Silver lining from the Miami loss

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UpAndUnder43

UpAndUnder43

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Losing last night was tough. I heard a lot of people saying how disappointed they were in the loss. Not the team, but the loss. People want a winner and the opportunity was there for it.

However, looking forward, playing games like Miami, Providence, Arkansas, Alabama and even Harvard are going to be HUGE for this team when they hit the thick of the conference schedule and come tournament time. Two true road games against NCAA tournament caliber teams, a crazy environment vs #10 Miami, the Alabama whatever it is was and a perennial tournament team like Harvard. That is getting battle tested. Sharpen your swords before you hit B1G play.

Now...just crush Rutgers. Don't let them score. Just physically and mentally dominate them. Losing isn't fun
 

Hopefully we can go undefeated at home the rest of the way, even against MSU
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
Losing last night was tough. I heard a lot of people saying how disappointed they were in the loss. Not the team, but the loss. People want a winner and the opportunity was there for it.

However, looking forward, playing games like Miami, Providence, Arkansas, Alabama and even Harvard are going to be HUGE for this team when they hit the thick of the conference schedule and come tournament time. Two true road games against NCAA tournament caliber teams, a crazy environment vs #10 Miami, the Alabama whatever it is was and a perennial tournament team like Harvard. That is getting battle tested. Sharpen your swords before you hit B1G play.

Now...just crush Rutgers. Don't let them score. Just physically and mentally dominate them. Losing isn't fun
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Totally agree with you.

When lots of us were predicting the non-conf outcomes, hardly any person really thought we were going undefeated. And of the predicted losses, lots of people had the Miami game as a potential loss. Obviously we got excited with our early performance, but if we were going to lose a non-conf game, this was the one to lose. #10 in the country. ACC contender. Certain NBA talent. Yes, it sucks it was at home in front of a hyped sellout crowd. Yes, it sucks that Dupree was out and we played sloppy in some areas. But the fact that IW had to play so many minutes in a huge game will help us later in the season. And the fact that we now have a barometer on what the best teams in the country look like is a good thing. Hopefully this motivates us even more. Now we aren't thinking our sh*t doesn't stink.

MUCH MUCH rather have this lesson taught now than in Feb/Mar. This loss will not hurt us much in rankings or national perception. We take care of business the rest of December and we'll be sitting in the Top 15.
 

My silver lining is now maybe those who felt Washington should be starting over Dupree M. will give up on that silly notion...because it is completely silly.
 

tikited said:
My silver lining is now maybe those who felt Washington should be starting over Dupree M. will give up on that silly notion...because it is completely silly.
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I still think Washington will be a starter this year (on merit, not injury/illness). Just might take longer than I expected
 


UpAndUnder43 said:
I still think Washington will be a starter this year (on merit, not injury/illness). Just might take longer than I expected
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I just can't see that at all I have to say. I don't think you can start someone that's such a liability on defense. That doesn't even factor in that he can be a ball stopper and doesn't do anything to help our spacing with his outside shooting. Dupree's the perfect 2 guard for this team. Stretches the floor, solid defender and picks his spots when to attack off the bounce.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
I still think Washington will be a starter this year (on merit, not injury/illness). Just might take longer than I expected
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Stop. Underrating. McBrayer. This is an awful awful take.
 

GopherNuts said:
I just can't see that at all I have to say. I don't think you can start someone that's such a liability on defense. That doesn't even factor in that he can be a ball stopper and doesn't do anything to help our spacing with his outside shooting. Dupree's the perfect 2 guard for this team. Stretches the floor, solid defender and picks his spots when to attack off the bounce.
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This exactly. With McBrayer on the floor, the ball is primarily in Mason's hands which is the best thing for this team, and will be all season long. We have players at every position in the starting 5, Washington simply doesn't need to force the issue as he continually attempts to do.
 

