FFF
01-18-2014, 05:30 PM
Ray is building this deal from the ground up and the foundation is being laid. Just like most of you, I have doubted and even today, I almost decided to chalk this game up as an automatic loss. But don't kid yourself... this is one of the hardest-playing basketball teams I've seen play the game (no sarcasterics... this team gets incredible marks in that area). They WILL NOT quit.
Let's look at the season so far... we are 12-5 on the year, 2-2 in the league. Our worst (and only) loss at home was to TCU. I haven't looked up the numbers so I don't know the RPI of our losses, but based on the eye test, that seems to be it.
This team has:
1. Fight. Let's get this one out of the way, this team will not give up, and that deserves mentioning
2. Defense. We lead the league in steals... we don't kill ourselves failing to rebound the ball (we will get better with more size). This is the absolute biggest up-side to this team over teams of the past
3. A go-to player who will make things happen... Craig Sword
4. A promising PG in Ready. He's already emerging as a leader, he will soon run the show and I think be a solid player.
5. A big man who is gradually making bigger and bigger impacts. Gavin Ware is getting better, and I hope our fans can see that.
The focus for this year:
1. Keep our team healthy. We can't afford injuries. Take every precaution possible to ensure we keep what depth we have.
2. Continue to emphasize physical, aggressive defense. It's done us well and has kept us in a position to win games. This is our identity. Keep emphasizing our focus on our brand of defense.
3. On offense, keep attacking. With officiating becoming more ticky-tack, we have a solid offensive gameplan. Attack and get to the line. Knock down free throws, and we will become frustratingly (for other teams) good. We will put finesse teams in foul trouble. We beat UGA this way last year, as well as OM and A&M based on this very formula. Keep this up. Which leads me to my last point...
4. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. We HAVE to get better at the line. aGAIN, this is who we are on offense. We have GOT to get better than 64%. No team has won a national championship shooting worse than 68% from the stripe (I'm NOT saying we will win the national championship... but this has to be the benchmark). We need to get better here.
Believe it if you want to or not, we are not far from becoming a top 5-7 SEC team. We only need a few more pieces and we will be there. We are much better than we were this time last year and have gotten better since then. I really like how this club is continuing to develop and get better.
Let's look at the season so far... we are 12-5 on the year, 2-2 in the league. Our worst (and only) loss at home was to TCU. I haven't looked up the numbers so I don't know the RPI of our losses, but based on the eye test, that seems to be it.
This team has:
1. Fight. Let's get this one out of the way, this team will not give up, and that deserves mentioning
2. Defense. We lead the league in steals... we don't kill ourselves failing to rebound the ball (we will get better with more size). This is the absolute biggest up-side to this team over teams of the past
3. A go-to player who will make things happen... Craig Sword
4. A promising PG in Ready. He's already emerging as a leader, he will soon run the show and I think be a solid player.
5. A big man who is gradually making bigger and bigger impacts. Gavin Ware is getting better, and I hope our fans can see that.
The focus for this year:
1. Keep our team healthy. We can't afford injuries. Take every precaution possible to ensure we keep what depth we have.
2. Continue to emphasize physical, aggressive defense. It's done us well and has kept us in a position to win games. This is our identity. Keep emphasizing our focus on our brand of defense.
3. On offense, keep attacking. With officiating becoming more ticky-tack, we have a solid offensive gameplan. Attack and get to the line. Knock down free throws, and we will become frustratingly (for other teams) good. We will put finesse teams in foul trouble. We beat UGA this way last year, as well as OM and A&M based on this very formula. Keep this up. Which leads me to my last point...
4. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. FREE THROWS. We HAVE to get better at the line. aGAIN, this is who we are on offense. We have GOT to get better than 64%. No team has won a national championship shooting worse than 68% from the stripe (I'm NOT saying we will win the national championship... but this has to be the benchmark). We need to get better here.
Believe it if you want to or not, we are not far from becoming a top 5-7 SEC team. We only need a few more pieces and we will be there. We are much better than we were this time last year and have gotten better since then. I really like how this club is continuing to develop and get better.