With the outright SEC championship waiting for the Tigers, I thought it would be interesting to see if people's opinions have changed over the course of this season. What's your opinion of the Tiger's performance as opposed to preseason expectations? Has you opinion of CJB changed? 1. Worse record than expected 2. As expected 3. Better than expected 4. Far better than expected
Just so there's context, I think the Tigers were solidly picked as a top 30-40 team by most college basketball mags (Street Smith, Athlon, Sporting News, etc.), and picked by most to finish second in the west behind 'Bama, neck and neck wth Arkansas. On top of that, probably picked to finish 4th or 5th or so in the SEC, behind Kentucky, Florida, 'Bama, and others. I would say "fans" probably had less expectations given the fact that we lost Brandon Bass, and were going to have to play 4 or 5 freshmen in the rotation. Add to that the brutal non-conference schedule, and I think most folks Brady would fail. So, I'd say "far better than expected." The things that stand out? Given the immaturity of this team, how well they face adversity. You can never quantify "chemistry", but this team is competitive, they play well together, and don't get down, despite the fact that they're young. Leadership. Despite D.Mitch's personality, he leads by example, and he takes (and hits) big shots. Big Baby, same way--so, although we're young, we do have two leaders who take the pressure off by accepting the big responsibility. Unexpected recruiting gems. You know Tas' was going to be player. But, who's making solid contributions, even All-SEC contributions? Garrett Temple and Tyrus Thomas, the unsung, unpublicized and underappreciated signing class of 2004. Who would have thunk it? Obviously Brady and Butch saw something in these kids, that alot of "fans" and national recruiting rags didn't see. So, Brady and staff did a great job to get us here. They brought in talent to get us to this level, and this year, they took a young team and made it gel, and put us in positions to win games. :geauxtige :bball: :champs: Now, go pack the PMAC!
Better be careful, TGer, you're saying some mighty positive things about JB in there! You know how that kind of talk don't sit too well with some of the folk on here! :lol:
I look at the question from a coaching viewpoint... Tiger's performance - for the most part, as expected Outcome of games - far better than expected The performance of play does not always equal the outcome of a game. D. Mitch's shot at the end of the Arkansas game, and missed shots by Kentucky and S. Carolina, to name a few, could have gone the other way. Certainly glad those games turned out like they did though. :thumb: As far as Brady is concerned. He is what he is. Meaning, his base defense is half ct man, some 2-3 zone, motion offense. That's it. They don't full ct. press/trap a lot nor really push the ball up the floor on every possession. I don't know if an all-out, up-tempo game like, N. Carolina/UAB would get more people in the seats and cause more excitement or not.
Allow me to disagree some. Before the season, we had Tac Minor and Kentrell Gransberry expected to start or contribute, so rather than fielding one of the youngest teams in the conference and nation, we were actually going to have a fairly solid amount of experience and good depth. D. Mitchell, Minor, Davis, Gransberry or Lazare, T. Mitchell - that was our projected starting lineup, with just 1 frosh. That would have meant another JR coming off the bench along with some solid freshmen, which is about as experienced as any team in the nation these days. Now, if I'd known in the preseason that we would lose Minor for the entire year, Gransberry would leave the team (and I think pretty much nobody had a clue Tyrus Thomas would explode the way he has), my expectations would have been a bit less. But I'm not certain that they would have been less by much, because the leadership and best players of the team (DM, GD) were intact, and my expectations of the rest of the SEC (esp. Arkansas and Tennessee) were lower than they have fared. Now as far as national picks goes you may be correct but my own expectations were that we would win the SEC West, though not the overall SEC title. That was based as much on the SEC. and especially the SECW not being a very good basketball league. This team had real talent and depth coming in, and I did believe the challenging OOC schedule would make a difference. Anyway, I think the team has done better than expected, though it depends on whose expectations you're using as the baseline. Since the question asks "your opinion" I'm interpreting that as my preseason expections, and voted for "better". However, the season isn't done - I am one of the folks who counts the NCAA tourney heavily (although an outright SEC title does mean quite a bit), so this question is a bit premature IMO. If we go one & done... that will be a bitter disappointment. If we go to the Final Four, that will be "far better".
I know, huh? Since I can only enjoy a few more hours before Gofer comes back, along with the other naysayers that can't wait for the Tigers to lose, so Brady can be blamed... I'll beat them to the punch. "Brady stinks. We're SEC Champs and playing for a #2 seed in the tourney... sure, but that's because anyone could play with our talent. Fire him, so we can get this program headed in the right direction." :lol: :hihi: :lol: ... spoken like a typical brady basher. Seriously, though, some people will probably argue that this poll shouldn't be taken until after the NCAA tournament. It's a little sad that a SEC Championship may still be overshadowed by an early loss in the NCAAs if that happens, but that's what we're dealing with in Tigertown. Of course, if Brady gets his squad to the sweet 16 or elite 8, people will all of the sudden be Brady fans...
You make good points, and they're well taken. I think a fair response to this question is "better" or "far better" depending on your pre-season expectations, but clearly, no one nationally expected the Tigers to be ranked in the top 20 (we may be there after this week) and win the SEC outright. I will say that I thought we should win the SEC west, as you did, but when this teams wins the SEC outright, in a league with a stronger Tennessee, Florida than anyone expected, and Kentucky, 'Bama, and Arkansas right there, this is at least "better than expected." Add into the mix that, Tack did not play, AND we lose Kentrell (although, I think you're giving him more credit than he's due) and you tell me Darnell isn't even starting, and we deal that tough of a nonconference (remember we did still beat WVU at home, we play Uconn to one point, we play OSU very close on their home court---albeit losses, losses against potential #1 and #2 seeds), I think it's far better than most expected. I agree though, how they do in the tourney does carry weight. But, I'm able to say that even if they lose "early" it won't be a bitter disappointment. The good news is, for once, we find ourselves playing for seeding, and I think we're at least in a better position to play more manageable teams early and increase our chances of winning. :geauxtige
do you remember the several close losses at the beginning of the season? if this team were lucky, theyd only have two losses and headed for a 1 seed.
