* Very impressive win for the Cats tonight. Any win is a good win, and any win over Duke is a great win. We learned a lot about the Cats tonight - strengths and weaknesses.
* Let's give Cal some kudos here. He has a completely different team than last year. He has a completely different team every year for that matter. To be able to take this current team and have them play a completely different way from last year is very impressive. Kudos to Cal.
* The thing I may be most impressed about tonight is the conditioning of this team. Duke plays very hard, but the Cats wore them down physically and mentally at times. Ulis played the entire game at that pace (wow) and Murray was close behind. The Cats speed and quickness is a team strength that teams are going to have to deal with. Cal recognizes that this team has transition ability and smarts and at least tonight they showed that they are in great physical condition, not-withstanding the cramps that Briscoe dealt with.
* Our guards are really good basketball players and fun to watch. They understand the game, play under control, and don't appear to get rattled. Very competitive approach to the game, put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses. Duke played man-to-man defense a lot tonight, I am guessing the Cats are going to see a lot of zone this year because chasing our guards around is not going to be an easy task.
* Our bigs are also a fairly fast bunch and run the floor well. We lack bulk, which has already been identified as an area where the Cats are vulnerable this year. To reach team goals, we need Alex and Lee to play more physical and rebound better than perhaps they themselves think they can. Skal is very talented and is going to get a lot better as the year goes along, but I don't think he blocked out anybody all night long (by the way, his 5th foul appeared to be a joke to me). Pleased with what Humphries brought to the game tonight - he will contribute. Willis will be fine and Matthews will contribute spot minutes.
* Up Next: Cats vs. Wright State on Friday night. Looking forward to seeing how this team prepares and gets ready for each game and whether they come with that workman like approach to every game or not.
* Let's give Cal some kudos here. He has a completely different team than last year. He has a completely different team every year for that matter. To be able to take this current team and have them play a completely different way from last year is very impressive. Kudos to Cal.
* The thing I may be most impressed about tonight is the conditioning of this team. Duke plays very hard, but the Cats wore them down physically and mentally at times. Ulis played the entire game at that pace (wow) and Murray was close behind. The Cats speed and quickness is a team strength that teams are going to have to deal with. Cal recognizes that this team has transition ability and smarts and at least tonight they showed that they are in great physical condition, not-withstanding the cramps that Briscoe dealt with.
* Our guards are really good basketball players and fun to watch. They understand the game, play under control, and don't appear to get rattled. Very competitive approach to the game, put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses. Duke played man-to-man defense a lot tonight, I am guessing the Cats are going to see a lot of zone this year because chasing our guards around is not going to be an easy task.
* Our bigs are also a fairly fast bunch and run the floor well. We lack bulk, which has already been identified as an area where the Cats are vulnerable this year. To reach team goals, we need Alex and Lee to play more physical and rebound better than perhaps they themselves think they can. Skal is very talented and is going to get a lot better as the year goes along, but I don't think he blocked out anybody all night long (by the way, his 5th foul appeared to be a joke to me). Pleased with what Humphries brought to the game tonight - he will contribute. Willis will be fine and Matthews will contribute spot minutes.
* Up Next: Cats vs. Wright State on Friday night. Looking forward to seeing how this team prepares and gets ready for each game and whether they come with that workman like approach to every game or not.
