Great W

GruntTuff said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Spoke too damn soon. This team's ability to suck ass should never be underestimated.

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So, did they? Suck ass? Ever play sports or just play on your keyboard? I'm sure you were quite the baller.

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Don't ask if they've played sports before. They get their feelings hurt easily ... and they genuinely believe they can coach better than our coaches and play better than our players ... and I do know what the word genuinely means.

GruntTuff said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Spoke too damn soon. This team's ability to suck ass should never be underestimated.

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So, did they? Suck ass? Ever play sports or just play on your keyboard? I'm sure you were quite the baller.

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They did, in fact, suck for most of that second half. They were minus-13 for the half and needed a miracle shot and a lucky foul at the end to escape with the W.

But I'll take it. It was a gritty effort, even if the execution was objectively ****ty on both ends after a great first half.

Mitch Henessey said:

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Win on the road over a tourney team. It's been a rough season, but you love to see it.

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This joins the neutral site win over San Diego State and the road win over West Virginia on our short list of best wins this season. We don't have any signature wins, but all of those were really solid victories away from home over potential tournament teams.

GruntTuff said:

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bear2be2 said:

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GruntTuff said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Spoke too damn soon. This team's ability to suck ass should never be underestimated.

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So, did they? Suck ass? Ever play sports or just play on your keyboard? I'm sure you were quite the baller.

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They did, in fact, suck for most of that second half. They were minus-13 for the half and needed a miracle shot and a lucky foul at the end to escape with the W.

But I'll take it. It was a gritty effort, even if the execution was objectively ****ty on both ends after a great first half.

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We beat a much more talented team, which was on a roll, on their home court.

Shortly after conference started (actually by the Memphis game) this team knew their talent level was bad.

Yet, they kept playing hard, for the most part. Credit Drew.

I saw a Drew interview last week. I would not bet against them next year. I don't expect two years in a row like this.

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I've been saying for weeks that this was a good matchup for us because Central Florida doesn't defend. Neither do we, which is why that one got so dicey down the stretch.

But you will get no argument from me on the quality of this victory. Going on the road and beating a really solid UCF team is a great win for this team. I just wish we didn't have to make everything so damn difficult all the time.

I would balk at calling UCF "a much more talented team" than us, though. They've been a better team, for sure, but we have the same number of top-100 recruits as they do and we likely have more NBA players on this roster as well. This team's issue isn't talent as much as it is depth. We whiffed hard on Rataj and whiffed soft on Skillings and Agbim (though both were solid tonight). Guys we needed to be impact players weren't even good enough to be a solid role player in Rataj's case, and they're wildly inconsistent in the cases of Skillings and Agbim.

GruntTuff said:

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bear2be2 said:

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GruntTuff said:

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bear2be2 said:

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GruntTuff said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Spoke too damn soon. This team's ability to suck ass should never be underestimated.

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So, did they? Suck ass? Ever play sports or just play on your keyboard? I'm sure you were quite the baller.

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They did, in fact, suck for most of that second half. They were minus-13 for the half and needed a miracle shot and a lucky foul at the end to escape with the W.

But I'll take it. It was a gritty effort, even if the execution was objectively ****ty on both ends after a great first half.

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We beat a much more talented team, which was on a roll, on their home court.

Shortly after conference started (actually by the Memphis game) this team knew their talent level was bad.

Yet, they kept playing hard, for the most part. Credit Drew.

I saw a Drew interview last week. I would not bet against them next year. I don't expect two years in a row like this.

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I've been saying for weeks that this was a good matchup for us because Central Florida doesn't defend. Neither do we, which is why that one got so dicey down the stretch.

But you will get no argument from me on the quality of this victory. Going on the road and beating a really solid UCF team is a great win for this team. I just wish we didn't have to make everything so damn difficult all the time.

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Agreed. Sicem Bears. So happy for the guys. Fun plane ride home.

It won't happen but an upset over UH would really be something.

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I'm afraid we'll struggle to score 50 on Houston. That's a nightmare matchup, unfortunately.

But beat Utah at home and win a couple of games in the Big 12 tournament. Try to salvage what's been a rough year.

boognish_bear said:

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Agbim has really turned his season around. Fun to watch him play.

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I like Obi, for the most part. He's a really smart player who very rarely makes dumb mistakes. His only issue is that he hasn't hit shots the way he was expected to. But he's hit some big ones down the stretch.

khakilamble said:

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How did we give up a 14 point lead in less than 5 minutes???

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For what it's worth, AZ was up by as much over Kansas and allowed them to close within 2 before blowing their doors off in the final 15 minutes.

W

Team is maturing - better late than never.

Hopefully we can get a decent NIT seed.....

- UF

D!

I thought the team showed slightly better defensive intensity in yesterday's game. Not saying that the intensity always yielded great results, but it did appear they all cared on that side of the ball. Even Tounde seemed to put forth more effort on that side.

Of course there were the usual breakdowns, but hey if they did have a breakdown, at least they did it with intensity.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Agbim has really turned his season around. Fun to watch him play.

