Realistic view from a skeptical fan

[RUich]

Like virtually everyone else on this board, I am concerned with the current team's overall performance. But, if we are to look at our losses so far, maybe we are being just a bit harsh this early.
Our five losses are to teams that are ALL having a great start to the new season.
Princeton 12-1
Miss. St. 11-2
Wake F. 10-3 (2-0)
illinois 11-2 (2-0)
OSU 12-2 (2-0)
That is an overall record of 56-10 which is 84% wins.
Our best win so far is against Seton Hall who is at 9-5 (2-1) with some nice wins over good teams.
Maybe we have just been really unlucky with the timing here. Clearly, we will be seeing teams that are not at the level of the ones we have lost to.
Not trying to sugar coat the fact that we have some real problems this year, but let's see if things start to balance out as we play the rest of the season and, hopefully, some of the negatives get fixed.

 

[MCKnight2004]

Win at Iowa Saturday and beat Indiana Tuesday, two teams “on our level” and we can believe in the team to at least have a season with a chance for post season play.

 

[RAC93]

Win at Iowa Saturday and beat Indiana Tuesday, two teams “on our level” and we can believe in the team to at least have a season with a chance for post season play.

They do have to start getting some wins in conference, time is ticking and the more losses they rack will bring a quick end to this season as far as postseason is concerned. Iowa is a near must win as they are not great, “on our level” as you said.

 

[BillyC80]

Like virtually everyone else on this board, I am concerned with the current team's overall performance. But, if we are to look at our losses so far, maybe we are being just a bit harsh this early.
Our five losses are to teams that are ALL having a great start to the new season.
Princeton 12-1
Miss. St. 11-2
Wake F. 10-3 (2-0)
illinois 11-2 (2-0)
OSU 12-2 (2-0)
That is an overall record of 56-10 which is 84% wins.
Our best win so far is against Seton Hall who is at 9-5 (2-1) with some nice wins over good teams.
Maybe we have just been really unlucky with the timing here. Clearly, we will be seeing teams that are not at the level of the ones we have lost to.
Not trying to sugar coat the fact that we have some real problems this year, but let's see if things start to balance out as we play the rest of the season and, hopefully, some of the negatives get fixed.

Good post. Add to that, only one of our 5 losses was at the RAC, to what is arguably a Top 10 team.

And while we haven’t played that great even at home, I’m encouraged by the second half at OSU where we started to see the good team RU can really be.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

We are 2-5 against real competition. The reason why the hole we have dug is only 1.5 games is because of the quality of teams we lost to.

Let's get the shovels out and win the next 2 and get to .75 wins behind and then be a MSU game on the road away from getting back to bubble.

 

[bac2therac]

We are 2-5 against real competition. The reason why the hole we have dug is only 1.5 games is because of the quality of teams we lost to.

Let's get the shovels out and win the next 2 and get to .75 wins behind and then be a MSU game on the road away from getting back to bubble.

0-5 in quad 1

7 wins vs horrid quad 4 and yes that includes Georgetown

 

[RUJMM78]

0-5 in quad 1

7 wins vs horrid quad 4 and yes that includes Georgetown

The near loss to Stonehill is a reminder that the margin for error is slim.

 

[RU-ROCS]

Like virtually everyone else on this board, I am concerned with the current team's overall performance. But, if we are to look at our losses so far, maybe we are being just a bit harsh this early.
Our five losses are to teams that are ALL having a great start to the new season.
Princeton 12-1
Miss. St. 11-2
Wake F. 10-3 (2-0)
illinois 11-2 (2-0)
OSU 12-2 (2-0)
That is an overall record of 56-10 which is 84% wins.
Our best win so far is against Seton Hall who is at 9-5 (2-1) with some nice wins over good teams.
Maybe we have just been really unlucky with the timing here. Clearly, we will be seeing teams that are not at the level of the ones we have lost to.
Not trying to sugar coat the fact that we have some real problems this year, but let's see if things start to balance out as we play the rest of the season and, hopefully, some of the negatives get fixed.

This is true, yet this year's team does not seem to pass the eye test against almost any level of competition (see Stonehill). I was encouraged, however, by the OSU game. But I think RU needs to win the next two in order to make me a believer that they can vie for the top half of the conference. We have exactly 1 win at Iowa - ever - so this will not be easy.

 

[goru7]

The near loss to Stonehill is a reminder that the margin for error is slim.

The near loss to Stonehill is nothing more than a win. You will not see this team as a whole play as bad as possible again this year. So flush it and stop referring to it because it means nothing now.

