Six games left

[AntG168]

Trajectory could be better. Year 4 is pretty deep. If we were to just stay like this, competitive but not competing for a championship like the new Xavier, I wouldn’t be happy. This literally his Hurley’s vision in action his old key recruit, the star PG who played for his father, defensive minded tough, athletic team. I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.

He just got a commitment from one of his highest rated recruits ever in Castle. There’s plenty of talent coming in. Sanogo, Jackson, Hawkins are all definitely back. Karaban, clingan, Floyd, Johnson all waiting in the wings. The future is really bright. I’m not sure how much higher the trajectory should be, especially with the way Hurley prefers to build. A 3-5 seed would not be a disappointing season imo. Of course there is plenty of room for this season to become a disappointment

 

[USNavyDog]

I don’t think we are a lock yet. If we go 4-2 we are in, but 3-3 would make me uncomfortable. Anything worse and we could be on the bubble.

But is we go 3-3 and we beat the 3 toughest teams (Villanova, Xavier and Creighton or Seton Hall) we are definitely still in going 3-3.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Trajectory could be better. Year 4 is pretty deep. If we were to just stay like this, competitive but not competing for a championship like the new Xavier, I wouldn’t be happy. This literally his Hurley’s vision in action his old key recruit, the star PG who played for his father, defensive minded tough, athletic team. I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.

Honestly I disagree with most of your posts so we can just add another one. And your point about the talent level staying the same seems at odds with reality. Again, maybe you were in elementary school during the Ollie years, but this seems like a pretty reasonable spot to be in a few years in. And it's kind of presumptuous to say that fans who don't share your entitled disappointment are "lying."

 

[USNavyDog]

We're not in the AAC anymore. That wouldn't happen

If we were still in the AAC with this years team...we wouldn't be 17-7 overall...we would be 20-4 instead....over the 24 games played this year.

 

[auror]

I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.

There's talent and then there's experienced, developed talent. We're going to finish 3rd (maybe 4th) in a top 4 league while being a top 25 team.

Here are our upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
Rj Cole - Rank 400+
Tyrese Martin - Rank 220+
Tyler Polley - Rank 160+
Isaiah Whaley - Unranked.

Of course the talent level is going to get better. Sanogo, Jackson, Hawkins, Diggins, Johnson, etc. are going to get older and better. The seniors are going to get replaced with top 100 guys. Some might miss, but overall the talent level is unquestionably going to get better. Our biggest flaw is the lack of a guy who can create his own shot at the end of the clock, because Cole isn't naturally gifted enough. Just wait until Hawkins is a junior.

Here are Villanova's upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
GIllespie - 200
Moore - 57
Samuels - 46
Slater - 53
Dixon - 73 (he's soph but RS soph, he's 21 years old)
Daniels - Unranked.

 

[navery12]

Trajectory could be better. Year 4 is pretty deep. If we were to just stay like this, competitive but not competing for a championship like the new Xavier, I wouldn’t be happy. This literally his Hurley’s vision in action his old key recruit, the star PG who played for his father, defensive minded tough, athletic team. I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.

The sad thing is I'm pretty you're serious with these posts. I'd be embarrassed to post these thoughts publicly

 

[uconnbill]

I think defense is going to decide the last 6 games. UConn needs to be tough and take the damn three's away especially from Nova.

I think 5-1 is possible

 

[3rdbass]

There's talent and then there's experienced, developed talent. We're going to finish 3rd (maybe 4th) in a top 4 league while being a top 25 team.

Here are our upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
Rj Cole - Rank 400+
Tyrese Martin - Rank 220+
Tyler Polley - Rank 160+
Isaiah Whaley - Unranked.

Of course the talent level is going to get better. Sanogo, Jackson, Hawkins, Diggins, Johnson, etc. are going to get older and better. The seniors are going to get replaced with top 100 guys. Some might miss, but overall the talent level is unquestionably going to get better. Our biggest flaw is the lack of a guy who can create his own shot at the end of the clock, because Cole isn't naturally gifted enough. Just wait until Hawkins is a junior.

Here are Villanova's upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
GIllespie - 200
Moore - 57
Samuels - 46
Slater - 53
Dixon - 73 (he's soph but RS soph, he's 21 years old)
Daniels - Unranked.

I looked up Isaiah Whaley and he was unranked at least on 24/7. So that makes it even the more impressive the impact he has made.

 

[willie99]

6-0

 

[storrsroars]

I think defense is going to decide the last 6 games. UConn needs to be tough and take the damn three's away especially from Nova.

I think 5-1 is possible

First game vs Nova was one of only 3 this season where the opponent scored 80+ in regulation. We actually had a decent offensive game. Shot 50% overall, 40% from 3, 88% FTs, but Nova was even better in all 3 categories, plus outrebounded us. UConn lost by 11, mostly due to interior defense. Dixon took us apart on both ends - 24 pts, 12 reb. Probably AJax's worst game on both ends - 0 on offense, only 3 boards. Sanogo and Whaley both in foul trouble.

