Six SH points on fouling threes
Mitchell missing front end free throw before half
8 points.....

Kolek being MIA was the deciding factor in the game.   Nobody took a bad 3 today.

[StillWarriors]

Can't have Kam and Kokek as non-factors most of the game on O. Kolek played like his first year-never looking to shoot. So strange. Absolutely lacking a physical presence on this team. Ross out makes that situation even worse.

Butler has the bodies to play very physical. MU better wake up.

[SaveOD238]

Last year in conference play we were the hunters.  This year, we're the hunted.  That difference has shown in both of the road games so far this season.  Our opponents have shown more focus and grit than we have.  I really think that TKo's "F 'em" attitude from last year was what drove us to success.  Now we're taking the conference for granted.

They need to figure it out in March in order to reach to ultimate peak.

[MuggsyB]

the definition of "playing stupid"

Jop was open and certain guys passed up shots.  The bottom line is TyKo and Kam were 6-21.  I think between them they made one field goal the entire 2nd half.  We're not beating decent teams on the road if they do not show up. 

[NickelDimer]

Losing is getting battle tested?

You don't think you can arguably learn more from losses than wins?

[PointWarrior]

Can we stop saying we have "the best backcourt in the country" now....

Can't have Kam and Kokek as non-factors most of the game on O. Kolek played like his first year-never looking to shoot. So strange. Absolutely lacking a physical presence on this team. Ross out makes that situation even worse.

Butler has the bodies to play very physical. MU better wake up.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

It's pretty simple:

-Kolek didn't show up.
-Kam's shooting slump continues
-Ross gets hurt early
-Fouling 3 point shooters (again), allowed those easy transition run-outs in the last 4 minutes and SH hit their free-throws.

This team also beat UConn and Providence at home.

Also, anyone calling us a middle-of-the pack BE team should delete their account.   

Confident we'll be fine. 

[NickelDimer]

Shaka does what he always does.  Started subbing between the first and second media timeouts.    Sticking to his substitution patterns was not what cost MU the game.

It also shows a bit too much of a prescriptive approach. I get the criticism and think it has merit

[PointWarrior]

as they are currently playing, they are a middle of the pack BE team right now....

It's pretty simple:

-Kolek didn't show up.
-Kam's shooting slump continues
-Ross gets hurt early
-Fouling 3 point shooters (again), allowed those easy transition run-outs in the last 4 minutes and SH hit their free-throws.

This team also beat UConn and Providence at home.

Also, anyone calling us a middle-of-the pack BE team should delete their account.   

Confident we'll be fine.

[nyg]

Kolek being MIA was the deciding factor in the game.   Nobody took a bad 3 today.

Never used the word "bad shot", they were wide open.  Live and die by the three, MU died. Point is those were the straight possessions and laziness on defense transition, after a big MU run, that really hurt MU. 

[21Jumpstreet]

Must have missed it, was Zaide out today?

[mileskishnish72]

Outrebounded 41-25. Virtually no Kolek, and Kam 3-10 on 3's. Would have been a different ending without the fouls on 3's and the two nobody-back jams. MU cannot beat more physical teams if fouls aren't called and/or our 3's aren't dropping.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

as they are currently playing, they are a middle of the pack BE team right now....

If that's the case, there's one good team and every other BE team is middle of the pack or worse. 

[brewcity77]

If you told me we would hold Bediako to 3 offensive rebounds, win the turnover battle 22-10, and play at the pace we want, I would've expected a 15-20 point win. This is simply a bad loss to a bad team. So much wrong with today. Kam and Tyler both just not showing up. Not having an answer for them inside. Not being able to create our own shots inside when that's our specialty. Giving up the two run-outs after tying the game that proved to the the margin difference between a win and loss. We just didn't seem well-prepared to beat an inferior opponent on the road.

I've been all in on this team being a national title contender, but we just don't look like it right now. The offense is a pale shadow of what last year was and the defensive improvement isn't enough to offset it. Not sure our ceiling, but at the moment it feels more like the second weekend than competing to cut down nets in the third.

