Good losses?

[Jaydumo20]

We've discussed this a lot. Fans of all programs discuss this. I think it deserves a thread for this particular team/season.

After Creighton there was an indirect debate on whether that was a good loss.
Several said no- there is no such thing as a good loss. Id like to hear from them specifically.

What are your thoughts on good losses as it pertains to this team?
And also how it pertains to teams in all sports.

 

[Deepster]

The only time it can look like a good loss is if you end up winning a title. Then you point back to the loss you invariably had and say "See? That was a good loss!" But that's hogwash. What happens to all those "good losses" when you end up losing or getting upset afterwards?

 

[RuffRuff]

The idea would be that a “good loss” helps a team reset and is an eye opener that they need to work on deficiencies.

This team had that against StJ.

Who knows though - we should find out Wednesday. I’m not chalking up that being a good loss due to the Nova win.

 

[navery12]

There is no such thing as a good loss, there are however good lessons to take away from a loss. The idea you need to lose to learn those lessons is nonsense

 

[80shusky]

We've discussed this a lot. Fans of all programs discuss this. I think it deserves a thread for this particular team/season.

After Creighton there was an indirect debate on whether that was a good loss.
Several said no- there is no such thing as a good loss. Id like to hear from them specifically.

What are your thoughts on good losses as it pertains to this team?
And also how it pertains to teams in all sports.

I don't think a Q3 loss at home is a good loss. The team looked bad on both sides of the ball. The shooting was horrific. I think for this team there are no more good losses. I think the only time you can call a loss "good" is if you lose to a top team early and it really doesn't affect your seeding.

 

[gsmooth]

We've discussed this a lot. Fans of all programs discuss this. I think it deserves a thread for this particular team/season.

After Creighton there was an indirect debate on whether that was a good loss.
Several said no- there is no such thing as a good loss. Id like to hear from them specifically.

What are your thoughts on good losses as it pertains to this team?
And also how it pertains to teams in all sports.

I know you are not saying this, but the idea that Creighton loss, especially at home, was good is just nonsense. That was a Q3 loss and it's not like UConn learned anything new. The Creighton loss didn't enlighten us, or more importantly the coaching staff, on some issues that exclusively surfaced in that game. The same defensive issues the team had in the prior few games and in some games in January culminated to it's peak in that game vs Creighton.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I know you are not saying this, but the idea that Creighton loss, especially at home, was good is just nonsense. That was a Q3 loss and it's not like UConn learned anything new. The Creighton loss didn't enlighten us, or more importantly the coaching staff, on some issues that exclusively surfaced in that game. The same defensive issues the team had in the prior few games and in some games in January culminated to it's peak in that game vs Creighton.

Im leaving it open to debate. I wish we beat Creighton, and it's hard to call it a definitive good loss as of now- it looks pretty bad. But I dont think it's a definite no, as it pertains to that game. if we end up beating St.John's in a convincing fashion and then move through the BET, it'd be hard not to look at the Creighton game as a demarcation point between how we looked before that game and how we may look in the coming weeks. The term good loss is thrown around a lot and was curious to see if it is nothing but fan balm for wounds.

 

[metsfan2323]

If we win out from here it is a great loss. Yes there are lessons to be learned from a loss, and they can serve as eye openers for the players and coaches. It is a good remedy for complacency. Iron sharpens iron.

The best team in our history got blown out by Creighton.

 

[TheShot1990]

I think the losses are good for the fans who are always on the ledge. For most of them it shows that we will be all right, even if we lose a game or two and for the ones who wanna throw themselves off the ledge then …..see ya!

 

[2014DualCs]

Seems fairly one sided so I’ll offer the other perspective. One can definitely argue “well we lost to St. John’s, and it did nothing to make us better”. Why would Creighton be any different?

Playing HS basketball is nothing like playing D1… BUT, I will say that when we lost to a good team, it can easily be chalked up to “they just played really well at home and we played hard”. There becomes a sense of urgency when you lose to a team you know in your heart you shouldn’t have lost to. Practices ultimately become more intense, intensity during the next game is off the charts, and you use the L as reference to not let that happen again to what you chalk up as an inferior team.

How long that intensity lasts depends (Game? Games? Rest of the season?). Less likely to underestimate anybody.

Terrible, terrible loss to a horrible Creighton team. Good loss in terms of getting the team to wake up.

 

[gsmooth]

If we win out from here it is a great loss. Yes there are lessons to be learned from a loss, and they can serve as eye openers for the players and coaches. It is a good remedy for complacency. Iron sharpens iron.

The best team in our history got blown out by Creighton.

For that 2024 team, losing to Creighton might have been a blessing in disguise when looking back. It also bears noting that team played their 3rd game in 7 days and traveled from Chicago back to Hartford for that emotional top-5 battle against Marquette and then had to go back to the midwest to Omaha.

If you remember in that game, UConn started off well, but that game changed as soon as Clingan had to go to the bench early in the first half. I don't remember what game it was after that, but Spencer cussed out Clingan for getting a 2nd foul early in the first half and after that Clingan never had an issue with foul trouble the rest of that year.
Another thing about that Creighton loss was it was good for the staff to solve the deep drop coverage Creighton liked to play because Purdue did the same thing. Now the only caveat to that is I don't know if the coaching staff kept certain plays or strategies concealed in the regular season only to reveal them in the NCAAT. If you remember UConn pushed the ball more to force a faster pace in the Purdue game, and that probably would've helped against Creighton because Creighton could get tired out because of that since they are not a deep team.

