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[QUOTE="MELOKEITH, post: 1005592, member: 682"]
This is a bit lengthy, but it was cathartic.  Thanks in advance for listening.  :)

I think that the preseason trip playing in Canada gave the team a "jump" on most of the other D1 schools in terms of coming together and being in somewhat "mid-season" form early.  A few things followed:

1)  T Roberson was behind from the get-go by missing this trip.
2)  We came out of the box and won our first 25 games - in no small part because we already had some chemistry and defined roles heading into the season
3)  Lose the battle win, win the war never happened.  As we kept winning, it became harder and harder for Coach to tolerate Freshman mistakes.  Each battle was important from a competitive standpoint, and players that were not "ready" jeopardized the streak.  As much as a single win is not as important as playing your best at the end of the season, I think we had to try to keep the streak alive, sometimes to the detriment of developing our bench. 
4)  injuries came up and we weren't ready to overcome them in the same way that we would have if we had more rotations, more players game ready
5)  We peaked early, and as other teams caught up from a chemistry and development standpoint, they figured us out and took away some of what we did that got us to 25-0
6)  by the end of the season, we were what we were - a good team of good/great athletes who could win when the shots fell, but struggled when they didn't or when our shooter was shut down

I loved this team, and enjoyed the season.  It hurts because there are no dominant teams.  We could have won it all if we had been able to keep improving and found another shooter.  The defense was good enough to win the 'ship.

I don't post much, but sure do enjoy the community here.  Thanks for an enjoyable season!
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