Texas Basketball 2023-24

[Rickylovesweed 14503]

This was a shadow_operative post on the same date last year. 

Quote

x/post from game thread-

it is shocking how poorly we defend the three since beard left. if anyone out there still wonders just how much of it is the coaches and how much of it is the players, look no further than 2022-23 Texas. you subtract one person from a program of dozens of players, coaches, trainers, support staff, etc, and the team goes from a team with a clear identity based around intense, smothering defense, and a team that is a favorite to make the FF, to a team with no identity that can give up 80, 90, 100+ points every night. it's unreal. Beard was everything to this program. we'll never replace that stupid SOB.

Now this might be true over the long-term but it definitely ended up being wrong last year. We ended up being a good defensive team after some major defensive struggles to end non-conference.

[closetohumping 17453]

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

This was a shadow_operative post on the same date last year. 

Now this might be true over the long-term but it definitely ended up being wrong last year. We ended up being a good defensive team after some major defensive struggles to end non-conference.

Last year he had Chris Beards players.   Right now as you can see 11 games in, his players are busts

[shadow_operative 15932]

18 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Don't forget that we were also giving up a ton of points at that part of the year (there were some glaring defensive issues).

those glaring defensive issues came after RT took over. Our defense was otherworldly before Beard’s arrest, just swarming and destroying opponents. it wasn’t until after that arrest that the defense fell off for a long spell of the season. our defense before the arrest:

 

our run of games after the arrest when people started to worry about the defense:

people were worried about the defense and the team in general all the way up until we were heading into postseason play. last year’s season thread was full of posts about how CDC wasn’t going to have any issues letting RT go. then we went in an amazing postseason run and all of that changed.

[shadow_operative 15932]

4 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

This was a shadow_operative post on the same date last year. 

Now this might be true over the long-term but it definitely ended up being wrong last year. We ended up being a good defensive team after some major defensive struggles to end non-conference.

you are owning yourself with this argument. that post was made because it truly was *shocking* how our team had gone from an absolute defensive menace under beard to something that didn’t remotely resemble that under RT. we got our shit together in march, and as i posted at the time, that was our catalyst to our great postseason run.

so that doesn’t change the fact that all of the people worried about our defense last year weren’t worried until RT took over. and as we’ve seen thus far this year with RT on his own, our defense is the worst it’s been in nearly a decade. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by shadow_operative

[Rickylovesweed 14503]

10 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

you are owning yourself with this argument. that post was made because it truly was *shocking* how our team had gone from an absolute defensive menace under beard to something that didn’t remotely resemble that under RT. we got our shit together in march, and as i posted at the time, that was our catalyst to our great postseason run.

so that doesn’t change the fact that all of the people worried about our defense last year weren’t worried until RT took over. and as we’ve seen thus far this year with RT on his own, our defense is the worst it’s been in nearly a decade. 

The point is maybe you should wait to judge how we end up defensively until you see the finished project. 

Last year, at this same time you were bitching about defense and we ended up as the #13 AdjD. You even admitted there were drastic improvements defensively at the end of the season. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Rickylovesweed

[Firemans4Horn 18112]

WHEN ANALYTICS GO WRONG

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

The point is maybe you should wait to judge how we end up defensively until you see the finished project. 

Last year, at this same time you were bitching about defense and we ended up as the #13 AdjD. You even admitted there were drastic improvements defensively at the end of the season. 

and last year we had a team that was built and drilled by one of the best coaches in the country and defensive genius. what they did last year to regroup at season’s end was impressive and commendable. this team is not that team. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

7 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Last year, at this same time you were bitching about defense and we ended up as the #13 AdjD

also this was bad. we should have/would have finished first or second in the country in AdjD had Beard not gotten himself fired. we were no.2 when Beard was fired. and damn the analytics, anyone who remembers our defense under Beard last year remembers how truly dominant that defense was. best defense i ever remember seeing at Texas, equal to if not better than the defense that had Doj, Avery Bradley, Damion James, and Dexter Pittman.

i remember @longhornmatt, whose opinion i value more than anyone here when it comes to UT basketball, specifically commenting on the swarming and dominant nature of our defense under Beard, and how it changed after he left. last year’s D probably should have been the best in school history. finishing outside the top 10 was a major letdown. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by shadow_operative

