Is There One Recruit?

What I'd love to see is a consistent theme of who this team is. Have an identity. Stick with it. Do a couple of things really well and focus on that with an emphasis upon out working the opponent

KISS Principle:Do what you do.
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Then you should be happy, because we're already there. We play no defense really well, and we jack up ill-advised shots like experts.

I jest, I jest.

In all seriousness I do think I see the beginning of a consistent identity, or at least what the staff wants that to be. Whether they can get there and whether it will be successful are open questions. My guess (there are no guarantees here) is that the answer to both questions will be yes, but it will take at least another year.
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I never said I agree with the plan, I only said I can see what they want it to look like.

My personal preference would be a team that plays like Butler or Creighton or even Georgetown, or perhaps like a classic Big 10 team. Failing that I could be happy with a U. Va or Howland/Dixon era Pitt approach. I like high-IQ basketball and defense. However, time has proven that you can win with any style, as long as you get the right players and coach it well. Teams that go deep in the tournament play all sorts of different styles.

As I've posted previously, the plan here seems to be NBA-lite, move the ball up the floor with five guys who can run and shoot. "The Process" needs a few more pieces before you can start to evaluate whether it is going to succeed or not. Certainly at the moment it is light on defense, possibly because more practice time is being spent trying to get college kids to run an NBA-style offense.

Although as stated it would not be my first choice, I do think there's a plan and I don't think it's that hard to see what it is. I also don't think there's much sense in griping and moaning about what the cake looks like while it's being baked. "The Process" is always messy. You're just gonna have to wait another year (and maybe two) before you can see the outcome, whether it works, and whether it is likely to being sustained.

Personally i think there is a reasonable chance that it can work, given players and time. I wouldn't bet the ranch on it, but I'm not ready to stick my head in the oven, either.

IMHO folks need to accept that it's (yet another) growing pains season. And seriously, anybody who thought we were going to be much better than 3-4 through 7 games in conference was not thinking clearly. If the staff can keep it together, 7 or 8 conference wins is still perfectly in range.

Or, you can overreact to the fact that we lost to one of the best teams in the country at home, another one on the road, and put up a stinker at Georgetown which we only do every year. To each his own.
 
I could care less about the wins, more about seeing the team/staff evidence attention to detail, share the ball, rebound and defend in continuously improving fashion.

Just me, but I am not crazy about the notion of replicating NBA "move the ball up court" philosophy and like you prefer alternative styles of play. To me the NBA run and gun approach too often puts defense low on priority list. For most part, defense is only played in NBA playoffs it seems. Shorter college schedule does not allow that luxury. This is not to say pressing & fast breaking strategically should not be on the menu.
 
I never said I agree with the plan, I only said I can see what they want it to look like.

My personal preference would be a team that plays like Butler or Creighton or even Georgetown, or perhaps like a classic Big 10 team. Failing that I could be happy with a U. Va or Howland/Dixon era Pitt approach. I like high-IQ basketball and defense. However, time has proven that you can win with any style, as long as you get the right players and coach it well. Teams that go deep in the tournament play all sorts of different styles.

As I've posted previously, the plan here seems to be NBA-lite, move the ball up the floor with five guys who can run and shoot. "The Process" needs a few more pieces before you can start to evaluate whether it is going to succeed or not. Certainly at the moment it is light on defense, possibly because more practice time is being spent trying to get college kids to run an NBA-style offense.

Although as stated it would not be my first choice, I do think there's a plan and I don't think it's that hard to see what it is. I also don't think there's much sense in griping and moaning about what the cake looks like while it's being baked. "The Process" is always messy. You're just gonna have to wait another year (and maybe two) before you can see the outcome, whether it works, and whether it is likely to being sustained.

Personally i think there is a reasonable chance that it can work, given players and time. I wouldn't bet the ranch on it, but I'm not ready to stick my head in the oven, either.

IMHO folks need to accept that it's (yet another) growing pains season. And seriously, anybody who thought we were going to be much better than 3-4 through 7 games in conference was not thinking clearly. If the staff can keep it together, 7 or 8 conference wins is still perfectly in range.

Or, you can overreact to the fact that we lost to one of the best teams in the country at home, another one on the road, and put up a stinker at Georgetown which we only do every year. To each his own.
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The overreaction always follows unrealistic expectations which happens almost every season. It will happen next season too, as posters will get excited over transfers or last minute recruits they have never seen play except on highlight reels. What's clear is that Mullin wants shooters, something this program has been lacking since the Wonder 5. He has done well on that front. While on occasion a team full of shooters can got hot and win, every solid team plays good defense. You play good defense, you are in every game. You don't, and you see the results.

In the grind of an 82 game season, most NBA teams take multiple nights off from playing D. In college, nearly every conference game is a war. You will catch teams flat on occasion, but not often. You need to defend well and to succeed over the course of a season. I like that Mullin is prioritizing finding 3 point shooters. Now he needs to balance the roster with lunch pail guys that will do the dirty work of setting screens, defending for forty minutes, and fighting for rebounds and loose balls. That's what wins games and gets you to the dance.
 
It's a lot easier to preach patience than to practice it. I think most of us are having a hard time practicing it on a game by game basis while there's just a few who don't believe in the staff and a couple who are flat rooting against the staff.

I don't care what style we play as long as we see more glimpses of the future as we did on December 29th.

It's one step forward and two steps back at this point in the progression.
 
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