Perimeter D needs to again be very good next time, but it's in the paint where we lost the first one - Nova outscored us 22-6 in the first half in the paint. Without Justin Moore. It would be a difficult win, but it's not unthinkable if the bigs can stay out of foul trouble and AJax plays like AJax can.

 

[dennismenace]

In regards to our bubble status, right now espn has UNC in the field and without delving too deep into their schedule I do not think they have a single win over a team expected to make the tournament

But UNC is good for ratings. Shouldn't that be good enough? Besides that their announcers love to drool about them and their blueblood status. It wouldn't be "The Dance" without them and their student/athletic studies programs.

 

[Umami Zen]

Lets win tonight

 

[7774]

Trajectory could be better. Year 4 is pretty deep. If we were to just stay like this, competitive but not competing for a championship like the new Xavier, I wouldn’t be happy. This literally his Hurley’s vision in action his old key recruit, the star PG who played for his father, defensive minded tough, athletic team. I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.

If this was actually Hurley's vision he would still be recruiting mid major transfers, but he's not, because those were just the best guys he could get at the time when he first took over the program.

This board is hilarious. In the preseason all the publications had us ranked in the 20-35 range, with the majority 25-35, and everyone thought it was fair. Then the team played to that exact level and it's a disappointment.

 

[pepband99]

There's talent and then there's experienced, developed talent. We're going to finish 3rd (maybe 4th) in a top 4 league while being a top 25 team.

Here are our upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
Rj Cole - Rank 400+
Tyrese Martin - Rank 220+
Tyler Polley - Rank 160+
Isaiah Whaley - Unranked.

Of course the talent level is going to get better. Sanogo, Jackson, Hawkins, Diggins, Johnson, etc. are going to get older and better. The seniors are going to get replaced with top 100 guys. Some might miss, but overall the talent level is unquestionably going to get better. Our biggest flaw is the lack of a guy who can create his own shot at the end of the clock, because Cole isn't naturally gifted enough. Just wait until Hawkins is a junior.

Here are Villanova's upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
GIllespie - 200
Moore - 57
Samuels - 46
Slater - 53
Dixon - 73 (he's soph but RS soph, he's 21 years old)
Daniels - Unranked.

Excellent post. There are 2 axes here (experience and talent), and people ignore or forget one of them, usually to suit.

Where we've struggled is supplementing with more recent transfers. We have 3 groups of players, really:

1) KO holdover upperclassmen (Polley, Whaley)
2) Early recruits/transfers (Cole, Martin, Akok, Gaffney, Springs)
3) "Next" (Jackson, Hawkins, Diggins, Sanogo, Johnson)

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

There is talk about Iowa State, THE LAST PLACE TEAM IN THE BIG12 DANCING

 

[Rico444]

There is no excuse to lose to Creighton again. They are bad.

I don’t really understand the trepidation with Creighton this season. We pooped the bed in that game. We should expect to beat that Creighton team.

We're a better team than Creighton, and I don't expect that kid Hawkins to go as berserk as he did last time, but they did blow out Villanova in the same building we're going to play them in. I wouldn't say it would be a bad loss to lose to them on the road.

 

[awfuldan]

1 - 0

Good start. Now we get a couple days of rest and no travel before playing a wounded Xavier in front of a sell-out Saturday afternoon crowd. Let's keep it going.

 

[Palatine]

If we were still in the AAC with this years team...we wouldn't be 17-7 overall...we would be 20-4 instead....over the 24 games played this year.

Sure.

 

[willie99]

6-0

One down, five to go

 

[awfuldan]

2 - 0

Fantastic start to the stretch run. We have set ourselves up for a solid NCAA tournament seed and an easy path to a bye in the Big East Tournament.

Next we get Nova. Nice to be on a winning streak going in - guys should be confident and relaxed. Would be a monster win.

 

[aburks41]

2 - 0

Fantastic start to the stretch run. We have set ourselves up for a solid NCAA tournament seed and an easy path to a bye in the Big East Tournament.

Next we get Nova. Nice to be on a winning streak going in - guys should be confident and relaxed. Would be a monster win.

Beating Nova is the type of win that this program hasn’t had since 2014. This would be Hurley’s biggest win since he’s been here. Have to start making these statement wins if we want to get back to the top of the Big East where we belong

 

[Huskyhoops25]

I think we’d have a shot at sweeping all of them if only nova wasn’t in the XL…

The XL Center crowd was awesome last game against. Marquette.

 

[willie99]

6-0

Two down

Four to go

 

[AntG168]

Two down

Four to go

If we beat Nova, I don’t see why not. Nova is the big one though. We get over that hump, I think we roll

 

[willie99]

If we beat Nova, I don’t see why not. Nova is the big one though. We get over that hump, I think we roll

AJ shuts down Gillespie, we win a tough one