Bear Down Wildcats

g32knights wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 12:02 pm I think my favorite poll was Stephen Tsai, who moved Duke up to #2 this week and only dropped Carolina to #3.

You go, Stephen Tsai!

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 04, 2022 8:52 pm Couldn't watch the game tonight, but Larsson not being a factor is becoming a theme this season, and not one anyone expected. 8 assists for Kriisa is fantastic. 12 boards for Tubelis is also fantastic. We shot better than Cal, outrebounded them, turned the ball over fewer times, and made 19 to their 8 FTs. On paper, we should've won this game by 20. Not sure what's going on.

And as others have mentioned, after Henderson, the bench is a non-factor. That has to improve.

84Cat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 8:35 am I think Bal needs more time on the floor and we're going to need him at times throughout the season. Who else do we have to spell Kerr and Ramey?

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 10:43 am Maui was critical in allowing us to see what our ceiling could be if we played disciplined and focus basketball. Cincinnati, SDSU and Creighton are legit, and those victories demonstrated the versatility that we have on our roster. But like I mentioned before, we don't have great athleticism or depth. And when you don't have great athleticism, your conditioning and attention to detail have to be waaay above average. When Creighton cut the lead down to 4 after the transition three, I was thinking 'this is where Mathurin would impose his will,' except Kriisa and Ramey didn't quite know how to handle that moment. Despite that, we still snuck out a victory, but it reminded me of our lack of closers (and leadership).

While Henderson is playing much better than expected, our bench is just not as strong as I was hoping for this year. We still have a long ways to go until the bench can give us an edge in big games. One problem I see with our team is maturity issues. It goes back to last year. We can't be seen overly celebrating in-games and showing up opponents.The serious teams in serious conferences will almost assuredly use it as bulletin board material for their practice sessions. We basically set ourselves up for let down games like Houston. Other teams want to knock us down a few pegs and get a signature win on their resume.

The Utah game was a shocker because it revealed our vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Additionally, one thing that stuck out to me in that game aside from our poor defense, was the fact that we couldn't get a rebound. It reminded of the Lonzo/UCLA game in McKale where rebound after rebound went to the opposing team and we were just a step too slow to loose balls. In games where our shooting percentage is down and we are out of our rhythm, rebounding has to be our saving grace. We certainly have the size to make a great impact in that area, it remains to be seen if we will improve enough during the season to make a difference. Utah is a unique team. Craig Smith is a very good coach, and they were certainly prepared after watching us in Maui. All in all, let's not forget that Tennessee lost to Colorado, a team that is roughly in the same spectrum that Utah is. And Tennessee has more than recovered from that loss.

We don't have the right kind of maturity on our team. It seems like we have a bunch of talented kids on our team but not men. It could be an international/Euro thing where players are a bit more passive, regardless we need serious guys who are ready to take charge and lead by example. The great Baylor and Villanova teams always were dialed in and treated each game like a bunch of hired mercenaries. We need to adopt a similar approach. All of those teams were physical, mature and well conditioned. They could play a more imposing level of defense because they had the conditioning (and personnel).

Getting to our bench, Bal is interesting. I think his growth plates are still open because he appears taller than last year. He may be still adjusting to his growth spurt. Whatever is going on, he's not contributing at the level that we need him to. We need him to be a ringer off the bench, something that everyone was expecting going into this year. Unfortunately, his ball handling, defense and iq are just not there. Problem with younger players is that may not realize how much work they need to put in their game in order to become an asset on the court. Almost all of the work that matters has to happen outside of official practice. I'm reminded of Gil and the legendary stories of his conditioning drills and skill work outside of practice. It's the reason he became arguably the best player in the country going into his second year. And he was young for his class just like Bal.

Veesaar showed some flashes in Maui which demonstrated his defensive potential for the season. I'm still disappointed that his contributions on the offensive side are so limited. Lauri was far more polished coming into his freshman year than Veesaar. We could actually rely on him to put up serious numbers for our offense. They were both rated around the same, Lauri may have been a smidge higher than Veesaar. That being said, I think his defensive potential is great and if he builds his game around his defensive abilities, he'll have sound foundation for a great college (and NBA) career.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Lloyd and think he has done a bang up job of getting our program clean, winning and healthy. I'm still concerned about our recruiting because our success is not getting us the players that we need. I have a lingering belief that Lloyd might have issues connecting with certain American players, the kind of player that we need to round out our roster (players with the athleticism and size of Mathurin, Koloko and DT). Players like these make and break teams and are the sole reason why everyone is afraid of Arkansas right now. With their athleticism and talent level, if they put the pieces together they are an extremely dangerous team. Our tournament ceilings will be low if we don't have some athletic bangers who know how to fight in big games.

I still think that we can make a big run in the tourney; we have all the right pieces. It's just that our margin of error is smaller because we don't have the athleticism to push us over the edge. As long as our players are reminded of that, it will bode well for our season.

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 10:43 am Additionally, one thing that stuck out to me in that game aside from our poor defense, was the fact that we couldn't get a rebound.

RawleArenas wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 10:43 am Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Lloyd and think he has done a bang up job of getting our program clean, winning and healthy. I'm still concerned about our recruiting because our success is not getting us the players that we need. I have a lingering belief that Lloyd might have issues connecting with certain American players, the kind of player that we need to round out our roster (players with the athleticism and size of Mathurin, Koloko and DT). Players like these make and break teams and are the sole reason why everyone is afraid of Arkansas right now. With their athleticism and talent level, if they put the pieces together they are an extremely dangerous team. Our tournament ceilings will be low if we don't have some athletic bangers who know how to fight in big games.

TheCat wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 12:16 pm Pelle played the type of offense and defense (w/o fouling) that we will need to be successful this season. He is a critical player for us and when he starts to hit the long ball we can reach our potential

TheCat wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 12:16 pm Pelle played the type of offense and defense (w/o fouling) that we will need to be successful this season. He is a critical player for us and when he starts to hit the long ball we can reach our potential. The other thing I would like to mention is Adama. Adama in previous games came in and just fired up shots. If you watched him closely last night he got a big assist in the corner to Remey and then a pass to tubelis for a layup. He did not just come in firing he came in playing real basketball. He even played a little defense. Lastly what can I say about Ballo other than he has exceeded all my expectations. That off balance layup at the end of the game was unbelievable. Humble kid playing better then expected and is in a game shape that shows how hard he has worked.

TheCat wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 12:16 pm Pelle played the type of offense and defense (w/o fouling) that we will need to be successful this season. He is a critical player for us and when he starts to hit the long ball we can reach our potential. The other thing I would like to mention is Adama. Adama in previous games came in and just fired up shots. If you watched him closely last night he got a big assist in the corner to Remey and then a pass to tubelis for a layup. He did not just come in firing he came in playing real basketball. He even played a little defense. Lastly what can I say about Ballo other than he has exceeded all my expectations. That off balance layup at the end of the game was unbelievable. Humble kid playing better then expected and is in a game shape that shows how hard he has worked.

dovecanyoncat wrote: ↑Mon Dec 12, 2022 1:17 pm They certainly aren't the silent stoic Bobby Knight types.

azcat49 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 12, 2022 2:34 pm Saw a tweet that the last 20 tournament winners have come from teams in the top 12 in week 6. So we have a chance