Why did Piccolo think Gotenks could beat Super Boo pre SSJ3?

[OWmyDragonBallz]

Piccolo sends the boys into the ROSAT to train and attempt to beat Boo, but given the massive power gap between Gotenks and Boo at that time, how could Piccolo possibly believe that SSJ Gotenks would be enough even with training? Note that this is before him or Goku knew that he achieved SSJ3.

[Marco Polo]

Good guys never give up.

[SSJ2FutureGohan]

He most likely misjudged Buu's Ki.

[B]

Did you forget that Evil Buu, after eating Mr. Buu, gained the ability to sense ki and skyrocketed himself to God's Temple, demanding Piccolo to produce the promised warrior? He didn't really have a choice.

Also, Evil Buu had been alive for... I don't know -- minutes? -- before he shot himself up there. There wasn't enough time to gauge how much more powerful he had become beyond "Oh shit, he's stronger!" Also also, Goten and Trunks are in the Room; Piccolo has no idea what they're doing or the specifics of their training. It's a different dimension.

[Super Vegetto]

Piccolo sends the boys into the ROSAT to train and attempt to beat Boo, but given the massive power gap between Gotenks and Boo at that time, how could Piccolo possibly believe that SSJ Gotenks would be enough even with training? Note that this is before him or Goku knew that he achieved SSJ3.

You are forgeting some parts,,,Super Boo rushed to Kami's place and demanded to fight Gotenks...

[OWmyDragonBallz]

Did you forget that Evil Buu, after eating Mr. Buu, gained the ability to sense ki and skyrocketed himself to God's Temple, demanding Piccolo to produce the promised warrior? He didn't really have a choice.

Also, Evil Buu had been alive for... I don't know -- minutes? -- before he shot himself up there. There wasn't enough time to gauge how much more powerful he had become beyond "Oh shit, he's stronger!" Also also, Goten and Trunks are in the Room; Piccolo has no idea what they're doing or the specifics of their training. It's a different dimension.

And would you say that this statement is completely true?

Chapter: 498 (DBZ 304), P7.4-5
Context: after Boo disappears
Trunks: “Even if he really is still alive, it doesn’t matter! That jerk was helpless against Gohan! [Gohan] was about as strong as our Super Gotenks!”
Goten: “He was even stronger.”
Trunks: “Really? …Yeah…Just a little bit.”

Gohan being a little bit stronger? I always thought by a lot.

[singsing]

The hesitation and it being Trunks shows that is was almost definitely by a lot, and Trunks was just reluctant to admit it.

[Darkprince410]

No, that's Trunks trying to still play the "cool" act while still admitting that Goten's not wrong. He had just, a second prior, tried to say that Gotenks was more powerful than Gohan, so he's clearly trying to play that Gotenks is still the best. So when Goten points out that Gohan's definitely stronger, Trunks tries to save face by acting that he's only "a little stronger".

[singsing]

No, that's Trunks trying to still play the "cool" act while still admitting that Goten's not wrong. He had just, a second prior, tried to say that Gotenks was more powerful than Gohan, so he's clearly trying to play that Gotenks is still the best. So when Goten points out that Gohan's definitely stronger, Trunks tries to save face by acting that he's only "a little stronger".

Gohan completely and utterly dominated the fight against Super Buu, while Gotenks was struggling to hold his own, and it was only his weird techniques that gave him any sort of advantage ever. That doesn't look like a little to me, especially considering how bad Gohan's gotten in terms of skills.

So I guess, it's basically Trunks trying to save face by saying it's only a slight difference when it's not.

[SSJ2FutureGohan]

I wouldn't say Gotenks necessarily struggled...

Spoiler:

He seemed to be kicking Buu's ass when he was serious, and his mouth blast seemed to do more than to Buu than Buu's did to Gotenks.

Not that I'm agreeing Gotenks and Gohan are that close...

[supercat]

The extent of damage that Gotenks and Ultimate Gohan were able to inflict on Super Buu should also compared in proportion to the amount of effort both fighters put in. Although Gotenks was able to gain a decent advantage over Super Buu, it seemed to have taken a good amount of effort to get to that point. Gohan on the other hand, was able to make Gotenks' advantage over the vile menace look marginal with a lot less effort.

[SpiritBombTriumphant]

I think that, when serious, SSJ3 Gotenks and Mystic Gohan could have easily defeated Super Buu if they had not toyed around with him. I said it before months ago that virtually everyone who fought with Super Buu could have beaten him if they had just gone in for the kill instead of letting him think up a way to absorb them.

[Cipher]

1) He sent them to the Room of Spirit and Time to continue to train while he stalled Boo, so there was the possibility Gotenks might have been able to overtake him by the time he went in (and via Super Saiyan 3, that actually ended up being true).

2) Gotenks was still the strongest of the fighters on Earth at that point by a considerable margin.

3) He had no other choice and had the contingency plan of locking them all in the Room if things went wrong.

[h0kuten]

False hope and crappy Chi sensing, which is sort of what Piccolo is known for during this portion of the series.

[Masako-kun]

Piccolo was going through a mid-life crisis.

But seriously, I think in that situation he would try anything that might yield an increase in power. I think I remember that a fused warrior is not just each individual power combined; it's a fair bit more. Add the multipliers of SSJ and then you would reckon that they'd have a fair chance. That is if it were against Majin Buu...you then get Super Buu and theories go out the window, as Trunks might say.

[Kaboom]

A heaping mix of desperation and misplaced optimism, I'd say.

Also, I wonder if he was hopeful because he expected for Gotenks to go Super Saiyan, became disheartened when it seemed that he couldn't, and then was relieved when he showed he actually could later.

[FoolsGil]

Because miracles happen in battle. After everything he's seen, it would be conceivable that the kids could win against Buu, even if they figure out how to become SSJ3 on the brink of death.