If you’d a told me 18th KenPom

[Tenspro2002]

Baylor beat VCU by one more point than UConn did. It’s always amazing that people who allegedly watch college basketball for 20 years still do this “that team would definitely beat UConn by 20” like this is some computer simulation and not sports. Probably the same people that spent all last season saying Gonzaga was unbeatable.

To be fair, Baylor led wire to wire and played the entire second half around that 8-point cushion.

We eked out a win in overtime (7 point margin pretty misleading).

That said, in college basketball, it's rare that any top 100 team will just blow out another. We would probably play Baylor respectably and lose by a not-huge margin, like VCU did.

 

[Candyman]

By the way == where are the folks who mocked me for saying hitting 3s against terrible teams didn’t prove we’d do it against good teams after the Auburn game? Feeling a little silly about thinking you can read everything into one game?

So we struggled to shoot threes against two top 5 defenses according to Kenpom. Yet we lit up a good Auburn team for 15 threes. How many other teams lit up VCU for threes? Cmon this a bad take.

 

[Candyman]

All these take that we are not In same class as Duke and Gonzaga can go kick rocks. I watched last nights game and saw two exceptional offensive teams but mediocre defense. We could lock down Duke. Sure we would struggle on offense or maybe it’s an Auburn game and we light it up. I would not say they are a class better.

 

[jibsey]

All these take that we are not In same class as Duke and Gonzaga can go kick rocks. I watched last nights game and saw two exceptional offensive teams but mediocre defense. We could lock down Duke. Sure we would struggle on offense or maybe it’s an Auburn game and we light it up. I would not say they are a class better.

Who is locking down Banchero?

 

[AntG168]

Who is locking down Banchero?

The same guy who locked up Mobley last season. THE WRENCH

 

[superjohn]

Who is locking down Banchero?

Nobody but UConn is one if the best equipped to slow him down. Great players don't get locked down.

 

[polycom]

Who is locking down Banchero?

No one. But it’s not on defense we lose it on offense we wouldn’t score enough to keep it close

 

[businesslawyer]

Now you are saying we can't make 3's after just one game. I say mocking remains in effect.

No, I’m not saying we’ve shown we won’t. I’m mocking those who looked at the Auburn game and said it showed we would. And we both know you’re smart enough to know the difference

 

[AntG168]

No, I’m not saying we’ve shown we won’t. I’m mocking those who looked at the Auburn game and said it showed we would. And we both know you’re smart enough to know the difference

When have we shown we won’t? We haven’t shown to be a good or bad shooting team. We’ve shown to be a streaky one

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I wasn't all that impressed with either Zags or Duke. Outside of Holmgren the Zags athleticism is fairly pedestrian.

The game is called basketball, not athleticismball. The Zags are individually and collectively excellent basketball players. For instance, I love AJ's athleticism, but I wish he was a more complete basketball player (which he certainly can grow into).

 

[BGesus4]

Bottom line is college basketball is full of very flawed teams. Kansas looked great a week ago then loses to a very mediocre Dayton team.

I don’t think anyone is going to feel good about seeing us in March given our defense and rebounding.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The game is called basketball, not athleticismball. The Zags are individually and collectively excellent basketball players. For instance, I love AJ's athleticism, but I wish he was a more complete basketball player (which he certainly can grow into).

I’m not a Gonzaga hater by any means but I’d just note that they were individually and collectively excellent basketball players all last season until they played a team of athletes who promptly rolled them up and stuffed them in a garbage can.

Separately, this idea that there are teams that UConn just flat out couldn’t “keep it close” against is one of the dumber ideas floating around the board.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I’m not a Gonzaga hater by any means but I’d just note that they were individually and collectively excellent basketball players all last season until they played a team of athletes who promptly rolled them up and stuffed them in a garbage can.

Separately, this idea that there are teams that UConn just flat out couldn’t “keep it close” against is one of the dumber ideas floating around the board.

Don't conflate my comments about Gonzaga into the "can't keep it close point"; that'snotmine and I didn'treferenceit. And more importantly, I think you're hyperbolizing about Gonzaga last year - yes, the lost the championship game by 16 points but if you look at their whole body of work they beat NINE top-20 teams by double digits.

