Oso planning to go pro
If MU goes 10-22 (or anything approaching that), Shaka should be fired the day after the season ends. But I would love to read his fanboys here defending that record.
So, you’d love failure for that reason? Real fan
Last year my optimism going into the season was that Shaka would have buy in from the guys and they would overachieve, and I believe that happened. Watching the videos that MU shares, talking to folks that I consider knowledgeable and all the guys returning has my level of optimism at a very high level. In addition, it seems like the team has great chemistry off the court and kudo's to Shaka for building a real culture at MU. On top of that, I love the style of player and play MU is going to play. It sure looks like it will be hard pressed to play a team that have a better collection of athletes. If one or two guys made big strides as a basketball player in the offseason, I think this team is going to surprise a lot of people.
Gotcha Goose. I like your narrative/take about the second half of the season. I heard the "figured out" so often but somehow that seemed a bit simplistic to me.
It can be some of both. Opponents definitely played the pick-and-roll better later in the season. They forced Kolek to drive more into traffic. They learning which MU players to leave open. How many of our out-of-bounds plays worked well the last month?But I think we did wear down, too. Kam, Lewis and especially Greg stopped hitting jumpers. We only shot about 30% from 3 over the last couple of weeks -- possibly a sign of tired legs. And the team's poor defense down the stretch might have had something to do with wearing down, also. Then again, folks sure hated it when "tired legs" was used as an excuse by and/or for the previous regime. So here's hoping it's not an excuse this season.
Young guys never get tired!
True dat, tower and Sultan.
82I should have been been clear in my post about running out of gas. I think they lost the mental chip they played with on the hot stretch as much as physically. I do not believe they had tired legs, rather they lost their edge and did not get it back.
I said it last year but I will repeat: Last year's team played too fast for its talent. The coaches stuck with it when it was going well and when it wasn't. The team wasn't mentally or physically tired, opposing coaches adjusted the second time through conference.Teams laid off Kur and then doubled JLew. Kolek's left handed path to the basket with him being unable to either shoot effectively from outside or at the rim...and to jump his passing lanes for turnovers resulted. Greg's same old spot in the corner was easy to cover as he was a one trick pony. Make Morsell play PG. Lack of rebounding. Result: Losses on transition, extended possessions.This year's team, while missing those experienced parts, is built for Shaka's systems. More so, the player depth and experience have caught up. Last year when Tyler was off, only a defensive minded Stevie could step in. Now there is an improved Stevie and Sean, and Tyler will be on his second year as a PG.There will be up and downs, and not all the wins may be there, but this team is more multidimensional.
I agree with your comments for this upcoming season. As for last year, I do not remember all of the specifics of the last month, but I thought our intensity was not as high and that was part of the problem. I am sure teams studied and made adjustments and that was part of the problem. More importantly, I am betting the learned a great deal from the last 10+ games.