I fault the players for our mediocre season, far more than Bruce Weber, who coached us to our first conference championship in 36 years.
I complained through the entire season about our players making way too many sloppy, mindless passes (certainly including inbounds plays) and countless unnecessary, undisciplined fouls. Add to that some unimpressive shooting. Finally, there have been games we lost, at least in part, from questionable conditioning. I didn't see that in every game, but in some games, some players were spent in the fourth quarter.
The first two items above, I attribute to just not playing smart. The third, poor shooting, I think can be traced to not enough time in the BTF last summer.
Tonight, just as a what-if, I arbitrarily set six-points-or-fewer losses as a margin of error that smarter, disciplined play and better physical preparation would have changed the outcome in.
Arizona: - 4 points
Tennessee: - 1 point
Texas Southern: - 2 points
Georgia: - 4 points
Iowa State: - 6 points
WVU: - 6 points
Texas: - 4 points
WVU: - 4 points
TCU: - 2 points
Listed above are nine close losses. Taken together, we lost by a total of 33 points in those nine games. To get the victories, add nine more points, for 42 total. 42/9 = an average loss of 4.66 points in those nine games.
The Cats finished at 15-17. If they'd done just a tiny bit better in those nine games, guess what: a 24-8 season.
What about the other losses?
Long Beach State: - 9 points
Pittsburgh: - 23 points
Okie State: - 14 points
KU: - 11 points (the closest we'd gotten to them in Frog Allen F.H. in nine seasons)
TTU: - 17 points
TCU: - 14 points
Baylor: - 27 points
Texas: - 13 points
We only had about three really bad losses (17 or more points).
Our players are young adults, and they have major responsibility for the outcome of our games.
My point is just that we might be 24-8 if nine games were played just a bit more disciplined.
This post was edited on 3/12 5:08 AM by DDY
I complained through the entire season about our players making way too many sloppy, mindless passes (certainly including inbounds plays) and countless unnecessary, undisciplined fouls. Add to that some unimpressive shooting. Finally, there have been games we lost, at least in part, from questionable conditioning. I didn't see that in every game, but in some games, some players were spent in the fourth quarter.
The first two items above, I attribute to just not playing smart. The third, poor shooting, I think can be traced to not enough time in the BTF last summer.
Tonight, just as a what-if, I arbitrarily set six-points-or-fewer losses as a margin of error that smarter, disciplined play and better physical preparation would have changed the outcome in.
Arizona: - 4 points
Tennessee: - 1 point
Texas Southern: - 2 points
Georgia: - 4 points
Iowa State: - 6 points
WVU: - 6 points
Texas: - 4 points
WVU: - 4 points
TCU: - 2 points
Listed above are nine close losses. Taken together, we lost by a total of 33 points in those nine games. To get the victories, add nine more points, for 42 total. 42/9 = an average loss of 4.66 points in those nine games.
The Cats finished at 15-17. If they'd done just a tiny bit better in those nine games, guess what: a 24-8 season.
What about the other losses?
Long Beach State: - 9 points
Pittsburgh: - 23 points
Okie State: - 14 points
KU: - 11 points (the closest we'd gotten to them in Frog Allen F.H. in nine seasons)
TTU: - 17 points
TCU: - 14 points
Baylor: - 27 points
Texas: - 13 points
We only had about three really bad losses (17 or more points).
Our players are young adults, and they have major responsibility for the outcome of our games.
My point is just that we might be 24-8 if nine games were played just a bit more disciplined.
This post was edited on 3/12 5:08 AM by DDY
