(03-09-2024 07:52 AM)bdunrocket Wrote: Go Rockets! As diehard Rocket fans we basically are born to be negative and automatically look for the worst to happen.
This team has been put together with baling wire, bubble gum and card board with a sprinkle of talent, hard work and determination thrown in. Probably K and his staff’s best job yet.
I say we just enjoy this as best as we can. Almost like an extra Christmas present you did not know was there.
What you say is why I posted a few weeks back about Coach K deserving a hard look as Coach of the year. Picked 4th. Lost a ton of talent, including the MAC player of the year. We start two freshman and a lineup that would be blocked out by the front row of a kindergarten class photo. Nobody expected this team to be where we are. Coach used the first part of the season to shuffle the deck and experiment with line ups. We hoped Wight would be out solution at the 5 spot, but weve seen where that has gone. He's gone deeper on our bench than ever. We still don't have a real center.
The toughness of this team is unlike any I've seen in the Coach K era. The teams the last three years were arguably better offensively. We outscored opponents and were pretty, but they would wilt with adversity. This team clawed their way through the season. Won a bunch of close games early, lost a few close games. That early home game comeback vs Lousiana as indicative of the season. The only two we just blew were Vermont and George Mason. I'd like the BG and NIU games back, but the Rockets got the last two after playing down to their competition. Cleveland hasn't been fun for us, but as we saw at the end of the MAC season, anyone can win this....so why not us?
Looking ahead to next year, I'm not feeling that we are losing anyone to the portal. Cant speak to the end of the bench. All of our starters should be back. This group plays better as a team and I'm not feeling that anyone has any realistic pro aspirations and wants to go P5. They would all be better off to return and run it back. On any given night any of our starters could be that "guy."
You knew all season RayJ was looking for pro looks. Arguably we were better to go young with this group and let them grow together. For the long run, having Sammy at the point was a better long term move. And if everyone comes back, next year with a few youg pieces will set us up very nicely for the next 2-3 yrs. RayJ would have been the focal point of the offense and each night he would have been out to get his for pro tape.
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