[CTC2 2797]

3 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

also this was bad. we should have/would have finished first or second in the country in AdjD had Beard not gotten himself fired. we were no.2 when Beard was fired. and damn the analytics, anyone who remembers our defense under Beard last year remembers how truly dominant that defense was. best defense i ever remember seeing at Texas, equal to if not better than the defense that had Doj, Avery Bradley, Damion James, and Dexter Pittman.

i remember @longhornmatt, whose opinion i value more than anyone here when it comes to UT basketball, specifically commenting on the swarming and dominant nature of our defense under Beard, and how it changed after he left. last year’s D probably should have been the best in school history. finishing outside the top 10 was a major letdown. 

Without stepping into all the other mess this was my perception as well. The further we get away from Beard, the lower the defensive play has gotten. 

[CTC2 2797]

44 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

I don't think this team is much different from last year based on the season trajectory. 

L to Illinois, close wins against meh teams in Rice and Stanford, etc. Don't forget that we were also giving up a ton of points at that part of the year (there were some glaring defensive issues).

Now can RT get this team to improve like last year is a big question but it's not like our success was linear last year. We really didn't find our groove until late in the season once Disu was back to full health. 

 

Maybe, but I recall us playing at a real high level during the Gonzaga and Creighton games. We sputtered at times in conference but turned it on the last week of conference and the tournament. 
Haven’t really seen defensive buy in collectively this year. That is certainly a distinction between this year and last. Yes, Mitchell is playing better D.  Weaver is tenacious on defense. Outside of that, not real impressive so far. 

[Rickylovesweed 14503]

6 minutes ago, CTC2 said:

Maybe, but I recall us playing at a real high level during the Gonzaga and Creighton games. We sputtered at times in conference but turned it on the last week of conference and the tournament. 
Haven’t really seen defensive buy in collectively this year. That is certainly a distinction between this year and last. Yes, Mitchell is playing better D.  Weaver is tenacious on defense. Outside of that, not real impressive so far. 

Texas was the #6 defense in the country in the last 20 games (per T-Rank) last year. 

The idea they just "turned it on" is funny. 

 

 

 

[CTC2 2797]

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Texas was the #6 defense in the country in the last 20 games (per T-Rank) last year. 

The idea they just "turned it on" is funny. 

 

 

 

You seem a bit touchy about this. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Texas was the #6 defense in the country in the last 20 games (per T-Rank) last year. 

The idea they just "turned it on" is funny. 

 

 

 

our perimeter defense in the postseason was much better than it had been in the months leading up to it. they more or less “turned it on” in that facet of defense, and it made all the difference in the world.

[Rickylovesweed 14503]

9 minutes ago, CTC2 said:

You seem a bit touchy about this. 

Touchy? No. 

It's just funny. Texas didn't "turn on the defense" to end last year. They were one of the best defensive teams in the country over the last 20 games or so. 

Now will that happen again this year? No clue but it doesn't make your argument any less dumb. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Rickylovesweed

[CTC2 2797]

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Touchy? No. 

It's just funny. Texas didn't "turn on the defense" to end last year. They were one of the best defensive teams in the country to end the year (over about a 20 game span).

Now will that happen again this year? No clue but it doesn't make your argument any less dumb. 

You can say what you want but there was definitely a valley in our defensive play  during the middle of the season. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

7 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Touchy? No. 

It's just funny. Texas didn't "turn on the defense" to end last year. They were one of the best defensive teams in the country to end the year (over about a 20 game span).

Now will that happen again this year? No clue but it doesn't make your argument any less dumb. 

our perimeter defense is what was turned on during the postseason. some highlights:

okie state: 3-21 from deep

ku: 4-17 from deep

colgate: 3-15 from deep

penn state: 8-28 from deep

that’s 4 of our 6 postseason games where we were outstanding. colgate was no.1 in the country in three point shooting, penn state was no.7. texas was absolutely not defending the perimeter like that over the course of the regular season. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by shadow_operative

[Rickylovesweed 14503]

4 minutes ago, CTC2 said:

You can say what you want but there was definitely a valley in our defensive play  during the middle of the season. 

