Maui

[BFieldHusky]

I know we often lament the Seton Hall loss, but I think we were an 8 seed even if we won that game. I don't know if there is way to look at the metrics if we won that game by 4, versus losing by 1. But I don't think it would have made a huge difference. Still would have been a 3 seed in the BET.

The games in Maui really hurt us, and we had such a small margin for error after that. The McNeeley injury also really hurt us.

In looking back...if we beat Memphis, we play Michigan State, and then even if we had lost, would played Iowa State. I think our metric numbers would have looked very differently.

 

[J187Money]

Fair - but we still would not have been an 8 if we had won the BET - so it was within our control. Just fell short too many times.

 

[HuskyFich]

While this is true from a record standpoint…all that would have happened this year is more disappointment in tourney time.

We just didn’t have the star power or the depth needed to compete at the highest level this year, and no win/loss differential would have hid that come March.

Luckily, we as fans can keep our chin up knowing Hurley had these dudes fighting like dogs, and he never gave up on them, and then in turn the players never gave up on Hurley.

If this is what a reloading year feels like, I am pretty damn pleased with what Hurley was able to accomplish with this roster.

 

[BlueWolf25]

I know we often lament the Seton Hall loss, but I think we were an 8 seed even if we won that game. I don't know if there is way to look at the metrics if we won that game by 4, versus losing by 1. But I don't think it would have made a huge difference. Still would have been a 3 seed in the BET.

The games in Maui really hurt us, and we had such a small margin for error after that. The McNeeley injury also really hurt us.

In looking back...if we beat Memphis, we play Michigan State, and then even if we had lost, would played Iowa State. I think our metric numbers would have looked very differently.

I’ve been saying the same thing. Playing (and losing to) Colorado and Dayton as opposed to Sparty and Iowa St. is a dramatic difference

 

[Ewekon]

I’ve been saying the same thing. Playing (and losing to) Colorado and Dayton as opposed to Sparty and Iowa St. is a dramatic difference

Hindsight. Players/Coaches treated Maui like "I'm going to Disney" post Super Bowl win.

 

[Kitaman]

Funny but looking back, Maui was a warning or prelude.

 

[NHUConnfan]

I don't know what our stats officially are, but it feels like we were really bad during daytime starts.

 

[jibsey]

The team got better toward the end defensively which is why we could even be competitive in this game today. Not having athletic 1’s and 2’s after Hass and Solo to back up was just a killer. Anyone see games today? We took a number one to the wire in a final 8 quality game today even with our holes at guard. Gutty performance.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We could have survived the Memphis loss, but losing to Colorado led to Dayton which started the season off the rails. Beat Colorado and lose to Iowa State, and UConn probably does not drop below 31 or 32 in Kenpom the whole season, and probably finish with a 7 seed even if the rest of the reason played out the same as it did.

The Seton Hall loss cost UConn at least one seed, and it should have. That was an unforgiveable loss.

 

[auror]

Our opponents shot 53% from 3 combined in Maui and the worst of the three was 47%.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Our opponents shot 53% from 3 combined in Maui and the worst of the three was 47%.

Well our coaches spent the summer focusing on offense and installed defense moreso during the season (their words I believe but I’m paraphrasing).

So what did we expect?

Our defense improved dramatically throughout the season as we focused on it. Including in this Florida game.

 

[boog204]

Funny but looking back Maui was a warning or prelude.

I mean the issues that were presented in Maui were basically consistent throughout the year. We struggled defensively, our lack of speed/quickness was exposed, we learned our personnel/roster construction was an issue regarding ball handling or lack thereof, and our bigs showed they were prone to foul issues. Very little changed over the course of the year.

 

[gtcam]

Funny but looking back Maui was a warning or prelude.

Both

 

[lateralous]

We could have survived the Memphis loss, but losing to Colorado led to Dayton which started the season off the rails. Beat Colorado and lose to Iowa State, and UConn probably does not drop below 31 or 32 in Kenpom the whole season, and probably finish with a 7 seed even if the rest of the reason played out the same as it did.

The Seton Hall loss cost UConn at least one seed, and it should have. That was an unforgiveable loss.

This. All you needed was to not mess up the Colorado and Seton Hall games and the metrics would have been so much better.

 

[shizzle787]

Our seed was the result of several things:
Maui
Seton Hall loss
Other BE contenders doing questionably in the non-conference (SJU 9-2, Marquette 9-2, Creighton 7-4)
Butler (NDSU, Austin Peay) and Nova (Colombia, St. Joe's, Virginia) losing multiple stinkers out of conference

I keep harping on this but non-conference scheduling is huge. How the league does out of conference determines the ceiling and floor for the number of bids a league can get.

