Big East Tournament Scenarios

[UConnTrumbull]

If we don't qualify as part of the 'select few', nobody does.

Maybe now we do. Doubt many here were saying final for or bust between 2015-2022.

 

[Jbirdp5]

This is a silly argument because it’s never an either or position the team will be in. Big east titles are great, the 5 in 5 will live forever in basketball circles, but the ultimate goal is always to win the whole thing.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I would call this the vast minority of fans thinking. A run in the NCAA all but wipes out any disappointment in a conference tourney, you also get to extend your season a week. You get paid for advancing in the dance - no funds coming from winning the BET. Such a weird take. I love the BE purists, but it's highly ignorant to the macro view and economics of today. There is a large group of fans here who wish they could go back to 1994 and stay there forever.

I don't think anyone would dispute that a Final Four berth erases any hard feelings over an early conference tournament exit. That's not exactly a hot take. But 4 teams make the final four every year. 348 don't.

Your posts generally seem to indicate that your primary interest is "macro" trends and shifting theories as to roster construction, recruiting, etc. That's fine. But some of us are, first and foremost, UConn basketball fans. We want to see UConn play games and win them and the Big East Tournament - the best conference tournament in college basketball - is a big part of that.

I heard "Hypnotize" the other morning and my brain immediately pictured UConn's starters being introduced at a BET final. It's like a pavlovian response wired into my brain because the BET final is freaking awesome.

And with this team, specifically, I don't see much value in an early departure. I'd rather see them play some good teams under bright lights and hopefully build for the following week.

 

[jibsey]

I would rather win the Big East tournament and lose in the first round of the NCAA than lose in the Big East tournament but make the Sweet 16, maybe even the Elite 8. Trophies matter

Uh, no.

 

[superjohn]

I

I care about the national audience, because recruits are in that national audience. I'm invested in the sustainability of what this program has going on. Will anyone here give a S if Kentucky wins the SECT beyond the next year? Most conf tourney champs are long forgotten and don't register much in the history books.

As for the BET, I'm looking at this year over year, and I find this year to be delicate given injuries & matchups (StJ) and personally will always find it more rewarding to win games on the national stage of the NCAA tourney, than the BET. I love the BET and in most years if we were fully healthy, had a real chance to win it, I'd be all in. I'm not going to not enjoy if they did make a run and win it, I simply see value in bowing out and resting going into the dance and in a less assuming position this year.

You can talk about Ray's scissor kicks all you want, we and everyone discuss our 6 titles far more. Gonzaga has won their crappy tournament a number of years and no one gives a damn, but they're seen as a top hoops brand because of their performances in the tournament (and they've never even won it).

This is such a strange defeatist attitude. It's the end of the season, every team is beat up physically. You seem to only want UConn participating in the Big East tournament if our health is 100% and we are expected to win it.

It's March, I want us playing our best ball of the season which is something we typically do in March. The Big East tournament is a big part of that and it's about as good a 4-5 days as there in the sport, especially as a UConn fan. I guess we should've packed it in and rested in 2011 so we could gear up for the NCAA tournament because we were the 9 seed and would have to play 5 games in 5 days against 4 ranked teams.

 

[RuffRuff]

I don't think anyone would dispute that a Final Four berth erases any hard feelings over an early conference tournament exit. That's not exactly a hot take. But 4 teams make the final four every year. 348 don't.

Your posts generally seem to indicate that your primary interest is "macro" trends and shifting theories as to roster construction, recruiting, etc. That's fine. But some of us are, first and foremost, UConn basketball fans. We want to see UConn play games and win them and the Big East Tournament - the best conference tournament in college basketball - is a big part of that.

I heard "Hypnotize" the other morning and my brain immediately pictured UConn's starters being introduced at a BET final. It's like a pavlovian response wired into my brain because the BET final is freaking awesome.

And with this team, specifically, I don't see much value in an early departure. I'd rather see them play some good teams under bright lights and hopefully build for the following week.

I've been watching Uconn hoops as a kid since the pre-Cliff Robinson days (I know that does compare to some of the Wes B crowd here). Yes, my primary interest is in roster building, brand building & economic sustainability. That's because I love this program. Not sure if you experienced the Ollie years, but we saw how fun it is to be a fan when you're in a dungeon. The reason I have a keen interest is because I never want to see that again.

I've been to 3 Uconn BET championship wins in person and love the experience. It's just when I look at this specific team, having watched every single game, I'm balancing my expectations with what I feel is best for this team in a tournament that is exponentially more important. Getting beaten up by a StJ team after 3 games/3 days before playing next Thursday doesn't resonate as a great scenario. Maybe it's defeatist, but I'll be much more enthused if it helps them get to the second weekend. This team has very little room for error in making a run and I think having Hassan as healthy as possible is a major factor in any chances to do that. The kid has looked 70% out there.

