A Season's Expectations
The end of the college basketball season (sorry Louisville fans but the NIT can't delay my blog) is a good time to review the year. This forces me to reflect on the expectations that I had for the area teams. At the beginning of the year, Zach and I went through the schedules of all three teams and made the following predictions.
? UK: 22-26 wins; SEC regular season title; SEC Tournament finals; NCAA: Elite 8 - Final 4
? UL: 20-24 wins; Top-3 Big East regular season; Big East Tournament Semis; NCAA: Sweet 16 - Elite 8
? IU: 23-27 wins: Top-3 Big Ten regular season; Big Ten Tournament Finals; NCAA: Elite 8 - Final 4
Looking back, my first thought was that I expected too much from all three. Then I found my Street & Smith's College Yearbook for the 2005-06 season, and I quickly realized that if I did expect too much I was not alone. The words are painful to read but interesting to look back on.
Preseason Top 25
? UK: #3 (equates to #1 seed; Reality: #8 seed)
Picked to Win the SEC East."Kentucky has one of the nation's top backcourts." I don't think it ended up being one of the top backcourts in the SEC. Sure the Morris odyssey hijacked the pre-conference season, but the SEC home record number of losses came with the big fella in the middle. Without question, Rondo disappointed. He was coming off a dominant effort on Team USA's under-21 team, but never regained even his Freshman form at UK. Sparks was what he is, a small shooting guard that struggles defensively but can carry a team on a few given nights. Perry and Thomas were what they are, role players who can't be relied on for anything more. Shags and Woo continue to frustrate fans throughout the Bluegrass. I was really disappointed in Sims. In the early scrimmages, he showed a rebounding tenacity that translated to more and more bench time throughout the year. Crawford actually looks to be turning a corner. I said early in the year that Tubby needed to have a longer leash with this kid and I still believe so. Next year will bring only more questions.
? UL: #10 (equates to #3 seed; Reality: NIT)
Picked to finish third behind UConn and Nova in the Big East. "Pitino's Big East homecoming should be sweet, as plenty of victories are in the Cards for talented Louisville." Uh, that was wrong. Okay the injuries and adjustments to a new conference are the reason for the missed expectations. I don't think I was the only one with lofty expectations for this team. Pitino was quoted as saying, "We'll fit in. We're going to have a very good team. We have size, depth and athleticism. We're in the top third of the league." He wasn't done there. "We have at least three players who are NBA-bound. So we have a good team." Coach, that sounds a lot different than what we were hearing for the last few months from you.
? IU: #17 (equates to #5 seed; Reality: #6 seed)
Picked to finish 2nd in Big Ten. This was the year that Coach Davis was building towards. Sure we had used 4 years of scholarships to get 1 season out of the 2 Auburn transfers, but they were going to make the difference. Needless to say, it worked for the pre-conference schedule and even early into the Big Ten season. Then, reality set in. This team has no offense beyond 1-in and 4-out. When that one post player was on the bench (either in street clothes with an injury or with foul trouble), IU was left to the Davis offense of dribbling a hole in the floor at the top of the key until the shot clock runs down. Then, create your own shot or drive and dish out for yet another 3-pt attempt. On the nights when the 3s were falling, the pinstripes win. When they aren't, suffer the loss. In the end, the Mike Davis era ended a month early and the team struggled to the finish line. The bright side is the Mike Davis era did end.
Thoughts?
? UK: 22-26 wins; SEC regular season title; SEC Tournament finals; NCAA: Elite 8 - Final 4
? UL: 20-24 wins; Top-3 Big East regular season; Big East Tournament Semis; NCAA: Sweet 16 - Elite 8
? IU: 23-27 wins: Top-3 Big Ten regular season; Big Ten Tournament Finals; NCAA: Elite 8 - Final 4
Looking back, my first thought was that I expected too much from all three. Then I found my Street & Smith's College Yearbook for the 2005-06 season, and I quickly realized that if I did expect too much I was not alone. The words are painful to read but interesting to look back on.
Preseason Top 25
? UK: #3 (equates to #1 seed; Reality: #8 seed)
Picked to Win the SEC East."Kentucky has one of the nation's top backcourts." I don't think it ended up being one of the top backcourts in the SEC. Sure the Morris odyssey hijacked the pre-conference season, but the SEC home record number of losses came with the big fella in the middle. Without question, Rondo disappointed. He was coming off a dominant effort on Team USA's under-21 team, but never regained even his Freshman form at UK. Sparks was what he is, a small shooting guard that struggles defensively but can carry a team on a few given nights. Perry and Thomas were what they are, role players who can't be relied on for anything more. Shags and Woo continue to frustrate fans throughout the Bluegrass. I was really disappointed in Sims. In the early scrimmages, he showed a rebounding tenacity that translated to more and more bench time throughout the year. Crawford actually looks to be turning a corner. I said early in the year that Tubby needed to have a longer leash with this kid and I still believe so. Next year will bring only more questions.
? UL: #10 (equates to #3 seed; Reality: NIT)
Picked to finish third behind UConn and Nova in the Big East. "Pitino's Big East homecoming should be sweet, as plenty of victories are in the Cards for talented Louisville." Uh, that was wrong. Okay the injuries and adjustments to a new conference are the reason for the missed expectations. I don't think I was the only one with lofty expectations for this team. Pitino was quoted as saying, "We'll fit in. We're going to have a very good team. We have size, depth and athleticism. We're in the top third of the league." He wasn't done there. "We have at least three players who are NBA-bound. So we have a good team." Coach, that sounds a lot different than what we were hearing for the last few months from you.
? IU: #17 (equates to #5 seed; Reality: #6 seed)
Picked to finish 2nd in Big Ten. This was the year that Coach Davis was building towards. Sure we had used 4 years of scholarships to get 1 season out of the 2 Auburn transfers, but they were going to make the difference. Needless to say, it worked for the pre-conference schedule and even early into the Big Ten season. Then, reality set in. This team has no offense beyond 1-in and 4-out. When that one post player was on the bench (either in street clothes with an injury or with foul trouble), IU was left to the Davis offense of dribbling a hole in the floor at the top of the key until the shot clock runs down. Then, create your own shot or drive and dish out for yet another 3-pt attempt. On the nights when the 3s were falling, the pinstripes win. When they aren't, suffer the loss. In the end, the Mike Davis era ended a month early and the team struggled to the finish line. The bright side is the Mike Davis era did end.
Thoughts?
posted by Conrad | 9:35 PM
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