I got alittle tired of hearing about how much better the scout team was than the starters last season too. Esp. from Fred. I didn't like to watch the local sports and see Fred talking about how the scout team could beat the starters in practice. Def. a confidence killer if you're a starter and then see that on t.v.
2011-12 MBB Expectations
- Thread starter imnclone
- Start date
At the end of the season I was very excited for next year and had high expectations. Losing Lutz and now Godfrey and have tempered those. I believe Godfrey would have really improved for next year and played a big part or have a big role on the team. We essentially lost a hard nosed, athletic and talented starter. Our front line is going to be thing and we are going to be exposed. We also need to break in a new point guard. With so many new and inexperienced players on the floor, I feel this team will lose a couple of game in the first month that they shouldn't. Back to the front line. We have no one with any big time major conference experience except Ejim, who is more of a 3 who will once agains have to battle at the four. Our only chance here is if Booker turns out to be something more than what he was at the Missouri Valley level.
We should only lose maybe 1 out of conference game and should win almost all home games. The real question will be if we can take care of business on the road which we have not been too great on. 10 losses sounds about right for the season IMO.
Also, having Lucious and Will Clyburn on the scout team will pay dividends in the end.
Also, having Lucious and Will Clyburn on the scout team will pay dividends in the end.
What?
Godfrey wouldn't have started. Over who? Over Ejim? Ejim started last year and will again next year. Along with a PG and 2 other guards (pick 2 of Scotty, Allen, Babb) that is 4 starters. So Godfrey is going to beat out White AND Booker AND Railey. Sorry, don't see it; especially over White. He added depth and energy off the bench. Will he be missed. Yeah, but not as much as you'd think.
Yeah, and we have so many inexperienced players on the floor; so many more than last year. Do I need a pirate? McGee (jr), Allen (sr), Booker (jr), Babb (jr), White (So). The last 4 all have redshirts so are a year older too. And no big time experience either: Mich State, Penn State, So Illinois; a bunch of nobodys for sure. And now Ejim and Railey have a year under their belts and a year through B12 play. Last year they were unproven freshman. Who did we have last year? JVB, a bunch of freshman and a 6-2 forward in Jake. We are going to so much worse off than last year. Pirate?
We are going to pretty well next year but as others have already indicated it is going to be determined by the PG position not in the paint. We have McGee and Sledge and Bubu as a fallback. One of the 3 should be good enough to get us to midback or so in the B12. Puts us on the bubble in my mind. Should be fun to watch ...
Really, the confidence killer for them was hearing about how they were getting beat by the transfers?:skeptical: I would think that them actually getting beat by them would be more of a confidence killer if that were true. But I think playing against them and getting there butts whipped probably just made them better. If you practice against better competition, you usually get better yourself. I'm not buying this one bit, and have no problem with anything Fred said.
Could it have been a confidence killer getting beat by them, possibly.
Fred or anyone else talking about it? no way hurt their confidence
I'm sorry have to dissagree. The loss of Godfrey is HUGE. You guys do realize what he did toward the end of the year right? It was like he was a man amongst junior and senior boys that he was going up against and he was only a freshmen. He was everywhere down low. His offensive rebounding was impressive mainly because he was the only guy down there battling for it with three opposing players. Anyways, Godfrey would have started this year or gave us 24-30 minutes a game next year, thats how good i think he would have been. Anyways, from what I hear is that White is the truth but obviously hasnt played a college basketball game before, Booker, who looks downright scary plays soft. White and Ejim will litterally be playing the whole game down low. Backcourt is going to be very good as we expected, front court is way to questionable. Teams with success have good frontcourt players. im going with 17 wins, 6 or 7 conference wins and should make the NIT.
This assumes no improvement from Railey, or addition of Percy, which either one would help negate the loss of Godfrey.
Railey, has to #1, stay out of trouble. Secondly, hopefully he can play smarter. I don't think he's affraid of playing physically, I just think he needs to learn how to do it more effectively. This off season and Italy trip could help that quite a bit.
Percy on the other hand, looks like he has the type of body that he can handle 15-20 min in the paint and at the very least, rebound and play D. As a FR big, his offensive game will likely take some time to develop, but from his video he doesn't look like he shys away from contact.
I'm very optimistic (like most) but in my opinion we need a few things to happen for us to make the dance and start winning consistently:
I like our chances this year becuase of the apparent talent, but as a team, these guys need to aim as high as possible.
If we get to the tourneyment I'll be very happy (as most have said)... if we make some noise, are considered but fall just short, I'll still be excited about where we're headed... if we aren't in the conversation for the tourney, I'll be very dissapointed.
- We really need someone to step up and be the "go-to-guy" as the game winds down. We lost 8 games by 5 points or less last year and we need to win the majority of those games. Great teams have great players that find ways to win. All of our really good teams were balanced but still had someone that took over in crunch time consistenly. Grayer, Stevens, Hoiberg, Cato, Willoughby, Fizer, Tinsley. There is a lot of new talent on on the court next year for this team so the opportunity for someone to emerge is good but it needs to happen for us to be really good.
- We have to be a better rebounding team. We will not be huge but appear to be pretty athletic... they'll have to work hard to win the boards consistently. Not having our 6-11 center standing around the three point line can only help and the talent appears to be there to get it done.
- We need interior offesive production to keep our guards freed up. White should help on that front. Again, our 6-11 center trying to play outside did not promote a balanced attack.
I like our chances this year becuase of the apparent talent, but as a team, these guys need to aim as high as possible.
If we get to the tourneyment I'll be very happy (as most have said)... if we make some noise, are considered but fall just short, I'll still be excited about where we're headed... if we aren't in the conversation for the tourney, I'll be very dissapointed.
Tough to get a feel for next season. Close to being 20-12 last season which makes a person think things could be better next year. Losing 3 starters from that team that lost so many close games could lead to a repeat of last season. Hoping for the best but trying not to get overly optimistic.