We can shoot. (At times!) But so can everyone else. Mac is better by leaps and bounds. Defense is the way we can start to really compete.
1 Like
If we were 150 by next year, I think that would show tremendous improvement. Look at some of the teams slightly ahead of OU. They donāt stink
1 Like
My new mantra: āevery decision is geared toward year three.ā
2 Likes
It seemed like the momentum shifted permanently in their favor when up 4, OU got a long offensive rebound and Williams was late on Clayton who hit a 3 and we never got it back to 2 possessions after that.
As good as Lairy was offensively, and he was good, he got toasted defensively. Mirambeaux went up against a guy with as much strength and a better low post game and lost that battle. Nothing more needs to be said about Mabrey.
On a positive note, I thought the lineup of Tatum, Smith, Williams, Safford, and Morris played well together, especially in the 1st half. They were very good defensively. I increasingly like Saffordās game and his intensity. You can tell that the staff is trying to get Smith to attack the basket more. After he scored on his drive, he got a big hug at the timeout.
That loss puts us 3 out of 8th place with 8 games left. Have to get the next 2 for any chance at Cleveland.
1 Like
Weāre not good. No team in the 300ās is, but we are getting better. We keep every game under ten lately but havenāt won any. That stinks. But none of us thought weād be world beaters this year, right? shit takes time.
4 Likes
So true. OU was not overconfident by any means. Their message board was wary of Miamiās close losses. But who on Miami knows anything of the rivalry.
4 Likes
Words donāt mean anything!
Not one player on this current roster that is returning should have any expectation of guaranteed minutes, except Safford.
1 Like
And by the way, just like in football, rivalries cease to be rivalries when one team dominates the wins over an extended stretch. We are now 6-22 or something close to that in the last 27-28 games.
2 Likes
I always liked the phrase āthe hammer and nail donāt have a rivalry ā.
1 Like
I hope that the basketball team is worth following within my lifetimeā¦.
1 Like
I just want to point out this group makes up the most dedicated of Miami sports fans and this thread against our biggest rival had 30 posts. I think a 1-9 conference start is having its toll even on this fan base.
2 Likes
You make a good point. I was at my sons indoor track meet so I didnt post. But also the line was 10 and we lost by 10 in the most ratable way possible. We sort of played exactly as expected. This team is awful- it is a throw away year. The only thing that was interesting was to see how the young guys played and unfortunately they arent doing well. We hoped to keep improving as the year went on and that really isnt happening either. There isnt much yet to sink your teeth into except to hope that next year is better
4 Likes
Anderson is coming back. Heās gonna be a starter. Heās proven he can play.
Steele has said he will not play next year unless he is under 300 pounds. and Anderson has been told that. His weight is a hindrance to his talent.
2 Likes
Did he say that? I was on the call and his words were something along the lines of āif he can get down to 285 heād be really effective.ā Never said he wouldnāt play. Where did you hear that? Guy has had a double double like 7 times this year.
Edit: I was wrong. Heās actually only had 2 double doubles, but has been very close on many other occasions. Ie, 9 and 14 or 8 and 12. Anyhow, doesnāt matter. Guy has had some big games against good teams (Marshall, IU)
3 Likes
Next season with Potter, Elmer and Kotecki, we will be bigger and stronger. Yes, they will be freshman and one must recognize that we donāt recruit one and dones. However, these guys have proven talent, play on winning teams, and appear to work hard at the game and are well coached. I think that our talent next year will fill in the blanks of a power/rim game. And Kamari, Julian, and the freshman should improve with more time to build themselves as players and develop a winning team. Takes time. Look at Edey at Purdue. Freshman, 14 minutes a game and not big numbers. Soph 19 minutes a game and better numbers. Year three, POY. He was still huge as a fr/soph but needed time to develop. Like Frank Kaminski at Wisconsin. Barely played early and turned into an AA.
3 Likes
Iām in agreement. All the guys on the roster have improved but many hit a wall. Itās likely fatigue driven. Common with freshmen and or guys who werenāt big contributors in the past and are suddenly playing big minutes. Billy Smith is gonna be a nice player but heās hit that wall. Maybe Mabry to some degree, although to a lesser extent. Anderson is playing more than he ever has but is a big frame. Itās gotta be tiring at times. They will all get there.
1 Like
I grow weary with each loss. But, as Digitalhawk said, and is absolutely the case with many of us and Coach Steele, āevery decision is geared for year threeā. I believe that unlike our recent past with plans to build, year three and beyond will be exciting.
Coach Owens said that if we want to āplay up we needed to get biggerā. Coach Steele has done something about it. IIRC, these next few seasons we will have the tallest team I have seen in 50 yrs. Now, if they can play weāll be all set (I believe they can and will!).
1 Like
I liked coach Owens as he was (and is) a class act high quality human. His first year with the 5 freshmen I thought he was the next coming when we almost won that first tournament. But as time went on, it became clear there werenāt new pieces coming to compliment the all guard roster. Maybe not for lack of trying, but the recruiting wasnāt great. And the defense was not good enough to make up for the lack of height. Shorter teams can win (see St. Peters last year) but I think they have to go all in on being absolute pests on defense. The new staff has a stronger overall vision.
2 Likes