COLUMN: Five takeaways from basketball media day
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
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these guys are going to be hungry (especially Talley and Lard).
i foresee some offensive growing pains because this team seems a bit more individually versatile on the whole than what we've seen in a while, which could lead some difficulty settling into (and shifting between) roles. when scoring slows down, i fully expect to see more hero ball than we have in a while. but once they figure out how to get everyone involved, and if everyone fully buys into the game plan, i think their ceiling will actually be pretty high.
i don't blame people for being pessimistic, but until they show me reason to believe otherwise, i'm expecting a Tourney berth.
i foresee some offensive growing pains because this team seems a bit more individually versatile on the whole than what we've seen in a while, which could lead some difficulty settling into (and shifting between) roles. when scoring slows down, i fully expect to see more hero ball than we have in a while. but once they figure out how to get everyone involved, and if everyone fully buys into the game plan, i think their ceiling will actually be pretty high.
i don't blame people for being pessimistic, but until they show me reason to believe otherwise, i'm expecting a Tourney berth.
POWER RANKINGS
1. Kansas: Jayhawks have won 13 league titles in a row, and this isn’t the season the streak comes to an end.
2. West Virginia: The style isn’t always pretty, but the results are for Bob Huggins’ crew.
3. Texas: The Longhorns add serious pieces to an already talented core that should make it the best year of Shaka Smart’s short tenure.
4. TCU: Jamie Dixon’s has a dynamic group at his alma mater, which likely means the first NCAA tournament in Fort Worth since 1998.
5. Baylor: Johnathan Motley left a year early for the NBA, but Scott Drew’s cupboard isn’t bare.
6. Texas Tech: Chris Beard nearly got the Red Raiders into the dance in his first season, but the second won’t likely end short of it.
7. Oklahoma: A lot of the Sooners’ season will rest on how quickly freshman phenom Trae Young adjusts to the college game.
8. Kansas State: Without Wesley Iwundu, who will get buckets for the Wildcats?
9. Iowa State: Eight newcomers means the Cyclones will go through plenty of growing pains.
10. Oklahoma State: Jeffrey Carroll is a pro, but how much talent is around him remains to be seen – as does how much the FBI corruption investigation impacts the program.
http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/10/18/big-12-preview-kansas-on-top-once-again/
Hope this is some motivation.
1. Kansas: Jayhawks have won 13 league titles in a row, and this isn’t the season the streak comes to an end.
2. West Virginia: The style isn’t always pretty, but the results are for Bob Huggins’ crew.
3. Texas: The Longhorns add serious pieces to an already talented core that should make it the best year of Shaka Smart’s short tenure.
4. TCU: Jamie Dixon’s has a dynamic group at his alma mater, which likely means the first NCAA tournament in Fort Worth since 1998.
5. Baylor: Johnathan Motley left a year early for the NBA, but Scott Drew’s cupboard isn’t bare.
6. Texas Tech: Chris Beard nearly got the Red Raiders into the dance in his first season, but the second won’t likely end short of it.
7. Oklahoma: A lot of the Sooners’ season will rest on how quickly freshman phenom Trae Young adjusts to the college game.
8. Kansas State: Without Wesley Iwundu, who will get buckets for the Wildcats?
9. Iowa State: Eight newcomers means the Cyclones will go through plenty of growing pains.
10. Oklahoma State: Jeffrey Carroll is a pro, but how much talent is around him remains to be seen – as does how much the FBI corruption investigation impacts the program.
http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/10/18/big-12-preview-kansas-on-top-once-again/
Hope this is some motivation.
What I don't get -
1) KSU above us. They will be predictably mediocre just as they always are under Weber. We will have enough progress as a team by conf season to surpass them.
2) No respect for Kruger. No way TT finishes ahead of them and I think they are easily in the top 5. I would take Kruger as a coach any day over anyone else in Big XII not named Prohm.
3) Texas Love. Sure, this could and should be Smarts best team but that still doesn't mean they finish any better than 6th. Smart may be a fine coach but not built for the Big XII. Talent hasn't been as much the issue there as what has been or not been done with the talent.
IMO, the league is down this year.
Kansas State lost Wesley Iwundu and DJ Johnson and don't have a good recruiting class coming in. Brown, Stokes, Wade and Sneed is a solid 4. I'm not scared of them though.
Baylor is being projected too half and they lost Motley, Freeman and Wainwright. Vital, Jolly and Clark could be solid additions but they are freshman.
Oklahoma/West Virginia have to play the whole first half of the season without Esa Ahmad and Kristian Doolittle.
Kansas will be the best team but even they are pretty thin. Their frontcourt consists of Preston, Azubuike and Lightfoot.
Texas always underachieves.
Texas Tech has some good pieces in Evans, Smith, Justin Gray but it's not a scary team.
I see very little reason to think it's impossible for ISU to finish top 6.
Kansas State lost Wesley Iwundu and DJ Johnson and don't have a good recruiting class coming in. Brown, Stokes, Wade and Sneed is a solid 4. I'm not scared of them though.
Baylor is being projected too half and they lost Motley, Freeman and Wainwright. Vital, Jolly and Clark could be solid additions but they are freshman.
Oklahoma/West Virginia have to play the whole first half of the season without Esa Ahmad and Kristian Doolittle.
Kansas will be the best team but even they are pretty thin. Their frontcourt consists of Preston, Azubuike and Lightfoot.
Texas always underachieves.
Texas Tech has some good pieces in Evans, Smith, Justin Gray but it's not a scary team.
I see very little reason to think it's impossible for ISU to finish top 6.
Don't worry, he took all those credits at UNC, thus we know they all have the NCAA stamp of approval!