 

[Degaz-RU]

Like virtually everyone else on this board, I am concerned with the current team's overall performance. But, if we are to look at our losses so far, maybe we are being just a bit harsh this early.
Our five losses are to teams that are ALL having a great start to the new season.
Princeton 12-1
Miss. St. 11-2
Wake F. 10-3 (2-0)
illinois 11-2 (2-0)
OSU 12-2 (2-0)
That is an overall record of 56-10 which is 84% wins.
Our best win so far is against Seton Hall who is at 9-5 (2-1) with some nice wins over good teams.
Maybe we have just been really unlucky with the timing here. Clearly, we will be seeing teams that are not at the level of the ones we have lost to.
Not trying to sugar coat the fact that we have some real problems this year, but let's see if things start to balance out as we play the rest of the season and, hopefully, some of the negatives get fixed.

I might be inclined to follow this line of thinking except for the fact that -- like ROCS said immediately above -- we haven't looked good against several of the cupcakes either, such as LIU and Stonehill. Our record isn't just struggling against top competition, but rather struggling against almost everybody but getting wins because many of our opponents were terrible.

But your theory can be tweaked a bit. We had to replace half of our roster, including three huge leadership cogs and scoring production from last year, and we backfilled with diverse pieces that have taken awhile to mesh. It was always going to take time for this team to gel, find itself, and for the coaches to figure out rotations. And we played those five good teams in the midst of figuring it all out, and it wasn't pretty. But maybe, if we can continue to mesh and gel, just maybe this team can turn a corner. I'm not banking on it, mind you, but it's possible.

 

[goru7]

Like virtually everyone else on this board, I am concerned with the current team's overall performance. But, if we are to look at our losses so far, maybe we are being just a bit harsh this early.
Our five losses are to teams that are ALL having a great start to the new season.
Princeton 12-1
Miss. St. 11-2
Wake F. 10-3 (2-0)
illinois 11-2 (2-0)
OSU 12-2 (2-0)
That is an overall record of 56-10 which is 84% wins.
Our best win so far is against Seton Hall who is at 9-5 (2-1) with some nice wins over good teams.
Maybe we have just been really unlucky with the timing here. Clearly, we will be seeing teams that are not at the level of the ones we have lost to.
Not trying to sugar coat the fact that we have some real problems this year, but let's see if things start to balance out as we play the rest of the season and, hopefully, some of the negatives get fixed.

The problem is that the year long problem at the guard spot and until the second half of Ohio state the lockdown defense and atrocious rebounding has been a year long problem.
I have said that we need at least 30 plus points from our guards , plus they have to get our front court good offensive opportunities and pass the damn ball. Only in 2 games have we received it , a W against Seton Hall and a Loss against Ohio state. Here is the breakdown :
A) Princeton ; Noah 10 ; Derek 2 ; JMike 4;
B) Illinois ; Noah 3 ; Derek 7; JMike 3;
C) Wake Forest ; Noah 13 ; Derek 4; JMike 3;
D) Seton Hall ; Noah 19; Derek 2; JMike 11;
E) Miss. State ; Noah 9; Derek 6; JMike 4;
F) Ohio State; Noah 17; Derek 23; JMike 0.

Arguably we should have won Seton Hall and Ohio State under my formula . Noah had 3 against Illinois and Derek had between 2-7 against 5 of the 6
It that happens we have little chance to win a game.
Now I am encouraged by the second half at Ohio State that our lockdown elite defense , toughness and team rebounding showed up for the first time all year. I pray that was not an outlier and instead we corrected the huge flaws in the defense and rebounding and toughness and hustle . Now get the guards consistently scoring and then get the guards to pass the ball to the front court guys so the 5 guys on the court at any one time are all contributing offensively. Then we should be able to compete with anyone.

 

[Skull83]

This won't be popular, but we have already achieved not having a bad loss for the 2023-24 season. IMHO, no loss to a conference opponent in the B1G can truly be considered a "bad" loss, I don't care what quad they are. Now let's go out and get as many wins as possible.

 

[Scangg]

Win at Iowa Saturday and beat Indiana Tuesday, two teams “on our level” and we can believe in the team to at least have a season with a chance for post season play.

This. Need the next 2 to really believe. 1 of 2 for any shred of hope. 0 for 2 and there is concern of a bottom of the barrel season

 

[Bayonnebomber79]

This won't be popular, but we have already achieved not having a bad loss for the 2023-24 season. IMHO, no loss to a conference opponent in the B1G can truly be considered a "bad" loss, I don't care what quad they are. Now let's go out and get as many wins as possible.

Loss to Minnesota last year was a BAD loss. I would also consider the loss to Nebraska at home to be a bad loss