Win or lose Saturday we are in elite company with this team How would you rank this team VS all other team s? Up there win the 94-95 teams? Eddies team?
I need to think about this as we move into and Elite 8 game.
Sound familiar?
I think the problem is, we just don’t know how good this team is. It’s better than I ever gave it credit for, but I just don’t know what their ceiling is. It’s a hard team to read.
For me, anyway it is.
All I know, is I am really enjoying the ride
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More good reads from the National press.
Is this fun or what?
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We are all learning to watch defense in a different way. . . . Absolutely masterful game of chess played by Muss so far in this tournament. . . . If you’ve ever played chess, white always has the advantage initially because they move first. . . . you watch Muss, he’s either always got the advantage and when he does, this team knows how to finish it out. It is rare he can’t take and hold the advantage throughout.
One of the interviews, JWill said something along the lines of, at the 4 minute timeout coach and I made eye contact and just smiled because we both knew we had this game. . . at that point they had the advantage * 2 and there was no way they would overcome it. . .
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Reading the review of Gonzaga losing CBS only talked about how poor guard play by the Zags resulted in a defeat. Not a word about the Hogs great defense. Or for that matter anything about the Hogs. Typical for CBS.
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Few said they got their shots and just missed them.
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That’s how I feel. For most of the season I felt we were a good team, just not a great team. Back in early January I was worried that the team would never gell, and we were just a middle of the pack SEC team. The growth of Williams has been off the charts since December. And clearly, the HC has figured out how to play Toney, Stan and Wade. Last week I was thinking we’d plateaued, but after watching Wade’s contribution yesterday it’s now clear to me that he hasn’t peaked - maybe just needed extra confidence offensively. In sum, they looked final fourish last night.
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We’re not very good at all. Just a little ole country team from Arkansas. Be lucky to stay within 25 points of Mighty Duke and their legendary Hall of Fame coach.
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Coach K has had his Duke boys suffer loss against in our hogs before his assistants will have Duke ready to play and Muss will have both barrels loaded of hogs ready to fight tooth and nail until the final horn! Get you popcorn ready!
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I have seen all of those teams. It is so hard to get a read on this team in comparison until you look at the scoreboard. They have had some incredible wins. Right now, they are certainly one of the top 10, but their story is still being told. Win Sat. and they go into top 5, and win the next Sat. and they are number 1-2. It is still out there.
This team is so different than any of the others that it is just hard to compare other than results which is all that really matters. We have have some tough, gritty teams, but nothing like this.
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He also said Hogs were more physical and stronger. Probably affected their shots regardless of how open they were. It is easier when you are running and gunning , not so much when you have to play the way the Hogs do to create offense. Being physical is like Pittman’s teams–you have to practice it regularly to have it when you want it.
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That’s true Clay. I agree with him. To a point. But why did they miss them? Because we made them work every single second of the game. It was constant harassment and pressure on them. They are not used to that. They just aren’t. If they played in the SEC, Big 12 or ACC they would be more equipped. But Muss was right when he said that while they play a tough non-conference schedule…once they are in league that creates weeks of NOT seeing athletes and pressure like we presented.
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I think it’s the lack of several blowout wins for the Hogs, especially in the SEC season. Rather, we’ve had a lot of close wins…many regarded as “just home cooking”. So, we don’t sound sexy, and the defensive improvement, and growing chemistry, has been masked. And, then we recently got blown out by the Aggies in the SEC tourney. Thank goodness we can flop.
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I will tell you good we are. Good enough to win the natty in an era when college basketball teams as a whole are not as good as yesteryear when stars stayed in school longer and matured in college rather than in the NBA.
It’s hard to compare teams now to twenty years ago. For instance, if they played now, we would never get to see Sidney, or Boot, or Day, or Mayberry or Corliss ever become juniors. Certainly not seniors. They would have all left early.
As for this team, we are good enough to win it all. If we can beat Gonzaga, and Auburn, and Tennessee, and Kentucky, we can beat any team left in the field.
Will wee? Who knows. Odds are against any of the 8 teams left becoming THE champion. But I do think our chances are as good as any remaining team. That is for sure.
The two teams most thought were the class of the field are BOTH gone. Gonzaga and Arizona.
Its anyones opportunity now.
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Exactly. We probably won’t win it, but neither of the others probably will. One definitely will, but we don’t know who that is. I like our chances as well as anyone’s. (I do wish we had an extra couple of days to get ready for Duke after we played such an exhausting game.)
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According to Vegas Insider this morning, Kansas is the favorite to win it all, which makes sense, I guess, as the only 1 seed remaining. They’re at 4-1. We’re somewhere in the 11-1 to 13-1 range. Which makes our chances a helluva lot better than Gonzaga’s or Baylor’s or Arizona’s.
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And Kentucky and Auburn
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As of this morning Kansas has to win one more game than we do to get there. If they win today, they’ll be in the elite 8. I can see them having shorter betting odds. But I still like our chances. After all, this time yesterday Gonzaga was a heavy favorite to advance. I’d bet they were still a favorite at half-time. Vegas probably shifted to us when there were only 8 seconds left in the game. (Sarcasm alert. I know Vegas doesn’t shift odds with 8 seconds left in a game.)
I stand to be corrected, but I believe we have a better chance to win the 2022 national championship than any other team in the SEC.
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Defensive intimidation makes the mind anticipate something bad happening when trying to shoot. This team is rapidly becoming a skilled bully.
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