Tonight is a kind of trap game, so I'm putting that caveat out there to avoid the jinx thread. It's very possible that we stink up the joint tonight. This is more about the future than November anyway.
I think I see what Underwood saw when he rallied the team after the loss to Alabama. Alabama is loaded and was better positioned to bounce back after a tough road loss at Purdue. They blitzed us out of the gate and that game could have gotten out of hand very easily. The fact that it didn't showed some grit and I think that was a major question mark for a new team that was answered in a very positive way.
KJ and Riley are the elite talents, but I see Boswell as the leader of this team. He plays solid defense every night and he seems to make plays in crunch time to get us back on track. He's got a little bit of Underwood guard syndrome right now where he pushes you so hard on defense that it takes a while to get your 3-point shot going (some of our other recent star guards had similar adaptation periods.) He has the clutch gene and that's what matters right now.
The rotation is very quickly coming into focus. Our 7 dudes are KJ, Boswell, White, Humrichous, and Ivisic starting with Riley and Johnson as freshmen off the bench. Riley and Johnson have more talent than White and Humrichous so they may eventually displace them but they are both still young and adapting to the college game. Riley has electric scoring talent and a sneaky good all-around game. Johnson is just a monster around the rim rebounding and blocking shots. If MJ can stay on the court he is a game-wrecker and we're starting to see him some at the 4 as well. Riley is just unstoppable scoring in the 2nd half. Once he settles down in the first half it's lights out. I remember Kevin Durant at Texas and that's all I can think about when I see Riley.
Ivisic is everything I'd hoped he would be at 7'1" 255. There are times when he's the best player on the court for us and he's a great option to kickstart the offense whenever we hit a speed bump.
I don't love Tre White yet but he's a little bit of everything which is nice versatility to have in the rotation. He's certainly athletic enough to compete with anyone. Humrichous makes me very nervous on defense but his shooting talent is obvious. He's got a little more to his game and that's nice for the stretch 4 role that we always have. We know that works in the Underwood offense.
You can tell Underwood absolutely loves KJ. The guy is extremely competitive and will do whatever it takes to win. I think he's Underwood's ideal point guard. I just want to see him cook in this offense for a year and we'll live with what happens.
I think this team is everything Brad Underwood always wanted. He's going to coach the heck out of them and I think by February we're going to be a load for anyone to compete against.
I think I see what Underwood saw when he rallied the team after the loss to Alabama. Alabama is loaded and was better positioned to bounce back after a tough road loss at Purdue. They blitzed us out of the gate and that game could have gotten out of hand very easily. The fact that it didn't showed some grit and I think that was a major question mark for a new team that was answered in a very positive way.
KJ and Riley are the elite talents, but I see Boswell as the leader of this team. He plays solid defense every night and he seems to make plays in crunch time to get us back on track. He's got a little bit of Underwood guard syndrome right now where he pushes you so hard on defense that it takes a while to get your 3-point shot going (some of our other recent star guards had similar adaptation periods.) He has the clutch gene and that's what matters right now.
The rotation is very quickly coming into focus. Our 7 dudes are KJ, Boswell, White, Humrichous, and Ivisic starting with Riley and Johnson as freshmen off the bench. Riley and Johnson have more talent than White and Humrichous so they may eventually displace them but they are both still young and adapting to the college game. Riley has electric scoring talent and a sneaky good all-around game. Johnson is just a monster around the rim rebounding and blocking shots. If MJ can stay on the court he is a game-wrecker and we're starting to see him some at the 4 as well. Riley is just unstoppable scoring in the 2nd half. Once he settles down in the first half it's lights out. I remember Kevin Durant at Texas and that's all I can think about when I see Riley.
Ivisic is everything I'd hoped he would be at 7'1" 255. There are times when he's the best player on the court for us and he's a great option to kickstart the offense whenever we hit a speed bump.
I don't love Tre White yet but he's a little bit of everything which is nice versatility to have in the rotation. He's certainly athletic enough to compete with anyone. Humrichous makes me very nervous on defense but his shooting talent is obvious. He's got a little more to his game and that's nice for the stretch 4 role that we always have. We know that works in the Underwood offense.
You can tell Underwood absolutely loves KJ. The guy is extremely competitive and will do whatever it takes to win. I think he's Underwood's ideal point guard. I just want to see him cook in this offense for a year and we'll live with what happens.
I think this team is everything Brad Underwood always wanted. He's going to coach the heck out of them and I think by February we're going to be a load for anyone to compete against.
