I'm hoping a light went on with this year's team between the Pitt and ND games – the idea that the same intensity shown on the offensive end must translate to defense. It's possible for a young team to "get it" – especially after a whoopin' ...
This win was huge for this group's confidence. They're over the hump of getting a win vs a ranked opponent. It would have been interesting to see it happen earlier in the year, but I think the timing is good for these guys in the grueling BE schedule.
The light is on now.
Now for the big road win...
Some people want to discount the experience factor. What goes along with that is the experience of playing together. This team may never be wiscy defensively. But we saw a glimmer last night of what could be. Took away ND's best players and dared the rest to beat us. Vander still doesn't know when or how hard to double and gave up about 3 bunnies. If ND's secondary players had heated up from distance, it could have been a different game. But I saw a team last night that challenged almost everything and never let the stars heat up. I said before KC that we could get rolled twice there and still be a very dangerous team by March. I still believe that. If last night was a harbinger of defense to come, this team could do some damage come tourney time. If not.....