[PaintTouches]Buzz Williams must search, wait for his special team

[PaintTouchesSays]

Buzz Williams must search, wait for his special team

Usually when Buzz Williams says he's worried about one of his teams, it's easy to write off his comments as coach-speak. After all, his resume of five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, at least 22 wins in each season and, most recently, an Elite Eight berth, speaks for itself. The Golden Eagles will be a perennial [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=painttouches.com&blog=28348875&post=9110&subd=painttouches&ref=&feed=1" width="1" height="1" />

Source: Buzz Williams must search, wait for his special team

[tower912]

In other words, beyond CO, DG, and JWil, the team is a work in progress.    Unknown who is going to step up, lead, separate themselves.

[GGGG]

Which means, like last year, there could be a couple ugly performances early on.

[Windyplayer]

Which means, like last year, there could be a couple ugly performances early on.

The difference between this year and past years, is that there is a ton of budding talent--JJJ, Taylor, Anderson, Mayo, Duane, Burton, etc.--on this team and a couple players in that category are bound to take the next step

[tower912]

Any times your guards aren't up to the challenge, the game gets ugly. 

[NersEllenson]

Nice article.  I really feel Buzz is "slow playing" the media and his team with his remarks.  He does it every year.  He's said if you don't have a chip on your shoulder, I'll find a way to put one there.  He's a master motivator.  Dangling the starting carrots keeps guys striving and working their hardest as every player wants to be part of the starting lineup.

This is Buzz's deepest team, and I believe most experienced in the way of total returning years of the guys on the squad.  I'm extremely bullish on this team.  I'd be shocked if it laid an egg, thus far Buzz is 5 for 5 in getting the max out of his team.  Then again, almost every really good program deals with an occasional (as in 1 every 5-10 years) off season where the results don't match the expectations.  I sure hope this isn't the case with this year's team.

I'm expecting a Sweet 16 minimum out of this team, and genuinely feel it has Final Four potential.

[GGGG]

The difference between this year and past years, is that there is a ton of budding talent--JJJ, Taylor, Anderson, Mayo, Duane, Burton, etc.--on this team and a couple players in that category are bound to take the next step

Right.  Which means either their talent lives up to its billing...and those players take the next step...or they struggle.  That is why I think you have to be patient.  I think early in the year you are going to have some ugly results.  (I really do think OSU could be a LOONNNGG afternoon.)  But by the end of the year, I think they will end up as BE champs and go deep in the tournament.

[tower912]

Sultan, we agree about the long afternoons.   IMO, MU's guards are not going to be ready for the challenge that tOSU are going to present.   That means nothing in regards to where this team will be in January/February/March.   I think this team makes it 4 straight S16's and wins >26 games when it all said and done.    But I am not optimistic about the Buckeyes and hardly supremely confident about tonight.     Though I think that eventually fouls catch up and Gardner is guarded by some 6'4, 200 lb reserve and dominates the game late. 

[Windyplayer]

Sultan, we agree about the long afternoons.   IMO, MU's guards are not going to be ready for the challenge that tOSU are going to present.   That means nothing in regards to where this team will be in January/February/March.   I think this team makes it 4 straight S16's and wins >26 games when it all said and done.    But I am not optimistic about the Buckeyes and hardly supremely confident about tonight.     Though I think that eventually fouls catch up and Gardner is guarded by some 6'4, 200 lb reserve and dominates the game late. 

The tOSU game is cause for concern, but let's not forget that OSU is going to be a little rusty as well and I like Derrick guarding Craft and vice versa. Craft is a tenacios defender but if he's on Derrick the whole game or Duane for that matter, that gives our scorers some breathing room. And never underestimate the influence that a sold-out BC has on 18-21-year old opponents. MU didn't lose a game there last year, and played some pretty darn good teams and won with sometimes pedestrian performances.

I'm not ready to write that game off yet, especially without seeing this team (or OSU) in action yet!

[brewcity77]

The tOSU game is cause for concern, but let's not forget that OSU is going to be a little rusty as well and I like Derrick guarding Craft and vice versa. Craft is a tenacios defender but if he's on Derrick the whole game or Duane for that matter, that gives our scorers some breathing room.

Another factor worth mentioning is that as big as that disparity may be in the backcourt, it may be even bigger in our favor in the frontcourt. Amir Williams is their only true big man that has seen any significant minutes. Ross and Thompson are more wings than they are bigs. That will be an interesting game, as it will largely be their backcourt superiority against our frontcourt superiority. I'm not ready to write it off yet, especially not at the BC.

[brandx]

Nice article.  I really feel Buzz is "slow playing" the media and his team with his remarks.  He does it every year.  He's said if you don't have a chip on your shoulder, I'll find a way to put one there.  He's a master motivator.  Dangling the starting carrots keeps guys striving and working their hardest as every player wants to be part of the starting lineup.

This is Buzz's deepest team, and I believe most experienced in the way of total returning years of the guys on the squad.  I'm extremely bullish on this team.  I'd be shocked if it laid an egg, thus far Buzz is 5 for 5 in getting the max out of his team.  Then again, almost every really good program deals with an occasional (as in 1 every 5-10 years) off season where the results don't match the expectations.  I sure hope this isn't the case with this year's team.

I'm expecting a Sweet 16 minimum out of this team, and genuinely feel it has Final Four potential.

+1   Buzz loves being the underdog. Since they are picked to win the BE, he has to go about it another way.