bball_backer
Well-known member
After the game tonight Ubel said something that I think gives us some great insight to the workings of this team now compared to last year. Brandon said Lance is the undoubted leader of this team and what he said he next really struck me. Remember last year (and most years under Doc) the crazy substition methods, specifically the way Doc yanked anyone no matter what if they made just one little mistake? Ubel said the difference this year is that if someone blows an assignment, Lance will immediately let them know what they did wrong out there on the court. Last year Doc had to pull guys out, tell them what they did wrong and how to fix it, and then put them back in the game. Ubel said that killed the guys' ability to get in a rhythym but with Lance this year guys can stay on the court and find their rythym. Maybe I'm alone here, but I think knowing that is just fascinating and helps explain so much of what's going on both this year and what happened last year.
One other thing I found interesting was a comment Doc made in his postgame show. KP asked about the ability of the players to learn a completely new defensive plan in a matter of two days (comparing what they did at KU to what they did tonight). Doc said the bottom line is experience. Last year his teams were overwhelmed with such an undertaking, this year they are able to handle it. This excites me. Doc can design a great gameplan. The way this team kept CU's guards out of the lane and off the free throw line was masterful. I read in the CU thread someone said they didn't like this game plan because it was opening up the 3 ball for CU... but this plan was great. Coming in to the night, CU had MADE 50 more free throws than NU had ATTEMPTED and was 34-39 in their OSU game. Limiting CU to so few trips to the line was crucial. I'd much rather have a team shoot 30 3's (which CU did) than shoot 40 free throws. The fact that these kids are able to do what Doc wants them to really bodes well for the rest of the season. Exciting stuff.
One other thing I found interesting was a comment Doc made in his postgame show. KP asked about the ability of the players to learn a completely new defensive plan in a matter of two days (comparing what they did at KU to what they did tonight). Doc said the bottom line is experience. Last year his teams were overwhelmed with such an undertaking, this year they are able to handle it. This excites me. Doc can design a great gameplan. The way this team kept CU's guards out of the lane and off the free throw line was masterful. I read in the CU thread someone said they didn't like this game plan because it was opening up the 3 ball for CU... but this plan was great. Coming in to the night, CU had MADE 50 more free throws than NU had ATTEMPTED and was 34-39 in their OSU game. Limiting CU to so few trips to the line was crucial. I'd much rather have a team shoot 30 3's (which CU did) than shoot 40 free throws. The fact that these kids are able to do what Doc wants them to really bodes well for the rest of the season. Exciting stuff.
