It's been a tough week and I have mixed emotions that get me thinking about where we are at now and how does that look going into next year.
First question that I have that others might have the answer toooooo; is this team doing an overseas trip this next summer? It would seem to be an ideal time for it with all of the guys we have coming back and would be a good head start going into next year.
Where we are at the moment. I mentioned in a post early in the B10 season about getting a win and where it would put us in the standings.....another poster gave a response that it was to early to think about the standings at that point. In some ways that is true.....but (Maybe others don't do this) I start thinking about "jeesh, if we had just won a couple more games" where that would put us. I think that in the pre conference schedule that we could have easily been two more games that we should have won...easily 2, if we had just started playing some sort of defense early in the year. Hang with me, this ties together going into next year (I understand that we don't have the same schedule).
But we are currently 14-12 overall and 6-7 in the B10. Two more pre conference wins and we are now at 16-10. Then let's say we win just 1 of Nebraska or Minnesota. 17-9 at this stage and the possibility of another NCAA tournament bid looks a lot different than it does right now.
I have no idea how we finish this year....I am generally feeling pretty good about how we are playing but the B10 is tough from top to bottom and who knows what will happen.....next year the B10 should be pretty tough, better than this year. A lot of teams are young with developing talent, although I think we are the youngest in the B10?
That leads me to look at what we will need to do to take a significant step forward next year. So, here is what I would list as my priorities.
1) Play better team defense in the half court. Our press has started to look pretty good, but this is the area that I think we can and will make the most improvement in for next year.
2) Free throw shooting. Losing Pete is significant in this area. Solid improvement from guys like Cook, Pemsl, and Wagner is vital. If they make decent improvement, which is certainly possible, I think it's a difference maker.
3) Turnovers......I love Pete but I don't think that losing him hurts us in this area. That said our young guys can/should make solid improvement in this area.
4) Rebounding......we can and should do a better job of rebounding. Pete is a pretty good rebounder for a guard, but our front line guys can and should step up with a year under their belts. This is an area where Tyler Cook could make a significant improvement.
Sorry this is getting long but....next year.
The physical conditioning and strength improvements for guys like JB, Pemsl, and Kreiner (Maishee if he stays) could be a major factor. I know that most people think that Pemsl is strong enough but what I am referring to is his conditioning. The young man fought injuries all through HS and I think is just getting healthy. Give him an off season to really get his body in top condition and I think he will be even better.
Mid range game.....Cook, Pemsl, and Wagner. Some level of improvement I think does a lot for their games.
I could go on and on but I will finish with this: Improved team defense (5 points a game), better FT shooting (2 points a game), a couple fewer turnovers (1 point a game), better rebounding (1 point a game), and individual development (2 points a game) and that puts us at 11 points a game better than this year. Since these guys have proven that they can win without Pete I'm estimating this level of point improvements understanding that Pete is gone.
I haven't even mentioned that often times players improve the most between their freshman and soph years...very good for us. Seniors often times have their best years....and I think Dom might be our best perimeter defender. If we don't count on him for scoring I think he is a major contributor.
First question that I have that others might have the answer toooooo; is this team doing an overseas trip this next summer? It would seem to be an ideal time for it with all of the guys we have coming back and would be a good head start going into next year.
Where we are at the moment. I mentioned in a post early in the B10 season about getting a win and where it would put us in the standings.....another poster gave a response that it was to early to think about the standings at that point. In some ways that is true.....but (Maybe others don't do this) I start thinking about "jeesh, if we had just won a couple more games" where that would put us. I think that in the pre conference schedule that we could have easily been two more games that we should have won...easily 2, if we had just started playing some sort of defense early in the year. Hang with me, this ties together going into next year (I understand that we don't have the same schedule).
But we are currently 14-12 overall and 6-7 in the B10. Two more pre conference wins and we are now at 16-10. Then let's say we win just 1 of Nebraska or Minnesota. 17-9 at this stage and the possibility of another NCAA tournament bid looks a lot different than it does right now.
I have no idea how we finish this year....I am generally feeling pretty good about how we are playing but the B10 is tough from top to bottom and who knows what will happen.....next year the B10 should be pretty tough, better than this year. A lot of teams are young with developing talent, although I think we are the youngest in the B10?
That leads me to look at what we will need to do to take a significant step forward next year. So, here is what I would list as my priorities.
1) Play better team defense in the half court. Our press has started to look pretty good, but this is the area that I think we can and will make the most improvement in for next year.
2) Free throw shooting. Losing Pete is significant in this area. Solid improvement from guys like Cook, Pemsl, and Wagner is vital. If they make decent improvement, which is certainly possible, I think it's a difference maker.
3) Turnovers......I love Pete but I don't think that losing him hurts us in this area. That said our young guys can/should make solid improvement in this area.
4) Rebounding......we can and should do a better job of rebounding. Pete is a pretty good rebounder for a guard, but our front line guys can and should step up with a year under their belts. This is an area where Tyler Cook could make a significant improvement.
Sorry this is getting long but....next year.
The physical conditioning and strength improvements for guys like JB, Pemsl, and Kreiner (Maishee if he stays) could be a major factor. I know that most people think that Pemsl is strong enough but what I am referring to is his conditioning. The young man fought injuries all through HS and I think is just getting healthy. Give him an off season to really get his body in top condition and I think he will be even better.
Mid range game.....Cook, Pemsl, and Wagner. Some level of improvement I think does a lot for their games.
I could go on and on but I will finish with this: Improved team defense (5 points a game), better FT shooting (2 points a game), a couple fewer turnovers (1 point a game), better rebounding (1 point a game), and individual development (2 points a game) and that puts us at 11 points a game better than this year. Since these guys have proven that they can win without Pete I'm estimating this level of point improvements understanding that Pete is gone.
I haven't even mentioned that often times players improve the most between their freshman and soph years...very good for us. Seniors often times have their best years....and I think Dom might be our best perimeter defender. If we don't count on him for scoring I think he is a major contributor.
