minus one

[Wildcat92]

Didn't we lose Magarity for a big chunk of time? Dusan too? And there was another player, big, good, that we lost to multiple concussions--name is not coming to mind right now.

Jake Belford.

Yes. Maybe not our best player, but certainly a good one and had potential to get better before his bb career was cut short.

The UNC game where he received his last concussion was a tale of two games before and after he was hurt.

[stan]

It really hurts at the end of close games if your primary ball handler isn't a clutch free throw shooter and can't score with both hands around the basket. At least half of Grant's drives to the hoop looked like out of control moves with a prayer at the end for a foul call.

Jag was like that, until he started making the shots more consistently, then the refs would call the foul if he missed.

I am choosing to be positive and expect the Cats to be better next year, if only because that's what I hope for and it would get the universe back the way I prefer it. I will leave the negativity to others.

Agree 100% with each of these points.

I am far more positive about next season than most seem to be. I really believe that this roster can win 20+ games and compete for an A10 title.

-- It's not hard to see a possibility of Brizzi reaching his potential. I recall being told that he was as good as anyone we had in practice while he was sitting out. It has looked like a confidence issue. In our offense, a threat from 3 and a solid FT shooter is a must for a PG. I can see him doing that job.

-- I believe that Reed can be a legit conference POY candidate. If he works to get significantly stronger and tougher. And yes, bends his knees. [Film don't lie and athletic fundamentals don't change. Laugh all you want. I'm always up for a film session to point out the blatantly obvious.] Dalton Knecht added 15 lbs of muscle coming to Tennessee in the offseason. The consensus in the basketball world is that it may have been a tad helpful. I know that most people here make fun of added muscle and explosiveness, but Rick Barnes and the Vols seem happier this season than Davidson fans. My point -- I think Reed has everything in front of him for the taking, if he decides he wants to become a great player. I'm hoping he will.

-- I think it likely that Bobby Durkin has a breakout season next year. Wouldn't surprise me to see him become a consistent scorer and show up in conference rankings. I'm confident that Matt and the staff have seen that he needs to clean up a variety of issues with his fundamentals. We've all seen them. I look for them to be addressed.

-- Conner was often excellent at the end of the season. He is a real threat. If he does that consistently next year, he's capable of all-conference consideration.

We should be able to put four players on the perimeter who can all shoot the three. If Reed adds the size and strength, we could put him at 5 against some teams and get 5 shooters on the floor. That's been pretty successful for ole DU in the past. Sometimes even devastating. And we have backups who also have shown shooting potential at times. I can see someone showing up in August with more game to add to the mix.

Think about how different this season would have been, if we had "won" just a few more possessions per game. It doesn't take much change to make a huge W-L change. One fewer off rebound given up. One more made three. One more successful trip to the FT line in crunch time. One fewer poor pass or failure to hustle. Sure, that's playing the woulda/shoulda/coulda game. Doesn't mean it isn't true. This team wasn't that far off in a lot of games.

[djcat]

Stan is exactly right. Wait, did I just say that?

[stevelee]

Great post, Stan. And the people who are joking about bending the knees are not disagreeing with you.

[Waitress]

Stan is exactly right. Wait, did I just say that?

You're on the record.

[DC69Wildcat]

Great post, Stan. And the people who are joking about bending the knees are not disagreeing with you.

The older I get the more I appreciate how important it was to bend my knees.

[stevelee]

Great post, Stan. And the people who are joking about bending the knees are not disagreeing with you.

The older I get the more I appreciate how important it was to bend my knees.

“They didn’t realize how old I was until they heard me stand up.”

[djcat]

Reed can definitely be player of the year. He made big strides from last year to this year. Some of these things need to happen.
The coaches need to find a positive way to use Logan on offense. His shot blocking is elite but his offense negates that. Having him catch passes at the top of the key does nothing for us. His defender is deep in the lane clogging the middle. He doesn’t do a good job fielding passes on the pick and roll. Either he needs to stay at the low post or shoot a million threes in the off season to get the confidence to make them. Also needs to practice free throws a lot.
We have to find ways to get the ball to Reed closer to the basket. Lots of bad things happened when he got the ball 12 feet from the basket and tried to dribble it in close. I’m not being critical of him because the middle was clogged and he knew he was one of our best hopes to score.
Lastly, and obviously, his chances are much better if we have some guys who are threats to hit threes with some degree of regularity and spread the defense. Duh.
Reed has a nice shot and could shoot the three well with some confidence. I don’t think Luka got there till his senior year. For this off-season I hope Reed will work in the lane going to his left and right with some strong opposition to learn to finish through contact. If he wants to develop the aggression to scale the ladder and thrust it down through the iron cylinder I would not object at all.

[bagelcat]

I am not that hopeful based on what I just saw v. Loyola and St Joe's. We were totally outclassed.

I think the loss of Skog killed us, but he won't be back.

An upgrade from Brizzi is certainly likely. Reed, I'm not so sure, unless he gets stronger (but he did get to the FT line a lot and had a fairly good 2d half). He needs to rebound better. Logan isn't turning into an offensive threat, nor is Hunter Adam.

Bobby needs to raise his scoring considerably. He has the ability to do it. We need someone else who isn't in the program yet. Perhaps Joses is ready to contribute and bring much needed athleticism, but probably won't happen right away.

I'd like to be wrong on my overall assessment.