Glad to see the guys finally start playing looser and with more energy last night. We had to have that one. We just played three of the worst teams in the SEC to start the conference slate, so you couldn't come out of that 1-3.
The path to success for this team is becoming clear. The strength is in our guard play, so those guys have to play and shoot well. And our team has to be healthy. Philon said in the postgame interview last night he is still dealing with an injury. He has to get right and play well for us to compete with the top level teams. And Sherrell has to be healthy and be a difference maker like last night. That is so huge for this team. Otherwise, our options inside are almost nil. The freshmen Allen and Jemison do have some size and width so they have to help out some inside and with rebounding. Hopefully, they'll keep coming on as they get more comfortable. This team has to play with a lot of energy and we need to see some improvement on the defensive end. Currently, we are #1 on adjusted offensive efficiency but #79 in defensive efficiency on Torvik. You cannot let a team like Texas, who is not that good, be able to get multiple guys comfortable on offense and score 92 points, especially in your own gym. If we can pick up the defensive intensity and harass the other team some and start to use a little more basketball awareness, this team does have a chance to make some noise. But they've got to bring it and can't come out like the first part of last night's game.
The path to success for this team is becoming clear. The strength is in our guard play, so those guys have to play and shoot well. And our team has to be healthy. Philon said in the postgame interview last night he is still dealing with an injury. He has to get right and play well for us to compete with the top level teams. And Sherrell has to be healthy and be a difference maker like last night. That is so huge for this team. Otherwise, our options inside are almost nil. The freshmen Allen and Jemison do have some size and width so they have to help out some inside and with rebounding. Hopefully, they'll keep coming on as they get more comfortable. This team has to play with a lot of energy and we need to see some improvement on the defensive end. Currently, we are #1 on adjusted offensive efficiency but #79 in defensive efficiency on Torvik. You cannot let a team like Texas, who is not that good, be able to get multiple guys comfortable on offense and score 92 points, especially in your own gym. If we can pick up the defensive intensity and harass the other team some and start to use a little more basketball awareness, this team does have a chance to make some noise. But they've got to bring it and can't come out like the first part of last night's game.
