there were times we really did, and everyone contributed so depth is still strong - we just had too many turnovers and didn't convert on several relatively easy opportunities - we got stifled in the second half by ucf defense and by ourselvesWatched part of the game and thought ya'll looked pretty good. Sorry for the close loss....
Maybe we need to do the same with attitudes and outlooks.
It was disappointing no doubt, nobody's denied that, but there is plenty of basketball to be played, lots of opportunities to offset this one game. Our youngsters have got to grow and losing a game they probably shouldn't have is just part of it - as long as they learn from it. Goodness, we don't even have all of our players on the floor yet.
I'm not sure some understand the OOC teams on Alabama's schedule. The official NCAA RPI has not been released yet, but ESPN projects it to be 6. It ranks Alabama's current SOS at 195 but SOR (strength of record) at 72.
Of Alabama's 13 OOC games (including Oklahoma in January), Alabama plays 5 teams in BPI's top 50, 9 in the top 100, and 11 in the top 150.
There's certain teams on our OOC schedule I kind of expected to lose to and UCF wasn't one of them. They said during the broadcast that UCF was playing without their top 2 players. Not sure how true that is because I don't follow UCF hoops that closely but if that's true that makes this loss even more disappointing.I think there's a bit of an overreaction, UCF is a better team than some might realize. They're not one of those kill your RPI type losses. Alabama is still 19th in RPI, so they're just not going to be top 10 RPI and top 25, but big deal... it's a long season.
They are also still playing without arguably their best player from last year, along with Ar'Mond Davis. Key's minutes from last year would have him at #2, and Davis would figure to contribute some solid depth as well. Thus far, the true freshman have carried a lot of the load, but they're not likely to be as consistent. Rhode Island will be an important game, they're a good team (very high RPI), and people shouldn't worry unless losses start to add up. Losing two games by a combined 8 points to top 50 RPI teams it nothing to get worked up about.
I don't know who they had healthy in their three previous games, but UCF was running a gauntlet. Their only losses were to #18 West Virginia (a terrible outing), 7-1 Saint John's, and 6-2 Missouri and those were the three proceeding games. I think they were exactly the sort of game you can lose if you let your guard down, but still not particularly disappointing since they're a good RPI team (24) and have played good basketball every game with one exception.They said during the broadcast that UCF was playing without their top 2 players. Not sure how true that is because I don't follow UCF hoops that closely but if that's true that makes this loss even more disappointing.