Flacusian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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Hours away from a chance to land in the sweet 16 and all we have to do is beat... Who? MTSU? I think everyone would have been happy to know that this is the position we'd find ourselves in at the close of the first weekend of the tournament. This team, despite it's flaws, has at times shown that it is capable of playing at a formidable level when our guys are playing up to their potential.
At the start of the season JB pretty much defined what this team would need to do to be successful and number one on his list was HITTING SHOTS. The most unnerving aspect of this years team has been that their ability to hit shots seems to come and go without any warning and at any time. Anyone who has ever competed in sports knows that the mental component plays a huge factor in level of performance in sports. That fact is supported by the fact that for many players and teams as well when the shots start to fall it can be contagious and when a player misses their first couple shots it can then balloon into a situation where the hoop seemingly has a lid on it. The video clip of JB talking to the team after the Dayton game and the palpable excitement seen when the team was rallying around Roberson is a good sign and an indication of a heightened morale and a positive vibe sweeping over the team.
I feel that the encouraging news is that although we did not finish the season on an upbeat note the start of the NCAA tournament represents a fresh start with a clear demarcation between it and the regular season and now the team, having cleared their first hurdle beating Dayton in convincing fashion, is in a particularly great position to do some damage moving forward.
We couldn't have asked for a better scenario in which the more highly seeded teams which awaited us "upbracket" have been conveniently dispensed with and replaced by teams with lower seeds. It really does seem like we have finally become the recipient of the type of good breaks we frankly haven't experienced in a long time.
If Roberson can build off of his performance against Dayton AND we can continue to play good defense, AND if we can hit shots, we get into that rarefied position of "Sweet and Elite" and perhaps even "final".
And with a little luck, I think we can do all of those things!
At the start of the season JB pretty much defined what this team would need to do to be successful and number one on his list was HITTING SHOTS. The most unnerving aspect of this years team has been that their ability to hit shots seems to come and go without any warning and at any time. Anyone who has ever competed in sports knows that the mental component plays a huge factor in level of performance in sports. That fact is supported by the fact that for many players and teams as well when the shots start to fall it can be contagious and when a player misses their first couple shots it can then balloon into a situation where the hoop seemingly has a lid on it. The video clip of JB talking to the team after the Dayton game and the palpable excitement seen when the team was rallying around Roberson is a good sign and an indication of a heightened morale and a positive vibe sweeping over the team.
I feel that the encouraging news is that although we did not finish the season on an upbeat note the start of the NCAA tournament represents a fresh start with a clear demarcation between it and the regular season and now the team, having cleared their first hurdle beating Dayton in convincing fashion, is in a particularly great position to do some damage moving forward.
We couldn't have asked for a better scenario in which the more highly seeded teams which awaited us "upbracket" have been conveniently dispensed with and replaced by teams with lower seeds. It really does seem like we have finally become the recipient of the type of good breaks we frankly haven't experienced in a long time.
If Roberson can build off of his performance against Dayton AND we can continue to play good defense, AND if we can hit shots, we get into that rarefied position of "Sweet and Elite" and perhaps even "final".
And with a little luck, I think we can do all of those things!
