My educated opinion on this team

[ukbballrulez3]

First, let me say that I am not one of those "Why ain't Polson gettin' playin' time, Matt Jones?" I'm educated, played basketball for many years, and never miss a UK game. That being said, here is my opinion on what I'm seeing from this team this year, and I want people to chip in and tell me what they think about my opinion.

- Tyler is probably our best all-around player when healthy. He has a high basketball IQ and finds crafty ways to score at his size. I do worry about his size as we approach conference play. I'm afraid he could be taken advantage of on defense.

- Jamal Murray seems to have a BIT of an attitude issue. Remember when Cal told Jamal to tell Cal when he thought he had taken a bad shot? Jamal, in three days of practice, never once thought he took a bad shot. I'm starting to see that in the game. He makes shots more difficult than they should be, and honestly is not as good of a shooter as I originally thought he was. I worry about him being coachable moving forward.

- Is Briscoe the worst shooting guard Kentucky has had in the last 5-6 years? If he doesn't make a layup, he doesn't score. Good teams will plant his man in the paint on defense and essentially have an extra defender. He's a good defender, not great (yet), but could be a liability on the offensive end.

- Skal is what he is at this point. He has the laid-back personality of Poythress and the body of a 16 year-old female. That's not a good combination. Cal will either have to use him in a pick and pop game like UCLA did with their big man early in the game last night, or bench him. He can't compete down-low with big men in the SEC.

- In conclusion, I think we are a 4-6 loss team this year IF we come together and play with some sort of consistency. Ohio State will be tough, Kansas will beat us, and the SEC is better than we think. I think we can be a Sweet 16 team. This team IS better than the Archie Goodwin team, but unfortunately they are starting to remind me of them a little bit (and that was before the UCLA loss).

Thoughts?

 

[BlueBomb]

Don't disagree with you at all. It's interesting how we all felt that shooting was going to be our strong suit this year. But I don't see it...at least not consistently.

We look worse now because other teams thought we could shoot, played our guards up close and we used the dribble drive to perfection. But now, defenses sag and are really exploiting our weaknesses.

I also agree that Skal will get abused often in the SEC.

HOWEVER, this will still be a good team. Cal will make some adjustments. Skal will improve. Etc., etc. I see 6-8 losses.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Agree except Jamal.. But I seem to be the odd one out. What are people seeing bad about him? If anyone has a coaching/attitude problem, it's Skal. He always seems to have an apathetic pouty face on him.

Jamal kept us in that game with some 3-point shooting. He's unpolished, but he was trying to make it happen.

 

[ManitouDan]

I'd agree with that take OP .. We seem to be a very guardable team . Too easy to defend . Ulis can score but is a pass first , set others up type of PG , Murray can supply some O for sure , but who are we going to have to create double teams in the post to get open outside ? Not a single soul . We desperately needed an inside presence with Skal but that kid has got a looooong way to go . Alex cant score , Lee is not dependable with point production , Briscoe cant shoot . We are going to need O production from Mathews or Willis or this team is going to fall short of expectations ( meaning no FF , not a chance at 9 , may make an EE ? )

 

[JeffGoodmansVestigialTwin]

I agree with OP on almost everything. However I've never seen a 6'11 female

 

[gright]

I think most are overreacting due to our first loss in a hostile environment where we also got a fair amount of home cooking by the refs. What I did like about the loss is the fact that the team kept fighting and never seemed to give up. Sometimes a loss can help the coach get the teams attention better about areas they need to work on.

 

[etowncatfan]

A point to make is that even when we score it hasn't come easy. We are making some tough shots. That doesn't bode well IMO.

 

[Aike]

A 4-6 loss team is not a Sweet Sixteen team. That's an Elite Eight/Final Four team.

I disagree that Briscoe is a liability on offense. If he had a better stroke he would be a huge asset on that end. As is, he's a net positive because of his ability to get tough baskets. He's gritty.

I almost wonder at this point if we need Skal on the perimeter with the dribble drive, with either Poy or Lee playing the true offside post position. I would like to see what Skal looks like if given space on the perimeter to shoot a one dribble pull up.

In a perfect world though, we will develop Skal as a real post threat. Hopefully that perfect world exists somewhere in March.

Above all else, we need to stay healthy. If everybody plays, we will be a favorite against nearly anyone on a neutral court.

