Conference play starts tonight!

[fuhbull11]

You know I counted 3-4 times we had the advantage on a fastbreak down the court. That is at least 4-6 points easy. Each time we passed it back and slowed it down....I just don't get it. Playing close to good teams and then losing to awful teams. Welcome to what USF basketball will always be under Heath. This team looks better when they ignore everything Heath tries to preach. This team will be successful if Collins continues to up the tempo, if not...it is going to be a very very very long year.

[Held_AccountaBull]

Can't complain to be honest. We just played toe to toe with the number 9 in the country and one of the top BE teams. Defensively, we were able force turnovers and create fast break points. We did look bad in a half court set, but we have all year. This team will continue to hang with the best in the conference and should be able to pull a couple of upsets.

Yep. Completely agree. After sleeping on it, and as much as I think Heath is a terrible coach, we only lost by 3 to #9 team in the country. We played hard and scrappy, and if we play like that the whole conference schedule we will win a fair share. Problem is, I don't see the team playing that hard again.

[Paisa el Toro]

Mr. Non-Clutch Augustus "Don't Call me Gus" and "Softer than a Soft Batch Cookie" Gilchrist

[Held_AccountaBull]

Mr. Non-Clutch Augustus "Don't Call me Gus" and "Softer than a Soft Batch Cookie" Gilchrist

It was evident last night just how out of shape he is.

[Bruce Blingstein]

We just lost to a team who was coached by such a bad coach he forgot to hand in his lineup card and got a Technical to start the game. We started up 1-0. I could have coached UCONN to a win last night and I have zero coaching experience. I wouldnt buy into the 3 point loss as a positive AT ALL.

I was at this game, the team played with effort. Heath made terrible mistakes. I was screaming the same thing Vega said about hacking Drummond, guys touch from the free throw line was like Shaqs. It was a close game I had no idea what he was doing.

Im tired of Heath flaring his arms in the air when his guys dont box out or get beat. He is like a coach so in over his head he wants to throw his kids under the bus than take it on the chin like a man. this guys act is weaker than ever.

I give the team a B+ for effort I give USF fans a BIG FAT EFFIN 0 !! I dont know if its USF fans or just the tampa sports fan who is completely friggin clueless. I now know why the Bucs and Rays cannot sell crap.

USF FANS, WHEN A PLAYER (COLLINS) DRIVES TO THE HOOP AND DRAWS A NICE FOUL WHILE WE ARE UP 3 AND UCONN CALLS A TIMEOUT, WHEN OUR PLAYERS ARE HEADING TO THE SIDELINE HOW ABOUT A FRIGGIN ROUND OF APPLAUSE!!! I GET UP WITH MY BUDDIES TO CHEER ON THE TEAM AND WE'RE THE ONLY GUYS DOING IT. EVERYONE ELSE IS ON THEIR PHONES, NO IDEA WHATS GOING ON, NO IDEA HOW TO CHEER FOR THEIR TEAM. ITS UNREAL HOW DEAD FROM THE NECK UP TAMPA/USF SPORTS FANS ARE. WAKE THE HELL UP!! MAYBE ITS NOT USF'S FAULT THEY HAVE AN AWFUL ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT. THERE WAS ABOUT 15 TIMES THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STANDING APPLAUSE TO WILD UP THE GUYS AND IT WAS LIKE SITTING IN THE LIBRARY, JUST LIKE A RAYS GAME. UNREAL. MAYBE WE SHOULD TAKE OUT THE COURSE UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE AT USF AND ADD A MANDATORY "HOW TO ROOT FOR YOUR ATHLETICS AT USF" COURSE. SAD, SAD EXTREMLY FRIGGIN SAD!!

[Vega]

Can't complain to be honest. We just played toe to toe with the number 9 in the country and one of the top BE teams. Defensively, we were able force turnovers and create fast break points. We did look bad in a half court set, but we have all year. This team will continue to hang with the best in the conference and should be able to pull a couple of upsets.