 

[cwh20]

The mental aspect in sports is big. You hear that in all sports. So the good losses are the ones that result in a team being in a better place mentally going forward. Whether the loss was due to lack of focus or maybe trying a new line up or offensive or defensive strategy that didn’t work out if it results in more cohesiveness, determination and focus in future games then it could be called a good loss. A close win could obviously be good too but a loss is generally more likely to get one’s attention.

 

[RuffRuff]

For that 2024 team, losing to Creighton might have been a blessing in disguise when looking back. It also bears noting that team played their 3rd game in 7 days and traveled from Chicago back to Hartford for that emotional top-5 battle against Marquette and then had to go back to the midwest to Omaha.

If you remember in that game, UConn started off well, but that game changed as soon as Clingan had to go to the bench early in the first half. I don't remember what game it was after that, but Spencer cussed out Clingan for getting a 2nd foul early in the first half and after that Clingan never had an issue with foul trouble the rest of that year.
Another thing about that Creighton loss was it was good for the staff to solve the deep drop coverage Creighton liked to play because Purdue did the same thing. Now the only caveat to that is I don't know if the coaching staff kept certain plays or strategies concealed in the regular season only to reveal them in the NCAAT. If you remember UConn pushed the ball more to force a faster pace in the Purdue game, and that probably would've helped against Creighton because Creighton could get tired out because of that since they are not a deep team.

Great points - and I do remember the game well. We were up like 7-2 when Clingan went out around the 16 minute mark, and then the barage of Creighton 3s started reigning. That was absolutely a good loss - nothing at stake. We had already lost 2, so its not as though we were going for any record.

 

[Tenspro2002]

IMO, the only "good loss" is a so-so team gaining confidence from coming close against an elite team and realizing they can hang with that level of talent.

The 2007 Giants leading, but then narrowly losing to, the undefeated Patriots in a meaningless game to end the regular season is a good example.

 

[Jaydumo20]

The mental aspect in sports is big. You hear that in all sports. So the good losses are the ones that result in a team being in a better place mentally going forward. Whether the loss was due to lack of focus or maybe trying a new line up or offensive or defensive strategy that didn’t work out if it results in more cohesiveness, determination and focus in future games then it could be called a good loss. A close win could obviously be good too but a loss is generally more likely to get one’s attention.

Interesting note: in line with your first statement- in an interview with field of 68 Dan Hurley was asked what transpired after the Creighton L to get this team to play so well in Philly- he said "shame"

 

[Jaydumo20]

For that 2024 team, losing to Creighton might have been a blessing in disguise when looking back. It also bears noting that team played their 3rd game in 7 days and traveled from Chicago back to Hartford for that emotional top-5 battle against Marquette and then had to go back to the midwest to Omaha.

If you remember in that game, UConn started off well, but that game changed as soon as Clingan had to go to the bench early in the first half. I don't remember what game it was after that, but Spencer cussed out Clingan for getting a 2nd foul early in the first half and after that Clingan never had an issue with foul trouble the rest of that year.
Another thing about that Creighton loss was it was good for the staff to solve the deep drop coverage Creighton liked to play because Purdue did the same thing. Now the only caveat to that is I don't know if the coaching staff kept certain plays or strategies concealed in the regular season only to reveal them in the NCAAT. If you remember UConn pushed the ball more to force a faster pace in the Purdue game, and that probably would've helped against Creighton because Creighton could get tired out because of that since they are not a deep team.

Nice assessment. Whether or not any losses are "good", we all seem to agree that we should be able to learn from every game- win or lose. The 24 team used even guaranteed W games as a chance to play against themselves- the challenge was to see if they could execute every play perfectly: if they screwed up, even in a 30 pt blowout- they were hard on themselves.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

A few related thoughts:

GENERALLY
When the Patriot's previously undefeated season ended at the Super Bowl with the Giants winning, I considered it a good loss. Perspective matters.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Mark Few is currently regarded as the most accomplished D-1 MBB coach never to have won a National Championship. He's only 63, but the landscape of college basketball continues to shift in major ways, and Gonzaga's loss to Baylor in the 2021 National Championship may turn out to have solidified Few's status in perpetuity.

In this year's 'Season Prediction' thread, a decent number of posters included a "WTF loss," without specifically identifying the opponent. The Creighton game ticked that box. We don't expect perfection

It's a quite common & widely accepted principle that much success comes out of learning from our mistakes. That does not mean that we always succeed, or that we always learn. But nobody doesn't make mistakes.

Sometimes we step back to jump far.

 

[JungleLobo]

We've discussed this a lot. Fans of all programs discuss this. I think it deserves a thread for this particular team/season.

After Creighton there was an indirect debate on whether that was a good loss.
Several said no- there is no such thing as a good loss. Id like to hear from them specifically.

What are your thoughts on good losses as it pertains to this team?
And also how it pertains to teams in all sports.

This team always had in the back of their mind they could turn it on in the last few. Creighton showed them the were cooked at 7 minutes plus.

You let the wrong team believe, you are done.

They needed to experience that as a loss to understand. The close wins didn’t do that.

Worth it.

 

[Palatine]

A loss can take stress off a team and free them up to play better. Especially if a team is undefeated, that is a lot pressure to carry. It's better to learn your lessons while winning but an occasional loss can readjust a team's focus. It's a reminder that losing sucks and the feeling stinks. But it ain't the end of the world, just don't make losing a habit.