I like Washington's aggressiveness. Most freshmen need time, especially point guards. I think this game could ultimately be a great thing for Washington and the team. There's a learning curve for him truly internalizing how hard it is to create space and to finish against high level college competition. It takes time to truly realize how valuable possessions are AND how important defense is. He had a shot to go out there and prove himself and in the first half he experienced some failure. That can be important to helping focus a player and refine a player's game. All of our starters have experienced adversity at the college level and they were all there to weather the storm of that 8 win year other than Coffey but even he was committed at the time and I'm sure felt some of that pain and pressure as an observer but still involved with the team. It was a tough loss but one with a lot to learn from. Also if most of us fans are pretty confident we win this game with Pree playing I'm guessing the players believe that too meaning I doubt they lose too much confidence
 



Washington simply isn't ready to start right now. He plays out of control a lot of the time and continually gets himself into trouble by being over-aggressive on the offensive end. On defense, he's also a liability at the moment. McBrayer is a much better player at this juncture and should, rightfully, be starting over IW.

Once Washington begins to get a better grasp of the differences between New York high school ball and NCAA Division I ball, he might be ready to start. But McBrayer is longer, more athletic, has more poise and also has two full years of experience at the collegiate level. All of that came through in how last night's game unfolded.

One day, Washington will be ready to start. But right now, he really doesn't understand Division I basketball and how to play a good, solid game on both ends. Until he does, McBrayer will continue to get the starting nod and rightfully so.
 

MRJ said:
Washington simply isn't ready to start right now. He plays out of control a lot of the time and continually gets himself into trouble by being over-aggressive on the offensive end. On defense, he's also a liability at the moment. McBrayer is a much better player at this juncture and should, rightfully, be starting over IW.

Once Washington begins to get a better grasp of the differences between New York high school ball and NCAA Division I ball, he might be ready to start. But McBrayer is longer, more athletic, has more poise and also has two full years of experience at the collegiate level. All of that came through in how last night's game unfolded.

One day, Washington will be ready to start. But right now, he really doesn't understand Division I basketball and how to play a good, solid game on both ends. Until he does, McBrayer will continue to get the starting nod and rightfully so.
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I remember when some were saying he should start over Dupree. Ouch
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
I remember when some were saying he should start over Dupree. Ouch
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I never understood that line of thought to be honest. Dupree is one of the team's better all-around athletes and on top of that, he's been really really good this year (up until this leg issue).
 

And I remember when early in the season last year tons of people were begging Springs not to shoot because he was a liability too. Guys gotta get comfortable. We didn't just play Concordia...Miami is gonna create some adversity you may have never seen in your career to date. Things have been movin' pretty fast. SURPRISE! You are starting against Miami tonight! He's a freshman.
 



60's Guy said:
And I remember when early in the season last year tons of people were begging Springs not to shoot because he was a liability too. Guys gotta get comfortable. We didn't just play Concordia...Miami is gonna create some adversity you may have never seen in your career to date. Things have been movin' pretty fast. SURPRISE! You are starting against Miami tonight! He's a freshman.
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This is probably your best post ever, and you've had over 3,000 of them.

A lot can change in a hurry. IW's talent is undeniable. He can create better than anyone on the team. He hits a couple more shots and all is good in the world. He isn't THAT bad of a 3 point shooter. It'll even out. That said, 17 shots was too many.
 

Not worried from this loss overall. We came out on defense like we were on a mission from God, but couldn't capitalize on the offensive side of the floor. Washington will only get better from here and we'll have McBrayer back if we ever run into these guys in the tourney. This was a good building block game for this team. Pitino should be able to pull out a lot of coaching moments from this game.
 

tikited said:
My silver lining is now maybe those who felt Washington should be starting over Dupree M. will give up on that silly notion...because it is completely silly.
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This times 1000.

And I say that knowing Jelly is going to be a really good player for us.
 

At the start I thought we might get 20 blocks. just couldn't get the lid off on the other end.
 

Didn't play great on the offensive or defensive ends, one of the starters was out, and Miami was getting a lot of the fortunate bounces. Yet only lost by 5 to the #10 team in the country. We're really good, it was just Miami's night.
 

IW needs to figure out what his role is as a D1 point guard which is much different than what it was as a HS point guard. A recent quote from Mason summed it up perfectly, he said that it was his job to know what his teammates did and didn't do well and give them the ball in situations that they would succeed as well as know when he needed to get them engaged. IW is not thinking like that right now. Probably because he is not as familiar with his teammates and in HS it was all about him getting shots. Mason can really help him change his mindset and I hope he does. We all know IW is going to be a player it's just a matter of when he figures it out.


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