Tulane (2/8/25)

[CMJ]

We really need this one for seeding purposes and to stop the bleeding after two close losses.

[Matt from A700]

I really need this to keep breathing.

[BigChiefGMG]

[BigChiefGMG]

It seems so long ago 🥲

[meangreenfaninno]

Sad to say it but feel like we are in a free fall right now.  And I don't see it changing soon.

[CMJ]

Two straight losses is not a free fall, it's just a streak.  If we lose four in a row, that's a free fall.

[UNTLifer]

1 hour ago, CMJ said:

Two straight losses is not a free fall, it's just a streak.  If we lose four in a row, that's a free fall.

Thank you.

1 hour ago, meangreenfaninno said:

Sad to say it but feel like we are in a free fall right now.  And I don't see it changing soon.

[greenminer]

7 hours ago, meangreenfaninno said:

Sad to say it but feel like we are in a free fall right now.  And I don't see it changing soon.

Perspective: we just played 4 games in 8 days.  Given the physicality of our style, and the 8 man rotation, this is pretty brutal.

I'm not justifying the losses - I know UAB matched that run - but I think it's reasonable to backtrack on any "free fall" thoughts, and be optimistic about 4 days of rest.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

8 hours ago, greenminer said:

Perspective: we just played 4 games in 8 days.  Given the physicality of our style, and the 8 man rotation, this is pretty brutal.

I'm not justifying the losses - I know UAB matched that run - but I think it's reasonable to backtrack on any "free fall" thoughts, and be optimistic about 4 days of rest.

I understand this point. But I also always seem to disagree with it. At 18-25 years old I don't recall being sore, fatigued, battling my mental psyche in hopes of upcoming rest, etc. Just didn't happen and I don't think it happens for guys that are far and away more athletically gifted and in shape than I ever was. 

We just, lost. And there are other reasons for it. 

And if we don't come out and get more active on offense, knock down some early confidence building shots and get our guards going early we may lose again. Tulane is in the 2nd tier of AAC teams, the tier we are trending into. They aren't a slouch... like, uh, utsa. 

Edited Thursday at 01:32 PM by NorthTexasWeLove

[greenminer]

8 hours ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

I understand this point. But I also always seem to disagree with it. At 18-25 years old I don't recall being sore, fatigued, battling my mental psyche in hopes of upcoming rest, etc. Just didn't happen and I don't think it happens for guys that are far and away more athletically gifted and in shape than I ever was. 

My 0.02: You're body gets used to what it does, no matter where you are on the athletic spectrum.  So if it spends most of the season training and preparing for a schedule that is 2-3 games/week, then you throw 4 games at it in 8 days, it's going to take more out of you.  I don't think they told them team to pro-rate their effort across 4 games.  I think they tried to go just as hard as they were already used to.

[HoosMeanGreen]

6 hours ago, greenminer said:

My 0.02: You're body gets used to what it does, no matter where you are on the athletic spectrum.  So if it spends most of the season training and preparing for a schedule that is 2-3 games/week, then you throw 4 games at it in 8 days, it's going to take more out of you.  I don't think they told them team to pro-rate their effort across 4 games.  I think they tried to go just as hard as they were already used to.

Conditioning in November vs January? 
3 games in 3 days vs 4 games in 8 days?

[greenminer]

4 hours ago, HoosMeanGreen said:

Conditioning in November vs January? 
3 games in 3 days vs 4 games in 8 days?

Also tough, and a situation where I would still say wait until after 3-4 days of rest before making any declarations of “free falling.”

[Hunter Green]

On 2/6/2025 at 7:30 AM, NorthTexasWeLove said:

I understand this point. But I also always seem to disagree with it. At 18-25 years old I don't recall being sore, fatigued, battling my mental psyche in hopes of upcoming rest, etc. Just didn't happen and I don't think it happens for guys that are far and away more athletically gifted and in shape than I ever was. 

We just, lost. And there are other reasons for it. 

And if we don't come out and get more active on offense, knock down some early confidence building shots and get our guards going early we may lose again. Tulane is in the 2nd tier of AAC teams, the tier we are trending into. They aren't a slouch... like, uh, utsa. 

Sometimes, it's the mental fatigue more so than physical. It's hard to get up emotionally for every game when theres that many in a short period of time. Ive thought weve looked flat the last couple of games. Plus, I think one of our guys was battling illness. So there's that too.

