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Message: [QUOTE="Hans Sprungfeld, post: 5162923, member: 181"] I'm not so certain that it would be less fun if posters questioned less, prescribed less, and competed less for offering the right answer sooner than everybody else. In Sunday's haiku thread, the top question was who would step up without Liam playing. The top answers were Jayden and Jaylin. Aidan and Tarris had more to do with the double digit deficit turning into a double digit lead than the two Jays did. After the DePaul game, posters correctly noted that Solo went at the basket more than before, and that some efforts were stopped and some converted. Some noted improvement in defensive footwork. Nobody has made much mention of Solo going to the basket on Sunday, but he continued. Aidan's offensive moves were also a continuation, and I expect more. And Tarris is clearly projecting greater confidence during periods when hecassertes himself eith strength and skill. This thread reads as though it's not still the first week in January. Both of the last two years included complaints in January that the roster was closed, and that the rotations had seemingly settled without more opportunity to learn about and adjust the pieces. Much is still in play with this team. Some posters here are already contradicting the hopeful posts that Liam's injury presents unexpected opportunities for more player development. This team has played 10 games against major competition, and has a 7-3 record, having scored only 25 more combined points than the opposition. 2 games in Maui were close at the end. Since December, 5 of the 7 wins were close victories; 2 were against teams ranked higher at the time; and 1 was Dan Hurley's highest-ranked true road game win against a P4 opponent ever. These are all growth markers for the coaching staff. Never lose sight that the games will be played one at a time. They'll be prepared for one game at a time. Yes, the margin for error seems quite slim, as the team maneuvers for a good NCAA seeding while the league opponents may not present as many opportunities to shine as we'd like. And yes, the team is not yet consistent in areas that arouse insecurities in all fans. The coaches and the players are well worth watching, and we don't know where things are going. There are many moving pieces, many questions, and many possibilities, and the only thing we know with confidence is that it's not going to be a smooth and certain path to ultimate success. And we are unavoidably considering ultimate success once again. There's only one other college basketball team that I see similarly, and I'm following them with comparable interest. Both teams have the same name on their uniforms. Both teams have a lot to work with and a lot of work to do. I'm watching. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach