Let's put this in perspective
Like it or not MU's men's hoops record remains "on schedule." They won the games (barely) they figured to have the best shot at winning so far (Ark State, SPC) and missed a chance to steal one at Houston..
They weren't going to beat Penn even with Bunch. They do have more problems than I envisoned:depth, post play, turnovers, but even the TOs vs. Penn 17 or 18 weren' t awful but were compounded by lack of assists and being over matched on the glass..(yeh, Bunch would have helped but how much?)
Now comes Rider....to me this was a toss-up game - winnnable but still very much in doubt. Preseason I thought 4-6 wins in non-conference games. That still holds.
I had thought back in Sept-Oct. this would be an MU team that could play at the "next level". I was wrong.
I also envisioned Bunch being more of a factor and Crews and Simpson at least contributing and maybe even Barlow.
There is still time and room for this team to get better. I may have addressed this before but I guess the good news is they're "on schedule". That's also the bad news.
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
They weren't going to beat Penn even with Bunch. They do have more problems than I envisoned:depth, post play, turnovers, but even the TOs vs. Penn 17 or 18 weren' t awful but were compounded by lack of assists and being over matched on the glass..(yeh, Bunch would have helped but how much?)
Now comes Rider....to me this was a toss-up game - winnnable but still very much in doubt. Preseason I thought 4-6 wins in non-conference games. That still holds.
I had thought back in Sept-Oct. this would be an MU team that could play at the "next level". I was wrong.
I also envisioned Bunch being more of a factor and Crews and Simpson at least contributing and maybe even Barlow.
There is still time and room for this team to get better. I may have addressed this before but I guess the good news is they're "on schedule". That's also the bad news.
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
posted by Tony Graham at 12:25 AM
4 Comments:
You're right Tony...I was writing as a "Panicker" last night, but this morning I came to my senses, and realized MU teams better than this year's team have gone worse in non-conference schedule and had nice seasons. So, with that said, there is time to improve and get better and have a good season. Like you said, there are things that need to be addressed, and I would like to see some more fire in the eyes of these kids. I praised the defense before yesterday's game, and then Penn scored at will, so there are obvious problems that need to worked out there. Also, shooting. We need some more consistency. Up front, well we all know, we need some production. Can this season change for the better? Yes. Can it get worse? Yes. It will all depend on how bad these kids want it, how hard they work, and how much they come together as a unit. Remember the 2001-2002 (I think that was the year) MU team. Rahsaan Johnson, Cameron Milton, JAson Krayl, Steve Bridgemohan, and Kevin Owens, and young Byfield and Hamilton. All the talent in the world on that team, but there were other isssues. They were returning NEC Champs, has graduated just one player (a good one, but just one) in Crosby, and greatly underachieved. My point? This team needs to come together and play as a unit and play unselfish. I hope that we witness that this year, I have some doubts, but I would love nothing more than to be proved wrong. I know we all hope that this season will change for the better, good luck.
Interesting POV. I tend to agree with these comments. Tony?
I was thinking the same exact thing! Next game a Rider I believe is a must-win for MU's confidence, especially with such a young team (well backcourt anyway). Our RPI is 119 right now, which is pretty damn good and we haven't lost to a bad team yet either. Wins over Rider, Hartford and Lehigh are absolutely necessary in my opinion. Also, a split of the Seton Hall and LMU games would be terrific, and losing both would still be acceptable as long as the team is competitive in both. If we win those 3 and lose the other 2 that gives us a NC record of 5-7 which is pretty good considering the level of competition they played. Can't wait for Dec. 7th at home against LIU, especially after I sat in their gym last yr and we got blown out.
*Comcast customers! Check out Robert Morris (4-0) at Undefeated #2 Ranked Pitt tonight at 7:30 SNY TV. Should give a nice look at the talent that RMU has.
These comments from the "Panicker" are well put.
This is not a selfish team by any means. I think the talent levels remains a question mark (who gets better? or not?)
Also, I don't know that Rider is a "must" win - only if you consider they "must" win 5-6 non-conference games.
I think the "must" wins are Hartford and Lehigh. Four non-conference wins are minimum acceptable, but the absolute minimum.
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