This team

That player is on the roster, he has to take that step.

 

Who?

 

Bone.

 

I don't see it. It's Turner more likely than Bone.

 

Turner has the mentality, Bone has the ability. Bone can get to the rim any time he wants, he has to be willing to do that.

 

The more I think about it, next year's team (assuming Bone and Williams return) can be as good or better. The biggest knock on this team was the ability to play for 40 minutes straight. Losing the seniors doesn't make that problem any worse, really. Schofield was up and down in games frequently, and Alexander really struggled to avoid fouling out frequently. More consistency from Turner, Bowden, and Bone could have us back in the Top 10. Hell, if we just hit free throws at the [uck fay]ing season average in the 1st half, we would be playing today.

 

We aren’t going to be better next year unless this Frosh is an absolute phenom, or someone else turns into one.

 

I disagree. We don’t need a phenom to make up for Admiral and Kyle’s production. We don’t even need him to make up for Admiral’s production by himself because we will get more out of Bowden.

And we can fill in for Kyle’s production with some combination of Walker, Burns, and/or a grad transfer.

 

Kyle was above average on defense, albeit sporadically, and a complete non-factor on offense.

Admiral was a big heart and help for this team, and could take over a game.

If Bowden, or anyone else, was better than either, they’d have played more. And been better and more effective at both ends, when they were in.

This team was blown out in the SECCG and barely - BARELY - made the Sweet 16. And that’s exactly where simply “replacing their production” will likely land us, again. And even that is predicated on Bowden being significantly better next year, than he was this year, and which he’s yet to prove he’s capable of.

But let’s say that he does make that jump and replaces Admiral, well, again, that will just break even on this season, and a Sweet 16.

So, if we’re going to be better next year, this Frosh had better be a damned phenom, or someone on the rosyer had better turn into one.

And which is exactly what I said, and why.

 

Turner and Bone will carry the team next year. Walker averages 5 pts and 7-10 boards, he does his job well. You know you're getting at least 18 and 8 from Grant each night. The other wing position? I have no idea. Jalen has to work his ass off to be able to give anything close to Admiral's contributions.

 

one thing I’ve loved on here for years is how barely succeeding is somehow not as good as winning but barely losing is just losing

 

Right. The reality is we should be in the Elite 8. But people take that and call it “barely making the Sweet 16.”

 

I just hope that as these kids are replaced with higher ranked recruits, especially the "elite" ones, that they can get the same dedication and heart from them.

Really hoping they find a big man as well. A legit 6'10 plus that will be an upgrade to Kyle Alexander. No offense to him, but they need an upgrade there.

 

Seems like we shoulda let Bone and Turner take 30 3s a game and take most with people in their face and no passes.

 

He was just a 6'10 body in about 80% of games in his career.

 

Which line said that they didn’t win the games to make the Sweet 16?

Did you catch the two games before Purdue knocked us out in the Sweet 16?

One of my most beloved things on this site is reading your posts, someone who I believe to be barely literate in any language. It always reminds me of a less-skilled version of an elephant painting with that over-sized brush - still soundly terrible, but good, considering the immensity of its limitations.

 

The reality is that we allowed Colgate to be within 2 in the final three minutes of the game.

The reality is also that we built and then blew a 25pt lead, and in a single half no less, before hanging on to beat a mediocre Iowa team in OT.

The ultimate reality is that we were eliminated in the Sweet 16, after having barely made it there, to begin with.

This is exactly as I posted.

Here’s the pattern:

1. I post.

2. You fail to understand said post, can’t refute or even argue it, but disagree with it, anyway.

3. I explain it anew, with greater detail, and make the exact same point. It remains true, and stands.

You’re becoming formulaic at this point.

 

I understood your post, you condescending [penis]. It’s hilarious that people claim this is my first season watching college basketball but then allow you to drone on with this crap.

Did you notice how, after the Purdue game was stolen from us by the stripes, most people stopped talking about our performances against Colgate and Iowa? Once this team did everything necessary to make an Elite 8, short of making referees better at their jobs, people stopped caring about how the [uck fay] we got there. Because it doesn’t matter. It’s the tournament. Players go off, teams make come backs, and weird shit happens. It doesn’t usually mean anything. Auburn gifted away their first round game, then followed it up by toasting Kansas and UNC. Are people pointing back to that first game? Of course not.

That’s not how this shit works. What happened before doesn’t [uck fay]ing matter until it affects or predicts what’s happening now. If Duke losses by 15 to Michigan State, people will point to their last second escapes against UCF and VT and say it was bound to happen with how they’ve been playing. If they lose a close one or win, no one will ever remember they were even pushed by those teams.

You, among others, tried to convince everyone that those two games mattered. The team came out against Purdue and showed that they didn’t. Yet here you are, continuing to bring them up, as if they have any bearing on how good this team was or how it will be remembered.

Just stop. Please, for the love of all things holy, just stop.

 

That wasn’t always a good thing. For as many games as Admiral “took over,” he also forced a ton of bad shots while trying to be “the guy.” Look back early into OT against Purdue if you need an example.

Wrong. Admiral was a senior trying to show NBA scouts he’s good enough to be drafted. Barnes is not going to bring him off the bench. That’s not to say that Bowden would have been a 1:1 swap from a production standpoint, but I really don’t think the gap between the two was that significant. (Remember when we finished off Iowa in OT with Bowden, not Schofield, on the floor)? I won’t be surprised if Bowden improves enough in the offseason to pick up a solid percentage, if not all of Admiral’s lost production.

It’s like you are incapable of realizing that we were one bad call away from a favorable match up in the Elite 8 and a shot at a Final Four (where we’d likely be meeting a team we’d beaten twice already).

It’s like you want to play up how close we were to not making the Sweet 16 (it really wasn’t that close) while completely ignoring how close we were to making it a step further and maybe more. If you can have a 2 point lead with 2.5 seconds left in a Sweet 16 game, you take it every [uck fay]ing year, regardless of what happened in the two games prior. Because no one [uck fay]ing cares about that.

Again, this opinion sucks. If Bowden averages 6 more points and 3 more boards as a starter, the new kid just has to average 10 and 3. Are those the “phenom” numbers you’re talking about? Those combined numbers replace Admiral’s production, while also giving us a better perimeter defender and better FT shooter at the 3 and probably eliminating a number of failed “be the hero” moments. Only thing missing is the leadership, but with 4 seniors starting, I trust we will be fine.

Walker and Burns or a grad transfer Big should be able to make up for Kyle’s 7 and 6 no problem. And all of this is obviously dependent on Grant returning.

So, yes, if things fall in our favor, we could definitely be better next year. Everything I outlined above is very conceivable and doesn’t even require Bone or Turner to improve at all.

 

This sums it up pretty well.