Yep. Completely agree. After sleeping on it, and as much as I think Heath is a terrible coach, we only lost by 3 to #9 team in the country. We played hard and scrappy, and if we play like that the whole conference schedule we will win a fair share. Problem is, I don't see the team playing that hard again.

9 of USF's 15 losses in conference play were by 10pts or less last season when USF lost 23 games. Playing close to good teams is nothing new for USF or Heath. In fact as many losses as Stan has on his resume the last 10 years, the majority of them have been where his team played the other team tough most of the game, especially against ranked opponents. That statement Heath made last night about "winning a lot of games if his team plays like this the rest of the season" has been made by him for an entire decade. The man is a master of moral victory statements after having so much practice at giving them. School officials, boosters, and fans including myself have drunk the Kool-Aid early on, only to later realize that the taste isn't as good as we thought it was.

IF this team is going to win a lot of games as Heath proclaimed, then they will need to start doing so quickly. Losses tend to break the spirit of competing athletes and they get to the point where they expect to lose. Then you will see the scores start to get more lopsided as the mental toughness just isn't strong anymore. Conversely if the team is winning the spirits are uplifted and the mental toughness is stronger. Plays that aren't usually made in the losses, will be made to pull off the wins.

The saying goes "The game of basketball is 90% mental and 10% physical." Basketball has little to do with height, strength, moves and so forth. It's about how quickly you can think, what you’re thinking about and how you're thinking. Your brain is the strongest muscle in your body. It controls everything that you do. It controls how you feel when you wake up in the morning and it controls your knowledge base and the rest of your body. Without a good mental attitude your game just will not be where you really want it to be.

[Triple B]

The difference in the game last night was that we don't have a Jeremy Lamb that will shoot from anywhere and hit more often than not. I thought Rudd had a chance to be that guy ...

[Triple B]

USF FANS, WHEN A PLAYER (COLLINS) DRIVES TO THE HOOP AND DRAWS A NICE FOUL WHILE WE ARE UP 3 AND UCONN CALLS A TIMEOUT, WHEN OUR PLAYERS ARE HEADING TO THE SIDELINE HOW ABOUT A FRIGGIN ROUND OF APPLAUSE!!! I GET UP WITH MY BUDDIES TO CHEER ON THE TEAM AND WE'RE THE ONLY GUYS DOING IT. EVERYONE ELSE IS ON THEIR PHONES, NO IDEA WHATS GOING ON, NO IDEA HOW TO CHEER FOR THEIR TEAM. ITS UNREAL HOW DEAD FROM THE NECK UP TAMPA/USF SPORTS FANS ARE. WAKE THE HELL UP!! MAYBE ITS NOT USF'S FAULT THEY HAVE AN AWFUL ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT. THERE WAS ABOUT 15 TIMES THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STANDING APPLAUSE TO WILD UP THE GUYS AND IT WAS LIKE SITTING IN THE LIBRARY, JUST LIKE A RAYS GAME. UNREAL. MAYBE WE SHOULD TAKE OUT THE COURSE UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE AT USF AND ADD A MANDATORY "HOW TO ROOT FOR YOUR ATHLETICS AT USF" COURSE. SAD, SAD EXTREMLY FRIGGIN SAD!!

I was thinking similar thoughts, about the atmosphere being absolutely horrendous for a game with the defending national champs. I think one big reason was that students are the engine that drive college hoops' atmosphere and you had maybe 3 dozen there last night sitting together.... and they were situated where they weren't heard that much. Still totally agree there should have been a much better response from the civilians .... outside of the couple thousand Huskie fans.

[emrober5]

"close" losses are still losses.

Barring some miracle, this team won't win more than 3 conference games, and even that number is unlikely.

UConn was obviously not at the top of their game last night and they led the majority of the game. It's the same story, we kept it close but couldn't win one game, and we will get blown out the next. The team is inconsistent and it's not changing without a new coach.

This close game isn't fooling me, this season is going to be a giant turd.

[Triple B]

It's the same story, we kept it close but couldn't win one game, and we will get blown out the next.

Actually, that story hasn't happened at all this year. There have been zero times we've had a close loss followed by a blow out loss ...