I don't care what measure you use...

[AZOrange]

I haven't read the entire thread but I have to say that the only measure that counts is Ws and Ls and by that measure, we are not playing mediocre basketball.

This is why most people hate Cuse/UK/KU/MSU/Duke/UNC fans. We make it sound like 27-1 is 19-9 and bubble-liciousness.

 

[KingOtis]

And in 2003, on boards like this everyone would gripe that our defense wasnt good enough to win..."We cant just outscore teams every night!"

Not me. I trusted the zone and the press. Still do. The offense and overconfidence are what concern me right now.

 

[KingOtis]

This is why most people hate Cuse/UK/KU/MSU/Duke/UNC fans. We make it sound like 27-1 is 19-9 and bubble-liciousness.

What do all of those teams have in common? Higher expectations.

Look, we should get to the Sweet 16 in our sleep. But aside from our record, does this look like a championship team at the moment? I would say no.

 

[AZOrange]

Not me. I trusted the zone and the press. Still do. The offense and overconfidence are what concern me right now.

Would it surprise you if I told you in 2002-03 we shot 47%/69%/34% and this season we are shooting 47%/69%/34%?

 

[AZOrange]

But aside from our record, does this look like a championship team at the moment? I would say no.

Only if this is the only team you are watching on a nightly basis...

 

[orange03]

The bottom line is if we continue playing like we've been recently, we won't sniff a national championship or a Final 4. Disagree if you want, but when we continue to let lesser teams dictate pace and how we play, we become a very vulnerable team. We let teams hang with us until it becomes a 50/50 game... we can't expect to win these types of games forever.

 

[44cuse]

I haven't read the entire thread but I have to say that the only measure that counts is Ws and Ls and by that measure, we are not playing mediocre basketball.

Do you really believe that is the only measure that counts? Seriously?

44cuse

 

[dollarbill44]

Do you really believe that is the only measure that counts? Seriously?

44cuse

Yeah. If we win every game the rest of the way in the same fashion we've won the last 5 games, that's all that counts.

 

[AZOrange]

The bottom line is if we continue playing like we've been recently, we won't sniff a national championship or a Final 4. Disagree if you want, but when we continue to let lesser teams dictate pace and how we play, we become a very vulnerable team. We let teams hang with us until it becomes a 50/50 game... we can't expect to win these types of games forever.

Games are not 50/50 if you win 97% of them.

 

[AZOrange]

Do you really believe that is the only measure that counts? Seriously?

44cuse

I am pretty sure the only thing that matters in sports is who gets the "W". I would rather be the ugliest winning team than the prettiest loser (we have had plenty of those).

 

[OttoMets]

Only if this is the only team you are watching on a nightly basis...

Just compared to our first two-thirds of the season, not compared to other teams. Right up through the 13-0 run to start the Pittsburgh game, we were looking like the best team in the country. Since then, we've played to the level of some opponents and played conservatively.

It's not just the opponents or the conference familiarity; our peers are roughing up some of the same teams we've struggled with. Syracuse has hit its January swoon, and it remains to be seen if our play will improve or if this will be another year with an exiciting start and a sub-.500 finish.

 

[TinyManInside]

for those of us that want to see the team win a championship, margin of victory and how well the team plays in its wins are important. for those of us that look at regular season wins as important and having their own innate value, we could not care less how we win.

these are two disparate yet equally valued view points. its simply individual preference.

I cannot recall where I read this, but as of a few years ago, season average margin of victory is historically one of the best predictors of NCAA tournament success. Simply put, teams that win games by a lot of points, tend to win more games in the tourney. Obviously there are exceptions and this may have changed somewhat with Butler's recent success.

 

[AZOrange]

Just compared to our first two-thirds of the season, not compared to other teams. Right up through the 13-0 run to start the Pittsburgh game, we were looking like the best team in the country. Since then, we've played to the level of some opponents and played conservatively.

It's not just the opponents or the conference familiarity; our peers are roughing up some of the same teams we've struggled with. Syracuse has hit its January swoon, and it remains to be seen if our play will improve or if this will be another year with an exiciting start and a sub-.500 finish.

Well we dont get to play ourselves in the tournament, so yes, compared to other teams (that all struggle at times) we are right there in line as a favorite to win it all.

 

[Knicks411]

I cannot recall where I read this, but as of a few years ago, season average margin of victory is historically one of the best predictors of NCAA tournament success. Simply put, teams that win games by a lot of points, tend to win more games in the tourney. Obviously there are exceptions and this may have changed somewhat with Butler's recent success.

Yeah, it's not foolproof, of course, nothing is, but generally national champions have very good scoring margins.

Also worth pointing out that right now, we have a very good scoring margin, though it has come down a bit recently.