 

[superjohn]

The game is called basketball, not athleticismball. The Zags are individually and collectively excellent basketball players. For instance, I love AJ's athleticism, but I wish he was a more complete basketball player (which he certainly can grow into).

Weird, I thought it's called athleticismball. I clearly must've called it that.

 

[BlueMAB]

By the way == where are the folks who mocked me for saying hitting 3s against terrible teams didn’t prove we’d do it against good teams after the Auburn game? Feeling a little silly about thinking you can read everything into one game?

Not sure if this is significant, but at least for reference, last years National Champs (Baylor) shot 41.8% from 3 as a team. Gonzaga shot it 36.5% for the season. The other final 4 teams, UCLA and Houston, shot it 36.7% and 36.1%, respectively.

We can be in that range. The game is about the 3 ball now. We don't have to be the best at it. But we got to be able to do it effectively. 38% on the season would be fantastic.

Yes. This. Because there is every reason to think our percentage won’t go down at all when we’re guarded with a different level of athlete.

Did he say it wouldn't go down?

Why didn't you answer this response?

Folks mocked you for creating a strawman, same thing you've done in this thread.

Maybe just stop trying to be the smartest guy in the room.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Don’t trust KenPom until about January. They use last season’s data to scale the first few weeks of the current season.

But yea we’re doing solid.

Torvik doesn't use last season's data and has us 14th.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

The Bahamas were a resounding success. If you disagree I'd say you are living in the past. A past that includes 4 NCs, lots of 4 and some 5 star recruits, coaches that had seen almost everything.

The team and coaches of today are none of that. Our coaches have zero NCs and are roughly mid career (plenty to learn). Our players are not 4 and 5 star recruits.

I like to think our program is roughly at the same place Calhoun was in 1987. Except some unknown event or events happened in the past that resulted in really nice facilities. The details of how we obtained such nice facilities are unclear.

Put yourself in your 1987 shoes. I think you'll have a better understanding of where our program is.

While I do somewhat understand the point you were trying to make...

The thing is that to me its impossible to act like its 1987 and ignore the influence of past 40 years of successes in the current state of the program:

 

[Hey Adrien!]

FWIW, the Making the Madness head writer has us at #19 and a “final four threat”

 

[AntG168]

FWIW, the Making the Madness head writer has us at #19 and a “final four threat”

Interestingly enough, it seems the only place you'll find anyone who feels worse about our team after the bahamas is on the boneyard..

 

[CTBasketball]

Interestingly enough, it seems the only place you'll find anyone who feels worse about our team after the bahamas is on the boneyard..

Be pessimistic, be a man.

 

[auror]

Interestingly enough, it seems the only place you'll find anyone who feels worse about our team after the bahamas is on the boneyard..

Thankfully, most outsiders didn't actually watch the MSU collapse due to the terrible timing (the choke came around 2pm on Thanksgiving).

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

I wasn't all that impressed with either Zags or Duke. Outside of Holmgren the Zags athleticism is fairly pedestrian.

Holmgren would be abused so bad by Sanogo in the paint. Kid is ready to snap in half.

 

[AntG168]

Thankfully, most outsiders didn't actually watch the MSU collapse due to the terrible timing (the choke came around 2pm on Thanksgiving).

It was the game of the day. They saw it. They also saw we were without the guy responsible for our very next win

 

[Icehawk]

I think they are doing well - was the Michigan loss painful, yes absolutely - a bad call and not having Whaley in were probably the difference for us going up against Baylor in the winner bracket. You know what though, I can take it - it's early and the team is still gelling around new people and strategies, we've faced tough competition and didn't fold. Remember our OT fiascos of last year? It's an upward arc IMO and that's what we should focus on.

The one thing I don't quite get though is the wild swings in performance from AJ and Akok.

Also mad props to Tyrese in that VCU game, that kid is TOUGH.

Can't wait for the next game!

 

[auror]

It was the game of the day. They saw it. They also saw we were without the guy responsible for our very next win

Some sure, and some just saw the score. But a lot of people were cooking, eating, commuting, or watching football. 40% of people eat their T-Day dinners between 1 and 3pm. We do 3, which meant I was in cooking weeds at 2pm.