I've seen enough

[Waquoit]

This team is a good bunch of guys that play hard and look out for each other. They play team ball and want to get better. They are in a tough spot. A big chunk of the fan base has heightend expectations based on last year. That's why just two games in we have all this ridiculous nitpicking. It's a new team and there's going to be growing pains as players adjust to their roles. But I've seen enough to know that these guys are going to do what they need to do to get better. If that's good enough, great. If not, I'm confident we will have gotten their best shot. I'm just going to enjoy the ride.

 

[boog204]

Most definitely. While it hasn't necessarily been pretty (yet), this is an incredibly likable team. In time, I expect Boat and DHam to be an outstanding one-two punch with Amida continuing to do a young Dikembe Mutombu impression. I don't know if this is a championship team (then again, I didn't think 2011 or 2014 were either) but this will be a really fun team to watch grow and get better. I really like this "routine" we've gotten into where we ride an incredible lead guard to great heights. Psyched to see Boat be the "Iverson" lite that many predicted of him his freshmen year before many of us (myself included) went all d-baggy by criticizing him too much.

 

[Rico444]

This is why I'm not too worried about Purvis. He's looked a bit tentative, but he's looking to get his teammates involved and playing tough defense. It's easier to take a guy who's not being selfish enough and tell him to take more shots than to rein in someone that's forcing too many shots.

 

[Matrim55]

I'm actually pretty optimistic:

• Two guys we needed to improve (Brimah & Facey) look like they did just that
• Boat is playing within himself and working more to set tempo than find his own shot
• Hamilton looks like a lottery pick already
• SamIIAm & Purvis look like they'll adjust to the bigtime with a few more reps

We protect the hell out of the rim and rebound better than last year, and our ball movement has been very promising.

On the flip side, our perimeter guys run hot and cold - we've missed a ton of good looks in both games. Purvis has only been dangerous in transition, while SamIIAm definitely seemed like he was out of sorts coming off the bench. Nolan is bigger, but not yet better, and TSam hasn't made the leap to anything but a change-of-pace guard. Lubin is just 5 fouls at this point.

If you had offered me that - Boat playing like a legit NPOY candidate, Brimah being a post threat & the best rim protector in college, Facey a very good rebounder and Hamilton looking like one of the best freshmen in the country - I would have taken it in a heartbeat.