Hopefully we're back on track

[Drew's Crew]

Heading into last night's game, I wasn't too worried about a large scoring margin or a beat down at home. I was much more interested to see what type of effort we would put forth and how we would respond to our shitty performance last week. Overall, I was really pleased with what I saw.

Mack deserves the accolades he has earned. Watching him coach against Mullen and Leitao has been a joke. He has coached circles around both of them. I have stated on here just how I feel about Mack, so I don't need to belabor the topic.

Blueitt is a scorer, plain and simple. Dude can shoot, put it on the floor and take it to the hole (although he doesn't need to do this very often). As the year goes on, I think we see Mack draw up more plays to get him open looks. Last night he did what many of us knew he could do, and I was glad to see it.

With Sumner gone, we have really grown as a team. One could even say it was a blessing in disguise, but we know that phrase is wholly inappropriate on this board...Myles has benefited the most from this absence. Over the last few games, he has grown the most as a player. He will never be an elite ball handler, and if a team pressures us, it will still give us fits. But he has limited his penchant for trying too hard, or turning it over trying to force something that isn't there. He has been more patient and seems to relish the opportunity to set his teammates up for a score. This confidence has also helped his scoring, continuing to put up double digits with more limited opportunities.

Two other guys who have really taken advantage are Macura and Gates. Both are becoming more aggressive and initiating contact around the rim, which is awesome. JP was a bit trigger happy early in the season and was also undisciplined on defense, causing needless fouls to limit his minutes. The game has clearly slowed down for him and he is making better decisions on both ends of the court.

Gates has been a pleasant surprise to me. I didn't expect much out of him, but his ability to bang down low and shoot the three is a great combo. Not only that, but he was able to switch off on ball screens constantly last night. This versatility makes him even more valuable to a team that thrives on its versatility and depth.

The one thing that is beginning to worry me a bit is the play of Reynolds. I was hoping this year he would be more consistent around the rim, but it's disappointing to see him continue to struggle. He has controlled himself a little better, but he still gets needlessly worked up multiple times throughout the game. His offensive game still isn't too polished and he struggles with his left hand. He may go pro after this season, but if he keeps playing like this it will for sure be overseas. I am hoping this is just a slump and that he snaps out of it, but I am not so sure that will happen.

Overall the team is learning to play through adversity early in the season and are going to be better because of it. It will be great when Ed is back and I think the guys will play with an added confidence when he is back to 100%. That will make us REALLY dangerous coming down the home stretch.

[bobbiemcgee]

We're 15-1. Don't think we ever got off track. We're #7 in the country. Some huge wins and a game where a pin got stuck in the balloon when Ed went down. Nobody felt like playing basketball on our end, just worried about their buddy. Mack continues to develop players in the OOC for conference play. All's good.

[94GRAD]

I don't this team was ever off track

[muethibp]

Heading into last night's game, I wasn't too worried about a large scoring margin or a beat down at home. I was much more interested to see what type of effort we would put forth and how we would respond to our shitty performance last week. Overall, I was really pleased with what I saw.

Mack deserves the accolades he has earned. Watching him coach against Mullen and Leitao has been a joke. He has coached circles around both of them. I have stated on here just how I feel about Mack, so I don't need to belabor the topic.

Blueitt is a scorer, plain and simple. Dude can shoot, put it on the floor and take it to the hole (although he doesn't need to do this very often). As the year goes on, I think we see Mack draw up more plays to get him open looks. Last night he did what many of us knew he could do, and I was glad to see it.

With Sumner gone, we have really grown as a team. One could even say it was a blessing in disguise, but we know that phrase is wholly inappropriate on this board...Myles has benefited the most from this absence. Over the last few games, he has grown the most as a player. He will never be an elite ball handler, and if a team pressures us, it will still give us fits. But he has limited his penchant for trying too hard, or turning it over trying to force something that isn't there. He has been more patient and seems to relish the opportunity to set his teammates up for a score. This confidence has also helped his scoring, continuing to put up double digits with more limited opportunities.

Two other guys who have really taken advantage are Macura and Gates. Both are becoming more aggressive and initiating contact around the rim, which is awesome. JP was a bit trigger happy early in the season and was also undisciplined on defense, causing needless fouls to limit his minutes. The game has clearly slowed down for him and he is making better decisions on both ends of the court.

Gates has been a pleasant surprise to me. I didn't expect much out of him, but his ability to bang down low and shoot the three is a great combo. Not only that, but he was able to switch off on ball screens constantly last night. This versatility makes him even more valuable to a team that thrives on its versatility and depth.

The one thing that is beginning to worry me a bit is the play of Reynolds. I was hoping this year he would be more consistent around the rim, but it's disappointing to see him continue to struggle. He has controlled himself a little better, but he still gets needlessly worked up multiple times throughout the game. His offensive game still isn't too polished and he struggles with his left hand. He may go pro after this season, but if he keeps playing like this it will for sure be overseas. I am hoping this is just a slump and that he snaps out of it, but I am not so sure that will happen.

Overall the team is learning to play through adversity early in the season and are going to be better because of it. It will be great when Ed is back and I think the guys will play with an added confidence when he is back to 100%. That will make us REALLY dangerous coming down the home stretch.

Nice post.

I think it's weird that I decided to drop the "blessing in disguise" thing, chalking it up as a misunderstanding, but you and others persist.

[kyxu]

We're 15-1. Don't think we ever got off track.

I don't this team was ever off track

Just what I was thinking. It says something about how dream-like this season has already been that we started 12-0, lose a tough one, win three more to improve to 15 and freaking 1, and some have a concern that our season was "off track" at some point.

If a slump is in store for this team, we haven't hit it yet. It will come at some point, because we've always had some kind of swoon during the lifetime that is the basketball season. When it occurs, people on this board will freak out. We're going to drop a few games in-conference this year. We're not in the Atlantic 10 anymore.

[chico]

Yeah, I don't either. They're just rolling along. You can't expect 20 point blowouts on the road no matter who the opponent.

Their one loss saw them lose their point guard and most talented player in a pretty frightening fashion. Did you see the faces of the players and staff? (Granted, I didn't expect them to win that game anyway but we at least stood a chance before Sumner went down). The only other game you can have any beef with at all was SJU and they won. Over a 35 game season it's hard to get up for every single one, especially when you're playing the doormats of the conference.

What's been impressive to me is that this is all being done while the one guy who most of us felt would be our most important player - Reynolds - is struggling. And this team found another weapon last night in Gates. You could just see him gaining confidence as the game progressed.

This team is not only on track, it's a damn bullet train.

[Emp]

Generally agree with Chico.

Off track in the sense of derailed, no. Off track, as in a pathway, msybe. the St. John game we looked out of sorts, in the way we did last season on the road in the league.

We have plenty of 3pfg power, but I don't get the over reliance on it, at the expense of the post game in the half court. More Jalen, please. The rebounding edge OOC has withered. This Saturday should be interesting in the paint.

[Drew's Crew]

I see where many of you are coming from. I don't think we were bad or necessarily struggling mightily, but I was just hoping the effort would be back last night and much to my delight, it was.

[Tardy Turtle]

[Olsingledigit]

There were some pundits who, after Gates committed, said they thought he would provide significant minutes to this team as a freshman. Seems as though they might be right. He is really starting to feel comfortable (Mack said that too on the post game last night) and I think he can be a force. Wow we are deep. I love it.