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Topic: 7 Things I Was Wrong About Regarding the 2013-2014 Team

Topic: 7 Things I Was Wrong About Regarding the 2013-2014 Team

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Chicken George
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Member Since: 1/2/2005
Post Count: 765

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7 Things I Was Wrong About Regarding the 2013-2014 Team

Posted: 3/27/2014 12:30:58 AM

Been following the Cats every game of the year for many years now and I don't recall a year such as this one. When you follow a team 12 months a year, as closely as I do, you kind of feel you have a pulse for what's going on. This year, I was wrong on just about every assumption. Here are a few:

1. While being my "Favorite Bobcat" I never thought Nick was anything more than a solid spot-up shooter, who was fundamentally sound, but limited in what he could do.   Never thought he could be a primary scorer, who when guarded tightly at the 3 point line could find alternative ways to score. I WAS WRONG. Nick developed into a player this year I never thought he could be.

2. Likewise, I thought Travis Wilkins was better suited to play at someplace like Marietta College, or in the OAC. I often referred to him as a "Shooting Specialist, Who Couldn't Shoot All That Well in Games (great in practice and warm-ups)." I WAS WRONG. When called upon, Travis showed he had game and greatly surpassed my expectations.

3. I thought Cambell and Monpremier were "projects" that may never materialize and if they did, it would be a couple years down the road. Watching them in the season, I kept flashing back to Ethan Jacobs. I WAS WRONG. While the jury is still out on Wadley, Campbell showed he has Leon Wiliams'ish type potential moving forward.   We haven't had that in awhile and we saw glmpses of that potential down the stretch. He could be/and probably will be, very good moving forward. Maybe not Leon, but maybe very good.

4. After all the preseason hype regarding "Bean," I was totally disappointed in him the first 1/2-3/5th of the season. Thought he'd probably walk at this end of this season and go down as a major bust. I WAS WRONG. While there are still parts of his game I don't love, he really stepped up big when Stevie went down and the ending of this season would've been much different had he not stepped up in ways most of us didn't think possible after what we had witnessed up until that point.

5. As with "Bean," I was totally lost on the Setty scholarship for most of season. A good athlete, with high energy, who wasn't necessarily a good basketball player and had one of the uglier shots I'd ever seen in DI. Once again, when provided the opportuntiy late in the season I realized, I WAS WRONG. While I still don't see him being a starter for a team that can win a MAC Championship and make a run in the NCAA's, I do now think he can be a valuable role player. We also know he's going to be wildly popular and a crowd favorite due to the energy and passion he brings to the court. Who knows, maybe he can polish his offensive game and have a higher ceiling then I envision, but he's added to the list of pleasant late season surprises I ddin't envision the first dozen+ times I saw him play.

6. Coming into the season, I thought it was a foregone conclusion that Stevie would back up "Bean." Stevie would always be a back-up while at Ohio and never trusted with the keys to the team. I WAS WRONG. Especially at the Ohio State game and other moments throughout when he was healthy, he had a firm hold on the starting point guard position and earned the spot. He showed many glimpses that he could be the lead conductor. Will be interesting to now see who starts next year at the point? He matured greatly throughout the first half of the season and hope he can build on that heading into next year.

7. And by far my biggest frustration during the season was N'Dour. Within a few games I thought (and posted) that this guy would dominate the MAC. I thought he could carry this Ohio team and if he got hot at the right time, could carry a team into the NCAA Tournament and be one of the Cinderella darlings of the tournament. I thought he was one of those guys who could, on the right night, drop 30 on Akron or drop 30-40 in a first round upset in the NCAA Tournament. I thought he could have clips on "One Shining Moment." I WAS WRONG.   I thought the only way this team does anything this year is if Mo carried them there. In that I was kind of right as I didn't think the rest of the team, without a huge contribution from Mo, had much of an upside.   When I saw this wasn't going to materialize, for the first time in many years I made alternative plans for the week of the NCAA Tournament realizing Ohio probably wasn't going and Mo wasn't going to be the guy I thought he could be on this team. I'm lost for what happened here? Was it his back? Was it his unwillingness to consistently play in the paint with physical guys seeing as though he prefers to play the wing and face the basket even though in a league like the MAC he could dominate inside? Was it that he had a disconnect with his teammates in that they were unwilling to feature him in the offense (honestly, I thought I saw that tonight in that despite only missing 1 shot from the field all evening it appeared everyone wanted their turn to get their shot and didn't want to keep feeding him even though VMI had no answer for him). Was it that he had a disconnect with JC and the offensive sets didn't consistenly feature running the offense through Mo? Was it all of these?    While I was pleasantly surprised and wrong on most of what I expected all season long, the only disappointment was that I thought N'Dour would be much more special than what he was. Don't get me wrong, I still think this could happen next year, but I think we highly under utlized him this year (or I highly overvalued him--and I still do). Maybe I'm wrong again and what we saw this year is all we should expect moving forward and I'll still take it as he's very valuable. But something tells me that in the right situation, Mo at 100% does much more than he did this year.

Overall, another great year of twists and turns. I hate the thought of the long stretch between now and the start of next season. But as much as I hate it, it was time. Time to put the ribbon on another season and look forward to more surprises in the seasons to come. I love my Ohio Hoops!

Monroe Slavin
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Oxnard, CA
Post Count: 9,121

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RE: 7 Things I Was Wrong About Regarding the 2013-2014 Team

Posted: 3/27/2014 12:54:54 AM

Great post, C George. Nice to see that you can learn, reconsider. For me, too many people get locked into their way of thinking here...which helps no one.

I think that Nature Boy had to work inside--who else did we have (espec on offense)--but proved he could be effective outside and facing the basket. That seemed to leave him with too many roles to have one distinct role perhaps. He has a lot of potential. I hope he gains 20 lbs, works really hard on post moves and beating guys to the rim on one dribble from 12-18 feet. He made many nice passes off drives this year. Keep working at it Mo!

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TheGreatLarryMoe
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Member Since: 2/27/2005
Location: Malta, OH
Post Count: 68

Status: Offline

RE: 7 Things I Was Wrong About Regarding the 2013-2014 Team

Posted: 3/27/2014 7:50:54 AM

When this season began I thought it would be a rebuilding year and the Cats would not make the postseason, especially after losing so much talent. The only starter we had coming back was Nick. Mo's back issues were well documented, Stevie hadn't yet shown he could start, and we had several young guys who hadn't gotten much, if any, pt. I saw Travis and TJ as role players coming off the bench. I didn't think this team had the depth to make a run in the postseason. I was very wrong about that.

In January/February when our starters started to go down with injuries, our young players such as Tony, Treg, and Bean stepped up their games and carried the team. Even Wadley started showing improvement when called upon late in the season. Speaking of carrying the team, Stevie proved right off the bat he could do just that. I was also very impressed with Ric's play early in the year. It's too bad he had to end his Bobcat career with an injury.

Jon had a very good 4 years. I wish him well wherever life takes him. Congratulations to Nick on his record-setting career. He is truly one of the greatest I've seen in a Bobcats jersey.

Congratulations to all of our seniors. They were all fun to watch and will be greatly missed.

Lastly, I am every excited with the talent we have coming back. Mo and Stevie will be healthy again, and hopefully stay that way. Tony and Bean will be much more improved than they are even now. I can't wait to see our incoming players. Next season has the potential to be a very good year. I'll be looking forward to seeing this team play again.

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