 

[alphaorange]

Seemingly lost in all this is the fact that we are 28-1 and the #2 rated team in the country. This means that we have a huge bulls eye on our backs and get every teams best effort every time we step on the floor. Even vastly over-matched teams go balls to the wall because a win makes their season. After nearly 30 games of taking everyone's best shot, and with a 1 seed nearly locked up, I think the team is a bit tired and maybe even a little bored. It's great to think that no team should ever get complacent, but we all know that is just fantasy. I'll be more concerned when and if the "real" games start, and we are still lackadaisical. Until then, I think we see stretches of great, high energy ball, and stretches of very uninspired play. I think I'd almost rather they got a 2 seed in the East and have the press talking about how overrated their season has been.

 

[OttoMets]

Well we dont get to play ourselves in the tournament, so yes, compared to other teams (that all struggle at times) we are right there in line as a favorite to win it all.

OK, that's fair. But I wouldn't mind putting a buffer out there, so to speak. We've played better. We can do it again. Let's resume playing better and add to our margin for error in the tournament.

Some of this is out of Syracuse's control (South hitting his shots). Some - resuming the deep bench, sticking to the press when it's working, reminding Joseph and Dion what they can and cannot do - can be done.

 

[BlueCurtain]

We let teams hang with us until it becomes a 50/50 game... we can't expect to win these types of games forever.

Statistically speaking then, we have a 6.25% probability of making the Final Four and 1.56% to win it all. So there's still a chance.

And speaking of blackjack, since we already stole 50/50 games against West Virginia, Georgetown and Louisville... we're due for a correction.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

I haven't read the entire thread but I have to say that the only measure that counts is Ws and Ls and by that measure, we are not playing mediocre basketball.

If that's the only measure you use you must have loved the Tim Tebow led Denver Broncos. While they were winning anyone with half a brain knew they had no chance at a championship. Sometimes how you win does mean something. With the caliber of team we have I'm hoping we'll see more of the step on your throat team that we witnessed in the beginning of the BE season, and less of the team we're currently seeing.

 

[AZOrange]

OK, that's fair. But I wouldn't mind putting a buffer out there, so to speak. We've played better. We can do it again. Let's resume playing better and add to our margin for error in the tournament.

Some of this is out of Syracuse's control (South hitting his shots). Some - resuming the deep bench, sticking to the press when it's working, reminding Joseph and Dion what they can and cannot do - can be done.

Thats fine. But I think we need to keep in mind what we are doing. Right now...our defense is really quite unbelievable (we had like a 27-0 run last night). Our offense struggled a bit last night, but our O was good against Rutgers and Uconn. Those were games all in the last 10 days...we have short term memories. So in reality we struggled against Gtown (a top 10 team), last night (against a decent and long team) and against Ville (on the road).

 

[AZOrange]

Statistically speaking then, we have a 6.25% probability of making the Final Four and 1.56% to win it all. So there's still a chance.

And speaking of blackjack, since we already stole 50/50 games against West Virginia, Georgetown and Louisville... we're due for a correction.

Wait...so my next coinflip is dependent on my last one?

 

[KingOtis]

Would it surprise you if I told you in 2002-03 we shot 47%/69%/34% and this season we are shooting 47%/69%/34%?

A little...although our offense was clicking earlier in the year because of the transition game. My guess is that the numbers are a lot different if you only look at conference play, or from January on.

 

[AZOrange]

A little...although our offense was clicking earlier in the year because of the transition game. My guess is that the numbers are a lot different if you only look at conference play, or from January on.

We had plenty of clunkers in that time period in 2002-03 too...

 

[KingOtis]

Only if this is the only team you are watching on a nightly basis...

Why does that matter? No, I wouldn't be shocked if the Final Four was made up entirely of #4 seeds. But that's not the point. The point is that right now this team doesn't look like a team that can get to New Orleans. They did look like a championship-caliber team for most of the season.

I couldn't care less if the rest of the #1 seeds lose in the first round. We need to worry about ourselves so we can take advantage of those kinds of breaks.

 

[AZOrange]

Why does that matter? No, I wouldn't be shocked if the Final Four was made up entirely of #4 seeds. But that's not the point. The point is that right now this team doesn't look like a team that can get to New Orleans. They did look like a championship-caliber team for most of the season.

I couldn't care less if the rest of the #1 seeds lose in the first round. We need to worry about ourselves so we can take advantage of those kinds of breaks.

How do we (right now) look any more/less like a championship caliber team than UK (or Louisville)? Or to put it another way how do other teams look more like a championship caliber team than we do right now?

 

[OttoMets]

Thats fine. But I think we need to keep in mind what we are doing. Right now...our defense is really quite unbelievable (we had like a 27-0 run last night). Our offense struggled a bit last night, but our O was good against Rutgers and Uconn. Those were games all in the last 10 days...we have short term memories. So in reality we struggled against Gtown (a top 10 team), last night (against a decent and long team) and against Ville (on the road).

Our defense was good when it wanted to be - during our run - but was pretty insipid during USF's 18-5 start and during much of the Rutgers game. There's been a lot of matador-ing from every front-line player not named Fair.

Even with the good teams, we haven't played well. We beat Georgetown, but we played very poorly in coughing up a late lead and letting the game get to overtime.