Scary team. Up 15 at half against #3 Wichita State. We have no one who can tough Young and McNeace is a scary defender off the bench.
Oklahoma
- Thread starter thewildcat2011
- Start date
Great opportunity for a quality OOC win. Let's do it.
I was thinking about making the road trip but won't be able to do it. Go Cats
Lots of hype around OU freshman Trae Young. It'll be interesting, not necessarily fun, to watch him vs. NU.
...taking over college hoops..
...taking over college hoops..
Definitely.
Sporting News has him a late first round pick.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/new...rojection-rankings/106mxeiby6j6y1bvuhg607k938
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I was watching that game vs. Wichita State and thinking oh s***! The 'Cats are going to have to bring their big boy pants on defense, take care of the ball and take good shots! Oklahoma will make them pay for live ball turnovers and bad missed shots!
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This might be a tournament do-or-die game for the Cats.
At some point they need some top-50 wins. I think they have seven more opportunities after Oklahoma (Minn (2), OSU, Mich (2), Maryland and MSU).
I think the Cats are going to need better than a 2-9 record against its top 50. And I don't feel great about where those two wins come from.
At some point they need some top-50 wins. I think they have seven more opportunities after Oklahoma (Minn (2), OSU, Mich (2), Maryland and MSU).
I think the Cats are going to need better than a 2-9 record against its top 50. And I don't feel great about where those two wins come from.
You're the second person who has mentioned this do-or-die stuff. It is simply not true, imo. We have a favorable BIG schedule where we can easily finish 12-6, or even better, and those 12 wins may be all against top-100 KenPom teams! Truly believe we punch our dance card if that is the case, Oklahoma win or not.
You had me until you wrote "easily". They needed a miracle shot to win 10 last year and as you rightly point out the league is more balanced top to bottom this year. To finish 12-6 this year means they go 11-5 from this point forward. Not easy.
Since I know you value analytics, T-Rank has #54 NU finishing 8-10 with a 5.3% chance of winning 12 or more Big 10 games.....
http://barttorvik.com/conf.php?conf=B10
I don't totally disagree with your direction, Mike.
While they would only need to go 3-8 against top 50, the other nine wins would come against top 100s, but in a conference that is the fifth strongest right now. That's where I could see the hiccup.
I think that scenario for the tourney is a stretch to start with. I like the Cats tourney resume MUCH better with a win vs. Oklahoma and maybe one vs MSU or Minn (fingers crossed) to go along with the bad loss or two you know is coming in the future.
I disagree. One loss will not turn the season "ugly". Collins' teams have been proven to be resilient even in the face of a 10-game B1G losing streak. While a big loss to OU might hurt their NCAA chances, I doubt it will affect how they compete in the B1G.
I hope you're right. I'm just worried that if we are blown out, it may be an indicator that we just aren't that good. I don't doubt that our team is resilient, just need to dispel the doubts that are creeping in.
To be honest, after the TTU blow-out it was apparent to me that NU isn't a top 25 team. So it depends what you mean by "that good". Right now they look like a 9-9 B1G team, 18-13 overall, that will play hard every night but suffer from a weak bench and over reliance on the 3. I think that's still a good team, just not the Sweet 16 team many were anticipating.
Oh, Come on. Teams grow over the course of a season. We have some really good talent. Our early season miscues could be attributed to many things.
Have you looked at the schedule? We play MSU once, at home, and don't play Purdue again. We can easily win 12 BIG games barring any significant injuries; we won 10 last year with a tougher schedule and a number of significant injuries....
I love this team, but 12-6 in the BIG is a pipe dream. DePaul showed us that we will have trouble rebounding and scoring inside against big bodied teams. Benson's lack of development and Falzon's regression from his rookie season leaves us very thin. We will live and die with Scottie and Law being hot from three. And Law chasing around opponent's best player means he will need rest and could be tired late in close games when you need your shooting legs. I'm just going to enjoy a competitive team and cool it with the expectations.
And whatever this T-
With this assessment, how in the world did we nearly beat Purdue at Purdue then in what was an NCAA-tournament quality game? DePaul showed us that, if our best player gets hurt, and our second best player gets in foul trouble, that we can still beat a quality opponent despite going deep into our bench. I firmly believe that 12-6 is not a pipe dream with this schedule and a healthy team; guess we will see who is correct at the end of the season.
Good schedule! Just stay tight as a team! I joke around about Ash,but we need all ten players every game to go 11-7 in BT! That means at least 10-15 minutes each from Brown,Skelly,Falzon,and Benson!
DePaul would be the worst team in the Big Ten. You can't call them a "quality opponent" and then say we're going to easily walk to 12 conference wins.
I'll believe NU has a good shot at the tournament this year if and when we actually start beating good teams. Right now our best win is over Illinois, who are in the conversation for worst team in the conference, and that required OT at home. Last year at this time we already had wins over Dayton and Wake Forest, as well as a Texas team everyone thought was really good.
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And Georgia Tech is looking like a bad loss. Got blown out at Georgia this week even with their star player back.
We would have beat Purdue but refs screwed us! Scottie was fouled in last twenty seconds but no call!