 

[blubo]

I agree with OP on almost everything. However I've never seen a 6'11 female[/QUOTE

 

[JeffGoodmansVestigialTwin]

Mother of God....

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

What's with the influx of captain obvious posts?

 

[JeffGoodmansVestigialTwin]

A 4-6 loss team is not a Sweet Sixteen team. That's an Elite Eight/Final Four team.

I disagree that Briscoe is a liability on offense. If he had a better stroke he would be a huge asset on that end. As is, he's a net positive because of his ability to get tough baskets. He's gritty.

I almost wonder at this point if we need Skal on the perimeter with the dribble drive, with either Poy or Lee playing the true offside post position. I would like to see what Skal looks like if given space on the perimeter to shoot a one dribble pull up.

In a perfect world though, we will develop Skal as a real post threat. Hopefully that perfect world exists somewhere in March.

Above all else, we need to stay healthy. If everybody plays, we will be a favorite against nearly anyone on a neutral court.

Yeah I didn't agree with that, 4-6 losses is almost always FF or NC barring a monumental upset.

 

[BostonCat2001]

A 4-6 loss team is not a Sweet Sixteen team. That's an Elite Eight/Final Four team.

I disagree that Briscoe is a liability on offense. If he had a better stroke he would be a huge asset on that end. As is, he's a net positive because of his ability to get tough baskets. He's gritty.

I almost wonder at this point if we need Skal on the perimeter with the dribble drive, with either Poy or Lee playing the true offside post position. I would like to see what Skal looks like if given space on the perimeter to shoot a one dribble pull up.

In a perfect world though, we will develop Skal as a real post threat. Hopefully that perfect world exists somewhere in March.

Above all else, we need to stay healthy. If everybody plays, we will be a favorite against nearly anyone on a neutral court.

YES!!!! been saying this for a while. skal needs to play 15-18 feet away from the basket facing up most of the time. yes he needs to be a presence down low, yes that will benefit his development. but he is not a back to the basket player. he isnt going to be that. at times, yes go to it. each and every play...no. thats not who he is. he is one of our best shooters...against a zone why have him on the block, pull him out. let alex/lee offensive rebound from the baseline.

 

[Teachable Moe]

Skal is what he is at this point. He has the laid-back personality of Poythress and the body of a 16 year-old female.

You know who else had the body of a 16 year old female?

 

[JeffGoodmansVestigialTwin]

You know who else had the body of a 16 year old female?

*Goodbye hooooorrrsssess*

 

[BBUK]

I can now see why the OP has zero likes. I can also..gulp...see where LEK is coming from....just a little bit.

 

[ZZBlueComet]

I'm tired of hearing how Poythress continuously needs to be kicked in the butt - "Alex needs to play" - I've heard that from Cal 100x it seems.

 

[Teachable Moe]

Calipari has committed himself to getting 19 year old kids reads for the NBA draft. That means developing skills that they might not have mastered yet, and playing roles that they aren't ready for. We may want that to coincide with our desire for NCAA titles, and Calipari won't actively nix that, but not at the expense of kids not getting ready for the NBA. So, if Skal is going to get drafted he's going to have to get used to playing down on the blocks. And the rest of the merry crew are going to have to learn other skills that the NBA demands. And learn then quick. I suspect that a good deal of falling on faces is going to happen this season while they put in their time.

 

[Poetax]

First, let me say that I am not one of those "Why ain't Polson gettin' playin' time, Matt Jones?" I'm educated, played basketball for many years, and never miss a UK game. That being said, here is my opinion on what I'm seeing from this team this year, and I want people to chip in and tell me what they think about my opinion.

- Tyler is probably our best all-around player when healthy. He has a high basketball IQ and finds crafty ways to score at his size. I do worry about his size as we approach conference play. I'm afraid he could be taken advantage of on defense.

- Jamal Murray seems to have a BIT of an attitude issue. Remember when Cal told Jamal to tell Cal when he thought he had taken a bad shot? Jamal, in three days of practice, never once thought he took a bad shot. I'm starting to see that in the game. He makes shots more difficult than they should be, and honestly is not as good of a shooter as I originally thought he was. I worry about him being coachable moving forward.

- Is Briscoe the worst shooting guard Kentucky has had in the last 5-6 years? If he doesn't make a layup, he doesn't score. Good teams will plant his man in the paint on defense and essentially have an extra defender. He's a good defender, not great (yet), but could be a liability on the offensive end.

- Skal is what he is at this point. He has the laid-back personality of Poythress and the body of a 16 year-old female. That's not a good combination. Cal will either have to use him in a pick and pop game like UCLA did with their big man early in the game last night, or bench him. He can't compete down-low with big men in the SEC.

- In conclusion, I think we are a 4-6 loss team this year IF we come together and play with some sort of consistency. Ohio State will be tough, Kansas will beat us, and the SEC is better than we think. I think we can be a Sweet 16 team. This team IS better than the Archie Goodwin team, but unfortunately they are starting to remind me of them a little bit (and that was before the UCLA loss).

Thoughts?

With what you posted I'm shocked that you think we can win 28-30 games this year.

 

[WildMoon]

I think your opinion is shit.

Way to focus just on negative. Amazed that you bashed on Briscoe...he scored 20 points highly efficiently last night. Plant his man on defense in the paint...like the defense UCLA did? you think keeping him wide open for midrange and he is going to miss them? When he has made them throughout the year...(Btw, he drove right into parker last night and got a lay up...he's damn strong he can push big centers back. You make it sound so easy to stop him from getting lay ups.)

Let's not overreact to last night!

1. Marcus Lee was injured. Even in 4 minutes he had 2 rebounds and 2 points. We got our asses whooped on the board. Had he stayed, we would have gotten at least 2-3 more easy buckets.

2. Ulis couldn't extend his arm, which is why we missed so many shots. He was supposed to be wearing a guard, and he didn't. I think he shouldn't have played.

3. Poythress because of above, played outside his game!!! When have we seen Poythress SHOOT so much? NEVER. This was him trying to be more than who he is, and that's something he has done better over the years of controlling. But when he was in the game, he did start asserting himself rebounding wise. Again, Lee and Poythress are our rebounder who averages more than 7. We both lost them, which got us torched by Welsh. Which reminded me of our last few years, where we play bad game but stay in the game because we get offensive rebound. That's what UCLA did to us, they played great game and out rebounded us.

 

[wildcatsboston1984]

Agree except Jamal.. But I seem to be the odd one out. What are people seeing bad about him? If anyone has a coaching/attitude problem, it's Skal. He always seems to have an apathetic pouty face on him.

Jamal kept us in that game with some 3-point shooting. He's unpolished, but he was trying to make it happen.

His 3 point shooting was mostly too little, too late.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Kind of. He hit 2 of them very early in the game and 2 of them very late in the game.

Btw, Murray is shooting 36% from the 3. And that includes a stat-wrecking 1-10 in NJIT, his 2nd game of the year..

Otherwise he's shooting 42% from the 3.

 

[brianpoe]

Kind of. He hit 2 of them very early in the game and 2 of them very late in the game.

Btw, Murray is shooting 36% from the 3. And that includes a stat-wrecking 1-10 in NJIT, his 2nd game of the year..

Otherwise he's shooting 42% from the 3.

Murray did look good at the end in that type of situation.

Should Cal loosen the reins on him? Can't believe I am saying this, but he may be one of those kids that needs to be free. We will have those 1-10 games from him but no way does he score 30 like Cal has said being so structured.

This may be one of those teams that simply does better running free on offense.

Briscoe could possibly be unleashed as well, and Skal obviously is not a traditional center and probably will not ever be.

I would never advocate leaning to a "street ball" mentality, but if we could run wide open on offense and still maintain defensive consistency could it work?

Having Tyler running the show would prevent all out AAU action.

I also think Poy would do much better with that style and Lee does well running as well. Would be fun to watch most games, could get killed in others...

Release the Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble show....?

 

[WallStar11]

Jamal came in late while the others were here during the summer. Chemistry isn't there yet. He's one of those kids who hasn't been coached hard yet before Cal.

 

[Ben101er]

First, let me say that I am not one of those "Why ain't Polson gettin' playin' time, Matt Jones?" I'm educated, played basketball for many years, and never miss a UK game. That being said, here is my opinion on what I'm seeing from this team this year, and I want people to chip in and tell me what they think about my opinion.

