On the bright side I actually love our freshman guards. Being excited about "development" sucks but it's the reality for the rest of our non-con.

There's way more pressure on our freshman and sophomores to produce this year than there was last year (I mean, that team had 5 fourth year players), but theres a lot to like.

-Krutwig's been a terror in the paint, outside of some unnecessary turnovers he's really a nightmare match up and you can't complain about his performance (honestly most of those TO's have come at times when he could probably muscle up a shot).
-Williamson looked to be taking his game to the next level before injuring his hand, really growing off the dribble and was becoming an exceptional passer (averaged 4 assists in his last 4 games), Richardson really became a fantastic passer by his senior year, but it didn't really start to show until he was a junior, Williamson is ahead of schedule.
-Kaifes has the swagger and confidence you need on offense, is growing on defense and also hasn't had too many freshman mistakes
-Bujdoso has quietly been one of our most efficient scorers at 58% (small-ish sample size, but he's been great at the rim), plays hard on defense, and like Kaifes hasn't had too many freshman mistakes
-Negron's flashed on offense some in limited time
-Frank's had some really nice defensive efforts in limited time

No matter what happens the rest of this year, it was always going to be a transitional year in the grand scheme as the left over leaders from the final 4 team were going to hand off the team to the next generation (Krut and Williamson will be likely have the keys for the next two seasons). Moving forward you want the young guys to learn how to win close games, not just compete in them. Yesterday we dug ourselves out of the hole, worked our way back to regain control, and seemed to let down and relax. Need to play the FULL 40. Gotta learn how to close out closer games.

Ok guys; GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE FINAL4 CLOUDS AND COME BACK DOWN TO EARTH.

Feel better now?

This team is in the rebuilding stage and you all have good points of views, JCT made me lol with one of his posts bahahaha

My thoughts is... Aher has been very indecisive and over thinking. I'm glad he is starting to drive to the hoop!!
I was trying to channel Porters mind to tell him to try a zone defense to stop the 3, the 1-3-1 maybe, hummmmm
The injuries will only help the future going forward, remember Ben stepped up when Milt was out for all of those games. My heart goes out to his mom looking at her face brought back memories.
I'm still a proud Lu fan....
So GO RAMBLERS!!
side note my husband is too, lol

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#PROUDMOM

I thought there was a lot of frustration expressed during the game. Lots of spiking the ball after Ball St scored.

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This. Thanks, ProudMom

I was curious about where Butler was at this point in the season following their first Final Four, because I remember it being pretty similar. Pretty close. Through the first week of December (roughly) they were 4-4 with a win over a DII school and a two point conference win over us. The other two wins were Sienna and Ball State. The losses included a loss to an Evansville team coming off a 9-21 season who ended up a .500 team. And the expectations of that team were higher than most expected for us, as they were ranked in the top 20 to start the season. Granted we have a lot of work to do to right the ship, probably more than Butler that year, but this team doesn’t deserve a death sentence of mediocrity yet. Still plenty of time and opportunity to get to where we want to be.

I’m admittedly worried about how Saturday’s game may go, though. It doesn’t sound like Bruno will be back for a few weeks, so this weekend could be ugly.

I remember when Isiah recruited Milt to play at FIU, he wanted to make him into a tall point guard, which I loved the ideal, it would've benefited Milton tremendously for the next level.
I said to Isiah, "milt still needs a lot of work with his weaknesses ", he said we'll use his strengths and put players around him to make up for his weaknesses. That blew me away!!

I think the Ramblers has a lot of strengths to focus on individually so use each player's strength instead of sitting them because of their weaknesses. Run the offense according to what you have(strengths) and the same as for the defense, use the talents these boys have.

I read coach K went away from what he was a stickler for defensively (man to man) and used the zone.

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#PROUDMOM...Great to hear from you...and glad you are still following the Ramblers....How does Milt like Spain? I think I agree with your point...Coach has got to figure out the strengths of the new guys and how it can mesh with the returners.....But have always wondered how flexible Coach is.???

Milton likes Spain, he likes his teammates, he's making the necessary adjustments playing in the league he plays in, its one of the toughest. He have a lot of eyes on him as well as high expectations.

I'm not trying to step on coaches toes, but it does look like he's making some changes. Unfortunately, he have to try different strategies during these games before the conference starts.

Also, I know big Frank isn't as poised as Krut,but they need to pass him the ball when he's in the game, so he can get better.

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