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Message: [QUOTE="TheChamps990411, post: 4104245, member: 662"] When i watch these games early on against cupcakes i look for 5 things. Am i an expert? No but this has worked for me over the years in gauging how good i think we`ll be: 1. Individual performances from guys. Have they shown improvement and how much improvement from last year. 2. Defense/Toughness/Intensity. What ive noticed over the years is our really good teams play defense really well early on even if they arent there offensively. 3. Can we run? Hurley said it himself "good teams dunk a lot". This is true especially against cupcakes. 4. Confidence/Swagger/Belief. Has the entire team bought in to the coaches vision and do they believe in it and each other. 5. Win margine. This is the easiest to measure because its literally a measurable number. When youre beating teams like Hartford by 15, St. Peters by 10, NJIT by 22 but you only score 69 points that is a huge red flag. When youre beating teams by 50 points and scoring 90+ its a good sign especially when going having two 50 point wins hasnt happened in 15 years. I think thats a good sign. Now the point im making is you dont have to watch a team against high level competition to figure out if they are good or not but what you do find out is how good and that isnt going to be answered over 3 games at the beginning of the season. Sure this team could fall flat the minute they face tougher competition. Anything is possible but common sense and the eye test tells you this team is as deep and talented as any in the country. The prevailing thought by many including media from around the country is that this team may have the deepest front court in the country. im on record as saying this team will win at least 25 games this season and i stand by it and feel pretty good about it. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach