100% Befuddled

[sWiley]

I don't understand why we have to play one of our worst games of the year right now. In the last five years, have our starting guards been held to 0 points?

Hell, in Kermit's 15 year tenure, have our starting guards been held to zero points? Actually, IN THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE BASKETBALL HAVE STARTING OUR GUARDS EVER GONE A COLLECTIVE 0%??????? A collective 0-13, zero points. Think about that for a second. In March, when guard play is usually the differentiating factor, ZERO points. One more time guys. Z-E-R-O points from our 3 starting guards. Speechless.

How was this not a 30 point blow out? Butler was so unbelievably beatable today. I cannot believe our team did not take advantage of that moment.

Kermit kept saying he knew we would play well. Boy, was he ever wrong. Outside of Williams & Johnson, I'd venture to say everyone was held way below their season averages. And not to take any credit away from Butler, but it's not like they were playing lights out defense or doing anything special. They looked like shit too but at least their guards played an average game and hit some big shots early on. North Carolina is going to make them look silly if that bring that weak shit in the sweet 16. You think UNC's starting guards are gonna score 0 points and their team shoot 20% from 3? I smell a 25 point boatrace coming in Memphis.

We had tons of wide open uncontested shots that were just brick after brick after brick after brick after brick. I want to throw up looking at the box score. We had a golden opportunity to be in the Sweet 16 and all we had to do was play an average game and we win. Even 30% from 3 would have likely got it done. We couldn't even do that on the biggest stage. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. This is Middle Tennessee athletics afterall. The bigger the stage, the poorer the performance.

Huge, huge opportunity pissed straight down the drain. We'll likely never have a better team here at MT in our lifetimes (And piss off with the future is bright stuff, NOBODY is replacing Williams & Upshaw).

 

[sWiley]

After a 31 win season, that was the most Middle Tennessee ending ever. We could have built a house out there with all those wide open uncontested bricks. A house of tears and sorrow. Sad. We may never see an opportunity like that for the rest of our lifetimes. In fact, I'll say we won't. We were a 2.5 point dog in a Sweet 16 game. Won't happen again in our lifetime.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Well, it was a disappointing ending to a wonderful season, but whenever the loss came, it was going to be disappointing. I wish it had been a better overall effort. I wish this team had been able to take one more step further and got to Memphis. This wasn't the blowout loss previous first round winning Raider squads had been subjected to, but that really won't be remember.

I hope our seniors go on to have good lives and careers. I love Reggie Upshaw for coming to Middle Tennessee. I wish all legacies would do that. I love what he did for Middle Tennessee basketball. I'm glad Jacorey came to Middle Tennessee and I hope he's on a good track for good things the rest of his life. The same with Aldonis and Xavier.

I;m glad the underclassmen had this experience and hope this leaves them with the desire to get back to the NCAA and take it farther. Excited to see next year's team come in and develop.

 

[sWiley]

Assuming we keep Kermit, I do think we will be good next year but it won't be anywhere near the team we had this year. 23-24 wins maybe and we'll be fortunate to win the CUSA tournament. You simply cannot replace Williams & Upshaw. Habersham will also be missed as well. His 3 point shooting bailed us out in a lot of games this year.

Walters will have a bigger role and I personally am a fan of Gamble. Wouldn't be surprised to see those 2 as our starting big men, though Davion Thomas will push for playing time and may be a starter sooner rather than later. Interested to see how good he is. We'll be fine at guard with Giddy, Simpson, Johnson, Dixon, Copeland, etc. Thank god we keep Johnson for 2 more years.

 

[D-winns]

After a 31 win season, that was the most Middle Tennessee ending ever. We could have built a house out there with all those wide open uncontested bricks. A house of tears and sorrow. Sad. We may never see an opportunity like that for the rest of our lifetimes. In fact, I'll say we won't. We were a 2.5 point dog in a Sweet 16 game. Won't happen again in our lifetime.

 

[D-winns]

Wiley you have to be the MOST dynamic and driven NEGATIVE person ever. Your passion is tremendous, but then you let your mouth over load your ass and go into that empty glass poor is me attitude.
Yes they had a bad night, but you never do. Every thing you do must be perfect.
Yes the missed open shots, but you NEVER miss at anything do you.
Yes they were playing in the most pressure event with most every sports caster picking them to win.
Instead of berating them, we should be congratulating them for putting MT basketball on the map.
So you should get your head out of your ungrateful ass and be a little supportive of our University!
D-winns

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

One thing about the tournament I hope straightens out is Dixon's play. In the conference tournament and tonight, he seemed a bit out of control. Both of those games, he scored a total of 1 point. He has tremendous potential ... just needs a little tuning.

 

[subkyle]

I completely understand and agree with what you're saying. Please don't forget that we are ascending up. We really are! We have a juco beast coming in. We have at least one high schooler that I AM IN LOVE WITH coming in. The best is yet to come

 

[Raiderclyde]

This year was one for the ages and our University's record books! 31 wins. A USA Today #25 ranking. A consecutive CUSA Tournament Title and an Outright C-USA Title. Kermit Davis C-USA Coach of the Year. What more can you reasonably expect being a Blue Raider Fan and knowing our history? A win tonight would have obviously a better outcome and brought even more cachet in recruiting and support.

