Felt good loss

[Scoe]

Not a feel good loss but a loss looking back should play big dividends by selection Sunday. Honestly thinking of this loss, every time I pick up a glass cup and take a drink it makes me wanna throw my cup through a window.
I could only imagine what it was like taking that flight back home, there are great lessons to take from this loss as frustrating as it was. Now let’s learn from it and get better from it.

 

[Kitaman]

Let me re-state that.

Kansas is 13-0 at home when facing a top 10 team ranked higher than they are. That is unfathomable.

Even if Cam made that shot, Kansas would have made a miraculous buzzer beater to win.

Doomed either way

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I'm still pissed because we didn't play well and more than that, at crucial moments, we played dumb.

Up 5, 52-47, and Kansas on the ropes we run absolutely nothing and Diarra has the ball in his hands with 11 on the shot clock, nearly turns it over, then has to hoist a baseline 3 with the shot clock running out. We come down and give up a wide open 3.

Up 4, 54-50, after Dickinson misses a FT, we come down, have an out of sorts possession and our shot is basically a fall away jump hook by Tristan over Dickinson. Kansas comes down and gets a wide open look for Adams.

Up 54-52, we immediately come down, run the whole shot clock down, and Ball has to heave a jumper as the shot clock expires. (This is the play where Samson got tackled). Kansas comes down and McCullers hits a wide open 3.

And that was pretty much game.

We battled and mad props to that. Kansas is obviously a quality team and their athleticism bothered us. Tristan was outstanding, obviously Spencer was hampered, DC was exposed a bit, Karaban is off, and we didn't get much of anything from anyone else. But the game was ours if we just could execute. But when the game was right there we reverted to playing passive offensively as we did in the early stages of the first half and worse yet, gave up absolutely wide open looks on three of four possessions. So this is not a "felt good loss" for me.

This was the stretch from about 7:35-5:30. Samson and Donovan were on the floor together. It was a BRUTAL stretch for Sampson. He made a mistake on almost every possession (offensive and defensive) during that 2 min, and we went from up 5 to down 4. He got lost on screens, didn't fight through others, and didn't know where to go with the ball on offense. Also, on the last play, he was basically tackled going g for a loose ball and got no call...but most of the damage was done at that point.
When we don't have shooters on the floor, it doesn't work.
Anyone asking for more double bigs, just check out that 2 minute period.

 

[cullaville]

I'm still pissed because we didn't play well and more than that, at crucial moments, we played dumb.

Up 5, 52-47, and Kansas on the ropes we run absolutely nothing and Diarra has the ball in his hands with 11 on the shot clock, nearly turns it over, then has to hoist a baseline 3 with the shot clock running out. We come down and give up a wide open 3.

Up 4, 54-50, after Dickinson misses a FT, we come down, have an out of sorts possession and our shot is basically a fall away jump hook by Tristan over Dickinson. Kansas comes down and gets a wide open look for Adams.

Up 54-52, we immediately come down, run the whole shot clock down, and Ball has to heave a jumper as the shot clock expires. (This is the play where Samson got tackled). Kansas comes down and McCullers hits a wide open 3.

And that was pretty much game.

We battled and mad props to that. Kansas is obviously a quality team and their athleticism bothered us. Tristan was outstanding, obviously Spencer was hampered, DC was exposed a bit, Karaban is off, and we didn't get much of anything from anyone else. But the game was ours if we just could execute. But when the game was right there we reverted to playing passive offensively as we did in the early stages of the first half and worse yet, gave up absolutely wide open looks on three of four possessions. So this is not a "felt good loss" for me.

What is a felt good loss? To me losing is never good. UCONN still could have learned/developed from a tight win. UCONN is at the elite level and while I did not expect them to go undefeated this season UCONN should not be into "feel good losses" or "moral victories"

If Fairfield U played at Lawrence and stayed with Kansas to the last shot perhaps they could claim "feel good loss" but UCONN cannot.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

What is a felt good loss? To me losing is never good. UCONN still could have learned/developed from a tight win. UCONN is at the elite level and while I did not expect them to go undefeated this season UCONN should not be into "feel good losses" or "moral victories"

If Fairfield U played at Lawrence and stayed with Kansas to the last shot perhaps they could claim "feel good loss" but UCONN cannot.

Relax.

 

[Waquoit]

Obviously not a UConn fan, but I have no doubt that they are the better team.

This is where one "considers the source".

 

[yungdowork]

Of our 5 best players, 1 missed the game, and 3 (Karaban, Clingan, Spencer) didn’t play to their usual standard, and we still had a chance away at the Phog vs #5 Kansas.

Big credit to all 3 of those guys though, they played hard and tough. Karaban showed more fire in the second half than I’ve seen from him, Clingan was up for the fight with Dickinson all night, and except for his shooting, Cam played a pretty decent game despite the ankle.

 

[Friarsnoop]

This is where one "considers the source".

Huh?

 

[TheChamps990411]

It is amazing at how mismatched a first half could be, on the road, against a Top 5 team, and UConn was only down 7 at halftime. UConn absolutely sucked for 20 minutes, at Kansas, and was still in the game at halftime. That was the grittiest I have seen a UConn team play in a long time. Respect.

My buddy turned to me and said "this Uconn team is really good. How are they only down 7 after that crapshow? Anybody else is down 15". I was pretty ticked off but that comment stopped me in my tracks. Thank goodness for Triston Newton.

 

[DW1361]

If we had Triston Newton and a point guard we win (sarcasm). Hopefully Spencer heals and Karaban gets out of his funk. Get Castle back and playing well then this game will be forgotten. The loss didn’t hurt us. I was pleased to see we got our lights punched out early but had the resilience to fight back and almost do something no other team has accomplished on their home court. So I am very happy about where this team is at this point in the season. Caveat, I fell asleep with ten minutes left in the game and never saw the end…….

 

[Tenspro2002]

I don't think there's any such thing as a "feel good loss," but it certainly felt less bad and easier to brush off than any other loss lately.

 

[KemBuckets21]

Was anyone else torn on Cam after his first 3(?) ankle tweaks early in the game? Don't get me wrong, he has been better than I could have hoped for and he did hit a few key buckets at pivotal points during the game, but I can't shake the thought that he was a target on d, he seemed imbalanced at the line leading to his first few missed FT's on the season, and I did NOT want him taking that last shot. It was a solid look but playing on a bum ankle is brutal and after Newton's game, it was his shot to take. Idk, hindsight is 20/20, and I like the way we fought as a whole, but I do feel like newton was the best player on the court Friday night and I wanted him to take that shot.