This Loss is On Jimmy......

[HoustonCuse]

This is some serious angst! I guess I would just say you win some, you lose some. In hindsight, yeah it would have been better to give Coleman a bit more of a try in the second half. But our coaches didn't have that hindsight in real-time. They didn't know Lydon was going to have a horrible night that would continue all the way through the winning pass going through his hands at the end of regulation. JB plays percentages and he understood that based on percentages, we could win the game by simply outscoring Wisconsin. The facts show that he was not completely out in left field on that. We were one made shot or FT from winning it. We had a horrible night, we all knew it could happen with this sort of team.

As to Lydon getting abused by #22, yeah it hurt us at times, but Wisconsin also wasted many many possessions on that strategy. He turned it over and missed shots at a very high rate. Was that because of Lydon? I don't know but it doesn't matter. JB looks at the situation in realtime and calculates that this kid who has been hurting Wisconsin very badly doesn't warrant a degradation of our offense to contain (by replacing TL with DC). If had made that sub, maybe we win the game, but by percentages and the way the game was trending for most of the way, it was the right move to leave DC out.

Edit: To add to that last thought: If JB did make the sub and it was DC who let that winning pass go through his hands at the end - can anyone here predict what the complaints would be right now?

 

[newmexicuse]

They wouldn't have gotten layup after layup with DC in there? Color me skeptical

Maybe, maybe not, but two things are fair to say:

1. It could not have been worse w DC2 in there.
2. Any layups they might have gotten with DC2 in there would not have been pain free.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

This is some serious angst! I guess I would just say you win some, you lose some. In hindsight, yeah it would have been better to give Coleman a bit more of a try in the second half. But our coaches didn't have that hindsight in real-time. They didn't know Lydon was going to have a horrible night that would continue all the way through the winning pass going through his hands at the end of regulation. JB plays percentages and he understood that based on percentages, we could win the game by simply outscoring Wisconsin. The facts show that he was not completely out in left field on that. We were one made shot or FT from winning it. We had a horrible night, we all knew it could happen with this sort of team.

As to Lydon getting abused by #22, yeah it hurt us at times, but Wisconsin also wasted many many possessions on that strategy. He turned it over and missed shots at a very high rate. Was that because of Lydon? I don't know but it doesn't matter. JB looks at the situation in realtime and calculates that this kid who has been hurting Wisconsin very badly doesn't warrant a degradation of our offense to contain (by replacing TL with DC). If had made that sub, maybe we win the game, but by percentages and the way the game was trending for most of the way, it was the right move to leave DC out.

Edit: To add to that last thought: If JB did make the sub and it was DC who let that winning pass go through his hands at the end - can anyone here predict what the complaints would be right now?

Just because people wanted more DC2 does not mean you would have him in for the last play of the game on O when you want to score.

While JC defended JB all night with the emphasis on possessions, the relationship of rebounding didn't make it into the conversation much.

The silver lining for me is, I'm glad this wasn't Hopkins coaching debut. I have thought JB has done a masterful job so far this season up until this game. If this had been on Hopkins watch I would have thought there is a huge drop off.

 

[Briancuse]

So I'll nitpick.

Last game was Friday.

They returned Saturday.

They said they were fine.

But I think they suffered from mental effects moreso than physical.

They just didn't look sharp.

They had 4 days off in between games, they came out flat, but tired legs can't be an excuse, heck Wisconsin played in Oklahoma on Sunday.

 

[Ghost]

One more made FT in regulation and there would have been no OT to lose. That means JB's game strategy of maximizing offensive potential was actually a good one. The way DC was playing, the Badgers might have made a few more shots off his lapses and then even several more SU FTs wouldn't have helped. Even though Lydon was getting pushed around, he played tough D and forced a couple of travels and turnovers. Just as Ryan exploited Lydon's lack of heft, the Orange exploited the Badgers' youth and inexperienced ball handling, and Lydon was a part of that.

This may appear as a loss in the box score, but it was a winnable game the Cuse should have won. Yes, the strategy was bizarre, but that was because even with Wisconsin's youth, they played a tough, defensive well-coached game. Unfortunately, the future holds a number of good ACC coaches waiting to test SU's weaknesses (and with better talent). The best answer, as JB knows, is to play the best D you can and shoot well (at least that seems to work for Golden State).-VBOF

Eh, I'm not buying that logic. That's like saying our strategy against Vermont was sound in 2005 because if we hit one more shot we may have won. The fact that we stayed in a game with a tiny margin for an error at the end against seemingly an inferior opponent doesn't make the strategy a good one. Doesn't mean going with DC would have made the difference, but seems quite open to debate considering the outcome/score at the end.

 

[RoatanCuse]

They had 4 days off in between games, they came out flat, but tired legs can't be an excuse, heck Wisconsin played in Oklahoma on Sunday.

Right, Brian. Am personally sick of the "tired legs thing". Heck, we played three consecutive nights in the Bahamas and had four days rest. C'mon man.