- Tyler is probably our best all-around player when healthy. He has a high basketball IQ and finds crafty ways to score at his size. I do worry about his size as we approach conference play. I'm afraid he could be taken advantage of on defense.

- Jamal Murray seems to have a BIT of an attitude issue. Remember when Cal told Jamal to tell Cal when he thought he had taken a bad shot? Jamal, in three days of practice, never once thought he took a bad shot. I'm starting to see that in the game. He makes shots more difficult than they should be, and honestly is not as good of a shooter as I originally thought he was. I worry about him being coachable moving forward.

- Is Briscoe the worst shooting guard Kentucky has had in the last 5-6 years? If he doesn't make a layup, he doesn't score. Good teams will plant his man in the paint on defense and essentially have an extra defender. He's a good defender, not great (yet), but could be a liability on the offensive end.


- Skal is what he is at this point. He has the laid-back personality of Poythress and the body of a 16 year-old female. That's not a good combination. Cal will either have to use him in a pick and pop game like UCLA did with their big man early in the game last night, or bench him. He can't compete down-low with big men in the SEC.

- In conclusion, I think we are a 4-6 loss team this year IF we come together and play with some sort of consistency. Ohio State will be tough, Kansas will beat us, and the SEC is better than we think. I think we can be a Sweet 16 team. This team IS better than the Archie Goodwin team, but unfortunately they are starting to remind me of them a little bit (and that was before the UCLA loss).

Thoughts?

I agree with your Skal assessment, but not sure I agree with that of Briscoe and Murray. Murray hit 5 of 11 from 3 last night, and Briscoe was 1 for 2. Why did you expect Murray to shoot better than 45% from 3 point range? And Briscoe being a liability on offense? The kid gets to the rim and finishes. There are some issues with this team, but they are not Ulis, Murray or Briscoe.

 

[KopiKat]

Mother of God....

Mother of that entire water cooler under her butt

 

[Blueaz]

I think most are overreacting due to our first loss in a hostile environment where we also got a fair amount of home cooking by the refs. What I did like about the loss is the fact that the team kept fighting and never seemed to give up. Sometimes a loss can help the coach get the teams attention better about areas they need to work on.

I don't think the posts in this threads above yours are over reactions. IMO an over reaction would be proclaiming the team can't improve

 

[USNNFOCAT]

I think Cal has a handle on it and all will be well. We will be in the hunt for # 9. We may not win it all but I think we're better than Sweet 16 material. Ulis limited, Lee out, POY & Murray not having their best game, short turn around from a tough game and a long trip to the left coast plus UCLA owed us one and played like. Not many teams are going to shoot like that on a regular basis. Remain calm, all is well.

 

[KopiKat]

There are some issues with this team, but they are not Ulis, Murray or Briscoe.

I think it wouldn't be wrong to say Briscoe has some issues but it would be bad wrong to say he is an issue. He is in the learning curve no differently that everybody else but he aint cheating on effort. Decision making? Yeah, that is going to get better.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

Briscoe is fine. He is shooting 52% from the field. His FT shooting will get better, and was better last night. He is not gonna be like Ulis and Murray from the FT line. He is not gonna be a good 3 point shooter either but that is ok as NO ONE is gonna be able to stop him from scoring inside.

Murray is not a bad shooter. He had one bad game where he shot 1/10 from 3 against NJIT and otherwise he is 15 of 35 from 3 this year for 43%. No, you cannot take away a game, but I'll take his sample size in the other 7 vs. the 1 game. He is also shooting 43% overall from the field taking away the NJIT game. Do people not remember how bad the Harrisons shot from the field? Murray is a clear upgrade over our guards last year with the exception of a streaky Booker who shot very well overall despite his flawed streaky-ness.

Ulis is also much better than his stats shooting wise. He is averaging 5 assists per game, and 91% from the foul line with 36 attempts.

Now to the less good...our front court is very mediocre as some of us might feared. Skal is inconsistent, Poy is inconsistent, Lee is inconsistent...we basically have a trio of WCS like guys who show up big some nights and disappear others. And remember my Ulis FT stat? He LEADS the team in attempts. He is a 5'9 PG. Our bigs need to attack the rim and get to the line more. Part of that is due to less playing time due to other issues, but still, we have to have more offensive firepower from our frontcourt.

