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 Post subject: A Thread of Thanksgiving
PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2018 6:45 pm 
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Joined: Wed May 15, 2013 6:06 pm
Posts: 999
So this is a week late because the holiday was quite busy hosting family and all. I wanted to at least share some thoughts that were bouncing around through a few threads, but thought creating a new one to sum up everything would be more efficient:

1.) Williamson's injury is a bummer. He's looked like a complete stud this season; hopefully he picks up right where he left off come January.
2.) I'm OK with the losses in the non-conference part of the schedule. I would rather lose a buy game to Maryland or a top 5 team like Nevada than beat the crap out of garbage low major/non D1 teams teams. We could have looked better against Nevada, but it was a fantastic test in front of a great crowd in a packed house and better learning experience for our young players than Rockhurst or Eureka. Two years ago, we started off super hot (10-2) playing a pretty soft non-con schedule, only to fall off at the end of conference play (didn't we lose 3 times in a month to SIU?). Heck, I think PM's non-conference is roughly 300 points higher than his conference winning percentage here at LU. I truly believe the turning point for last year's team from a fan's perspective was going into #5 Florida and upsetting them after Duke barely beat them in an MTE. It cemented the fact that the team was good enough to play with anybody. This year's team is obviously a step removed from last year's team, but we have a much better benchmark for our strengths and weaknesses come conference play than perhaps any season under PM's tenure and probably going back a ways past Whitesell, etc. My opinion is that it will really help us come conference play, and hopefully I'm not wrong.
3.) The Furman loss kind of scared me until that kid set the NCAA record for 3s and then they beat Villanova. It's imperative for Sister Jean to keep Furman in her prayers for the rest of the season. They're experienced and poised to make noise come March; it would be terrible for them and their fans if they lose a key player or two for an extended time due to injury and crater during conference play. They're experienced and poised to have a great season out of that conference, which IIRC, sent Mercer to the NCAA tournament a few years back to upset Duke in the first round. In every game the rest of the way: Go Paladins!
4.) I too would like to see PM tinker with his offense a little so as to not use Uguak solely as a wing and see a little more time from Agunanne, Kaifes, and Negron. Really good coaches can make adjustments to their system, or even overhaul it, to fit their talent. For example: Coach K is known for running a tough, man-to-man defense at Duke, but last year they played almost exclusively 2-3 zone. I think if they stuck with man defense, they get exposed in March instead of losing in overtime to Kansas. PM's recruiting has been fantastic (side note: I'm really excited for next year's class), especially at finding players that at least kind of fit into his system. Hopefully, he continue to trust his depth and make sure the young players get enough playing time to develop. It would be a shame to lose kids like Negron, a highly touted recruit from our own backyard, to transfer for greener pastures if their minutes fall off come conference play, but I guess it's a good problem to have.
5.) Another team that we need to root for to be super competitive this season is SIU. Obviously not too competitive to win the valley, but if they lay an egg this year like Missouri State last year, they'll run Hinson out of town on a rail and come hard after Mullins. If Porter isn't leaving for a while (and I think he'll be pretty picky about his next job after Loyola), it'll be tough for Mullins to pass up that opportunity if there's nowhere up to go at Loyola.
6.) Custer needs to try to play within himself. I'll admit that I was wrong to undersell his value from when he was hurt last year, and yes he was the conference MVP. Remember though: we had 5 players averaging double digit scoring last year and none of them were in the top 10 in the league in scoring. The key to last year's team was balance, and Custer is not at his best when he's trying to carry the scoring load like Trae Young. Obviously Custer's play is worsened because our shooting has been kind of...well...bad this year, but I have confidence this is just a slight funk for our guys and they'll start hitting more shots. They just gotta trust themselves and their games.

And finally...can we at least be thankful for how far this program has come in 365 days? A year ago to the day, we were licking our wounds from the Boise State loss the previous night and now we're coming off a Final 4 appearance. I mean just wow. No words for it. Go Ramblers!


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