So I do these occasionally but it's always good to step back and try to put into perspective some of the trends going on within a season as well as maybe putting it in the context of some of our past few seasons. With that said:
Funny how one game can change a narrative
There has been a ton of criticism of JB and a massive amount of hand-wringing (right around the time we lost out on the Quade Sweepstakes) the past 8 months or so. Much of this, to be fair, was justified. Ugly loss to Dayton in 14, self-imposed tourney ban in a relatively bad year in '15, a poor regular season saved by a miraculous tourney run, and then two missed tourneys in a row -- that's a bad look outside of the three-week run at the end of the 16 season.
But now they sneak into the tourney (first surprise), then they win a play-in game and beat former nemesis Jamie Dixon. To be fair, we're playing with house money Sunday but now a W over MSU and another week in the tourney. I feel Duke is the favorite (along with Nova perhaps) to win this whole thing so a win Friday seems extremely unlikely, but regardless, a Braedon Bayer tie-up, a sweet Battle step-back and a few free throws means we're in the second weekend of the tourney for the second time in three years, most of the team *should* return (never really know about this stuff) and we have what should be a really solid recruiting class coming in next season. One win isn't a cure-all, but regardless, it's amazing how quickly things change ... which brings us to the first of two points about JB ...
JB always plays to win whatever game he's in ... and generally that's a good thing
There is always talk of kids being Boeheimed and, in bad seasons, feelings that we should 'play for the future'. But to JB's credit -- all he cares about is trying to beat whatever team he's playing. If it means playing his guards 40 mpg in november, he'll do it. If it means continuing to run Sidibe out there on one leg b/c you desperately need minutes from a big, he'll do it. If it means Moyer gets stuck on the bench at times even though it doesn't help his long-term development, oh well. If we'd like to see Howard Washington get more minutes b/c he could fill a key role in '18-'19 or beyond? We'll work on that later.
The man will always frustrate people, but he never quit on the season, the team continues to play ridiculously hard and, against all odds, they somehow managed to steer a season on the brink of disaster a year ago into a year where they were seriously considered for the tourney and this season into a year where they slipped in and actually made some noise. Give the man his due for that much at least.
JB, always considered a 'roll the ball out there' coach, has somehow become a tough tourney coach
The knock on JB for a long time was that he got talent but never could win games that really mattered. Always felt this was a bit of a misnomer (Illinois loss was just two loaded teams playing a tough game, UMass was an emerging power, Missouri and Arkansas were coin-flip games against really tough teams, Marqutte was an 11-seed but had two future really good NBA players in Butler and Crowder in addition to a good scorer in Johnson-Odum, then you had some losses to better teams -- KU as a 4-seed, Duke and MSU as 1-seeds. Really feel like there were a couple brutal losses in there -- Richmond, UVM, Rhode Island -- and then a few disappointments -- Oklahoma State, A&M, Alabama, etc. Never thought it was that bad a record when you added in the 97 and 96 runs as well as the 03 title. But I digress).
Back to the point -- If you look at JB's record since the loss to A&M in 09 (I pick this point b/c you had two disappointments followed by two missed tourneys) he's 20-7 in the last 8 appearances. That record might even look better if Fab and Onuaku were eligible/healthy. The only 'bad' loss in there is Dayton. Pretty impressive.
Dolezaj's development
I'm fairly certain that most here believe the arrival of Bazely and the expected return of Chuckwu/Sidibe/Brissett will relegate Dolezaj to a cheerleader next year, should he return (and I still don't really understand why he wouldn't). But the kid has shown a little game the past six games. Since getting shut out in the brutal loss to BC, he's put up 10.3 ppg (obviously skewed by the 17 against TCU and 20 vs. Wake) but he's also just been more aggressive in looking for his shot. He is still averaging less than 5 FG attempts per game, but he's put up 42 FG attempts in that span (8.3 FGA) and even if you take the TCU game out, he's averaged nearly 6 FGAs per game. He's also 15 of 19 from the line with some big FTs in that stretch. Not sure he's a guy other teams are worried about just yet, but I find it hard to believe there's not a role for him next year particularly since injuries and foul trouble happen.