People are overreacting to this loss, and that is fine. Ulis was not 100%, Lee got hurt, UCLA got the typical BS horse crap officiating a road game comes with (UK should never play a road game other than at UL every other year OOC IMIO), but UK did not shoot well enough, hustle enough, did not fight for 50/50 balls and the D sucked...so despite my excuses early UCLA outplayed UK and deserved the win. UK will win at Rupp next year, no doubt in my mind. On to the next one. I agree with the OP that we will lose at KU, at Vandy, at LSU (probably) and at A&M (probably).

 

[DoyleHargrave1]

Mother of God....

U would and you know it

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

First, let me say that I am not one of those "Why ain't Polson gettin' playin' time, Matt Jones?" I'm educated, played basketball for many years, and never miss a UK game. That being said, here is my opinion on what I'm seeing from this team this year, and I want people to chip in and tell me what they think about my opinion.

- Tyler is probably our best all-around player when healthy. He has a high basketball IQ and finds crafty ways to score at his size. I do worry about his size as we approach conference play. I'm afraid he could be taken advantage of on defense.

- Jamal Murray seems to have a BIT of an attitude issue. Remember when Cal told Jamal to tell Cal when he thought he had taken a bad shot? Jamal, in three days of practice, never once thought he took a bad shot. I'm starting to see that in the game. He makes shots more difficult than they should be, and honestly is not as good of a shooter as I originally thought he was. I worry about him being coachable moving forward.

- Is Briscoe the worst shooting guard Kentucky has had in the last 5-6 years? If he doesn't make a layup, he doesn't score. Good teams will plant his man in the paint on defense and essentially have an extra defender. He's a good defender, not great (yet), but could be a liability on the offensive end.

- Skal is what he is at this point. He has the laid-back personality of Poythress and the body of a 16 year-old female. That's not a good combination. Cal will either have to use him in a pick and pop game like UCLA did with their big man early in the game last night, or bench him. He can't compete down-low with big men in the SEC.

- In conclusion, I think we are a 4-6 loss team this year IF we come together and play with some sort of consistency. Ohio State will be tough, Kansas will beat us, and the SEC is better than we think. I think we can be a Sweet 16 team. This team IS better than the Archie Goodwin team, but unfortunately they are starting to remind me of them a little bit (and that was before the UCLA loss).

Thoughts?

Thoughts? It's crazy that you compare this team to 2013. That's what I thought after reading this post.

Skal is what he is at this point? Really? That is something you say after 2 years with a player. I could see you possibly saying that about Alex but saying that about a freshman after 8 games is flat out ridiculous.

Same about Murray. You are concerned that he can be coached? What? Are you serious?

Briscoe has been a beast on the defensive end and a pitbull on the other. He may struggle shooting but he makes up for it taking it to the rack. I don't care how a player scores as long as they score and he scored last night. Who cares if it's from jump shots or layups?

I'm sorry OP but you are way off base with this "assessment" of this team. Way off!

 

[Hopmix]

First, let me say that I am not one of those "Why ain't Polson gettin' playin' time, Matt Jones?" I'm educated, played basketball for many years, and never miss a UK game. That being said, here is my opinion on what I'm seeing from this team this year, and I want people to chip in and tell me what they think about my opinion.

- Tyler is probably our best all-around player when healthy. He has a high basketball IQ and finds crafty ways to score at his size. I do worry about his size as we approach conference play. I'm afraid he could be taken advantage of on defense.

- Jamal Murray seems to have a BIT of an attitude issue. Remember when Cal told Jamal to tell Cal when he thought he had taken a bad shot? Jamal, in three days of practice, never once thought he took a bad shot. I'm starting to see that in the game. He makes shots more difficult than they should be, and honestly is not as good of a shooter as I originally thought he was. I worry about him being coachable moving forward.

- Is Briscoe the worst shooting guard Kentucky has had in the last 5-6 years? If he doesn't make a layup, he doesn't score. Good teams will plant his man in the paint on defense and essentially have an extra defender. He's a good defender, not great (yet), but could be a liability on the offensive end.

- Skal is what he is at this point. He has the laid-back personality of Poythress and the body of a 16 year-old female. That's not a good combination. Cal will either have to use him in a pick and pop game like UCLA did with their big man early in the game last night, or bench him. He can't compete down-low with big men in the SEC.

