Will Barnes Surprise Us?

#26
#26
Outside of an experienced backcourt the major question mark is the front court. I see this team struggling on the boards and shot blocking this season and unless the backcourt provides consistent 3 point shooting they are going to struggle in games especially against teams that have height, quickness an a athletic front line. There are too many losses in personnel to graduation, early departure and transfers. We'll be hearing announcers say,"Help is coming" a lot this year. With Barnes coaching perhaps 17 to 18 wins, bubble team.
 
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#27
#27
Be careful or you'll get dog cussed around here for that opinion.

I said I expected them to be a running team that struggled and someone questioned my basketball IQ and Ive seen several others say they expected them to run and be more wide open since.
 
#28
#28
SweetDaddy said:
Be careful or you'll get dog cussed around here for that opinion.

I said I expected them to be a running team that struggled and someone questioned my basketball IQ and Ive seen several others say they expected them to run and be more wide open since.
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Doubt it. Sly might just have an opinion and not an agenda.
 
#29
#29
BruisedOrange said:
Defense.

Think about defense and you'll dial down your expectations.

Our defense is complex and dependent on each man on the court knowing his assignments and anticipating without hesitation. That level of team defense doesn't happen overnight.

We have a lot of offensive power on the roster, but remember... if players can't execute on defense, how is Barnes supposed to play them? That will take time, and it just depends on how soon how many players become reliable on D.

I wouldn't be surprised if we have to qualify for the NCAA by our SEC Tournament performance. But I do think by then we will have become a good team.
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I can understand the hesitation with confidence in this team, and you raise valid points, but if this team is needing to win the SEC Tournament to get a bid in the NCAA Tourney then that means something went horribly wrong. 18 wins (even though I think we get more) will get you a bid. If we have to win the SEC Tournament that means we're somewhere between 14-17 wins which is unacceptable with this team. Our strength of schedule for this season alone will help carry us. We play potentially 5-7 Top 10 teams this year.
 
#30
#30
Outside of an experienced backcourt the major question mark is the front court. I see this team struggling on the boards and shot blocking this season and unless the backcourt provides consistent 3 point shooting they are going to struggle in games especially against teams that have height, quickness an a athletic front line. There are too many losses in personnel to graduation, early departure and transfers. We'll be hearing announcers say,"Help is coming" a lot this year. With Barnes coaching perhaps 17 to 18 wins, bubble team.
 
#31
#31
SweetDaddy said:
Be careful or you'll get dog cussed around here for that opinion.

I said I expected them to be a running team that struggled and someone questioned my basketball IQ and Ive seen several others say they expected them to run and be more wide open since.
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You make a great victim.
 
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#32
#32
NOT AN INSIDER!
However, I did talk to one of the players ... about his expectations for the team. This was the Sunday before school started.
Question: Will the team be better, about the same or worse that last year? (Hey I had to give him a question to determine his veracity.)
Answer: It will be different. Too early to tell. I think we are going to be good.

Question: Who do you think will be the starting point guard?
Answer: James.

Question: Looked like Pons struggled with his shot, did he lose it or was he changing his shot?
Answer: Changed his shot.

Question: What position are you hoping to play... (I mentioned two positions)?
Answer: Wherever Coach Barnes tells me to play, but I am hoping to play ... (you guessed right - not going to spill it).

With no devastating injuries ....
My totally uninformed guess is ... we win 25.
I do expect us to be in the top 25 at seasons end.
If we win less than 20 games, I would be disappointed, but not shocked. We are replacing 3 VERY talented players and 1 very experienced and steady contributor ... with ... 1 VERY talented player, 2 Talented and experienced players and 2 Talented but inexperienced players.

I believe the two departing players were because they did not expect to see the floor as much as they had hoped. The key is ... are we a good TEAM.

Coach is very good at tweaking to his personnel.

Feel free to call me a homer, cause I do drink the koolaid and where the orange.
 
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#33
#33
SN-A-C Orange said:
NOT AN INSIDER!
However, I did talk to one of the players ... about his expectations for the team. This was the Sunday before school started.
Question: Will the team be better, about the same or worse that last year? (Hey I had to give him a question to determine his veracity.)
Answer: It will be different. Too early to tell. I think we are going to be good.

Question: Who do you think will be the starting point guard?
Answer: James.

Question: Looked like Pons struggled with his shot, did he lose it or was he changing his shot?
Answer: Changed his shot.

Question: What position are you hoping to play... (I mentioned two positions)?
Answer: Wherever Coach Barnes tells me to play, but I am hoping to play ... (you guessed right - not going to spill it).

With no devastating injuries ....
My totally uninformed guess is ... we win 25.
I do expect us to be in the top 25 at seasons end.
If we win less than 20 games, I would be disappointed, but not shocked. We are replacing 3 VERY talented players and 1 very experienced and steady contributor ... with ... 1 VERY talented player, 2 Talented and experienced players and 2 Talented but inexperienced players.

