@Marco

I wonder what our average margin of victory was last year? Versus past years?

Anyone know?

@justanotherfan

Good post. Every team needs a few lucky bounces, and usually that means more than bounces in a game.

We had a good bounce in 2008 when BRush returned when he would have been gone had he been healthy.

I think the best bounces are getting players back that could have turned pro. We have perhaps 3 of these guys coming back, Devon, Doke and Silvio. I know there were no guarantees for any of them to make it had they gone, but clearly they have pro potential and could have gone.

I’m sure this situation has existed out there, but I can’t recall a team getting 3 guys back that could have easily gone.

BTW: Do you know… did we actively recruit Culver?

@KUSTEVE

Let’s hope we are talking about this team like the 2008 team for years to come… along with the hardware!

@Marco

Notice, last year, there were very few teams we pulled away from. We struggled against most teams. We can call it “lack of killer instinct” or, more accurately, “lack of hustle.”

@HighEliteMajor

Right. I’m just on my high horse about hustle. I feel like a lot of years we underachieve in that department. I do have a great feeling about this coming team and I rarely feel that optimistic when it comes to hustle.

I know Devon will play with a chip all year and surely others will, too, regarding being the team that lost the streak.

I see this as a team that will be all-in for Selfball.

@Texas-Hawk-10

For sure.

@Texas-Hawk-10

I don’t discount the value of their upperclassmen. Jones and Lamb were great. But no way did they win a NC without Davis. They definitely wouldn’t have beat us in the NC game.

Hey… I’m becoming more against the OAD recruits. But in this year, UK relied on their freshmen as much as their upperclassmen.

@Texas-Hawk-10

Yes… Lamb scored 22. Jones had 9.

But Davis had 16 rebounds, 6 blocked shots, 3 steals, and 5 assists, to go along with his 6 points.

Davis owned us.

Teague had 14, Gilchrist 11.

This is all I remember from that game.

I know strategy on switches is important. But what I put above everything is hustle, team work and hedging.

When was that, 3 years ago when Nova throttled us in March? And with mostly 3-star guys, or whatever? I just remember we had a solid shooting trey team and our guys were never open in that game. And when the ball went inside, they pinched off driving lanes from our bigs and often forced TOs. Perry scored a whopping 4 points. Nova played really good defense. I know Self likes to consider his strategy to be about defense first… but we’ve never played sticky defense like that. Nova took us totally out of our game. We only scored 59 points and I recall we tightened the game up late or otherwise it was worse. They stole the ball from us 11 times in that game. If Devonte didn’t get hot from the outside we wouldn’t have scored 50. Most every shot was contested.

Am I wrong… but all I remember from the teams that have won NCs… Cal’s 2012 team that took us in the finals was the only team dominated with OADs. Is that right? Help me out… and we would have taken home the trophy if they didn’t have Anthony Davis, a real rare player. That team had 8 Top 100 players, 4 of those were freshmen. Didn’t 3 of those freshmen declare after the trophy? Davis, Gilchrist, Teague.

While we all juggle our minds around ideas about recruit rankings, Jarrett Culver goes about his business of playing in the NBA. His realization solidified last night by becoming the 6th pick in the draft.

How did this guy slip past our radar? I know he was a late bloomer, but isn’t the play of players towards the end of their HS careers the most important factor considered with our recruiters?

Isn’t it possible we are giving too much attention to rankings over what the players actually bring to the table?

Jarrett came out of high school with a 3-star ranking. 3-star! That should tell us something. There are many low-ranked players that have big-time potential. It only took Jarrett two years to find his potential to make it to the league.

I watched part of the draft last night and what stuck in my mind was the influx of foreign players. Question for our recruiters… how many languages do you speak?

Congrats to Jarrett for a job well done! Best of luck in the league!