Nothing will take the stink of Lafayette, but DePaul coming off obliterating Duquesne and an upset of Louisville.....may end up being not a terrible road loss.
DePaul
- Thread starter Salvi's Headband
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Could have won there and they're a lot better than everyone thought. They won't finish in the bottom.
The Lafayette loss is the crushing one right now followed slightly by UMASS. Need to beat SHU tomorrow and try to finish above .500 in B1G play. We still have a fighters chance here.
The Lafayette loss is the crushing one right now followed slightly by UMASS. Need to beat SHU tomorrow and try to finish above .500 in B1G play. We still have a fighters chance here.
They are not terrible and their only loss was to a very good Loyola of Chicago team at home. (68-64) Yesterday’s victory was good because they beat Louisville , who was 6-2 and 44 in Kenpom, in their first true road game. People saying it was a terrible loss because they were picked last in the Big East preseason are just clueless because that was preseason. Now that the season has started they are clearly not bad and might end up being a Quad 2 loss at worst and with a little luck a Quad 1 loss. Also, Rutgers was beating DePaul for long stretches of the first half by 7 and in the second half as well until they hit 5 straight 3’s in the last 6-7 minutes . We played reasonably well and Geo’s 3 at the buzzer for the tie just missed. It was not a blowout and it was our first road game and played much better than the first 4 home games.
UMASS as well we played very well having 15 point leads in the first half and as late as 9 minutes left in the second half but blew it. Illinois was the only no show but I can almost guarantee we beat them at the RAC on 2/16/2022. I am encouraged by our road performances so far this year and tomorrow night should be another war.
I think UMass falls in the category of "pretty bad loss" but it was a team with a pulse on the road and a sort of brand name, so forgivable. Lafayette is really just plain inexcusable. One of the worst teams in D1, AT HOME. Keerist
Any not believe we probably scrape by with ugly wins over Lafayette and even UMass if: 1) Geo wasn't injured or 2) Miller is playing his tough D in those games with Geo injured? I know, I know, ifs and buts...but yeh...
Watching the DePaul game I thought they were pretty good. Reminded me a lot of Houston last year with the one really good scorer and a bunch of guys playing hard. The freshman draining 3s at the end was a surprise and why we lost. It’s hard to tell game to game but I thought we played decent that game but not great. I thought DePaul played a good game against us. That loss didn’t bother me at all.
Note to those who like to argue ~ I’m not saying at all that DePaul is as good as Houston or a final 4 team. So don’t twist my words……
Note to those who like to argue ~ I’m not saying at all that DePaul is as good as Houston or a final 4 team. So don’t twist my words……
I agree the Lafayette loss was inexcusable, and I would even say it’s the only inexcusable one.
Losing to a good DePaul team on the road and catching a hot (from the arc) UMass team on the road may be disappointing but are not “inexcusable”.
That being the case, then beating the number 1 team in the country should even things out (in terms of win/loss record). Maybe we’re right where we were intended to be this year, down but not out, and rising to the challenges.
No one is excusing the Lafayette loss as it was indefensible. But equally bad was the Lehigh to OT , Merrimack losing at the half and NJiT going almost to the end. We played real badly especially Paul and Caleb in those first 4 home games. But the good news is we are not that team any longer as the Clemson and Purdue games should show. If you watched Caleb’s Purdue effort both defensively and especially offensively in the last 7-8 minutes against Purdue , he had a lot to do with the win , and almost as much as Ron. we take care of business at home and win some road games we will be rewarded in the end of the year.
Not to be a downer but the Clemson and Purdue games sandwiched the worst effort of the year.
and thats the insanity of this....right now NO ONE has any idea of where the season will go, that was a thread the needle type win last night, it was basically 5 starters with one having a career night while the bench gave minutes but little else. Not a blueprint for winning league games. We can easily revert back to early games or we can start stringing together consistent efforts...I think if we do the latter, get Geo back, then everyone on the same page then the winning starts to happen. Also creating energy away from the RAC and against schools like Nebraska, Minnesota, and Penn State will be important.
and it doesnt have to start tomorrow with a win, its all about how we show up
In a vacuum, losing to UMass on the road is not inexcusable.
Losing to UMass while blowing a 17 point lead, IS inexcusable and a terrible loss.
DePaul on the road is always a game Big East teams circle, and any visiting team does as well, because it’a a winnable game just because of the lack of a home environment. You don’t get a chance to play many true road games in a mostly empty arena. Even when they aren’t that bad, it hurts to lose there.
DePaul is in a new arena this year . Still not right on campus but close. They do not play at the United Center. The guy Jones who hurt us late , had 33 at Louisville. So they have some players now. Not near the top of the Big East but in the 90’s in Kenpom is a great improvement.
So what. They are a name team that was 6-2 and were 44 in Kenpom. This was a road win for DePaul, which was huge for them. If Louisville beats Kentucky this week are you still going to downplay the DePaul road win. ?The whole ACC is down but they are still Louisville. If we beat Louisville would you discount it ?
Yeah they didn’t follow the game plan as several players have stated and let their missed offensive layups in the first half affect their defense and Illinois had another 3 point field day . Plus how can you compare the intensity and effort against Clemson and Purdue to the lack of effort and intensity at Illinois. It appears simple that we better bring our effort and intensity or we can look bad. Plus they was less prep time after Clemson’s late night win on Tuesday about mid nite to 1 day practice before hitting a plane on Thursday., playing on Friday. Pike had 6 days until Purdue and his prep and scout was tremendous as usual plus he had their attention thru the flu because of how embarrassed they were.
The building is not new … it opened 2017-18 after they played forever at the old Rosemont Horizon, but their attendance has remained abysmal. They’ve always won some surprising games, just not enough. Paul Reed was a really good big man for them a couple of years ago before going pro.
Basketball is a great game, and it’s funny how bounces here or there define a team. If we get late stops against Lafayette and UMass (even putting aside DePaul), coupled with the Purdue game, we’re 7-2 with a reputation as a seasoned team that plays to its competition but guts out wins.
True, but if Lehigh manages to score on one possession at the end of regulation and Harper doesn't make a half court shot we are 3-6 and the board looks like.. what it looked like prior to Thursday's game.
FWIW I posted earlier in the season (after UMass I think) that we were like #335 in Kenpom in luck.. now we are #109.