Jees with the smallest amount of luck we'd be 9-2

[zls44]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/teamId/41

(entering today)
W-L

CONN Missing top players 1-2

CONN With all top players 5-2

 

[tentoes4rings]

Oh that changes everything

No need to be a d*ck about it dude, was just clarifying who the player was.

 

[Kitaman]

For all those complaining about the whistle, we (i.e. DHam) got a favorable whistle at the end of OT.

 

[zls44]

KenPom:

 

[caw]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/teamId/41

(entering today)
W-L

CONN Missing top players 1-2

CONN With all top players 5-2

They say they use top five MPG players who have played half the games.

UConns top five players in MPG are: Boat, Ham, Purvis, Brimah and Facey.

Purvis straight missed two games: Bryant and Texas (1-1)
Boat and Purvis were limited against Yale (0-1) so I imagine they would put today's game in this as well.
Boat left midway today (0-1)

This (maybe correctly) doesn't include Calhoun as a top player (even though he may be UConns best offensive player off the bench.

All we can hope for is to get healthy going forward and stop overanalyzing a team that we haven't seen play with a full roster.

 

[joober jones]

Yeah, and I'm transferring in to be our 6th man.

No so fast, you'll also have to beat out me and Charles Nelson Reilly, who has just come back from the dead. My money is on us both becoming walk ons next year and Mr Match Game being the sixth man.

 

[Ripper32]

You make your own luck. This is an average team that's very young.

 

[msgordon]

being unclutch and unlucky are not mutually exclusive. we have been both

 

[Bonehead]

Luck? Geez...

 

[HuskyBballFan]

You can call the loss to Texas unlucky I suppose. Then again, we were lucky that their point guard didn't play. Can't really use luck as an excuse against Yale - they scored 45 points and still beat us. Regarding Temple, if anything we were lucky just to send that game into overtime.

Bottom line is we scored 54, 44 and 53 points respectively in those games. Put the ball in the basket and final possession randomness doesn't even come into play.

 

[auror]

There's nothing unlucky about our 6-5 record it's what we are. We are not a clutch team. However, we are very young and very talented. Looking to the future I think we are top 5-10 team next year. This year it's AAC tourney or bust.

If you are up 2 with 5 seconds remaining, you're going to win or go to overtime most of the time. We play those situations out 100 times how many do we lose? You go to the line to shoot 3 free throws down 2, you lose without overtime how often (Can actually do this math easily... a 50% shooter would make at least 2 50% of the time and in reality he's probably much better than that)? Those high leverage situations have gone against us 3 times this year. Call it luck, call it whatever, but teams' performance in close games tends to regress to the mean (meaning clutch isn't a skill as much as random).

 

[HooperScooper]

You can call the loss to Texas unlucky I suppose. Then again, we were lucky that their point guard didn't play. Can't really use luck as an excuse against Yale - they scored 45 points and still beat us. Regarding Temple, if anything we were lucky just to send that game into overtime.

Bottom line is we scored 54, 44 and 53 points respectively in those games. Put the ball in the basket and final possession randomness doesn't even come into play.

Yup, that's my take also. In most of the losses they've had a tough time scoring points. It's been a problem in almost every game besides against the worst teams. I figured they'd struggle coming out of the gate with everyone in new roles but I didn't think they'd struggle this badly. But they have been playing great defense and there is potential on offense so there's hope.

 

[David 76]

When you are excusing a loss to Yale because 2 players had limited minutes (one of those players extremely inconsistent- Purvis plus Boat) that is pretty desperate.
The loss to Texas was due to our inability to score a basket in the last 5 minutes of the game. Not because Boat missed a free throw or someone missed coverage. I think we would have been very lucky to win those games, not unlucky to loose them.
I think we can be a better team but we have not been a good team. At times, not a mediocre team. We all expected much more out of Purvis. Many folks really minimized what the loss of Bazz, DD, Giffey and Kromah meant. The least of this foursome, Kromah, would greatly improve this team.
The preseason idealized versions of Lubin, Sam Jr., even TSam was just the insanity of overzealous fans.

When Boat is back and if Purvis becomes consistent with good competition, we could be pretty good. I like our talent at the 1 and the 3. AB has limitations but is, overall a plus. Facey is doing a very respectful job. Our shooting guard and back-up guards have been lethal. Boat and our defense have been the only NCAA tourney caliber parts.

 

[Kitaman]

If you recall last year when late leads were threatened Boat, Bazz, Giffey and one or two others were able to put daggers in the opponents, to win games. Not to mention the impressive free throw shooting. Just as important I don't recall so many late turnovers (bad passes, loosing dribbles, etc.).

This team so far are not closers. Luck is so far from the reason for our losses. Yale and Texas the shooters had good looks/shots. Luck for those two alone would have meant they shot the ball backwards and it went in.

It appears our identity is defense this year, what we lack is offensive production and better ball care, particularly in late games. That to me is the reason for the season.