Progress. Pure and simple. I sometimes have to stop myself and remember a lot of these dudes have very limited minutes in D-1 hoops, much less against opponents like Duke, Wisco and the BEast. So, I will say this....compared to how we looked against Wisconsin, the last two games seem like fairly significant improvement in many ways, even with the loss at Vandy. The tentative shot-taking seems gone. DJO is finding his stroke. Rebounding is better. Substitution patterns are more stable (and even though I emotionally want more minutes for Jones, Ewill, etc...I am coming to accept that they just might not be ready). The energy looks good and even the intangibles on the bench seem a bit more cohesive and aligned...albeit I realize this is purely speculative and perception.
So...it is one win. A good Big East opening game that we needed at home as we don't face WVU again this year. But, in terms of the eye-test, and I may be very very wrong, this team looks to be improving and better than when we faced Bucky a few short weeks ago. To me, that is a positive sign as the brutal BEast is now underway.
Still a lot of warts, but, they did not prevent a good win today.
Keep gelling boys and surprise a few folks (again) in the conference!
And...Happy New New Year...may our 2011 resolution be to win the close ones.
