...next season really will be "THE YEAR."
10. FAB FRESHMEN -- I make this #10 because I don't want to depend on newcomers to make my point. Pagues, Magley, Frazier... have we ever gotten a 3-star recruit (since they started rating recruits in this manner) much less 3? I know, they may not make the grades, may not pan out thier first year, I know, I know. But I am very curious to know what a 3 star recruit looks like on the court. And of course there is the rumor that we are not done...
9. HORNBALL -- '07-'08 will be the year of Hornball! Horn may not have had enough experience when we hired him (or maybe that isn't really a problem at all). But say what you will... he's not stupid. I would think that he has learned alot since taking the job four years ago (whether we can see what it is that he thinks he has learned or not.) FWIW, that experience may be an advantage that the team has not had in past years.
8. JAPAITH AGUILAR (SP?) -- Again, I rank this low on the list because I don't want to depend on a newcomer to make my point. I know when the havenites say he would be the second best player on this years team that it is just "haven hype". I know that when Horn says he will make the most imediate impact of the new comers that it is just coach speak. But think about it... Japaith has fans in the Phillipenes that like him so much that they went to the trouble of registering and posting on the haven and want to continue to follow his career at the hill. FWIW, I think that is a very good sign.
7. SIZZLIN' SOPHMORES -- What if AJ Slaughter makes a similar improvent as OMV did... wow. And EVANS. What if Evans adds 15 pounds of muscle and isn't forced to carry as much of the water as he was this year? These two players alone have the potential to make a DRAMATIC improvement in the team next year.
6. TYRONE BRAZELTON -- I saw a huge improvement in this guy from the beginning of the season to the end. Anyone remember the improvement that Antonio Haynes made from his junior to his senior year? By the end of the year Brazelton was making those slashing cuts in transition and really looking for the assists. As Tyrone improves so will the Toppers.
5. THE SCHEDULE -- Georgia, Nebraska, and Murray at Diddle. Tennessee at the GEC. The Great Alaskan Shootout! If ever we had a nonconference schedule hand crafted to get an at large bid then THIS is it. When was our last at large bid? 93? Since then we have some pretty good teams (94, 95, 00, 01, 02). And we have even had a couple of pretty good schedules (97 comes to mind with #24 Clemson and #5 Xavier both coming to Diddle). But rarely do these two events fall in the same year.
And it is not just the nonconference schedule that will be better. The Sunbelt as a whole is young this year. If the 12 teams were to win just one or two more games on average this would make a big improvement in our rpi (regardless of how we fair against those Sunbelt teams). So while the belt will never be the SEC, it might not be an anchor either next year. THE STARS ARE ALIGNING!
4. EXCITEMENT FACTOR -- This season really lacked excitement. I went to every single home game and I can't remember even one of them that was close to being "electric." I know with absolute certaintly that when a crowd is loud and energetic that the home team feeds off of that energy. When you regularly have home crowds that are loud and energetic I believe that it "trains" the team to play with intensity and that does carry over to road games. This years team never got the benefit of that kind of training. With a great home schedule next year and an improved team... I think that the team and the crowds will feed off of each other. You may think this is a small thing... but I am absolutely convinced this can make a huge difference.
3. COURTNEY LEE -- I think we all know that Courtney has not performed on par with what he is capable of, particularly in the last half of the season. He missed a LOT of shots that he had been hitting earlier in the season. I'm sure he will still practice every day and with Slaughter stepping up to take pressure off of him, and with improved post play opening up the driving lanes and perimeter, Mr. Lee WILL have the senior year we all know he is capable of. WATCH OUT.
2. REUNION TOUR -- It is hard to quantify the value of having a team that has played together for a couple of years. But just ask the European teams that are able to defeat the USA when not one of thier players would make our team. This can and will make a huge difference in the team's effectiveness. I really hate the term "chemistry" because I think it is a generic message board word that is used when something is just generally wrong. But just the same, I think it will apply here because the guys will anticipate each other better, make better passes, play better defense, spacing will be better, and they will be better in transition. In other words, just having played together this past year (in combination with improved post play) will help things to "click" next year.
1. THE POST -- As I have said before I believe that the whole problem with this season was the post play. We had five guys carrying the water in the paint and they are all back with another year of experience, conditioning, and practice. Of the five, two in particular (Emerson and Walker) really underperformed. But it never ceases to amaze me how fans seem to forget that players GET BETTER over the years. Perfect example is how fans ripped OMV last year. I still have high hopes for both of these young men.
I think it is particularly important to have juniors and seniors for the point gaurd and center positions. Point gaurds because of the playing experience, centers because of the way players tend to bulk up when thier metabolism slows down around 20 years old. Throw in the new comers for good measure and we should see a significant improvement in the post which should lead to higher % shots, offensive putbacks instead of just offensive rebounds, and a much smoother looking flow to things.
The improvement in the post will make the gaurds better because defenses will have a much harder time covering both the big men and the perimeter. The offense will become quicker and more efficient which will make the defense much better since we will have time to set up after the made shots. Rebounding will improve and dunks... oh yes, there will be dunks. This is the single most important area to improve and this is the single biggest reason I am optimistic for next season.
There is a
LOT to be excited about! Horn will get us there!
