This. We've tied and had more rebounds than our opponent's point totals in these first two games. This was an area I thought we would struggle in but it has been a strength so far.
I know its early but...
- Thread starter CycloneVet
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This. We've tied and had more rebounds than our opponent's point totals in these first two games. This was an area I thought we would struggle in but it has been a strength so far.
Niang is going to be a special player. We have to find as many minutes as we can for him as he seems to create matchup problems for the other team and seems to do a little of everything pretty well. We definately have some depth and that's obvious even without Babb playing yet. As long as Gibson, Booker, and Niang can create some post offense it should definately open up our perimeter game. The lineup I really thought played well together was Lucious, Clyburn, Ejim, Niang, and Gibson. Lot of size and athleticism that will create some matchup problems and I think Ejim is better suited when he's playing the 3 when he is part of that lineup.
I'd go even a little farther. Most teams that don't have a true star end up winning it. It allows for more ball movement and less reliance on one guy. It's not a good team if the victory relies on one guy to have a great game in order to win. Anthony Davis wasn't the star of the team last year. He was a crucial player, but not the star. Gimme he balanced team any day.
A star doesn't have to average 30 ppg. A star is a guy that can score when the offense is struggling. Someone who can put the team on their shoulders and use his athletic ability/knowledge to score, regardless of the defense. Most of the teams that have won the championship (national and B12) have multiple stars. Kentucky had a roster full of them last year, so 1 doesn't have to stick out. KU had 3 stars last year. In 99-00 we had Fizer and Tinsley. Win you have people with that kind of talent, the defense will collapse on them and leave others wide open (sullivan).
To say you need a star to win is inaccurate, but it does help. If you think this team would be worse off with one, your crazy. There's a reason why the KU, Duke, N.Carolina, and Kentucky's have so many championships in their history, because they get the talented players.
I was mainly getting at the point that we will struggle to score at points this season. We did last season too. When that happened we just gave the ball to RW and let him do what he does. This year we will not be so fortunate. We will have to figure it out as a team and cannot rely on a back up plan like we had last year.
Clyburn and Lucious both have the ability to create their own shot and dish when necessary. We have plenty of scorers on this team. McGee could be our most dangerous threat and he's going to be coming off the bench. This team is balanced in a very good way.
Went to the game last night:
I think we looked small, we are going to have rebounding issues, and troubles defending the paint. Free Throws need improvement. Have a feeling I am gonna have a love-hate Relationship with Lucious. He dribbles alot, turns the ball over, and has a cockiness in his attitude that I don't really like. We are an outside shooting team, but not sure we will shoot as good as last year. This team is lacking a go-to guy in my opinion, which could be problematic at times.
What can I say...maybe I'm a pessimist.
On the Optomistic side. Long and Niang look way ahead of schedule. We have not seen Babb yet. Our on ball defense should be great. We should be able to press and push the ball when we want to. Love the hustle, especially McGee.
Bottom line..should be a fun ride.
I think we looked small, we are going to have rebounding issues, and troubles defending the paint. Free Throws need improvement. Have a feeling I am gonna have a love-hate Relationship with Lucious. He dribbles alot, turns the ball over, and has a cockiness in his attitude that I don't really like. We are an outside shooting team, but not sure we will shoot as good as last year. This team is lacking a go-to guy in my opinion, which could be problematic at times.
What can I say...maybe I'm a pessimist.
On the Optomistic side. Long and Niang look way ahead of schedule. We have not seen Babb yet. Our on ball defense should be great. We should be able to press and push the ball when we want to. Love the hustle, especially McGee.
Bottom line..should be a fun ride.
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We lack length in the post, but we are not small. Gibson at 260, Booker at 255, and even Ejim at 230 is comparable to most teams. It will also help in the rebounding department that Babb is a big SG at 6-5 225 and Will has good length at the SF spot.
Many games may come down to how closely the refs call fouls. I expect Babb, Lucious, and Long to be all over guys.
I know Clyburn seems slight but he is right in there rebounding etc. I think he is our matchup problem on the wing. He has a nice inside outside combination game that teams will have to respect, seems to be able to take it to the hole when you guard him on the outside also doesnt seem to be a ball hog with an NBA agenda. I think we would have seen it with these 1st 2 teams we have played against if that tendency was there. Anyone else notice how deep we are at this point. Naz Long looks really solid for a freshman, not flashy but appears efficient.
Disclaimer: I know its early but these kids are playing well together and are unselfish. Tyrus is a machine.
Disclaimer: I know its early but these kids are playing well together and are unselfish. Tyrus is a machine.
I think Lucious will drive us crazy but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt having been away for a year and excited to be back out there.
The strength of the team on offense is the depth of good perimeter players, but I would still like to see them look to play inside-out in the half-court. Percy, Niang and Booker need regular touches down low so they aren't tempted to force it up every time they get it. Our perimeter guys have looked so good in the first games that I worry the big boys feel like they'd better shoot or they won't see the ball for another 3-4 minutes. Feed them the ball and let them pass out to our good shooters.
In the 99-00 team the Fizer / Tinsley combo opened up shots primarily for Nurse and Horton. Tinsley opened up shots for the freshman duo of Sullivan and Power as well as Horton in 00-01, but Fizer was getting his cup of coffee in the NBA at that point.
However, this does not diminish your point.
Random thought. I don't usually focus on jersey #'s that often, but its just so wierd to see Lucious wearing Rashon's #. All I can think of is Rashon when I see that #13 jersey.
Haven't seen a game yet. In what ways are they unselfish? At the start of last year, it was like they took turns going one-on-one. I suppose you could call that unselfish.
Are they making the good passes rather than taking contested shots?
Are they making good picks?
Are they running plays? Last year against UNI, it seemed like UNI was coached to run offensive plays and we were just relying on our athleticism on offense and defense.
When you have an actual floor general it makes everyone else be able to play their position better. We have an athletic team at every starting position and Booker looked better. I really like where this is going as the year goes on need to get more nasty down low as we will be playing better teams. Niang looks like he has played college ball for a couple years, damn he is good and Long is good as well.
This exactly. If you only have one, maybe two guys who are great and the others aren't so great...if you shut down those one or two guys, you're absolutely screwed.
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