There's something in the way this team is playing that we haven't seen in quite a while, and I have a great feeling about the season. On offense, we're creating good shots all over the floor, rather than draining the shot clock and then relying on JR to make a tough shot. Our defense has been dominating. Several times in the 2nd half Bradley looked poised to make a run, and we were able to thwart them (and, btw, that was a VERY talented Bradley team).manager wrote:This club is MILES ahead of last season at any time
This is a totally different team than last year. This year's team addresses several weaknesses:
- Senior leadership. There's a very low flake factor now. We aren't looking to a Kevin Netter, who might or might not show up, to lead us offensively. Also, we're not suffering from the type of mental lapses Ron Lewis had so many times last year.
- PG is in great hands with Moon and Floyd. Both are smart players that can set up and run the offense. Both have great upper body strength and are good ball-control players as a result. The offensive flow has improved dramatically.
- Wright at 2G. As good as Lewis was at creating from the wing, Wright is even better. He has a quicker first step and he's actually a legitimate 3pt shooter. Wright is extremely hard to guard and is a major weapon on offense. I agree that he could be 1st team all MAC.
- With Fitch and Soler, we have quick defensive options on our front line that will allow us to guard quicker forwards. I think this fact is easily overlooked, but will make a big difference in the win column.
- We've installed Almanson as the full-time PF, and he's responding with the type of consistently strong numbers that we all knew that he could have.
- Depth. We're legitimately 11 players deep. We have players with a variety of skills. As a result, the team has few glaring weaknesses. We have shooters, ball-handlers, penetrators, post up scorers, low post defenders, quick defenders, creaters, etc. We can endure foul trouble much better than last year, because we aren't so dependent on any one player.