I believe the two departing players were because they did not expect to see the floor as much as they had hoped. The key is ... are we a good TEAM.

Coach is very good at tweaking to his personnel.

Feel free to call me a homer, cause I do drink the koolaid and where the orange.
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Fulkerson
 
#34
#34
I keep seeing people stating that Plavsic is the key to this year...I believe that is mostly true but I see him being a bigger asset on offense than his defense like many are proposing. From what I've seen of him in practice he is still lost on both ends but is more comfortable contributing on offense than defense. Yes he's long and athletic but he's regularly out of position and isn't much of a help defender yet. I think that changes but that's just my take.
 
#35
#35
Way to be op
germantown902 said:
He’ll definitely get the chance to show what he can do. He should be prepared to take a punch to the gut if he fails to field a competitive team considering his top 5 pay.
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Way to be optimistically pessimistic.
 
#37
#37
BruisedOrange said:
Defense.

Think about defense and you'll dial down your expectations.

Our defense is complex and dependent on each man on the court knowing his assignments and anticipating without hesitation. That level of team defense doesn't happen overnight.

We have a lot of offensive power on the roster, but remember... if players can't execute on defense, how is Barnes supposed to play them? That will take time, and it just depends on how soon how many players become reliable on D.

I wouldn't be surprised if we have to qualify for the NCAA by our SEC Tournament performance. But I do think by then we will have become a good team.
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I think we still have several very good individual defenders, and we're still returning a good amount of people from the last few years. Bowden and Turner are great defenders and proven. Yves has showed he can be very good as well. Fulky still needs to get stronger, but gives really good effort. With Plavsic's length and athleticism, he'll be able to contest shots.

The biggest question marks will be James because he's a freshman, plus Kent and Jalen. Defense has held Jalen back from playing more than he has, Kent isn't particularly strong and not as athletic as the rest of our bigs. James has the physical makeup to be a great defender at least.
 
#41
#41
LivinginthePast said:
Reading some preseason magazines and they don’t have us ranked. And we lost all of our guys to the nba that were amazing. BUT he surprised us before with good player development. I trust he will get us competitive still. Someone will show out.
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Ponz has the chance to break out this year and be the next Jordan Bone. He's got the speed, and we'll see how Barnes has developed him for this season.
 
#42
#42
rdk4121 said:
Plavsic is certainly the most important factor. His defense alone could contribute to a couple wins. It's just about being eligible.

I expect a faster paced team with more spacing, and probably more 3s. Obviously losing admiral and grant means a lot less post touches. ORN is the only one on the team that seems like he has a developed post game unless Fulky or Kent have developed one. Kent and Pember also have plenty of range which is a good thing.

I expect the three headed monster on Turner, Bowden, and James to lead the way on scoring. I think Jalen Johnson is the most likely have a breakout year. I also expect ORN and Pember to get a lot of playing time as the season progresses. They're both very talented and versatile. Gaines might redshirt this year, but I won't be surprised if he can give us something at least.

Barnes's teams are always well coached, I don't expect any different this year. There's certainly talent, but largely unproven outside of a couple guys. A really tough schedule, but if we hit 20 wins, that makes us a lock for the tournament.
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The tournament was proof to me that the game is moving outside. Purdue killed us with the 3's, and any team that can shoot like that is able to basically challenge you to a shootout no matter how bad their defense is.
 
#44
#44
BruisedOrange said:
Defense.

Think about defense and you'll dial down your expectations.

Our defense is complex and dependent on each man on the court knowing his assignments and anticipating without hesitation. That level of team defense doesn't happen overnight.

We have a lot of offensive power on the roster, but remember... if players can't execute on defense, how is Barnes supposed to play them? That will take time, and it just depends on how soon how many players become reliable on D.

I wouldn't be surprised if we have to qualify for the NCAA by our SEC Tournament performance. But I do think by then we will have become a good team.
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Though we lost 4 starters, we return 6 guys that have been in the Barnes clubhouse for 3 or 4 years. Doubtful we lose much on the defensive end.
 
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#45
#45
calban said:
Though we lost 4 starters, we return 6 guys that have been in the Barnes clubhouse for 3 or 4 years. Doubtful we lose much on the defensive end.
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There’s system time and game time within that system. Till we see what the front court does against good competition(which as you know we won’t have to wait long to see) defense is a valid concern... especially in the paint
 
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#47
#47
Well then you might not be too far off then because I definitely don't feel the same way about him that I used to.
 
#50
#50
Volfan2012 said:
Williams vs Fulkerson or Nkamjoua is definitely our most challenging replacement. Of the guys we have to replace Williams is by far the toughest challenge.
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So your saying replacing a first team all American, 2 time SEC POY is a tough challenge?
 
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