My take: this year's team will be better than last year's team. Last year's team doesn't beat them by 30-something. They might have scored 20 more points, but they'd have given up 30.
The defense was very good, especially for the 1st game. They kept the ball largely out of the middle of the floor and the help defense was much improved over last year. They defended without fouling, committing just 11 (I think) fouls during the game. They didn't particularly shoot the ball well but were able to get points in the offense, going to the basket. They scored a lot in the lane, even from their guards, and from the FT line.
This is a deep, athletic, long team. They're going to rebound well with the 3 big guys and their guards are also long and athletic (James, Odomes, Bieniemy). They have a ton of experience, confidence, and composure. The fact that so many are experienced seniors will help them take care of the ball, be composed in late game & short shot clock situations, and in keeping the team out of foul trouble.
McNeace was fantastic. In the past he's been prone to acting quickly and making mistakes and every time he got the ball in the post he was calm and composed, confident that he owned the lane.
Finally, to those who complain about ... whatever, it's important to remember that a lot of guys who won't play many minutes played a lot of minutes and the starters played only half the game. This team is solid 9 deep and there aren't many teams in the conference that can say that.
Oh yeah, Kuath is ready to make an impact. He may average 2 points a game and still be a guy who changes any game. I fully believe this is an NCAA team who has a better chance to win at least 1 tournament game than last year's team. This is a better team than TY's team. I don't know who will score when the game is on the line but they'll figure it out. This team is good. That's what I learned.