I said as much above. 

But to argue "Texas just turned on the defense" over a couple weeks is simply not true. 

[Herpa Derpa 6126]

Would you accept "turned it up" at the end?

[shadow_operative 15932]

went and found this from january 4th of this year. check out how far texas fell in the defensive metrics after just six games without beard:

from 12th in effective fg% to 113th

from 17th in 3 point defense to 159th

from 27th in 2 point defense to 98th

we fell off defensively after we lost chris beard. again, right up until postseason play started the general consensus around here was that CDC wasn’t going to have a very tough decision in letting RT go. that all changed when we suddenly shut down the perimeter during postseason play, we went on a run, snd RT kept the job. now he has his own team, and surprise surprise, he’s nowhere near the level of one of the 2-3 best defensive head coaches in all of college hoops.

[Rickylovesweed 14503]

I just think it's a  lazy argument to say Texas "turned it up" or "turned it on" at the end of the season. Whatever you want to call it.  

They held K-State (#37 Adj O to 66 points), West Virginia (#14 Adj O to 60 points), Baylor (#2 Adj O to 72 points), etc way before the last couple of weeks. This team was really good defensively way before the end of the season. 

Which is why T-Rank had Texas as the #6 defense in the country over the last 20 games. It's just a really lazy argument with no truth at all. 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Rickylovesweed

[shadow_operative 15932]

Just now, Rickylovesweed said:

It's just a really lazy argument with no truth at all. 

you continuing to repeat this is not going to suddenly make it true. texas played at a defensive level in the postseason that was above what it had put out in the regular season. that’s a fact. so you’re not only being a jerk with every post you make, you’re also wrong.

[Rickylovesweed 14503]

3 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

you continuing to repeat this is not going to suddenly make it true. texas played at a defensive level in the postseason that was above what it had put out in the regular season. that’s a fact. so you’re not only being a jerk with every post you make, you’re also wrong.

You love to post "metrics" to prove your point but I'm a jerk for using "metrics" to show Texas was the #6 defense over the last 20 games? 

Amazing how that works. 

 

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

2 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

You love to post "metrics" to prove your point but I'm a jerk for using "metrics" to show Texas was the #6 defense over the last 20 games? 

Amazing how that works. 

 

 

you’re a jerk because you keep calling people lazy and talking to everyone like we’re idiots.

also, why did you put “metrics” in quotes? lol

Edited December 26, 2023 by shadow_operative

[Rickylovesweed 14503]

2 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

you’re a jerk because you keep calling people lazy and talking to everyone like we’re idiots.

It is lazy. 

The "Texas just turned it on defensively the last couple of weeks" is a lazy take. They didn't just all of a sudden figure out how to play defense. Texas was a top 6ish defense for about a 20-game stretch. 

 

 

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

It is lazy. 

The "Texas just turned it on defensively the last couple of weeks" is a lazy take. They didn't just all of a sudden figure out how to play defense. Texas was a top 6ish defense for about a 20-game stretch. 

 

 

 

it’s pretty clear that you don’t actually remember last season. as i and others have posted, the defense fell off last year after beard was arrested, and pretty much this entire forum was ready to move on from RT. then the postseason came, we turned up our defense to a new level (particularly on the perimeter), and we went on a great run. that happened. that’s a fact. i’m sorry that you don’t realize or remember that, but that’s what happened. 

[Rickylovesweed 14503]

3 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

it’s pretty clear that you don’t actually remember last season. as i and others have posted, the defense fell off last year after beard was arrested, and pretty much this entire forum was ready to move on from RT. then the postseason came, we turned up our defense to a new level (particularly on the perimeter), and we went on a great run. that happened. that’s a fact. i’m sorry that you don’t realize or remember that, but that’s what happened. 

You're somebody that only likes to use metrics when they make your point. 

Texas turned up the defense way before the postseason as already clearly proven by the T-Rank adj D over the last 20 games. You don't want to admit that Texas was a good defensive team last year other than "a miracle postseason run defensively" because it doesn't fit your narrative. 

