Something in the way........

COTY Jerome Tang and his 2023 Elite Eight Cats
learnin
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Something in the way........

Post by learnin » November 5th, 2018, 7:54 pm

they move, attracts me like no other team in quite a while. I'll present my views as to why I believe this team is a potential final four team. Now, before I begin, let me qualify this post. The tournament requires a timely measure of good fortune if a team ends up advancing to the final four. It goes, without saying, that any team can win on a given night. This is, especially, true of a team that makes the field of 68. Every team, that wins the National Championship, would have not made it if they had come up against a handful of teams who would have had their number on a particular night. The brackets, and attrition, saved them from having to face that team. I am not predicting a final four. I won't be laying a dime on that happening. Having said this, I begin.

How long has it been since one of our teams disposed of an exhibition opponent by 40? Generally, we get up by 10-15, some subs come in and the defense gets a little lax and the other team keeps it from becoming a blow out. Last Friday night, I saw players, from one through ten, playing hard, intense defense. The offense clicked, at times, but the defense delivered the 40 point blow out. It appears, at least at this point, that every player on the bench has a good attitude and has bought in. At this time, there are no Nigel Johnsons'.

At this point, this group of players has found out that they can be very good by incorporating several different plans of attack. They have found that they can win games by in your face defense when the shots aren't falling. They have found that they can make other teams pay by attacking the basket and not settling for a 3 when shots aren't falling. They have found that rebounding is important. By a sequence of both bad and good blows from the force, this team found out the path to success last year. It seems they haven't forgotten.

My big concern, as stated in other posts, is how this team will react to adversity. They're confident in their ability. They've bought in and have lofty goals for this year. How will they respond when someone lands a left hook that puts them on the mat? They must not let one loss become another. It's a 15 round bout and a knockout won't come in round 6 if they get up off the mat, gather themselves, and keep jabbing.

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Pick 'Em

Post by Number8son » November 5th, 2018, 8:03 pm

It's good to have hope for a very good season. If we knew the outcome, it wouldn't be as much fun when good things happen. I don't believe in your force, but if there is one it may just be on our side this year. ;) Enjoy the ride, my friend...whatever comes.

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Post by Sir Ocelot » November 5th, 2018, 8:32 pm

I think that the team has enough leadership, cohesiveness and experience overcoming adversity to overcome adversity again.

My main concern is injuries. Depending on who and when, they would make the difference between a special season and a good season.

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Post by KITNooga » November 6th, 2018, 7:25 am

Number8son wrote:
November 5th, 2018, 8:03 pm
Enjoy the ride, my friend...whatever comes.
tournaments are always a bit of a crapshoot. I think to win a at that level, a team has to consistently be there. get past the hyper activity, the juice and excitement and execute. even then it's never easy. Ask Kentucky. See how many times KU has been a first/second round out.

enjoy this team. enjoy their good nights, great nights and those off nights. we only have a few months to see this group of young men wearing our colors and doing their best.

Look for AND FIND the positives
If you have to be persuaded, reminded, pressured, lied to, incentivized, coerced, bullied, socially shamed, guilt-tripped, threatened, punished and criminalized...you can be absolutely certain that what is being promoted is not in your best interest

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Post by Puffdad » November 6th, 2018, 8:42 am

Great post Kit! One day at a time. Enjoy every second. This group is about to run out the clock.

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Post by hilltopwildcat » November 6th, 2018, 9:10 am

Win the conference, the rest is gravy...or icing.

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Post by kinsleycat » November 6th, 2018, 9:37 am

+One positive I liked was the play of Kamau Stokes. He reminded me of the old pre injury Kamau.

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Post by KsJoey » November 6th, 2018, 10:31 am

Truth is, we should have scored a lot more than we did. It was sloppy offense much of the time(as you would expect) in the 1st exhibition. But our defense(combined with their poor offense) is what really made the difference.

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Post by emaw08 » November 6th, 2018, 10:36 am

learnin wrote:
November 5th, 2018, 7:54 pm
they move, attracts me like no other team in quite a while. I'll present my views as to why I believe this team is a potential final four team. Now, before I begin, let me qualify this post. The tournament requires a timely measure of good fortune if a team ends up advancing to the final four. It goes, without saying, that any team can win on a given night. This is, especially, true of a team that makes the field of 68. Every team, that wins the
I thought you were doing a Beatles re-write there for a minute, hahaha.

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Post by emaw08 » November 6th, 2018, 10:48 am

KsJoey wrote:
November 6th, 2018, 10:31 am
Truth is, we should have scored a lot more than we did. It was sloppy offense much of the time(as you would expect) in the 1st exhibition. But our defense(combined with their poor offense) is what really made the difference.
I think a lot of the offensive "woes" could be attributed to a couple of things:
1. Lesser opponent- we started off and showed the talent disparity early on, once that happens it's easy to lose focus shooting the ball, knowing you don't "need" to make that open shot. Yes it would be nice to see them locked in the entire game but we still won by 40.
2. Constant line-up changes- coaches tend to use these early games as times to play with the line-ups to see who gels with who. Finding that right mix. Bruce did that, and it sometimes throws guys out of rhythm. I know they've been practicing together but until you get into game mode it can be difficult to see how guys are going to play with each other.

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