Is Battle truly an NBA departure after this season?
Let me begin by trying to avoid getting screamed at by half the board: A) If he wants to go pro and see what he can do, I absolutely respect the decision and hold no ill will. B) He's been huge for this team and I"m not trying to disparage what he's done as our primary and sometimes only offensive threat.
OK, with that out of the way, and even throwing out his numbers (his FG%/3 pt%/eFG% aren't real exciting), the positives with him are that he's a long guard who should be a solid defender at any level, he's a solid athlete who works well in the mid-range and would probably benefit from playing with more offensive talent around him. But he's a really inconsistent shooter (even the few wide open looks he gets can turn into ugly misses), he has a slow release and limited range (these two are probably linked by the hitch in the shot), and he's not terribly shifty or quick which limits his effectiveness off the dribble.
So again, I love the kid and he's been great, but I just don't see NBA written on him. Good student, great player -- if he was asking me (which I doubt happens, though I'll be by my phone), I'd be thinking, 'Dude, maybe you can knock out your degree or close to it by the end of next season, play on a really good team that could do even more damage in March, and then you can work on your game and see what opportunities are there at the next level." Seems logical to me.
Are we finally seeing the beginnings of the return of some continuity?
Want a simple narrative to the struggles of the past four years? Try continuity. While Carolina and Villanova are winning games by the dozen with a bunch of decently talented veterans, we've been trying patch holes with grad transfers and green freshman. But this year, while we've certainly struggled, we've seen a bunch of players who aren't really early departure candidates in Dolezaj, Moyer, Washington, Howard, Chuckwu, and Sidibe. We are mostly expecting (I think) Brissett to return. Hughes doesn't feel like a guy who plays a year and then goes in the first round and outside of Bazely, Carey and Buddy feel like guys we should see around the program for a few years. Now, we never know how this stuff will go -- in the past few years we lost Ennis (not somebody most thought was a 1-and-done guy), Grant (couldn't shoot a jumper), Richardson (shot like 36% from the field for the year) and McCullough (who played about 8 solid games) to the NBA and transfer (BJ) and then whatever the hell happened with Geno. But it feels like the seeds are there at least. One can hope.
Funny how one game can change a narrative
There has been a ton of criticism of JB and a massive amount of hand-wringing (right around the time we lost out on the Quade Sweepstakes) the past 8 months or so. Much of this, to be fair, was justified. Ugly loss to Dayton in 14, self-imposed tourney ban in a relatively bad year in '15, a poor regular season saved by a miraculous tourney run, and then two missed tourneys in a row -- that's a bad look outside of the three-week run at the end of the 16 season.
But now they sneak into the tourney (first surprise), then they win a play-in game and beat former nemesis Jamie Dixon. To be fair, we're playing with house money Sunday but now a W over MSU and another week in the tourney. I feel Duke is the favorite (along with Nova perhaps) to win this whole thing so a win Friday seems extremely unlikely, but regardless, a Braedon Bayer tie-up, a sweet Battle step-back and a few free throws means we're in the second weekend of the tourney for the second time in three years, most of the team *should* return (never really know about this stuff) and we have what should be a really solid recruiting class coming in next season. One win isn't a cure-all, but regardless, it's amazing how quickly things change ... which brings us to the first of two points about JB ...
JB always plays to win whatever game he's in ... and generally that's a good thing
There is always talk of kids being Boeheimed and, in bad seasons, feelings that we should 'play for the future'. But to JB's credit -- all he cares about is trying to beat whatever team he's playing. If it means playing his guards 40 mpg in november, he'll do it. If it means continuing to run Sidibe out there on one leg b/c you desperately need minutes from a big, he'll do it. If it means Moyer gets stuck on the bench at times even though it doesn't help his long-term development, oh well. If we'd like to see Howard Washington get more minutes b/c he could fill a key role in '18-'19 or beyond? We'll work on that later.
The man will always frustrate people, but he never quit on the season, the team continues to play ridiculously hard and, against all odds, they somehow managed to steer a season on the brink of disaster a year ago into a year where they were seriously considered for the tourney and this season into a year where they slipped in and actually made some noise. Give the man his due for that much at least.
