@Crimsonorblue22
"Anyone think there's a negative vib about Conner and Hunter?"
I didn't really pick up on that.
I would have liked to hear Coach say that Conner has strengthened up quite a bit over the summer. I think he nailed Conner's issues concerning becoming a top-notch college player. He has to be more than a shooter. I think he is such a competitor that he'll do whatever it takes to find a way to contribute to this team. Look what he did down the stretch last year. You can bet he will be more capable this year, and so I'd expect him to find a way to contribute to this team.
It sounds like Devonte will be hard to keep out of the lineup... great! He must be very talented if he gets the nod so early on in his career.
I picked up a positive on Hunter. Self said he is definitely our best shot blocker and pointed out that he had better numbers than JoJo did last year (when he was at Arkansas). We've all heard he has improved his vertical something like 6 inches. I kind of expect him to be another Cole... who was a nobody until he showed up in the NCAA tournament. I just think Hunter will show up a long time before March!
I kind of think Self wants to keep Hunter under wraps mostly until later. These young kids need to learn how to play defense, and the motivation is there when they can't count on being bailed out by a shot blocker. Last year... everyone played soft and a part of that was because they knew JoJo was around to clean up their mess. It is wise to keep Hunter on the bench for the early part of this season while this team forms it's identity.
The identity of this team needs to be "scrappy." That is the last identity I would give last year's team. We've got so many tough, athletic kids now. We should be able to become a scrappy defensive team. That will help us gain more possessions.... hopefully enough to counter if we don't rebound as well as previous teams. But if we are true scrappers, we'll own a nice rebounding margin, too.
Last year was a strange year. The NCAA played with these kids' heads with their rule enforcement mods that went over the top early on. The allowance to play physical ball was constantly tinkered with by refs mixing up how they call games. I think they did a great job of throwing a monkey wrench into the works for all coaches who count strictly on a M2M defense. We are one of those teams.
So let's all hope this year doesn't start with the NCAA trying to re-educate everyone on a new philosophy. I know I'm not expecting that. I know the old strong defensive armbar is gone from the college game, and that's okay. But what isn't cool is the NCAA trying to educate everyone by having refs call ticky-tack touches to prove a point.
We should all be glad that players like Marcus Smart were around last year to experience the "experimental year" in college basketball. His flops accentuated how games were being called too tightly and how the focus was on calling strict on the defensive player while letting the offensive player do anything. I'm positive that the mockery created by players like Smart helped kick the NCAA into a bit fairer medium. If they didn't do that, March would have been a huge mess with everyone screaming at how games were called and how refs decided the National Champion.
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