A combination of good and bad.
Good:
--This team has heart. You can't coach heart.
--The shooting averages are up from last year. Manuel and Dorsey are a big plus here. Maybe we can avoid those awful prolonged scoring droughts we sometimes had last year.
--The rotation seems set. Anderson is our other big. I think he has a big upside. By the tournament, he will be playing like a sophomore.
--Manuel is better than I thought he'd be.
Bad:
--These dreadful starts, a la last year against Georgia State and UCSB. Basketball is war, especially for inner-city kids. It's a full-on, in-your-face-disgrace ego-trip, right from the opening tip. Draymond Green? A rattlesnake on amphetamines.
Our kids? I've often felt they reflect Montanans in general, their friendliness and western-gentleman code of ethics. It's as if our kids approach some games like backyard croquet or a friendly game of golf. Once they've been kicked in the balls and their noses bloodied, they begin to fight like hell. But start a fight? Not our kids. They're just too nice. They need to put more venom into these games right from the start--not at halftime. I mean, when this team, with its defensive prowess, gives up 60% shooting, you have to say, they just weren't ready to play.
--Injuries. Here we go again. Last year Dorsey, this year Akoh and maybe Falls. When you're a Montana, and you fancy yourself taking on the big-boys of college basketball, you have a razor-thin margin for injuries. Power Five conferences might have the depth. But this year, we do not. I hope we can get healthy again, and this doesn't become a season-long issue.