JB, always considered a 'roll the ball out there' coach, has somehow become a tough tourney coach
The knock on JB for a long time was that he got talent but never could win games that really mattered. Always felt this was a bit of a misnomer (Illinois loss was just two loaded teams playing a tough game, UMass was an emerging power, Missouri and Arkansas were coin-flip games against really tough teams, Marqutte was an 11-seed but had two future really good NBA players in Butler and Crowder in addition to a good scorer in Johnson-Odum, then you had some losses to better teams -- KU as a 4-seed, Duke and MSU as 1-seeds. Really feel like there were a couple brutal losses in there -- Richmond, UVM, Rhode Island -- and then a few disappointments -- Oklahoma State, A&M, Alabama, etc. Never thought it was that bad a record when you added in the 97 and 96 runs as well as the 03 title. But I digress).
Back to the point -- If you look at JB's record since the loss to A&M in 09 (I pick this point b/c you had two disappointments followed by two missed tourneys) he's 20-7 in the last 8 appearances. That record might even look better if Fab and Onuaku were eligible/healthy. The only 'bad' loss in there is Dayton. Pretty impressive.
Dolezaj's development
I'm fairly certain that most here believe the arrival of Bazely and the expected return of Chuckwu/Sidibe/Brissett will relegate Dolezaj to a cheerleader next year, should he return (and I still don't really understand why he wouldn't). But the kid has shown a little game the past six games. Since getting shut out in the brutal loss to BC, he's put up 10.3 ppg (obviously skewed by the 17 against TCU and 20 vs. Wake) but he's also just been more aggressive in looking for his shot. He is still averaging less than 5 FG attempts per game, but he's put up 42 FG attempts in that span (8.3 FGA) and even if you take the TCU game out, he's averaged nearly 6 FGAs per game. He's also 15 of 19 from the line with some big FTs in that stretch. Not sure he's a guy other teams are worried about just yet, but I find it hard to believe there's not a role for him next year particularly since injuries and foul trouble happen.
Is Battle truly an NBA departure after this season?
Let me begin by trying to avoid getting screamed at by half the board: A) If he wants to go pro and see what he can do, I absolutely respect the decision and hold no ill will. B) He's been huge for this team and I"m not trying to disparage what he's done as our primary and sometimes only offensive threat.
OK, with that out of the way, and even throwing out his numbers (his FG%/3 pt%/eFG% aren't real exciting), the positives with him are that he's a long guard who should be a solid defender at any level, he's a solid athlete who works well in the mid-range and would probably benefit from playing with more offensive talent around him. But he's a really inconsistent shooter (even the few wide open looks he gets can turn into ugly misses), he has a slow release and limited range (these two are probably linked by the hitch in the shot), and he's not terribly shifty or quick which limits his effectiveness off the dribble.
So again, I love the kid and he's been great, but I just don't see NBA written on him. Good student, great player -- if he was asking me (which I doubt happens, though I'll be by my phone), I'd be thinking, 'Dude, maybe you can knock out your degree or close to it by the end of next season, play on a really good team that could do even more damage in March, and then you can work on your game and see what opportunities are there at the next level." Seems logical to me.
Are we finally seeing the beginnings of the return of some continuity?
Want a simple narrative to the struggles of the past four years? Try continuity. While Carolina and Villanova are winning games by the dozen with a bunch of decently talented veterans, we've been trying patch holes with grad transfers and green freshman. But this year, while we've certainly struggled, we've seen a bunch of players who aren't really early departure candidates in Dolezaj, Moyer, Washington, Howard, Chuckwu, and Sidibe. We are mostly expecting (I think) Brissett to return. Hughes doesn't feel like a guy who plays a year and then goes in the first round and outside of Bazely, Carey and Buddy feel like guys we should see around the program for a few years. Now, we never know how this stuff will go -- in the past few years we lost Ennis (not somebody most thought was a 1-and-done guy), Grant (couldn't shoot a jumper), Richardson (shot like 36% from the field for the year) and McCullough (who played about 8 solid games) to the NBA and transfer (BJ) and then whatever the hell happened with Geno. But it feels like the seeds are there at least. One can hope.