 

 

 

[CTC2 2797]

10 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

You're somebody that only likes to use metrics when they make your point. 

Texas turned up the defense way before the postseason as already clearly proven by the T-Rank adj D over the last 20 games. You don't want to admit that Texas was a good defensive team last year other than "a miracle postseason run defensively" because it doesn't fit your narrative. 

 

 

 

Hey, I’m the one that said it. I will try to abide by a better word choice in the future. It’s Christmas for fucks sake. 
To me, they played good D in the beginning, sunk after Beard left,  and played much better in the stretch of the season. 
I saw every home game from third row center and that’s what it looked like to me. Your mileage may vary. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

last year we were an elite perimeter defense under beard. again, maybe the best i’ve ever seen at Texas, certainly in the conversation. after RT took over last year i distinctly remember being just horrified to see that deep into conference play (all the way through conference play?) we were dead last in 3 point defense. i was posting the kenpom screenshots weekly. teams were smoking us from deep throughout conference play.

then the postseason came and we absolutely shut down the three point line, including a conference tourney game against KU, as well as ncaa tourney games against the no.1 and no.5 three point shooting teams in america. as posted up thread we held colgate and penn state to 3-15 and 8-28 from deep respectively. 

just some dumb, lazy facts for you.

Edited December 26, 2023 by shadow_operative

[HookEm 2467]

I think we can all agree that the defense RIGHT NOW isn’t close to where it needs to be. I think that as Horton gets fewer minutes and with Disu back we will see some improvement. But right now it is a glaring weakness.

[Herpa Derpa 6126]

7 hours ago, HookEm said:

I think we can all agree that the defense RIGHT NOW isn’t close to where it needs to be. I think that as Horton gets fewer minutes and with Disu back we will see some improvement. But right now it is a glaring weakness.

[shadow_operative 15932]

9 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

as well as ncaa tourney games against the no.1 and no.5 three point shooting teams in america. as posted up thread we held colgate and penn state to 3-15 and 8-28 from deep respectively. 

 

since this has been brought up i gotta point out how ridiculous this was from our team last year. wildly impressive. getting paired up with two of the top 5 teams in america in three point shooting for rounds one and two is already a one-in-a-million shot, but to then hold them to a combined 11-43 (25.5%) from BTA is just special. and guys, so was last year’s team. 

so again, we gotta stop having people say that this team is more or less right where last year’s team was at this point, because statistically, empirically, and personnel wise, it’s not close. last year’s team would give this team hell. i’m talking winning 8-9 games out of 10 vs this team. and that should not be controversial or surprising at all. we lost A LOT of experience and talent, particularly in the back court and up and down the coaching staff. and we just fucked around kenpom’s current #1 and #4 teams to what was already the toughest league in America. anyone who is expecting this team to mirror last year’s team will likely be in for a rude awakening come conference play.

[shadow_operative 15932]

one more note about our performance thus far:

 

 

we’ve played nobody. our strength of schedule is #326 in the country. we’ve played two tourney geams and lost by double digits both times, and uconn didn’t exactly light it up against us. our best win is against a team outside the top 100, and we were one incredible buzzer beater away from losing to a louisville team that’s going to win 8 or 9 games this year, and who has already lost to #173 Arkansas state (in louisville), #206 chattanooga (again at home), and #238 depaul.

so can we just be honest about this team to this point? having our worst AdjD in nearly a decade against a schedule this weak is not something where you “wait and see” if it’s going to get markedly better once we start playing a gauntlet of a conference schedule, it’s a huge cause for concern. same with our lack of a PG, and same with the fact that we’ve lost one of the absolute premier coaches in all of college basketball and replaced him with an assistant coach who truly, empirically is not good enough for this job.

we could stop a whole lot of infighting around here if we as fans could just accept these simple truths. we can still hope for the best, but there is zero point in deluding ourselves into believing that as of right now this team is not anywhere near the same trajectory as last year’s team, which again, was a special team, the kind that only comes along once or twice a decade, if that. we’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to simply finish .500 in league play. 

[Hookem2147 21343]

11 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

after RT took over last year i distinctly remember being just horrified to see that deep into conference play (all the way through conference play?) we were dead last in 3 point defense.