We lost in the semi's 2 years ago, does anyone really care? I know I don't. Again, happy to watch a fun ride in the BE tourney, 100x happier to see them surprise us in the Dance. To each their own.

 

[ctchamps]

Prefer the 3 seed over the 2 seed because the game times are more favorable to our players observing Ramadan.

Our coaches and players want to win three things - the regular season conference championship, the conference tournament championship, and the NCAA tournament. The NCAA tournament championship is the most difficult so obviously the most valuable. But the other championships matter a lot. I'm with the coaches and players.

 

[connVA]

I don't doubt this, and I suspect others here will agree with you, but I couldn't disagree more. That's a wild mindset to me

To play Switzerland here, winning the BET could put the possibility of a six seed (or better?) in play, allowing us to avoid the “dangerous” two seed (likely Tennessee or Florida) until the second weekend

 

[cullaville]

I would rather win the Big East tournament and lose in the first round of the NCAA than lose in the Big East tournament but make the Sweet 16, maybe even the Elite 8. Trophies matter

Makes no sense.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The only part of this nutty thread that matters. So: win against SH and we are at worst a 3 seed with a shot at being a 2 seed. I think it's irrelevant, since UConn is opposite Creighton either way. It's just uniform color. Or can Marquette move to 3 and Creighton fall to 4?

As for the national audience thing. Sort of true. I think winning regular season > winning conf. tournament. But it's not worthless either. How about, just win every damned game that you can win? It's not like winning in the BET makes you less likely to win in the NCAAs. Al Davis had it right.

 

[HooperScooper]

The only part of this nutty thread that matters. So: win against SH and we are at worst a 3 seed with a shot at being a 2 seed. I think it's irrelevant, since UConn is opposite Creighton either way. It's just uniform color. Or can Marquette move to 3 and Creighton fall to 4?

As for the national audience thing. Sort of true. I think winning regular season > winning conf. tournament. But it's not worthless either. How about, just win every damned game that you can win? It's not like winning in the BET makes you less likely to win in the NCAAs. Al Davis had it right.

 

[Get a Job]

The only part of this nutty thread that matters. So: win against SH and we are at worst a 3 seed with a shot at being a 2 seed. I think it's irrelevant, since UConn is opposite Creighton either way. It's just uniform color. Or can Marquette move to 3 and Creighton fall to 4?

As for the national audience thing. Sort of true. I think winning regular season > winning conf. tournament. But it's not worthless either. How about, just win every damned game that you can win? It's not like winning in the BET makes you less likely to win in the NCAAs. Al Davis had it right.

Well, actually, @RuffRuff's argument that no one agrees with is that winning the conference tournament DOES make the team less likely to win in the NCAAs.

 

[cullaville]

The only part of this nutty thread that matters. So: win against SH and we are at worst a 3 seed with a shot at being a 2 seed. I think it's irrelevant, since UConn is opposite Creighton either way. It's just uniform color. Or can Marquette move to 3 and Creighton fall to 4?

As for the national audience thing. Sort of true. I think winning regular season > winning conf. tournament. But it's not worthless either. How about, just win every damned game that you can win? It's not like winning in the BET makes you less likely to win in the NCAAs. Al Davis had it right.

Just win ten more this season.....................

Each game is a game unto itself.

 

[navery12]

The only part of this nutty thread that matters. So: win against SH and we are at worst a 3 seed with a shot at being a 2 seed. I think it's irrelevant, since UConn is opposite Creighton either way. It's just uniform color. Or can Marquette move to 3 and Creighton fall to 4?

As for the national audience thing. Sort of true. I think winning regular season > winning conf. tournament. But it's not worthless either. How about, just win every damned game that you can win? It's not like winning in the BET makes you less likely to win in the NCAAs. Al Davis had it right.

Creighton can only drop the 3 so if we're the 3 seed they're the 2 seed. The only real impact is our round 1 opponent. Georgetown is unlikely to move the needle in a 2/7 game, there's an outside chance Villanova sneaks in as a Q1 game in the 3/6 matchup

 

[auror]

Creighton can only drop the 3 so if we're the 3 seed they're the 2 seed. The only real impact is our round 1 opponent. Georgetown is unlikely to move the needle in a 2/7 game, there's an outside chance Villanova sneaks in as a Q1 game in the 3/6 matchup

Very tough to move up 3 spots with a win against a terribly ranked opponent and then a loss. But it's possible. They'd probably have to lose close, which despite becoming Q1 may then make our other metrics worse at the same time, so probably not a great tradeoff (though would depend how heavily the committee is indexing on the quads).

 

[navery12]

Very tough to move up 3 spots with a win against a terribly ranked opponent and then a loss. But it's possible. They'd probably have to loss close, which may then make our other metrics worse at the same time, so probably not a great tradeoff (though would depend how heavily the committee is indexing on the quads).

