After listening to what I could during the lunch hour yesterday, I DVR-ed the game and watched the first half last night. The second half was a product of a young team getting discouraged away from home, but I believe the first half was a pretty true indication of what this season will entail against one of the better teams we'll play. We're not 32 points worse than Dayton, but we're probably 16 at this point.
I think most rational fans who are approaching this season the right way are just looking for potential, signs of improvement and indications from the bench of what the future will look like. Since the inverse was true under the last regime, my biggest question will be: Are we are better team in March than we were in November? If the answer is "yes", it's been a successful season.
I did have a few take aways in what I watched and wanted to get my thoughts out here:
1) The development of Don'ta Hall will be crucial to any success this year. It is clear that any opponent's top priority should be to get Taylor in foul trouble early, and Hall appears to be the first man off to fill that void when it happens. He'll most likely be a liability on offense this year, but I was impressed with his defensive work yesterday against their 6'11" guy, and I believe the quality minutes he can provide may be the difference in a few games from the defensive end.
2) Staying on the low post, it appears we're going to pass through the 4 and 5 and use them on the boards rather than run a lot of sets specifically for getting the ball to them with intentions to score, as the dribble drive seemed to be the most consistent way to attack the basket. Hopefully, a player like Marques Bolden won't be scared off by lack of opportunities for the big men now.
3) Iso plays look to be a key part of Coach's offense. It was great to see picks being set outside the arch and mostly crisp passing early on to create the match-ups Coach thought favorable, but we simply don't have the kinds of cats who can take a defender isolated at this point. However, much like Saban's pro-set offense draws NFL talent more so than a spread offense, Johnson's NBA approach will hopefully appeal to top recruits who want to be able to show their complete game. It appears he's determined to keep us spaced out well, which is great in an of itself.
4) Free-throws... We used to be good at them.
5) Mainly, I'm afraid we're in a position to take some lumps this year due to our new identity that we might not have with the former coach. We don't have the guys to run high octane, 80-plus PPG yet. It will be interesting to see if Coach slows us down to more of a half-court, defense first gameplan in order to have the best chance to win right now or continue with his vision undaunted and continuing to sell the "buckle up" mentality to the players we need. It may mean the difference between 16 to 18 wins and a trip the NIT or 12 to 14 wins with subtle improvements, but with long-term goals in mind, I hope it's the latter.
I think most rational fans who are approaching this season the right way are just looking for potential, signs of improvement and indications from the bench of what the future will look like. Since the inverse was true under the last regime, my biggest question will be: Are we are better team in March than we were in November? If the answer is "yes", it's been a successful season.
I did have a few take aways in what I watched and wanted to get my thoughts out here:
1) The development of Don'ta Hall will be crucial to any success this year. It is clear that any opponent's top priority should be to get Taylor in foul trouble early, and Hall appears to be the first man off to fill that void when it happens. He'll most likely be a liability on offense this year, but I was impressed with his defensive work yesterday against their 6'11" guy, and I believe the quality minutes he can provide may be the difference in a few games from the defensive end.
2) Staying on the low post, it appears we're going to pass through the 4 and 5 and use them on the boards rather than run a lot of sets specifically for getting the ball to them with intentions to score, as the dribble drive seemed to be the most consistent way to attack the basket. Hopefully, a player like Marques Bolden won't be scared off by lack of opportunities for the big men now.
3) Iso plays look to be a key part of Coach's offense. It was great to see picks being set outside the arch and mostly crisp passing early on to create the match-ups Coach thought favorable, but we simply don't have the kinds of cats who can take a defender isolated at this point. However, much like Saban's pro-set offense draws NFL talent more so than a spread offense, Johnson's NBA approach will hopefully appeal to top recruits who want to be able to show their complete game. It appears he's determined to keep us spaced out well, which is great in an of itself.
4) Free-throws... We used to be good at them.
5) Mainly, I'm afraid we're in a position to take some lumps this year due to our new identity that we might not have with the former coach. We don't have the guys to run high octane, 80-plus PPG yet. It will be interesting to see if Coach slows us down to more of a half-court, defense first gameplan in order to have the best chance to win right now or continue with his vision undaunted and continuing to sell the "buckle up" mentality to the players we need. It may mean the difference between 16 to 18 wins and a trip the NIT or 12 to 14 wins with subtle improvements, but with long-term goals in mind, I hope it's the latter.
