Yuku free message boards

I actually like this team a lot. I may be in the minority, but I see signs of improvement. I am excited to see if they keep getting better, and fulfill their potential.

The past 3 years have caused the whole fan base to be a bit timid with confidence in this team, as it should be. The one thing I will say is this team looks a lot more like the 06-08 teams, then the 09-11 teams, both in make up and how they win. The 06-08 won tough grind it out games all season, and played their best in March. Obviously the 08 team came up short, but they did accomplish a Big East regular season championship. We will see if this team can actually accomplish something like the 06-08 teams did by continuing to get better. There were some things that I was pleased to see yesterday.

1. Game is slowing down for Nate. He is really giving us great minutes when he is out there right now. He is hustling and actually finishing most of his layup opportunities, unlike his other big men partners.

2. Greg W is getting better. I loved his drive and finish yesterday. The kid brings the effort on D every game. Has to stop fouling jump shooters.

3. The D is getting better, and still has room to grow. I haven't seen as many jump shots closed out on and blocked since we had Jeff and PE2 doing it in 07. As pointed out above the Ds weakness at times is allowing penetration, as it was for the 06-08 teams. Henry has done a pretty good job protecting the rim, but he is no Roy. This makes it necessary that we get better at this. Unlike the 06-08 teams, I think we actually have the aptitude to do this. I love Wallace, but he never stopped any guard that squared up on him from getting to the lane. When our D is at its best this year we keep everything around the 3 point line. When Jabril and Greg W are out there this becomes easier to do.

4. Our bench production has held up throughout the season thus far. For this reason I like staying with Otto off the bench. The O actually hasn't started slow the last couple of games. Our lulls seem to come in the middle of a half.

5. Going forward this team just needs to play to the identity that they have developed. Play hard D, and take good shots on O. If they can cut the careless turnovers in half, that will also lead to them being a tough out come March. A III team will never eliminate all of the careless turnovers. The 06-08 teams struggled in this area just as much as the teams from the last couple of years. This is frustrating, but I think it is something that comes with the territory when you run your offense through someone other than a point guard. You are also asking all five guys to be decision makers depending on the read. This leads to guys who are not great at that having to make quick decisions. They hopefully can lock in and at least cut a few out.