Yeah that's why I said outside chance, especially when their round 1 game is against Seton Hall. Safe to assume they'll be locked in as a Q2 game at this point

 

[businesslawyer]

Worst case scenario is that Hurley moves back towards Samson and away from developing Tarris as a core piece.

In the world of "man, was that a bad call" statements, how do you grade yourself on a scale of 1 to 10?

 

[RuffRuff]

In the world of "man, was that a bad call" statements, how do you grade yourself on a scale of 1 to 10?

Well that one didn’t age well per the one game, and Samson did play lights out. Good for him. I am holding out on the fact Tarris is a much more important ingredient come big tourney. If Samson takes us on a wild journey of madness, then I’ll share a picture of myself actually eating a crow.

Speaking of which
Tarris Reed Jr.'s untapped potential could fuel UConn's quest for a three-peat | FOX Sports

 

[auror]

Yeah that's why I said outside chance, especially when their round 1 game is against Seton Hall. Safe to assume they'll be locked in as a Q2 game at this point

Seton Hall isn't near any quad cliffs, so we should definitely root hard for Nova to blast Seton Hall by 30+ in the BET first round (assuming we end up as the 3 seed).

 

[6Nattys4Us]

Immediate goal: Beat Seton Hall
Next goal: Win BET
Once the NCAA tourney starts: Win the NCAA

Good thoughts heading for those goals:
1. Senior night and obviously then a home game vs Seton Hall
2. For the last 2 years, the best version of the Huskies was in the NCAA tournament, not the regular season.
3. Our two centers played their best games of the season in the last 2 games (Tarris @ Providence, Samson vs Marquette)
4. I think we finally figured out Hurley's take on Samson vs Tarris: if the opponent has a big C or no real height, Tarris gets the minutes. If the opponent has a more mobile C, Samson gets the minutes. Who starts is irrelevant.

BET should be fun - I am trying to get Thursday and Friday tickets but waiting for Saturday's games to conclude for times to be cemented for each team.

 

[RuffRuff]

Immediate goal: Beat Seton Hall
Next goal: Win BET
Once the NCAA tourney starts: Win the NCAA

Good thoughts heading for those goals:
1. Senior night and obviously then a home game vs Seton Hall
2. For the last 2 years, the best version of the Huskies was in the NCAA tournament, not the regular season.
3. Our two centers played their best games of the season in the last 2 games (Tarris @ Providence, Samson vs Marquette)
4. I think we finally figured out Hurley's take on Samson vs Tarris: if the opponent has a big C or no real height, Tarris gets the minutes. If the opponent has a more mobile C, Samson gets the minutes. Who starts is irrelevant.

BET should be fun - I am trying to get Thursday and Friday tickets but waiting for Saturday's games to conclude for times to be cemented for each team.

Immediate Goal - Beat SHU
Overarching goal 1 - get off 8/9 line however is necessary
Overarching goal 2 - be healthy going into big dance (Hassan)

If the BET Champ is a byproduct of all that, great!

 

[superjohn]

Getting beaten up by a StJ team after 3 games/3 days before playing next Thursday doesn't resonate as a great scenario. Maybe it's defeatist, but I'll be much more enthused if it helps them get to the second weekend. This team has very little room for error in making a run and I think having Hassan as healthy as possible is a major factor in any chances to do that. The kid has looked 70% out there.

We lost in the semi's 2 years ago, does anyone really care? I know I don't. Again, happy to watch a fun ride in the BE tourney, 100x happier to see them surprise us in the Dance. To each their own.

Did you forget we got our butts kicked 3 times by Louisville and Pitino in 2014 with the last one in the conference tournament title game?

As to your last paragraph, it isn't an either or. Let's ball out in the Big East tournament and the NCAA's.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Immediate Goal - Beat SHU
Overarching goal 1 - get off 8/9 line however it's necessary
Overarching goal 2 - be healthy going into big dance (Hassan)

If the BET Champ is a byproduct of all that, great!

The BET, probably getting to the final, may be necessary for Overarching goal 1.

 

[6Nattys4Us]

The BET, probably getting to the final, may be necessary for Overarching goal 1.

While true, one goal at a time, built on one game at a time.

 

[RuffRuff]

Did you forget we got our butts kicked 3 times by Louisville and Pitino in 2014 with the last one in the conference tournament title game?

As to your last paragraph, it isn't an either or. Let's ball out in the Big East tournament and the NCAA's.

I don't, but our most vital 1, and 2, ball handlers were not on a bum knee. I just happen to think Hassan is a huge aspect of any potential run. He's looked rough on games separated by 3-4 days, not sure how he's going to look on 3 games back to back with a Uconn-slayer on the back end.

Pitino resting D Smith tomorrow, there is smart man thinking about the long haul. And that's after a full week of rest and then another 4-5 days going into the BET.