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Message: [QUOTE="UChusky916, post: 3873034, member: 1222"] Screw that. If we [B]really [/B]want to make a statement and let everyone know "Daddy's home".... we win out the regular season [B]and [/B]win the BET in MSG to get a 5/6 seed. Winning tonight would be a great step towards that. I agree with the general sentiment in this thread that we're a better team than our record indicates. The COVID pauses and injuries really made this season a challenge for our guys. Our defense has been mostly solid for the year. But we've finally found some consistency on the offensive end and the guys are just now hitting their stride... [LIST] [*][B]Bouknight [/B]back and getting into game shape. People forget that because of 2 shortened seasons, Bouk's played in only 38 career college games, which is essentially equivalent to 1 full season. He's essentially a seasoned Freshman out there... still growing and getting back into game shape from his injury. I feel confident that we haven't seen his best yet... and every night he's out there we have the most talented player on the floor.[B][/B] [*][B]Cole [/B]has played the role of "Robin" to Bouknight's Batman lately, and has settled in as our lead PG. He's figured out his role on this team and is smart enough to know when to pass or when the team needs him to score. Cole has shown to be really savvy once he gets in the lane... he's been money on the mid-range pull-up, but can also continue to drive and either toss up a floater, or take it all the way to the rim. His shot from deep is improved. He's taking care of the ball and making nice passes while also generating steals on the other end. [*][B]Jackson [/B]is in a similar vein to Bouknight... extremely talented with lots of athleticism and tools... but has a limited number of games under his belt. Only 8 games played >10 mins. While he's raw, he's truly an X-factor for this team. He's become our best perimeter defender and can guard the 1-3 spots. If we play Nova again in the BET, we should put Jackson 1:1 on Gillespie and that will be a different ballgame. When he's not committing silly fouls, he can influence the game so many ways beyond his defense... his passing and rebounding are well-above average for his age and position. If he ever finds his stroke or finds a way to use his athleticism to get to the rim for easy buckets on offense... look out. [*][B]Martin [/B]is similar to Jackson that he gives us a little bit of everything, but is much more gifted offensively. He's a mismatch if he's got a smaller SF on him, because he can post up and get an easy bucket. When he finishes through contact at the rim, he's impossible to contain. He's shown he can get hot from 3. He can defend and rebound with the best of them. He brings some toughness. [/LIST] In addition to those guys, how many teams can say that they have multiple role players that can put up double digits any night... Polley, Whaley, Sanogo, and Gaffney are all easily capable of that. I believe we still haven't seen the best this team has to offer. My only concern is that we have so many pieces new to the team or inexperienced. If they can stay healthy down the stretch, with a bit of luck I think this team can make some serious noise in a year where there is so much uncertainty in the tournament field. [/QUOTE]

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