Overall 3 point defense

Conference only 3 point defense

 

In 2021-2022 we were 8th in the Big 12 in overall 3 point defense and 6th in conference games only.

Edited December 26, 2023 by Hookem2147

[HookEm 2467]

1 hour ago, shadow_operative said:

so can we just be honest about this team to this point?  we could stop a whole lot of infighting around here if we as fans could just accept these simple truths. 

I think we can all agree that the defense RIGHT NOW isn’t close to where it needs to be. I think that as Horton gets fewer minutes and with Disu back we will see some improvement. But right now it is a glaring weakness.

[Revolution512 1491]

I see some improvement guarding people but our shitty shot selection on offense continues to hinder our ability to set our defense.

[Hookem2147 21343]

Can you post the KenPom win/loss schedule breakdown for the rest of the season for Texas? @shadow_operative

Trying to look at something with the other Big 12 teams.

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Can you post the KenPom win/loss schedule breakdown for the rest of the season for Texas? @shadow_operative

Trying to look at something with the other Big 12 teams.

 

[MotownHorn 1770]

On 12/25/2023 at 9:00 PM, shadow_operative said:

went and found this from january 4th of this year. check out how far texas fell in the defensive metrics after just six games without beard:

So you cherry picked stats from just the first 6 games without Beard as opposed to the whole season?

Was there anything going on during that time that may have distracted the team at all? Perhaps their scumbag coach getting arrested for a felony or something like that?

"The team didn't play as well right after their idiot coach got arrested and suspended!"  No fucking shit. Of course they didn't.

Edited December 27, 2023 by MotownHorn

[MotownHorn 1770]

14 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

we’ve played nobody. our strength of schedule is #326 in the country.

Isn't that thanks to Chris Beard's philosophy of scheduling cupcakes early on to pad the W/L record? Weren't you calling that strategy brilliant 13 months ago?

[jimmyjazz 45985]

37 minutes ago, MotownHorn said:

So you cherry picked stats from just the first 6 games without Beard as opposed to the whole season?

Was there anything going on during that time that may have distracted the team at all? Perhaps their scumbag coach getting arrested for a felony or something like that?

"The team didn't play as well right after their idiot coach got arrested and suspended!"  No fucking shit. Of course they didn't.

I find it hilariously ironic that it's somehow RT's fault our defense went in the shitter after Beard was arrested but RT had nothing to do with our postseason defensive performance.

I mean, that's peak Derka.

Fuck me.  At least show some intellectual honesty.  (The more logical explanation is that RT had little to do with the midseason collapse NOR our resurgence.  Our team struggled, then recovered.  It happens.)

[shadow_operative 15932]

you two contribute it’s nothing to this discussion but personal, butt hurt shit talk. just gonna get that out of the way before i respond (against my better judgment).

Edited December 27, 2023 by shadow_operative

[shadow_operative 15932]

9 hours ago, MotownHorn said:

So you cherry picked stats from just the first 6 games without Beard as opposed to the whole season?

uh, no. i used that six game sample to show just how impossibly far our scoring and perimeter defense plummeted in the matter of less than a month. after citing what was again a nearly impossible drop off in defense once beard was gone, i and others then went in to discuss how, over the course of the full season, Texas went from one of the 2-3 best defenses in the country from the perimeter to one of the worst defensive teams in the league when it came to defending the three point line. it’s all right here in the thread you juvenile, shit talking, twat. 

seriously asshole, every post you make is designed to start a fight with me is made in bad faith, and yet you will then turn around and complain about me. you are sick person.

[shadow_operative 15932]

9 hours ago, MotownHorn said:

Isn't that thanks to Chris Beard's philosophy of scheduling cupcakes early on to pad the W/L record? Weren't you calling that strategy brilliant 13 months ago?

uh, first off fuck head, as everyone else here knows, i have always HATED weak non con schedules and have never once called them a good thing, much less brilliant. but there you go again just inventing shit out of thin air so that you can perpetuate the derailment of this thread. i have no idea why @blacklab even lets you poay in this forum. if posting here were meritocracy you’d be IP banned.

