Reflecting on the incredible run so far
Mar 24, 2021 12:22:28 GMT -8
seastape, gameday, and 4 more like this
Post by beaverstever on Mar 24, 2021 12:22:28 GMT -8
Just reflecting on how amazing our men's team played in the first round. After watching our women struggle in the 2nd round against an extremely athletic South Carolina team, I'm even more amazed that our men's team never blinked.
Tenn is ranked #26 in scoring defense against a SOS of 58. They are a team that tries to suffocate you with their athleticism on defense. The way we went out and attacked them in that first half was really incredible. The ramped it up in the 2nd half as high as they could, and because we were so effective in the first half, it just wasn't enough.
OKState does not have the same history of defensive stats, but they had similar length and athleticism to Tenn, and they also tried to use their athleticism on both ends to overwhelm us. Having a 6'8" athletic PG is extremely problematic to defend against. Again, because we took it to them from the get-go, we never blinked. Additionally, to shoot FTs they way we did in that game, something that can easily fall apart on the big stage, was super impressive. This team has been just so mentally tough; coaches often talk about learning to win, and they do not have any great history to fall back on to give them the confidence they had, they had to just go out believing anyway that they were up to the task. It's one thing for a team to do that with a history of success; it's another thing for first-timers to the postseason to just go do it. Simply incredible.
Now they get a team that is top-ranked for scoring defense, but against a #130 SOS. That SOS may not matter, as they've continued that dominance against very good teams. However, they aren't a physically overwhelming team, they are a smart, aggressive team that can put our offense out of sync in many different ways. But given the mental toughness our team has displayed so far, I expect them to put up a big fight once again.
Tenn is ranked #26 in scoring defense against a SOS of 58. They are a team that tries to suffocate you with their athleticism on defense. The way we went out and attacked them in that first half was really incredible. The ramped it up in the 2nd half as high as they could, and because we were so effective in the first half, it just wasn't enough.
OKState does not have the same history of defensive stats, but they had similar length and athleticism to Tenn, and they also tried to use their athleticism on both ends to overwhelm us. Having a 6'8" athletic PG is extremely problematic to defend against. Again, because we took it to them from the get-go, we never blinked. Additionally, to shoot FTs they way we did in that game, something that can easily fall apart on the big stage, was super impressive. This team has been just so mentally tough; coaches often talk about learning to win, and they do not have any great history to fall back on to give them the confidence they had, they had to just go out believing anyway that they were up to the task. It's one thing for a team to do that with a history of success; it's another thing for first-timers to the postseason to just go do it. Simply incredible.
Now they get a team that is top-ranked for scoring defense, but against a #130 SOS. That SOS may not matter, as they've continued that dominance against very good teams. However, they aren't a physically overwhelming team, they are a smart, aggressive team that can put our offense out of sync in many different ways. But given the mental toughness our team has displayed so far, I expect them to put up a big fight once again.