[97and03]

23 hours ago, greenminer said:

My 0.02: You're body gets used to what it does, no matter where you are on the athletic spectrum.  So if it spends most of the season training and preparing for a schedule that is 2-3 games/week, then you throw 4 games at it in 8 days, it's going to take more out of you.  I don't think they told them team to pro-rate their effort across 4 games.  I think they tried to go just as hard as they were already used to.

Doesn’t bode well for the conference tournament then…

[greenminer]

12 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

Doesn’t bode well for the conference tournament then…

Did I misrepresent myself? I'm trying to say tap the breaks on any "we are free falling".  I'm not justifying losses when the load is more than usual.  I feel like there's a difference between these.

We can disagree on the work load, and still agree it's too soon for "free falling".  How about this

We loafed around at the beginning of the UTSA game, the worst we've seen in years, and fell short of winning it despite the 1H performance.
Then we lost a matchup that's been a toss up every time for years.  The UAB games seem to almost come down to a last shot, and can go either way.

I need waaaay more evidence before I consider these the beginning of a freefall.  I mean, we might be entering one, but right now it's just 1) a game we lost that we should have won.  Every team in the country suffers 2-ish of these each season.  and 2) a loss in a series that seems like it's 50/50 every time.

I hope I've clarified my position here.  Here's a picture of some hot dates.


 

Edited 2 hours ago by greenminer

[97and03]

1 minute ago, greenminer said:

Did I misrepresent myself? I'm trying to say tap the breaks on any "we are free falling".  I'm not justifying losses when the load is more than usual.  I feel like there's a difference between these.

We can disagree on the work load, and still agree it's too soon for "free falling".  How about this

We loafed around at the beginning of the UTSA game, the worst we've seen in years, and fell short of winning it despite the 1H performance.
Then we lost a matchup that's been a toss up every time for years.  The UAB games seem to almost come down to a last shot, and can go either way.

I need waaaay more evidence before I consider these the beginning of a freefall.  I mean, we might be entering one, but right now it's just 1) a game we lost when we should have.  Every team in the country suffers 2-ish of these each season.  and 2) a loss in a series that seems like it's 50/50 every time.

But your justification was the unfamiliar rate of play versus their conditioning. Tournament is day-to-day. We play a hard pace to replicate daily and as always a shallow bench. This year, they struggle to find a go-to scorer. 
How does that bode well for the tournament?

[greenminer]

1 minute ago, 97and03 said:

But your justification was the unfamiliar rate of play versus their conditioning. Tournament is day-to-day. We play a hard pace to replicate daily and as always a shallow bench. This year, they struggle to find a go-to scorer. 
How does that bode well for the tournament?

It doesn't bode well for the tournament.

[97and03]

2 minutes ago, greenminer said:

It doesn't bode well for the tournament.

[greenminer]

1 minute ago, 97and03 said:

I def misrepresented myself, because I didn't mean to suggest otherwise.

[97and03]

Just now, greenminer said:

I def misrepresented myself, because I didn't mean to suggest otherwise.

I am no basketball expert but this has seemed to me as a hopeful NIT team at best. Lorient and Wright have flashed brilliance and I really hoped Loirent could be the guy but in the modern game you seem to need a go-to guard to win games. I don’t think we have one this season. Plus Hodge might not be the guy to take the team to the next level. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Scoring 50 point and a couple rounds in the NIT isn’t going to move the needle, unfortunately.

[greenminer]

54 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

I am no basketball expert but this has seemed to me as a hopeful NIT team at best. Lorient and Wright have flashed brilliance and I really hoped Loirent could be the guy but in the modern game you seem to need a go-to guard to win games. I don’t think we have one this season. Plus Hodge might not be the guy to take the team to the next level. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Scoring 50 point and a couple rounds in the NIT isn’t going to move the needle, unfortunately.

Love Hodge, and hope he is our guy, but if we are going to level up this program/brand, he needs to show us some improvement in a few areas.  Recruiting comes to mind, but there is more.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

Love Hodge, and hope he is our guy, but if we are going to level up this program/brand, he needs to show us some improvement in a few areas.  Recruiting comes to mind, but there is more.

Someone suggested this and they were spot on...

He needs to find what he was to GM for offense. There is clearly a gap between our defense and our offense. It's not the pace, or the ppg. It's the lack of creativity/sets. He needs a guy in there to really cement the offense.