Musketeer Madness

http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=330182

My thougts on tonight's game: from Merrick

I'm not ready to go jump out of a window or anything...while I'm disappointed about the loss, here's what we learned and what Cal will glean from this:

- The team lacks a go-to guy. Dozier hit some big buckets towards the end, but we didn't have a DRose or CDR to create shots for others or consistently make buckets. Doneal played much better than I had hoped, but he is more of a #2 option than a #1 who can create his own shot. Cal will need to figure out who can and will step up.

- Free Throws...once again. How do we solve this problem? If anyone thinks that Cal doesn't have those guys practicing FTs, you're nuts. But it's one thing to hit them in practice, yet we cannot continue to give away points at the line.

No question about it, X won the game at the line. But that's not an excuse...X is a very good team, and every year plays teams tough and wins big games. Give them credit. They won. We didn't play our best, but they were a big reason for that.

- Frankly, while I hate losing, this isn't all bad. It will leave a sour taste in our mouths over the holidays, and the team will gel and focus better after seeing that they cannot play like they did tonight and expect to win. Cal is probably writing up practice plans right now for the next 10 days.

- Someone call 911....where is Taggart?

- It's still early in the year, and still plenty of time for us to get it together. We'll still win C-USA, however we will have trouble in some of our road games. I'm really concern about G-Town and UT...yes, UT. Pearl will want to make a statement while he can.

- Playing against X scared me more than playing USC, Seton Hall, etc. Why? Because the slow, grind it out teams give us the most problems. Unfortunately, tonight's game confirmed the blueprint on how to beat Memphis. Make it a half court game, rebound the ball, and get back on defense and make Memphis play a half-court game. We have got to get better in that regard.

- I'm happy with our "D"...we are actually better than last year at this point in time. I don't think we'll wind up the year being as good defensively, but the makings are there and that's great news.

- I love AA...but he is not a PG.

- I love Willie...but can he be our PG?

- I love Tyreke...but he is not ready to be our go-to guy. He has not developed his outside shot yet, and to defend him you just give him room and dare him to shoot.

- I love Orlando Antiqua, but lawd I'm glad I'm not him flying back on the plane after getting T'd up.

- I love Wesley...and I think Cal needs to give him as many minutes as he can. Call it an investment; while he'll make some mistakes today, his development is key. I'm not kidding, he is the kind of player that can and will be a great #2 option or co-#1 option. He WILL win games for us. This I'm willing to bet the house on.


All in all, this loss hurts but we'll be okay. We're a damn good team and Cal WILL make us better. This loss exposes the things we need to work on, and has occured early enough in the year for us to make changes we need to make.

http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=330176

one guy sys this
It's not a bad loss. We lost to a very good team that won 30 games last season and made it to the Elite Eight and is now 5-0 to start this season. It is a game we needed; that is what sucks about it. We needed a quality win away from home.

Muskieman et al,
If you want to see some really over-reaction check out the Memphis Commercial Appeal website and see the comments made to the lede story on the game.....Man, never on either MM or XH have I seen such rash comments, including "Fire John Calipari," and the "Italians are taking over Memphis"
Damn, it's almost incredible. And it's only November.

These Memphis replies remind me of muskieman!
Were there any good foul calls in this tourney?

xukeith wrote:These Memphis replies remind me of muskieman!
Were there any good foul calls in this tourney?

keith while you think refs never miss or have a bad call, I see thing as they are. There are times during games at Cintas I defend refs to people around me but when the game becomes "all about the refs" we have a problem. Why does a ref get reputations as being "all about themselves"?

I have heard and seen comments and actions by refs, not all, there are refs I respect that make mistakes which I will kid them about or ignore it because they rarely make greivious mistakes. Their are refs that are just terrible, one being LaRocca who has said some vile things about fans and coaches just loud enough for everyone to hear...and then goes out and blows call after ball.

Last night Larkin was commenting how physical the game was but how the refs called ticky tac fouls. Even Joe mentioned the time toward the end of the game where BJ was nugged at the top of the key and no call but any drive to the basket had a call associated with it. Listen there were fouls and a alot of them last night but when you call ticky tac and let some heavy physical stuff go you are asking for the dust up there was toward the end of the game...

Refs have a tough game but they are the ones getting paid on the foor that night so we should expect them to manage the game not BE the game.

<Refs have a tough game but they are the ones getting paid on the foor that night so we should expect them to manage the game not BE the game.>

That is it .. call the game, not BE the game.

Lets face it. More and more every year, this becomes a much harder game to work. The game keeps getting faster, and the athletes are bigger and stronger. And the game is so much more physical.

When a shot goes up, there are six to eight people banging bodies for the rebound and or put back. You could call a foul every time, but the good tooters know to only exhale on the obvious or difference maker.

"Homer" fans would love to watch a game with my roomie. She thinks every foul called on XU is a bad call.

Don't worry Memphis fans.This will be a "good" loss for you.By the way, get some new uniforms.