The last year or two we have done better with scheduling and Creighton, Xavier, Butler, and Marquette all tend to schedule well. However, some others need to step it up going forward (St. John's, Nova, Georgetown, Providence).

With the tournament likely expanding to 76 teams next year, 20 regular season wins should be the number to get in the field.

A team I expect to be on the bubble next year is Georgetown. This year they had 17 regular season wins, but only 3 non-conference games against the P4. It would not stun me if Cooley adds only one additional P4 contest. If he does, I can see them possibly getting to 20.

But ultimately, it is going to come down to Big East teams avoiding scheduling Quad 3 banana skins (ahem, Butler), taking care of business against cupcakes, and winning a decent percentage against the P4 (which the league usually does).

Also, stop scheduling A-10 programs. It is a no-win scenario for the league.

 

[shizzle787]

This. All you needed was to not mess up the Colorado and Seton Hall games and the metrics would have been so much better.

Marquette blowing a lead against Dayton, St. John's blowing a lead against Baylor, and Creighton getting smoked by SDSU hurt us almost as much.

 

[lateralous]

Marquette blowing a lead against Dayton, St. John's blowing a lead against Baylor, and Creighton getting smoked by SDSU hurt us almost as much.

Sure but we don’t control those results. The Colorado and Seton Hall losses were inexcusable.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Hindsight. Players/Coaches treated Maui like "I'm going to Disney" post Super Bowl win.

Yep. Or we’re the defending champs and teams are going to fall over in amazement when we step on the floor.

 

[navery12]

I know we often lament the Seton Hall loss, but I think we were an 8 seed even if we won that game. I don't know if there is way to look at the metrics if we won that game by 4, versus losing by 1. But I don't think it would have made a huge difference. Still would have been a 3 seed in the BET.

The games in Maui really hurt us, and we had such a small margin for error after that. The McNeeley injury also really hurt us.

In looking back...if we beat Memphis, we play Michigan State, and then even if we had lost, would played Iowa State. I think our metric numbers would have looked very differently.

It's not a perfect formula, but Bart Torvik had us as the 2nd 8 seed with our actual resume on selection Sunday. Flipping the Seton Hall game to a win we'd move up 2 spots to the last 7 seed. If we flipped the Dayton and Colorado games to losses to Michigan State and Iowa State instead (and keep Seton Hall a loss) we move up 5 spots to the top 7 seed

 

[Muddler]

Our seed was the result of several things:
Maui
Seton Hall loss
Other BE contenders doing questionably in the non-conference (SJU 9-2, Marquette 9-2, Creighton 7-4)
Butler (NDSU, Austin Peay) and Nova (Colombia, St. Joe's, Virginia) losing multiple stinkers out of conference

I keep harping on this but non-conference scheduling is huge. How the league does out of conference determines the ceiling and floor for the number of bids a league can get.

The last year or two we have done better with scheduling and Creighton, Xavier, Butler, and Marquette all tend to schedule well. However, some others need to step it up going forward (St. John's, Nova, Georgetown, Providence).

With the tournament likely expanding to 76 teams next year, 20 regular season wins should be the number to get in the field.

A team I expect to be on the bubble next year is Georgetown. This year they had 17 regular season wins, but only 3 non-conference games against the P4. It would not stun me if Cooley adds only one additional P4 contest. If he does, I can see them possibly getting to 20.

But ultimately, it is going to come down to Big East teams avoiding scheduling Quad 3 banana skins (ahem, Butler), taking care of business against cupcakes, and winning a decent percentage against the P4 (which the league usually does).

Also, stop scheduling A-10 programs. It is a no-win scenario for the league.

All good points. It is just hard to see how small Catholic Schools compete when you hear the crazy dollars that starters make at P4 schools. It’s not like raising money for a building—you’ve got to find millions of dollars every year now. The ACC schools with proud basketball histories can’t do it with 40-50 million a year in TV, etc, How does Butler, Providence, DePaul, Marquette, Xavier, and dare I say Georgetown,Villanova and St John’s do it?

 

[housekeys]

The McNeeley injury also really hurt us.

Thie McNeeley injury hurt us more than any one result.

The team runs a sophisticated offense and a defense that takes time to master. The time between his injury and return was spent in suspended animation and messed up any chemistry the team had built to that point. Roles had to be redefined and it put additional pressure on Ball and especially Karaban. When Liam returned, the team had to reset itself once again. The team never had the time to re-synchronize itself amid the challenges of BE play. No excuses though. Only some what ifs.