Recurring failures? What does that have to do with this. 14-4 and 1 or 2 tourney wins gets us on the bubble. Where do you address recurring failures in that, unless you are obsessed with recurring failures. We are talking about what is necessary, not how Haith is going to fail or not getting to that place.
UConn Game Thread
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On a different note. when UCan't comes here to play and we hopefully smoke em we need to start a Big East chant near the end of the game...I think their fans and coach Hurley deserve it
14-4 doesn’t get us in unless we have another win or two against q1. It might get us on the bubble, but it could also see us left out for our early season foibles.
Thanks for restating what I've be saying for several posts. Thanks also, for saying it with a negative tude. We can always count on you for that.
You do realize that if you are a different team from 1 half of the season to the next, the selection committee gives you credit for that. That's why every sports personality that is talking bout us right now is starting to talk NCAA team. If we don't screw the pooch in a game or two, and do what it takes to get to 14-4, we are not just on the bubble, but solidly on it.(as in more likely to get in than not)
Thank you for this. Not to mention the TV people have bought their way into the selection committee one way or the other. With OSU out and OU a bubble team at best at this point, TU looks good from an eyeballs standpoint for the first time in awhile. Mix in that they want Houston and Memphis in the tourney for optics reasons and the name brand of Haith and we start to look pretty darn good if they have to tap us as the 3rd AAC team to get to a play-in Memphis team at 4. If they don’t keep winning, they’ll still get in if they win on Saturday and half way hold it together down the stretch winning the games they should and look serviceable in a tourney semi final game.
14-4 in conference will get us into the NCAA tournament. Puts us at 23-9 regular season. This isn't the old WAC or C-USA. I said this when conference season started. But if I'm being honest, 14-4 was probably a pipe dream and more of me bitching about how we let 3 games in the OOC that we should have won escape us for whatever reason.
14-4 isn't so much of a pipe dream right now though. 1 game at a time.
I'm giving Aston a pass on this. He has an opinion based on disappointing finishes and a string of disappointing recruiting classes that have left us scrambling for serviceable players. I certainly understand where that opinion comes from. Last 2 recruiting cycles have gone really well for us. Sure it took 6 years but we are finally starting to see a little bit of a return to the type of basketball we all want to see again.
I don't agree with Aston on all of it. Haith has shown he has some coaching chops in the game. The team is ready to play every game out and even when we aren't playing our best, we still have our chances to win. I am actually writing off the 2nd half of the Cincy game as a fluke right now. We were toe to toe with them in the 1st half. We couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in the second half and their best player got hot. It happens. It has happened to the best TU teams in the last 27 years.
This team isn't as talented as Self's teams. Probably slightly more talented than Robinson's teams and they play as hard as any TU team since I've been following.
To be clear. I'm rooting FOR Haith, not against him. I had a killer time at the Memphis game. I loved it and was cheering just as loud as anyone there. I want him to succeed. I'm just really tired of disappointments. This stretch has been a change of pace. I hope it keeps going.
I'm just afraid that the league will end up being looked at this season like it was in 2014-2015. We finished second that season. We went 14-4 in conference and were left out while some other teams behind us got in. We really can't afford to not win a couple more against SMU, Houston, and Wichita. Right now we're sitting with the Houston and Memphis victories at home. I think Memphis could be in the early stages of a major collapse. I don't want to pin our hopes on Penny Friggin Hardaway being able to coach.
Hey, I get it. And sometimes a lot of this board forget that almost everyone on here wants TU to be successful. A lot of us bitch about football and not doing anything about the coach after this past season. We have presented our reasons why. Some may agree, some may disagree. For the most part, we all present logical points from our personal perspective, and I only hope that if people have a counter to that opinion, it is also presented in a respectful way with their points of reason. And almost all of us agree with you in that we want the bar to be a little bit higher. I think where the disagreements come is when you compare Haith to the previous 2 head coaches, 1 of whom couldn't recruit or coach at this level, the other was just a complete prick about having to be in Tulsa. I think Haith has gotten the benefit of the doubt because he has proven himself to be both way more competent a coach than Phillips or Wojcik, and he seems to actually like Tulsa. Wojcik may have gotten an extra year IF he didn't have a private opinion that got out into public that Tulsa was a 2nd rate city. (I leave Manning out because he did the job he was hired to do and left at first chance...that happens a lot around here).