Tonight our shooting was clearly off and the 1-3-1 defense was less effective. Butler was prepared. Butler did not play a great game, but they played the type of game that is needed and required to make it to the Sweet 16. North Carolina will most likely end their season, and if they draw Arkansas they have a good chance. We will miss Williams, Habersham, and Upshaw for sure. But, our depth should be fine to contend for C-USA's Championship. It's always a long season and it comes down to the weekend in Birmingham or wherever the Tournament is held...it's always hard to make it back. But, I want more and we are getting there bit by bit!!

Proud of our guys and Coach Davis on a season well done!! Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of tonight in a loss. Remember, overall top seed Villanova was sent home as well. Good teams like Florida State, Iowa State, and Notre Dame were sent home too today.

 

[sWiley]

I'm not saying it wasn't a great season, because it was. It's just really unfortunate because we had a real opportunity to make it to the Sweet 16 and our starting guards played their worst game of the year (Probably the worst game of their careers actually).

If we had played at least an average game and lost then so be it. I can live with the better team winning but I truly don't believe that was the case today. We beat Butler 7-8 times out of 10 games.

To come out and play the way we did against a very beatable team is just mind blowing. I expected more from this team (and I know they did too). To lose in that fashion, to play such a shit game when the lights are the brightest, it's deeply disappointing and classic MT.

And yes, the future is bright. We'll continue to be a top dog in CUSA and make a few more tournament appearances, however; we won't have a team that talented for a long time (very likely never again) and we sure as hell will not enter a 2nd round match up as a 2.5 point underdog ever again unless our opponent is a higher seed resulting from a 1st round upset.

Today was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we put forth a shockingly terrible performance. I just didn't expect this team to go down in such a manner after an amazing last two years. I thought if we lost we would at least deliver an average performance and the other team would have just hit more shots. mind=blown

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

We could have been up by one and fouled one of their leading free throw shooters at the end of the game to let them win ... so, there's that.

I'm not saying it wasn't a great season, because it was. It's just really unfortunate because we had a real opportunity to make it to the Sweet 16 and our starting guards played their worst game of the year (Probably the worst game of their careers actually).

If we had played at least an average game and lost then so be it. I can live with the better team winning but I truly don't believe that was the case today. We beat Butler 7-8 times out of 10 games.

To come out and play the way we did against a very beatable team is just mind blowing. I expected more from this team (and I know they did too). To lose in that fashion, to play such a shit game when the lights are the brightest, it's deeply disappointing and classic MT.

And yes, the future is bright. We'll continue to be a top dog in CUSA and make a few more tournament appearances, however; we won't have a team that talented for a long time (very likely never again) and we sure as hell will not enter a 2nd round match up as a 2.5 point underdog ever again unless our opponent is a higher seed resulting from a 1st round upset.

Today was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we put forth a shockingly terrible performance. I just didn't expect this team to go down in such a manner after an amazing last two years. I thought if we lost we would at least deliver an average performance and the other team would have just hit more shots. mind=blown

 

[MTsumner92]

Uhhh....I saw a Butler team that played suffocating defense. Much better than I thought they were. Butler is good. Yes, we made a lot of mistakes and those refs were atrocious....

 

[bluefutcpa]

Uhhh....I saw a Butler team that played suffocating defense. Much better than I thought they were. Butler is good. Yes, we made a lot of mistakes and those refs were atrocious....

I will also add that on top of their D they made some unbelievable shots from three. The game was won for them in the first half. Yes did we have a chance to win absolutely, but is Butler the real deal? You're damn right. I was so excited to see Antwain Johnson and Walters ball. That combination is gonna be phenomenal to watch next year. Also I think Dixon, with a year in the weight and some foot speed work, will be a great player for us. If you look at how they played D they were determined not to let us beat them with the three (especially Giddy). My honest opinion the only way to beat them is to shoot them out the gym. I'm proud that we kept it that close.

 

[MTBig Blue]

The Key is keeping Davis. If we lose him, all the momentum we have as a program could be lost.

 

[SmithO1906]

1. Massarro needs to be prepared to lose Kermit( I don't think he is leaving) but still be prepared. 2. This team will probably take a small step back in the win total next year but we still have the pieces to get back to the tourney. Teams like Butler, VCU, Wichita State etc continue to move forward when they lose their upperclassmen. Hopefully we are finally at that point. 3. CUSA needs to pick it so we can still be strongly considered for an at large bid if we are top 2 in the conference

 

[RaiderDawg78]

I don't want to lose KD, but we can learn a lot from Butler. Barry Collier left after taking Butler to the NCAAs in 3 out of 4 years (First trip in a long time), then they hired Thad Matta, Todd Lickliter, Brad Stevens, Brandon Miller (who left after 1 year for personal reasons), and then Chris Holtman. I don't mind being a stepping stone if we get that kind of coaching hires. For some reason, I feel like our recent success is going to draw quality candidates if we need to make a new hire.

I am really curious to see how next year's team looks. Guard play should be better if not for anything but experience, & even though the front court is going to take a step back, I am exciting to see how Brandon and Karl step-up, and how Hawthorne, Massenburg, and Szmidt can contribute.

About last nights game, I was proud of the effort and everything but our shooting. Butler shot the 3 almost as well as we did against Michigan State last year. We shot like crap due to a combination of their D and our guards having the worst collective shooting game possible, we still only lost by 9, and we had a chance late. They made the clutch shots when it got close - tip the cap to them. They were the better team on the court last night. I take some solace knowing MT has built a program that doesn't where we can compete on a national level on our off nights, we didn't have our A game against Minnesota or Butler.

I don't expect 30+ wins next year, but no matter what happens with KD, the future is promising.

 

[sWiley]

I smell a 25 point boatrace coming in Memphis.

More than half way there at half time