Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Is this team really that much better than the 2013-16 teams? Or does having the clutch genes make that much of a difference? Without looking up all the KenPom metrics I would guess it ranks favorably right with those teams. But what a difference to be able to win close games. In this conference, are you kidding?
Let's take a quadrant of four conference games; the two Northwestern games, Penn State and Indiana. All were potential losses. All were won with late clutch plays. Looking at Fran's "body of work" history would tell us that he loses three of those four.
Now let's look at the difference winning those four makes in the conference standings. We are 8-5, sixth place. If we lose three of those four games and award Northwestern and Indiana one extra corresponding win we are 5-8, tied for ninth place. That's the difference between being solidly on the NCAA'S and being close to the dreaded bubble, and getting the dreaded eight-nine seed and spending two hours being Zion Williamson's personal highlight reel.
We saw signs in 2017. JBo's Kohl Center dagger, his three point barrage at Maryland, the OT win vs Indiana when the dazzling Tom Crean put Jok on the free throw line about 25 times. But we had a damaging late season home loss to Illinois and and early exit in the conference tournament and they probably cost us an NCAA bid.
The little things that make all the difference. I've been hard on Fran for his performance in these games. I have to give him considerable credit for what is transpiring this year. I don't see a late collapse. I see 12-8 as a real possibility.
Let's take a quadrant of four conference games; the two Northwestern games, Penn State and Indiana. All were potential losses. All were won with late clutch plays. Looking at Fran's "body of work" history would tell us that he loses three of those four.
Now let's look at the difference winning those four makes in the conference standings. We are 8-5, sixth place. If we lose three of those four games and award Northwestern and Indiana one extra corresponding win we are 5-8, tied for ninth place. That's the difference between being solidly on the NCAA'S and being close to the dreaded bubble, and getting the dreaded eight-nine seed and spending two hours being Zion Williamson's personal highlight reel.
We saw signs in 2017. JBo's Kohl Center dagger, his three point barrage at Maryland, the OT win vs Indiana when the dazzling Tom Crean put Jok on the free throw line about 25 times. But we had a damaging late season home loss to Illinois and and early exit in the conference tournament and they probably cost us an NCAA bid.
The little things that make all the difference. I've been hard on Fran for his performance in these games. I have to give him considerable credit for what is transpiring this year. I don't see a late collapse. I see 12-8 as a real possibility.