That is a point we can all agree on. Penny is an empty slate when it comes to x's and o's. The continued iso NBA sets against zone defenses is baffling.
I think we need to win out at home, we can lose at Houston and at WSU and maybe drop the Temple game and win the rest and be OK. TBH, we're a lot better than Temple and probably should win there.
You are such a glass half full guy. Bet you are a barrel of fun at party's. You seem to excuse the Houston win as being not that important. Getting in or out is not based solely on the net. Our hopes are not all on Memphis.
All this arguing over 14-4 is way premature. We’re playing really well right now but going the rest of the way with only 3 losses is a real challenge. What makes me optimistic about the rest of the season and possible post season is the way we’re beating people. We’ve had two close ones in our six conference wins but the rest have been by double digits with two real beat downs (Temple and Memphis).
Another positive is how we’re playing as a team. Who will be our leading scorer in the next game? It could be Rachal, it could be Horne, it could be Igbanu, it could be Jackson, it could be Joiner, they’ve all been the leading scorer in recent games, or it could be someone else. We’ve been rebounding like we haven’t for years. I don’t get any “oh crap” feelings when we sub player A got player B, we are as deep with quality players as I can remember.
There will be bumps in the road and I’m sure some of us will channel Panicstricken and switch from “we’re the greatest of all time” to “we’re not gonna win a gd game” with the next loss but if worse comes to worst I feel good about us having a shot at winning three games at a neutral site against anyone in this league.
Another positive is how we’re playing as a team. Who will be our leading scorer in the next game? It could be Rachal, it could be Horne, it could be Igbanu, it could be Jackson, it could be Joiner, they’ve all been the leading scorer in recent games, or it could be someone else. We’ve been rebounding like we haven’t for years. I don’t get any “oh crap” feelings when we sub player A got player B, we are as deep with quality players as I can remember.
There will be bumps in the road and I’m sure some of us will channel Panicstricken and switch from “we’re the greatest of all time” to “we’re not gonna win a gd game” with the next loss but if worse comes to worst I feel good about us having a shot at winning three games at a neutral site against anyone in this league.
I'm thinking UCONN will right the ship a bit and end up a Q1 win. Road opponents only have to be Top 75
I am not as optimistic about UCONN as you are. We've heard for years how great Vital and Gilbert are but they're just aren't. IMO, Akok may be their best player and he likes to shoot facing up to the basket and he certainly didn't seem to like the way Igbanu was leaning on him yesterday. They do force teams to play ugly at times and I can't quite put my finger on why. They made Houston look ugly. They made us look ugly. I just don't think they have the mental toughness it takes to win close games and certainly do't think Hurley can get them to that point either.
I like Akok but I think Bouknight is their best player. He has trouble with fouls though like a lot of freshmen.
He’s an OK player, he’s not the superstar all the talking heads rave that he is. I’ve seen him compared to Walker and Ollie and he’s not even close to their level. Hell, I’d take Joiner as a PG over both Vital and Gilbert. Those guys are seniors and supposed to be leaders. I didn’t see any of that from them. I didn’t see that from anyone on UCONN to be honest and maybe that’s their problem. With the exception of Hill, Ugboh, and Jones, I’m comfortable with anyone else on our team taking the reins and being the leader on the court. I think it comes most naturally to Joiner and some of us have been saying that since he was a FR. He can be the vocal leader, the emotional leader, the floor general, the guy who has to step up and take a big shot, the guy who wants the ball in his hands at the end of a tight game. He’s got all of the qualities you want in a leader. And he has no problem letting his teammates take the spotlight if that is what helps the team win.
I’m just glad we have a guy like Igbanu who will tackle Joiner if things get too emotionally charged. No one’s messing with Igbanu.
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