Jay Bilas thinks Maryland is tougher than us (LOL)

[Sphinx]

Does it really matter what any of the talking heads say?

Well, yes. From a fan standpoint, that's the only reason college basketball is played -- to impress the talking heads. You don't play to impress your own fans, and you will never impress the other team's fans, most of whom will tune out of the tournament as soon as their team loses. As a fan, it's all about your team making an impression on the talking heads -- the people who rank your team week to week, the people who remember, year to year, who won what championship and when. Rooting for a college basketball team is a logical absurdity on many counts, but the least of the absurdities is valuing recognition by the experts in the field.

 

[Willbball]

Yeah, I'm not convinced that "guys got hurt and sat on the bench at varying times" is a good argument for the team's toughness.

Bouk is fragile at times...

 

[Palatine]

They have the big ten DPOY. We have the BE DPOY. That's a wash. But their guy always gets the lead.

 

[Husky68]

Jay Bilas picked against UConn in the 2014 tourney for all six games. That was during the time he was touting his book about "Toughness". He looked like a fool as that year UConn was the picture in the dictionary for the word "toughness".

I do agree with this quote from the book:

" “Knight has always said that there are many more mental mistakes in games than physical mistakes. “I always say, ‘Dumb loses more games than smart wins.’ That’s about concentration, discipline, understanding the game and your impact on it. That’s toughness.”

This years team not so sure it matches the 2014 teams toughness/basketball smarts:

6:44 mark in Creighton game Andre Jackson launches a long 3 (plenty of time still on the clock) with score UConn 48 to 46 and misses the rim by 5 feet. Prior to that shot he was 2 for 15 from 3. Maybe he should understand where his impact on the game comes from.

Creighton had 17 offensive rebounds on 39 misses. Creighton out toughed UConn on the offensive glass.

Haven't watched Maryland much, the game against Rutgers where they lost by 14 would say Maryland did not show much toughness (Rutgers really does play a tough brand of basketball).

Like he's picked against UConn, let's make him look the fool again.

 

[McLovin]

how old are? Would you consider yourself a basketball fan outside of UConn? Cause this has to be one of the most off the reservation bleed blue glasses posts of all time.

Oh I'm sorry. You're right. We are a bunch of weaklings and Hurley runs a kindergarten basketball program. Our team is a bunch of crybabies that wear pink tutus. Practice is a bunch of teddy bears and candy corn. The team would rather spend their time sucking their thumb in safe zones than breaking down 2-3 zones.

Last I checked, this was a UConn fan forum for posting about how awesome UConn is.

 

[CTBasketball]

People will be afraid of Isaiah Whaley.

 

[McLovin]

Yeah, I'm not convinced that "guys got hurt and sat on the bench at varying times" is a good argument for the team's toughness.

They get hurt because they go hard (borderline reckless). Toughness and fragility are different. Bouk got injured diving on the floor for a loose ball. Polley lost an eye in practice this season. Martin missed time with an ankle injury from practice. Jackson broke his wrist in practice. Soft teams don't go that hard in practice. Only tough teams do.

 

[superjohn]

The takes aren't that crazy, all the Big East teams are flawed and they barely played any out of conference games this season. These guys don't watch us because their network doesn't cover us.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Polly lost an eye? Anyway Bilas picking against us is proven mojo... what's Chuck Barkely saying?

 

[BParkDog]

 

[AllAbout5]

He also picked Creighton to lose to USCB and Nova to lose to Winthrop and Georgetown to lose to Colorado. Not a single BE team will win according to him (he is an idiot IMO). He should drop the L and change his name to Jay Bias.

Not even going to lie all of those could happen

 

[QDOG5]

UConn favored by anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 points. Who gives a flying what Jay Bilas has to say.

 

[6xChamps]

wow someone chose against us in a game that we're favored by 3 points

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I’m really glad that we are getting a shot at one of these ass Big10 teams.

Sure they have 4 of the 6 best teams in the country. That doesn’t mean the 9th best team isn’t garbage

 

[ClifSpliffy]

He clearly hasn't. No mention of Sanogo or Cole.

ikr? too obvious. jaybile is just another old beagle, getting close to collecting 'the social' as some in the carolina hills call it. his recent (last quarter century) rebounds include catching the pancake mix box as it fell out of the cabinet, bounced off the stove, and into his hands. the only experience he has with elbows is when he makes mac and cheese. we are gonna pound the twerps with our real toughness and blow their doors off. im hoping that after the game, we'll get a few copies of that geezers book (he wrote a book, Toughness), and light them on fire at center court.
i bet he has that weird smell of garlic and mothballs about him, too.
check out his preseason all-America team:

The Bilastrator's preseason All-Americans​

Luka Garza, Iowa
Jared Butler, Baylor
Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State
Garrison Brooks, North Carolina
Remy Martin, Arizona State
no one gets 'credit' for picking the first 3, but his last two?
go eat some jello, 'bilastrator.' kinda pathetic how some fossils try to rebrand themselves as time punks them, forgetting that 'graceful aging' is a legit cool label. bilastrator? bilastrator?!?!?

obviously, he is just trying to sell his book.

