Quote Originally Posted by whopper View Post
You can change the attitude and effort. Anyone who has played at any level knows it is easy to "not look bad", dribble, handoff, flair, get back on D, don't be the reason you lose. Courvasier(sp) played like he had nothing to lose. I think these talented players(and they are all talented in big East) want to be the reason we WIN. A tipped pass, tap back of an offensive rebound, etc could make all the difference. Every second out there think "is there something else i could be doing or anticipating?
Great points Wooper. If this team played with 100% effort for 40 minutes (i.e. they always crashed the boards and fought for every rebound, threw only crisp passes, dove for every loose ball, contested every shot, moved swiftly to create space and get open, set good screens, tried to draw contact when shooting) they likely would have won at least 3 more games. And like you said - anticipate.. whether it’s that next passes while on defense or what your teammates are going to do when you have the ball on offense.

Then, if Steele can find plays that create a little more space on offense and that is accompanied with a little better ball movement… the team can get into a flow… create some rhythm which usually leads to easier passes and better shots… which leads to more made shots which builds greater confidence and chemistry and momentum and swagger.

It could all quickly turn into negative momentum, should those players become carelessness, tired and/or lazy- this is what happened in the DePaul game. Steele didn’t react until the damage was done.

This team absolutely has all of the tools to get into the dance and make a very deep run. Unfortunately, the tools are not being used properly right now. It is the job of the coach to help get those tools working properly and working together.