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Obi is at his best as a scoring guard playing off the ball, and as a scorer he is much better in the mid-range as opposed to shooting 3s. Our staff has made a concerted effort to get him more mid-range looks. Give our coaches credit for making the adjustment to play Williams more at the one and Obi more off the ball.

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I has helped for sure

Crawfoso1973 said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Agbim has really turned his season around. Fun to watch him play.

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Obi is at his best as a scoring guard playing off the ball, and as a scorer he is much better in the mid-range as opposed to shooting 3s. Our staff has made a concerted effort to get him more mid-range looks. Give our coaches credit for making the adjustment to play Williams more at the one and Obi more off the ball.

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Obi's a good passer and takes better care of the basketball than anyone else on our team. His problem in our offense is that he lacks the quickness to beat his defender and penetrate, which frequently leaves four other guys standing in place and a stagnant offense, in general.

Dribble penetration is such a massive part of Scott Drew's offense, and without it, our offense falls apart fast.

There's a reason our production on that end has skyrocketed since Williams was moved to the starting the lineup and given heavy minutes. His ability to get into the paint opens things up for everyone else. And unfortunately, Obi just can't do that.

He's a smart ball player and could probably handle the point guard role in an offense that relies more on off-ball motion, but he's pretty much just a shooter in our offense. Fortunately, playing him with Williams has allowed him to do more of what he's good at lately, and his production has improved as a result.

bear2be2 said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Agbim has really turned his season around. Fun to watch him play.

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Obi is at his best as a scoring guard playing off the ball, and as a scorer he is much better in the mid-range as opposed to shooting 3s. Our staff has made a concerted effort to get him more mid-range looks. Give our coaches credit for making the adjustment to play Williams more at the one and Obi more off the ball.

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Obi's a good passer and takes better care of the basketball than anyone else on our team. His problem in our offense is that he lacks the quickness to beat his defender and penetrate, which frequently leaves four other guys standing in place and a stagnant offense, in general.

Dribble penetration is such a massie part of Scott Drew's offense, and without it, our offense falls apart fast.

There's a reason our production on that end has skyrocketed since Williams was moved to the starting the lineup and given heavy minutes. His ability to get into the paint opens things up for everyone else. And unfortunately, Obi just can't do that.

He's a smart ball player and could probably handle the point guard role in an offense that relies more on off-ball motion, but he's pretty much just a shooter in our offense. Fortunately, playing him with Williams has allowed him to do more of what he's good at lately, and his production has improved as a result.

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Mitchell and Butler wrote the book!

This is such good analysis of Obi. If by chance he gets another year of eligiblity and returns, I would love to bring him off the bench as a 6th man. He is a crafty scorer who reminds me so much of guys who have played that role for us in the past like Cryer and Flagler.

I also think Obi is playing with a lot more confidence now than he was early in the season. It's taken him some time find his role and rhythm at this level, but I think he's finally kind of found that groove. You could tell he was pressing early in the year.

I'm really hard on Michael Rataj, but he's had the same problem. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have the athleticism or skill set to find a suitable role in the Big 12. But you can tell his confidence is absolutely shot, and that's hard to watch. He looks like the guy in the pickup game who has no business being on the court and has slowly come to the same realization everyone else has.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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This is such good analysis of Obi. If by chance he gets another year of eligiblity and returns, I would love to bring him off the bench as a 6th man. He is a crafty scorer who reminds me so much of guys who have played that role for us in the past like Cryer and Flagler.

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I would absolutely love to have Agbim back if it is at all possible. I think he'd be a guy who would make a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2. In the right role, and with the comfort of being in our system for a year, I think you'd start to see shooting percentages closer to what he showed at Wyoming out of him.

LIB,MR BEARS said:

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bear2be2 said:

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Crawfoso1973 said:

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boognish_bear said:

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Agbim has really turned his season around. Fun to watch him play.

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Obi is at his best as a scoring guard playing off the ball, and as a scorer he is much better in the mid-range as opposed to shooting 3s. Our staff has made a concerted effort to get him more mid-range looks. Give our coaches credit for making the adjustment to play Williams more at the one and Obi more off the ball.

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Obi's a good passer and takes better care of the basketball than anyone else on our team. His problem in our offense is that he lacks the quickness to beat his defender and penetrate, which frequently leaves four other guys standing in place and a stagnant offense, in general.

Dribble penetration is such a massie part of Scott Drew's offense, and without it, our offense falls apart fast.

There's a reason our production on that end has skyrocketed since Williams was moved to the starting the lineup and given heavy minutes. His ability to get into the paint opens things up for everyone else. And unfortunately, Obi just can't do that.

He's a smart ball player and could probably handle the point guard role in an offense that relies more on off-ball motion, but he's pretty much just a shooter in our offense. Fortunately, playing him with Williams has allowed him to do more of what he's good at lately, and his production has improved as a result.

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Mitchell and Butler wrote the book!

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Basketball's a pretty easy game when you can make two guys guard one. Because as soon as you force help, you'll always get a good look if you can move the ball quickly to the right guy(s).

We've had a lot of point guards in the Scott Drew era who could do that, but the two you mention (along with Pierre Jackson) were probably the best.