- In conclusion, I think we are a 4-6 loss team this year IF we come together and play with some sort of consistency. Ohio State will be tough, Kansas will beat us, and the SEC is better than we think. I think we can be a Sweet 16 team. This team IS better than the Archie Goodwin team, but unfortunately they are starting to remind me of them a little bit (and that was before the UCLA loss).

Thoughts?

My opinion of your educated opinion is you didn't list not a single positive. There are a lot of them. They are a soft team right now. That's the only problem. It isn't talent. Sky is the limit. They just have to want it more than everyone else. Control their own destiny. Bottom line.

 

[ukypug]

Cal has a very tough job finding the perfect balance....

1. Preparing kids for the NBA by having them improve in areas in which they are not comfortable AND
2. Using the kids current skills to prepare them for a tourney run and making the team better NOW

Some years the balance is masterful. Both Teague and Towns come to mind. Both of them struggled in the beginning of the year but developed their games while helping their respective teams make deep tourney runs. A lot of posters on here were calling for Teague to be benched and Lamb take over the point. Cal stuck with Teague and developed him into a very good college point guard and won a national championship. Towns had little to no post up moves early on and just wanted to shoot jumpers but with coaching and effort, he developed into a post up machine by March. Now he is kicking ass in Minnesota.

Can Cal find that balance this year? He has my trust so I say Hell Yeah.

GBB

 

[Untouchables22]

There are a myriad of things to extrapolate out from the game last night. First I think we all took Lee for granted. He is easily our best rebounder and post defender. His absence was a huge deal on the rebounding side where Skal has 3 rebounds in the last 30 minutes of game time. Tyler was clearly not close to being 100% and our two lottery picks both played awful until Murray hit a couple garbage time 3's. AND YET we only lost by 10 in a game where we should have lost by 20 +. Looking at the stat's it is becoming obvious that we are a below average jump shooting team. This can be overcome schematically but Cal may need to go to more offensive sets and pick n roll's. This team at this point in the season outside of Ullis doesn't appear to be ready for a free flowing offense like the dribble drive. Also pick n roll's with Ullis and Murray would be ideal for Skal at this point because the pick n' pop is his best play. Finally this was the first game in 50 games where our opponents shot over 50% on us. If we can get back to playing defense like we did against Duke we have a chance to win against any other team in the country.

 

[CaliforniaCatFan58]

Briscoe is fine. He is shooting 52% from the field. His FT shooting will get better, and was better last night. He is not gonna be like Ulis and Murray from the FT line. He is not gonna be a good 3 point shooter either but that is ok as NO ONE is gonna be able to stop him from scoring inside.

Murray is not a bad shooter. He had one bad game where he shot 1/10 from 3 against NJIT and otherwise he is 15 of 35 from 3 this year for 43%. No, you cannot take away a game, but I'll take his sample size in the other 7 vs. the 1 game. He is also shooting 43% overall from the field taking away the NJIT game. Do people not remember how bad the Harrisons shot from the field? Murray is a clear upgrade over our guards last year with the exception of a streaky Booker who shot very well overall despite his flawed streaky-ness.

Ulis is also much better than his stats shooting wise. He is averaging 5 assists per game, and 91% from the foul line with 36 attempts.

Now to the less good...our front court is very mediocre as some of us might feared. Skal is inconsistent, Poy is inconsistent, Lee is inconsistent...we basically have a trio of WCS like guys who show up big some nights and disappear others. And remember my Ulis FT stat? He LEADS the team in attempts. He is a 5'9 PG. Our bigs need to attack the rim and get to the line more. Part of that is due to less playing time due to other issues, but still, we have to have more offensive firepower from our frontcourt.

People are overreacting to this loss, and that is fine. Ulis was not 100%, Lee got hurt, UCLA got the typical BS horse crap officiating a road game comes with (UK should never play a road game other than at UL every other year OOC IMIO), but UK did not shoot well enough, hustle enough, did not fight for 50/50 balls and the D sucked...so despite my excuses early UCLA outplayed UK and deserved the win. UK will win at Rupp next year, no doubt in my mind. On to the next one. I agree with the OP that we will lose at KU, at Vandy, at LSU (probably) and at A&M (probably).

You my friend, are correct on each point, and a voice of reason. This team may lose a few games...but they will be fine.