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- Aug 26, 2011
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1. Solo Ball... Yikes - He seems primed in the mold of Bouknight, Sanogo, Hawkins to have that second year breakout. His shooting and overall scoring was scary last night, and he seems much more composed on the ball and aggressive on defense. He's starting, he's starring.
2. We need to adjust to a new era defensively and reset our expectations thusly. A comparison of Hurley Defenses with Cling Kong and without. There are obviously "other" factors here like the players around him, but then again not really. We saw the team last year operate at about the 100th ranked defense in the country when Donovan was hurt, and basically the best in the country when he came back. The coaches have showed superlative ability and willingness to adapt scheme and style on the offensive end, famously. It is a well known fact that teams that win titles have offensive AND defensive efficiencies inside the top 20. Can we operate at that level without the big guy? That is the question of the season for me.
4. Guards and Forwards on offense - Bombs away. This team is going to drop some preposterous guard scoring barrages, and I love Mahaney coming off the bench with full ownership of that 2nd group just gunning after the 1st team has grinded the opposition to dust. He'll find some really open looks as teams get caught in lineup changes. Just not sure how you guard Karaban, Solo, McNeeley at the same time. They can all shoot, drive, pass with really high efficiency.
Any other major takeaways or topics that you guys see running through the season?
2. We need to adjust to a new era defensively and reset our expectations thusly. A comparison of Hurley Defenses with Cling Kong and without. There are obviously "other" factors here like the players around him, but then again not really. We saw the team last year operate at about the 100th ranked defense in the country when Donovan was hurt, and basically the best in the country when he came back. The coaches have showed superlative ability and willingness to adapt scheme and style on the offensive end, famously. It is a well known fact that teams that win titles have offensive AND defensive efficiencies inside the top 20. Can we operate at that level without the big guy? That is the question of the season for me.
- 2020 - No Clingan - Torvik #65 ranked Defense 96.3 PP100
- 2021 - No Clingan - Torvik #30 ranked Defense 93.5 PP100
- 2022 - No Clingan - Torvik #52 ranked Defense 95.9 PP100
- 2023 - Clingan Freshman - Torvik #9 ranked Defense 91.2 PP100
- 2024 - Clingan Soph - Torvik #4 ranked Defense 91.3 PP100
4. Guards and Forwards on offense - Bombs away. This team is going to drop some preposterous guard scoring barrages, and I love Mahaney coming off the bench with full ownership of that 2nd group just gunning after the 1st team has grinded the opposition to dust. He'll find some really open looks as teams get caught in lineup changes. Just not sure how you guard Karaban, Solo, McNeeley at the same time. They can all shoot, drive, pass with really high efficiency.
Any other major takeaways or topics that you guys see running through the season?
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