I better appreciate that we are the "youngest, worst shooting, poorly constructed team in the country".
+1
It couldn't be more true. And, not to pile on - but why the hell can't we make adjustments mid game? When it goes bad, it goes BAD in a hurry.
Lavin may not be playing with a full arsenal right now (young, no d'angelo etc) but he should be getting better results than this. Hard to argue with that.
We played well against Cincy and ND the first time, other than that all we've done is capitalize on a real easy stretch of games against DePaul/SH/Rutgers.
Is it fair to say the season's been a disappointment? ... I'm leaning in that direction. But let's see how we prepare for Marquette and the BE tournament. Maybe they'll surprise us.
I don't think our Big East record is really a disappointment, if you had told someone before the season started that we wouldn't have Sanchez, Branch would be hurt and Harrison would be suspended. But the real disappointment I think is the lack of certain players' progress from start of the season to now. And the half-court offense is a massive disappointment.
Let's analyze man by man:
Obekpa: probably most improved this year during the season. He improved his rebounding tremendously, shown some signs as a passer and consistently is an elite shot blocker. Free throw shooting and offensive moves did not improve.
Sampson - Improved somewhat, playing more of an assertive role. But his shot selection I feel got worse as the season went along as he asserted himself. We know that needs to get stronger, improve his handle, and extend his range. His mid-range game was good for all season.
Greene - didn't really improve during the year; he's forced to play out of position for a lot of the season. Unfortunately his shooting did not improve at all, also he didn't make any progress in terms of creating for others. He must improve his shooting.
Harrison - didn't improve - probably regressed, especially when you consider his efficiency of shot selection and shooting percentages.
Pointer - got better with free throw shooting, and some three point shooting and dribbling. Notwithstanding his fight tonight. He was good on defense. He moderately improved almost all aspects of his game. He still picks up ticky-tack fouls. He must learn to shoot better.
Branch - book is still open - shows some real passing ability. But his grade is really an 'incomplete' because of his injury. He seemed slow out there today, and I bet his knee has a lot to do with it. His shot was only good for a game or two. I hope it gets better.
Garrett - did not improve. regressed on free throw shooting.
Borgault - did not improve really, besides getting a little more playing time.
Jones - Incomplete data. He did not play
Felix - Incomplete data. He did not play
Sanchez - incomplete. We have no idea.
I think our defense overall got better. We have shown some solid minutes with our defense. However, our half court offense made zero progress.
I think that most people would be disappointed that we really didn't improve as the season progressed. Especially when you consider how young we were and they could have learned so much.
But for next year, I'm still optimistically hopeful. A full-time PG, a passing Sanchez, a 2nd year Sampson and a tamed Harrison should make the offense better. We just need to take 1 or 2 million jump shots collectively this off-season.