Edited December 27, 2023 by shadow_operative

[shadow_operative 15932]

8 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I find it hilariously ironic that it's somehow RT's fault our defense went in the shitter after Beard was arrested but RT had nothing to do with our postseason defensive performance.

I mean, that's peak Derka.

Fuck me.  At least show some intellectual honesty.

intellectual honesty? are seriously claiming that RT and Beard are equals when it comes to coaching and implementing defense? and from your high horse at that? wow.

you’re such a fucking tool. you’re more combative than i am, more sensitive than i am, you talk shit for sport, and then you crash and burn when i have the gall to disagree with you. it’s so sad.

 it more to the point, yes, RT was absolutely responsible for our epic, overnight. our defensive metrics under Bewrd and RT are wildly and predictably different. RT is nowhere near the head coach or defensive coach that chris beard is. few are. did you want to actually make a post that says otherwise, or was your only goal to get your girly little feelings off your chest by talking pointless, baseless shit to me?

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

6 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

uh, first off fuck head, as everyone else here knows, i have always HATED weak non con schedules and have never once called them a good thing, much less brilliant. but there you go again just inventing shit out of thin air so that you can perpetuate the derailment of this thread. i have no idea why @blacklab even lets you poay in this forum. if posting here were meritocracy you’d be IP banned.

and secondly, the entire point was that under chris beard, we were top 5 in the country overall as well as in AdjD. now we are top 40 overall and in the 60’s defensively, all before a single conference game has been played. that was very clearly the point. what was your point again? oh that’s right, you wanted to reinforce to everyone here what a combative piece of shit you are. mission accomplished.

[shadow_operative 15932]

there are people who come here to talk Texas Hopps and there are people who come here to talk shit and start fights. it’s pretty fucking clear which one i am. anyone here who still thinks that im the reason that these threads get derailed is completely fucking delusional. 

if you took me and my contributions away from this place, a whole lot of honest and thoughtful basketball stats, facts, and discussions would disappear. if you took jj and motown and their contributions away from this thread all that would disappear is about 80% of the major thread derails. that’s a fact. fuck those two, and fuck anyone here who enables them by egging them on or jumping in to talk more shit and start more fights. you two are fucking parasites in this forum, and you’re both just as sick in the head as i am. difference is i know im sick. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

lunardi now has us as an 11 seed losing to A&M 80-67.

[Hookem2147 21343]

So we were a 8-seed last week, won our only game since then and dropped 3 seed lines to now be grouped with Kansas State, who is like 20 spots behind us in NET and 30 spots below us in KenPom. Meanwhile TCU, who is 10-2 and almost 20 spots ahead of us in NET, is completely out of the field.

Makes sense.

[MotownHorn 1770]

1 hour ago, shadow_operative said:

uh, no. i used that six game sample to show just how impossibly far our scoring and perimeter defense plummeted in the matter of less than a month. after citing what was again a nearly impossible drop off in defense once beard was gone, i and others then went in to discuss how, over the course of the full season, Texas went from one of the 2-3 best defenses in the country from the perimeter to one of the worst defensive teams in the league when it came to defending the three point line. it’s all right here in the thread you juvenile, shit talking, twat. 

seriously asshole, every post you make is designed to start a fight with me is made in bad faith, and yet you will then turn around and complain about me. you are sick person.

It's okay to have big feelings. We just need to work on using gentler words to express them, ok? Is there anything we can do to help you calm down now?

[MotownHorn 1770]

31 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

So we were a 8-seed last week, won our only game since then and dropped 3 seed lines to now be grouped with Kansas State, who is like 20 spots behind us in NET and 30 spots below us in KenPom. Meanwhile TCU, who is 10-2 and almost 20 spots ahead of us in NET, is completely out of the field.

Makes sense.

It's too early in the season for this stuff to matter much imo

Our SoS sucks now but will be great after conference play. The big question is what we can do in conference play. I see the above option as our floor and will join the RT skeptic crowd if that's where we're at in March. As with last year, I'll cheer on our guys and see how it works out. I'm pretty sure a year ago at this time I was being told by the guy whose posts are designed to make him think he's the Smartest Asshole on the Internet that our season was fucked then too.