Sheriffin’ is a whole lot different than deputyin’

-- Andy Griffith (as related earlier this season by BucDoctor)

****** performance on many fronts. We don’t seem to adjust.

Three losses in last four, including two in a row to lower division teams in standings. One game out in the loss column means no room for slip ups. Get Wofford and Greensboro in Freedom, so we can win regular season by “simply” winning out, but the egg layed vs Chatt last Sat means that the home court advantage may mean nil. I don’t feel optimistic about traveling to VMI or Chattanooga right now.

I don’t think I can adequately diagnose the problem but if I were forced to pick one root cause—I don’t see leadership and team spirit. There’s no rah-rah voice to rally or correct attitudes. Just bad body language on and off the floor.

Maybe that’s to be expected with a cobbled together renovation lineup. It just sucks.

Bucs are not a team. They are a bunch of individuals. They will not follow the game plan, no defense, no hustle, terrible shot selection, just beat in all phases. To make matters worse, their body language projects a loser attitude.

(02-10-2021 09:06 PM)bucfan81 Wrote:  If I heard Jay correctly we missed 14 lay ups tonight. That is hard to do. Something is badly wrong.

Probably each thought they were going to get it blocked?

If there is a vaccine for what ails the Bucs the last couple of games, they'd better line up for it.

This team reminds me a lot of Forbes' first year, when he too was faced with putting a whole new roster together. Before we went on the run toward the end of the season which culminated in the Forbes getting the technical foul in the championship game, the team looked much the same as this one. Remember the road game against Wofford that year when we were down something like 20 points at halftime, against a Wofford team with a losing record that year?

I think most of the issues surround the fact that we aren't playing as a team (and haven't for much of the season) and for whatever reason the team seems like they are lethargic. Are we practicing too much? Are we not conditioned well?

As for Monsanto, he seems like a very emotional player. I don't like his body language when he is doing well (the strut that he takes after he hits a three) or when he is doing poorly, but I seem to care about those types of things more than most people.

The final thing that I don't think is getting as much attention is the parity in the league this year. The top of the conference isn't as good as the past few years, and the bottom isn't as bad. I don't even think that seeding for the conference tournament will be a big deal this year. We have just as much chance as anyone of going on a run and winning the tournament!

I think that most of the top rated teams in the SoCon have faced some February blahs. You can't love Furman's play against UNCG. The Spartans had one good game and one stinker. And Wofford looked worse than the Bucs against Chattanooga. Etsubuc has a point - the top teams have not been as impressive this year, and the bottom teams have been better. You've got one 3 loss team (UNCG) and three 4 loss teams (ETSU, Wofford and Furman). But there is nobody like ETSU last year or Wofford of 2 years ago. Furman and UNCG are clearly a cut below what they were last 2 or 3 years.

In the slightly lower group, Chattanooga is 6-5. They've got power forward Josh Ayeni back in the lineup and have finally integrated their 2 transfers 6-7 KC Hankton and 6-6 Darius Banks.

The Citadel and VMI have got competent teams with powerful offenses. Mercer is up and down, depending a lot on whether Alvarez and Haase are clicking. Even Samford is still a threat, taking Mercer to OT last night despite losing their 2 best, and highest scoring by far, players: 6-6 210 Missouri transfer Christian Guess (15 ppg and a team leading 9.0 rebounds) and 6-3 Myron Gordon (15 ppg). As of last night, neither one was even listed on the roster. Any of these teams can beat any of the higher rated ones on a given night.

That the Bucs are 1 game out of first in the loss column is not terribly bothersome. That they seem to have take a step backward in quality of play the last couple games is a real concern.

In the overall context, I really think that for most teams in D1 the quality of play has dipped some this Covid season, as they all struggle with contact limitations, practice limitations, erratic scheduling and more. You want to see the Bucs do better, but they are hardly the only program that has struggled.

Very good points by every one. We have the parts. We have the players and it is frustrating to see Bucs play worse instead of getting better. I was expecting team to be a lot better by this time of year. I hope their attitude and level of play improves going forward.