Basketbill Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Wow I thought the RPI would fall but not that much, SOS in the twenties. I caught only the last 10 minuts of the game last night. After seeing the boxscore have a couple thought with IV getting less than his average rebounds, and JJ only two how did we out rebound Xavier? I assumed Lisch was in foul trouble when he was being subbed for on the defensive end but he only had 2 pf, what gives...... Drejaj 6 assists!!! The heart and soul of this team. The streak ends wednesday...........and if it does and fordham follows........Bubble city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 .. but still maddening. This is where the frustration is most easily demonstrated ---- how in the world can a team joust and parry on the national stage with UNC, Gonzaga, Iowa, GeeDub and Xavier and then still take the night off against Chico State, the Bonnies and Richmond? It has got to be playing to the level of the competition, yes? Play good against the good teams and bad against the bad? Is this a foible of youth? Is there someone out there that can put this into the proper perspective? Tsueg? pdiddy? three-star? What it does show to me is that it reaffirms what I saw in DC ... that the program does have a higher level of talent that the most recent past. Again, I've got to believe that the arrow is pointed in the right direction. As for Brad, I will again say that it is in him I trust. I think he knows what he's doing and where he's headed. I didn't call for his head last week but did experess the same frustration that many others did. But all of today's good feelings can go by the wayside with less-than-stellar performances agaisnt St. Joes and Fordham. Maybe Sean Miller didn't get his X team up again given who they beat earlier this week. Who knows. But Brad can't let the glow of this victory get washed away in a "we weren't ready to play" start in this week's upcoming home games. We need to break the streak to gain any momentum for the rest of the season. I don't agree with all of Brad's actions or style. I think he tends to pout a little too much at times, yell too much at others, and sit quietly at others. I think in TL we have a bona fide star-in-the-making. I do not believe he is a "star" jsut yet and getting to that level will require him having his head on straight. I shudder to think what he might do given four years in the program. Lisch is another but a team is the sum of its parts and if LM can give us a game like last night more times than not, and if DB can throw in a few more games like GeeDub, then these complimentary parts make the whole better. Last night's win is a tease ... a promise ... of what a bright future is possible. Losses like the one at Richmond just bring the frustration boiling over. The key is to strike an even balance .. both on the court and on this board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 For several years now we have played to the level of our competition. I believe it is our style of play. We have a championship defense and have had one for years but always a poor offense. A good defense will keep us in every game we play in, a good offense will let us get away from teams who should be below us. Unfortunately we rarely can put a team away. Our offensive miscues, lack of shooting ability, and plain droughts, serve to keep lesser teams within reach of us. Until we get some shooters in here or develop a truly veteran ballclub who will pull out 75% of those tight games we will continue to be a .500 or just slightly better team. I would like to see the game scores for Wisconsin's final four run. I have a feeling they blew out very few teams but were a veteran group who managed to win most of their tight games. With Brad's system we will never be Duke blowing out somebody by 60 points but we can still be successful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 i think there are three factors. 1. the pack defense and deliberate offense. while it allows us to stay with much more talented teams, it also likely lets those less talented than us to stay with us. 2. no dominating point guard. as much as tommie and dwayne have teased us with their fabulous athletic talent and glimpses of point guard skills, there is no denying that neither will be confused anytime soon with jason kidd or steve nash. until they are solid assit men and low turnover guys and take charge leaders, that position alone is a roller coaster. 3. team depth. while i think this team has more depth than we have seen since love's team, it still is a big drop off in talent after our top few players. that means on nights when a player or two is having an off night or nursing a minor injury, if some role player doesnt step up, that will likely transcend to mediocrity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kappy96 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Could it be that while we ovisously seem to be playing up to our competition, that UNC, Gonzaga, GW are playing down to their competition? I think it is a mute point because it is just a fact of life in college basketball. Hello NDSU taking down the Badgers at Kohl. Spending time being "confused" over how we play so poorly against weaker teams is a waste of time. As fans don't you get up a little more for the "big" games? I know that I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I think both Roy and Kappy make very good points in regards to this question. It is most likely all of the above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 st joe has a top 10 sos. and i believe the rpi is based a lot on the record of the teams that your opponents played. i.e. a win vs st joes will likely be a huge jump as well. any of our rpi experts have any thoughts on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu_tbone Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Does anyone know of a good free site for SOS rankings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I am not an RPI expert, but I do know that your opponent's strength of schedule is important, and that winning on the road counts more than winning at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 www.kenpom.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 CBS Sportsline has an RPI ranking and we are 85th there (were 111 b/4 the X win). Where are you looking to find your number? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 i use kenpom http://www.kenpom.com/rpi.php?y=2006 i believe starting next week, the ncaa is going to weekly release the real rpi. this is a first as the ncaa has never released the official rpi before. all the rest of these are just computer geeks best estimations of what the ncaa rpi is. most are amazingly close by the end of the year. january is always a shakedown month where it is really just starting to come into focus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Thanks for the link. I know many factors go into any version of RPI ratings, but winning against good teams has to be one of the most important. It's too bad we play only 3 more games against teams currently rated ahead of us, and 2 of them are just barely ahead of us--Temple and St. Joes. With this as our remaining schedule, it seems like it will be hard to make up much ground in this important rating system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 That is why we have to make hay with the remaining games on our schedule - this will allow us to gain a little but more importantly hold serve so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrewfinance Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 late answer, I know...but Lisch came out in the first half with the sleeve on, but ditched it at half-time...then he hit the floor really hard on that arm and disappeared... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 from this Illini fan. I watched the last 16 minutes of that game and was very impressed. I know how good Xavier can be, seeing that Illinois struggled with them earlier this year at the United Center. Congrats again and keep it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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