 

[ConnEd]

Two things. Playing a physical style in the NCAA's can be a problem since there won't necessarily be Big East or Big 10 officials doing the game. Games, especially early rounds, seem to get called tighter/touchier. So depth and bench play can make a big difference. And, of course, playing tight D without fouling.

Second, there are at least two dimensions of toughness. One is physical toughness. We have guys that can be a little soft at times, but as a whole, I'd say the team has that. The other dimension is mental toughness. I feel like the team usually comes out and try to establish themselves as the Alphas on the court. When it works, the results are excellent. But, when we've met another team with comparable mental toughness, it seems like we can get pushed out of our game, and uncharacteristic play (e.g. hero-ball) starts to show up. I think that's the "toughness" that others in this thread are suggesting isn't as proven.

And that ties directly into "game smarts". That's the area that CV improved on so much last year over his JR year. He was given the ball to make something happen late - as JB was last game - and he started to find open teammates, draw fouls, give it up and get it back in better spots. I feel like that had a lot to do with the progress the team saw at the end of last year. That and Vital having JB as Robin to his Batman (or vice versa). Cole (maybe Sanogo?) needs to be JB's Robin for us to win these tight, tense games. This is where Andre's lost time to injury really hurts as he has the ability to be Robin (and eventually Batman) but needs more experience to be a more dependable creator in college.

 

[Huskybass]

Not saying any of the Big East teams can't lose their opening games, but to not pick a single big east team while also claiming Maryland is tougher than us (why? because they tried to fight Michigan?) is just a joke. It makes me think he hasn't watched a single minute of Big East basketball all year.

Edit: Bill Raftery who calls both Big 10 and Big East basketball was raving about our team's toughness during the DePaul game. Bilas should watch a few minutes of our game tape before making ridiculous claims.

Bouk is the face of the program right now and he has been banged up a lot this season. Sanogo is tough, as are Martin and Cole, and Whaley is tough in his own way. Perhaps Bilas is sleeping on UConn, but his comments aren't unreasonable. In fact, there are many crazier takes on the Boneyard by our own fans.

 

[RedStickHusky]

In fact, there are many crazier takes on the Boneyard by our own fans.

Ain't it the truth.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Well, yes. From a fan standpoint, that's the only reason college basketball is played -- to impress the talking heads. You don't play to impress your own fans, and you will never impress the other team's fans, most of whom will tune out of the tournament as soon as their team loses. As a fan, it's all about your team making an impression on the talking heads -- the people who rank your team week to week, the people who remember, year to year, who won what championship and when. Rooting for a college basketball team is a logical absurdity on many counts, but the least of the absurdities is valuing recognition by the experts in the field.

With all due respect this strikes me as complete gibberish, unless it's a high level form of sarcasm that I'm not picking up on.

 

[SlicinNDyson11]

Considering we gave up 17 offensive rebounds (which is the main reason we lost on Friday) and were outrebounded by 17 against Creighton, I wouldn't say that's an unreasonable take by Bilas. Maryland is going to be a tough game that will force us to execute in the half court, they won't be afraid to put defenders in driving lanes daring us to shoot from 3.. wouldn't be surprised to see them double Sanogo on post touches either they communicate extremely well defensively.

 

[auggie22]

 

[tzznandrew]

They get hurt because they go hard (borderline reckless). Toughness and fragility are different. Bouk got injured diving on the floor for a loose ball. Polley lost an eye in practice this season. Martin missed time with an ankle injury from practice. Jackson broke his wrist in practice. Soft teams don't go that hard in practice. Only tough teams do.

Playing hard or with passion isn't the same thing as toughness.

I also don't think practicing hard makes tough teams. Calhoun had a whole host of teams that practiced hard and were soft. Mostly because they were young. It may be true that tough teams practice hard (though I'm not sure I grant that), but I certainly don't think the statement "If a team practices hard, they are necessarily tough" is true.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Don't have a problem that he picked against us. For us, it will be depending on which team that will show up. If we play tough D and hit some 3s, we can beat anyone. We can also lose to anyone if we can't make 3s.

 

[Kolumbo]

I want Martin to up his game on the offensive end. If not, then show more of his toughness on the defensive end. Like Samson from The Longest Yard.

 

[SubbaBub]

From this article: Jay Bilas picks every single game in the 2021 NCAA men's basketball tournament



I swear, no one at ESPN has watched us play a game this season.

They didn't, the BE is a Fox property. Less investment, fewer highlights on SC, and less hype from the talking heads.

Davis' insights on Sunday were limited to mentioning Bouknight and our "three" national titles. This man covers CBB for a living.

Nevermind that we also have a CDPOY and our Pom rating is better than MD. We also the BE in 3pt fg defense, what MD does best.

We make our outside shots and stay out of foul trouble we win. That goes for just about any game we play.