CurveItAround

I hope the WR's throwback jerseys for next year have an orange stripe down the middle of the jerseys that look like end zone pilons.

So which one of CJ, Alzee, or TJ do you see him beating out on a consistent basis Mr Barnum? Oh no, how will we ever replace a 5'8" guard? I wish he would not have left, especially after we invested so many minutes in him that could have gone elsewhere, but he is a nomad with a chip on his shoulder.

I hope that is a sign that PJ thinks the guys we have are better than he is and that he wasn't likely to beat them out next season.

That was certainly tongue in cheek, but recently just shows the potential when these kids really put forth the effort for an entire game and what could have been all season long. I certainly don't attribute the recent improvement to Benford suddenly becoming that much better if a coach...

I think the biggest frustration has been watching players like TM, and others, this season visibly show lack of effort. Certainly that was triggered by a new staff that implemented new ideas. These new ideas and approach now seem to have been in conflict with the inflated view of some players self worth over the summer And an attitude of 'why should I listen to this new coach, I have done pretty well doing things the old way'. After a couple of early losses, the lack of commitment and buy in to the new staff was visibly evident on the court. Players not hustling, not closing out on defense, not helping out when a player got beat, lack of flow and sharing the ball on offense, stamping one's feet and flailing arms when the ball doesn't come to you, etc... Through all of this the staff seems to have learned a few things about the players as well as themselves and made a few improvements. The staff also seems to have held firm with the players and doled out discipline when needed. A few key players seem to be finally buying in, unfortunately it took a lot longer than one would have hoped, but it is obvious when personal agendas are set aside, there is a tremendous amount of talent on this team as evidenced by the easy dismantling of the western division champs the other night. The odds are stacked against them, but hopefully this team can continue its recent momentum. I would like to see them at least have a chance to play MT.

Wow. Benford really has the team hitting on all cylinders. I guess him standing up to the players earlier in the season, holding them accountable and sitting them at certain points is finally getting through to these young men. It is as if the players are finally starting to accept their roles and responsibilities, along with some improvement by Benford as well

Stupid is as stupid does. Growing us is hard to do. Time to make some grown up decisions TM. One of the most immature players I have seen in some time. A shame that much physical talent was paired with such a mental midget.

Except for the part where the players that have already signed refuse/are instructed not to play their senior year for fear of injury.

Or maybe just the big house.

When I try to do the math, I come up with this: A 2-1 series gets us roughly $500,000 gross from our 1 home game (not sure what we make per home game, but I think $500k is being very generous) and 3 money games get us $3mm gross and means only 1 fewer home game. So if we go for the 2-1, we would be basically paying (opportunity cost) $2.5mm to have a big name team come in our place and beat us. It seems fairly obvious why the money games stay on the schedule, plus the coaches have said the players really look forward to them.

So let me get this straight, we are arguing over whether or not Mac should get fired for a season that hasn't been played and losses that haven't occurred? We have...issues.

What is it so impossible to grasp that they are paying us to come play? No different than LSU, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Whorns, etc... We are not doing them some favor by agreeing to go play them at their place twice for nothing in return. It is not a 2 for none. We are getting paid. I would guess in the neighborhood of $1mm per game, but have not seen the contracts. I am actually kind of excited at the potential that we will get paid to play by a team that is not a perennial top 10 team and we may have an outside shot at beating.

Why does this kid think he can get away with constantly writing negative stuff about the school and running the athletic programs down? It's not like he is an award winning GMG poster.

I agree that Mac had the option of signing some JUCOS in his first couple of classes to replace outgoing JUCOS. When he chose not to, it created a hole in last year's team with juniors and seniors on the team. With this year's class, we are instantly adding 5 incoming juniors from JUCO and 2 incoming juniors from xfers plus 1 sophmore (Berglund) via xfer. It will definitely give us more upperclassmen that will be expected to play right away that if those same scholarships would have been used on HS recruits that would have likely redshirted. With this being Mac's 3rd year, I think he has targeted this as a key year from the beginning and is trying to have as many options as possible, which is why it makes sense to try to add some instant upper classmen to the HS recruits he has been molding over the last couple of years into upper classmen. Personally, I get the feeling that there is a sense of urgency within the staff to get it done this year and next. I believe there has been a concerted effort to position this team for its best opportunity to win in the next two years (3rd and 4th of Mac's tenure). A lot will be riding on the next couple of years. I am certainly pulling for them to be successful. The approach of adding upper classmen in the 3rd and 4th years of a coach's tenure is hardly an original idea. I like a lot of the pieces that have been added in advance of next season. Let's just hope this crop of players and coaches can get it done.

...a green light to greatness.