[21Jumpstreet]

Really thought Kolek was going to right his ship today, he looked SO good early on and SO poor for the rest of the game. Someone used the term disinterested, it sure seems that way sometimes. Hope he is okay physically and mentally. Kid has heart, it's in there, the fight is in there.

[Norm]

I think Seton Hall may have staying power and finish top 4 in BE. They are senior and 5th year laden and have a lot of experience. Already have beaten us, UConn and Providence.

[CountryRoads]

If you told me we would hold Bediako to 3 offensive rebounds, win the turnover battle 22-10, and play at the pace we want, I would've expected a 15-20 point win. This is simply a bad loss to a bad team. So much wrong with today. Kam and Tyler both just not showing up. Not having an answer for them inside. Not being able to create our own shots inside when that's our specialty. Giving up the two run-outs after tying the game that proved to the the margin difference between a win and loss. We just didn't seem well-prepared to beat an inferior opponent on the road.

I've been all in on this team being a national title contender, but we just don't look like it right now. The offense is a pale shadow of what last year was and the defensive improvement isn't enough to offset it. Not sure our ceiling, but at the moment it feels more like the second weekend than competing to cut down nets in the third.

Feels like a round of 32 team.

[Tyler COLEk]

The story of this loss is the same as most all MU's weaker performances: they did not shoot well, and they rebounded very poorly. That's the losing formula for this team.

[Big Papi]

Offensively - Kam and Kolek are not having good years.  Definitely not consistent.  That is fine if others step up but when Gold, Jop, Ross and SJ struggle offensively, we struggle to win.

Defensively - We seem a little off.  Our offensive issues are magnified when our defense gives up too many easy buckets.  We turned over SH today but when we didn't, they seemed to score way too easily.

Its a long season and this team is obviously talented.  We could continue to struggle for much of the year and still figure things out where we could beat anyone and win 6 in a row in March.  The talent is there but we need to figure things out and get over the hump.

Need Kam to find his mojo.
Need Kolek to be more assertive.
Need SJ, Stevie and Gold to be more consistent scoring threats.
Need Ross to come back or have one of the freshmen figure things out quickly and contribute.
Need Jop and Gold to become more of an inside scoring threats.
Need to figure out how to defend better as a team when Gold is on the court.

We have 2 months to figure it out. 

[tower912]

TKo and Kam were MIA.   MU forced 22 turnovers and gave up 78 points.   What does the defensive ppp look like on non-turnover possessions?   

[MuggsyB]

If you told me we would hold Bediako to 3 offensive rebounds, win the turnover battle 22-10, and play at the pace we want, I would've expected a 15-20 point win. This is simply a bad loss to a bad team. So much wrong with today. Kam and Tyler both just not showing up. Not having an answer for them inside. Not being able to create our own shots inside when that's our specialty. Giving up the two run-outs after tying the game that proved to the the margin difference between a win and loss. We just didn't seem well-prepared to beat an inferior opponent on the road.

I've been all in on this team being a national title contender, but we just don't look like it right now. The offense is a pale shadow of what last year was and the defensive improvement isn't enough to offset it. Not sure our ceiling, but at the moment it feels more like the second weekend than competing to cut down nets in the third.

Brew, our h-c offense has not been good.  I dunno if it's as simple as not making shots but we have major droughts combined with some boneheaded decision making. 

[Tyler COLEk]

I've been all in on this team being a national title contender, but we just don't look like it right now. The offense is a pale shadow of what last year was and the defensive improvement isn't enough to offset it. Not sure our ceiling, but at the moment it feels more like the second weekend than competing to cut down nets in the third.

I think this generally feels true right now, with the massive caveat that championships are not played for in early January. Periodic reminder that UConn lost seven times in conference play last year.

To emerge as a true contender, MU must figure out a way to take it up a couple of levels by March. In that calculus, the most important outcome of this game is the long-term health of Chase Ross.