khoock

Here are the playoff teams preseason rankings: 1. Clemson 4. Oklahoma 5. Ohio State 6. LSU Teams that were the biggest surprise in the playoff hunt were Minnesota (RV) and Baylor (NR).

When i saw he was getting pulled from the starting lineup again, i thought to myself Cam Mack and Fred Hoiberg's relationship will either turn into "He helped make me the man I am today" kinda thing or Cam wont be here next year.

Yep. Oh boy could Wisconsin really be regretting that Illinois loss by the end of the night! But theres a good chance Ohio State will be matched up with Clemson win or lose tonight. LSU probably takes over #1 and if Ohio State loses they probably dont drop below Oklahoma. Looks like we will see: (1) LSU v. (4) Oklahoma (2/3) Ohio St v. (2/3) Clemson ESPN will try and sell us on the possibility of Wisconsin leaping Oklahoma (if they pull of the upset) to boost ratings for their reveal show. But no way in hell that happens.

Undefeated Indiana currently getting drubbed by Wisconsin. Thankfully they have Connecticut sandwiched in between this beat down and our game. Hopefully they let out all of their frustrations on the Huskies...

Interesting note: Heading into B1G play, our top three scorers and rebounders are all separated by a total of only three points/rebounds. - Points: H. Cheatham (113), C. Mack (112), D. Burke (110) - Rebounds: H. Cheatham (47), Y. Ouedraogo (45), J. Green (44) However, Cam Mack is running away with assists (51) with Jervay Green a distant second (24).

I guess my expectations for this season were just to watch it unfold and see improvement individually and collectively. This team showed us the very first game that they were not very good (even against poor competition). But then they showed us improvement against that level of competition. Today they showed us that against bubble teams or better, we do not belong on the same court. Now show me your better than that. Put some scares into these better teams and make em sweat a little. Maybe burst a bubble or two. If I see that (which I think we will) i will be satisfied. Now next year, my expectations completely change.

I agree. If we lose either of our games against North Dakota or Corpus Christi i will be irrate. If we start off the Purdue and Indiana games like we did today I will be pissed off. This team has shown us it can improve and Hoiberg has already shown us he can make adjustments. They will improve against higher level competition the more experience they get against it imo. I think they got another eye opener today (like they did the first two games). I dont expect this performance to be a reoccurring theme.

Overlooking the extent of our roster turnover and chalking it up to "thats just NCAA basketball in 2019" is also a little disingenuous, dont you think? Creighton fielded the more talented team and also fielded the more experienced team. They also brought an effort/intensity that was unmatched by any of our players. I think part of the reason that is, is because their players were here last year and experienced the embarassing L we gave them, while none of our players or coaches (sans Thor and Armon Gates) were. With context, I dont think what happened today is terribly shocking.

Now would be a good time to experiment with a Cross/Ouedraogo front court, yes or no? A solid 4ish minutes amd no worries about foul trouble or outcome of the game.

Fair enough.

Did the team not drastically improve from the UC Riverside loss to the USF win? We saw boatloads of improvement in that stretch. But this our first game against a top 40(ish) team and it is showing. Thats how i see it atleast. You cant say whether they are improving or not because we havent really seen them against this level of competition.

Exactly.

Hoping Arop and Easley each get a solid 5 minutes of playing time today

First, name me a team where not two players on a 16 man roster have played a single minute of collegiate basketball together (ill wait)... then we can discuss if said team would or would not fall behind to Creighton by 30.

They definitely have the best 3 or 4 players on the court

Well its more than likely two scenarios: - Ohio State v. Oklahoma and LSU v. Clemson OR - Some combination of Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, LSU BUT Theres always the chance that some weird shit happens and some combination of Ohio St, Clemson, and LSU lose.

Heard it all week long on the radio that Nebraska wasnt going to be able to match Creighton's energy and intensity. The blue birds were gonna come out with a vengeance after what we did to them in Lincoln last year. With this whole team being new they probably had no idea what they were walking in to today.

I never said any of them will be difference makers? Doesnt mean they cant be B1G caliber players. We definitely have some B1G level talent on the team, they might just be taking on bigger roles that what they should be.

Well no offense, but your coworker is an idiot lol. Didnt they return almost all of their team from a year ago that happened to make a deep run in the NIT and be in the bubble discussion most of the year? I don't even follow Creighton and I know they were expecting to have a really good year (before injuries)

We saw the improvement throughout the first seven games when competition was poor to below average. Creighton is the first team we have played that is top 40ish. Once we play these types of teams consistently, im sure we will see improvement as well. Unfortunately that likely means 20-25 point losses improving to 10-15 point losses rn...

Could be true for some. Its hard to tell when everyone/everything is new, many players are playing out of position and are taking on bigger roles than what their skill level calls for.

GT lost at home to Syracuse today by 30+

Oklahoma-Baylor on the tv (tie game with 3+ to go) and Nebrasketball on the laptop in my house rn.

Games moving way too fast for a lot of our guys rn. Thats the adjustment period we will be dealing with for most of the year. The transition from high school, juco, and low D1 can be a huge struggle. Especially when most of your entire team is going through it all at once.

His defensive effort was extremely pathetic the last 4 minutes against Georgia Tech. Maybe thats why.