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Dawkins' team again dominates on boards, defensively, scoring balance

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UCFProf

Golden Knight
Nov 13, 2011
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Anybody see a pattern developing here:
Huge rebounding edge, averaging 54 rebounds.
Held good-shooting opponents to low shooting percentages.
Double figure selfless scoring for starters (Banyard just missed with 8 tonight).
Finding the open guy: averaging 17.5 assists (and 6 fewer turnovers: only 10 tonight).
Holding on to a lead and building it, instead of panicking and folding like Jones' teams.
An "attitude" without the swagger that tells the world they know they're the real deal.

Tacko averaging over 20 points, 3.5 blocks, and among the leaders in rebounding.
 
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Tacko keeps improving and BJ Taylor is the man at the point. Tank has been a huge surprise too. Our team is much better than I thought we would be. I wrote off this season as rebuilding.
 
firm_bizzle said:
Still lacking depth.
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We had our greatest depth ever last year, and it was worth absolution zero!
Only team chemistry, drive, and ability matter.
The only time depth matters is when you're diving into the shallow end of the pool.
 
Amazing what a coach who may know what he is doing, can do with talent. I loved the effort I saw yesterday. Could we see team basketball again, finally? I can hardly recall the last time we played like a team...it's been that long. Finally, no dribbling around and just chucking up a shot at the end of the clock. It's a very welcome sight.
 
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Whats the deal with Davis, McSpadden, and the freshman waiting on eligibility? We could use any of them
 
AJ has a broken hand. He is expected to be back in December.

McSpadden - Does anyone have an update on him?

Did we sign any freshman last signing period? I just know we got a handful of transfers for next season.
 
G-Knight said:
AJ has a broken hand. He is expected to be back in December.

McSpadden - Does anyone have an update on him?

Did we sign any freshman last signing period? I just know we got a handful of transfers for next season.
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I think McSpadden tore his ACL in June. He might be back in January but most likely not.
 
UCFProf said:
We had our greatest depth ever last year, and it was worth absolution zero!.
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What are you rambling about?

UCF was down 2 scholarships last year (Goodwin's when he was kicked out of the program in early summer and the loss of BJ Taylor for the entire season).

While that depth looks GREAT compared to now....no...last year was not the greatest depth ever...as some years UCF had 13 eligible scholarship players...but that was before UCF was put on NCAA sanctions.

Hopefully NEXT year, UCF will have at least 12 healthy/eligible scholarship players...maybe even 13 (even though Dawkins might use one scholarship on a transfer who has to sit out since depth should be pretty good).
 
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G-Knight said:
AJ has a broken hand. He is expected to be back in December.

McSpadden - Does anyone have an update on him?

Did we sign any freshman last signing period? I just know we got a handful of transfers for next season.
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As fb noted, everything has to go right with McSpadden for him to play this year (and/or even want to play...which might only be a half a year...while if he redshirts, he would get an entire extra year of eligibility).

Dawkins let all 3 HS signees by Jones out of their scholarships, and in addition to signing the 4 transfer players who are sitting out this year, he did sign Ceasar DeJesus, but the NCAA has not cleared him yet due to some sketchy academic information from either his HS and/or Prep School.

Just bad timing signing a high academic risk when you know you are going to be severely short handed this season.

Meanwhile, enjoy the first 2 wins and hopefully a 3rd one tonight.
 
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Ok so really our only hope is Davis healing his hand. At least he won't be out all year. For god's sake bring in some more walkons
 
Well, KL has reappeared as insider expert. Yeah, next year is our big year, but not this year. Last year had no depth. Depth is all that matters. Here's the facts and counter arguments:
  • Dawkins himself said he has high hopes of DeJesus getting cleared to play (like Tacko was)
  • Chance is back practicing, so we'll have to wait and see
  • Banyard has fit in seamlessly in all phases of the game and rebounding vacuum cleaner
  • Teamwork, leadership, and energy best UCF fans have seen
  • B J went from lost in the first half against Nichols to becoming a real point guard the last 3 halves
  • Tank, a Tasmanian devil last season, worked hard like Isaiah to successfully channel that energy
  • Tacko is looking more and more like a lottery pick in next spring's draft (who could pass on him?)
  • Stanford's loss is our gain: Dawkins is the real deal, as are the high quality assistants he hired
  • This year AND next will both be exciting years with unlimited potential. Hold onto your hats!
 
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its only been 2 games- im curious to see how they do in AAC play. Even dating back to the Jordan, Rompza, Spurlock, Clanton days- they always played well out of conference. In conference will show who they truly are.
 
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Come on guys. Don't get too excited. Miss St. is VERY young and barely beat Norfolk State. Off to a good start, but haven't really faced anyone just yet. UMass will be the first real test.
 
EngAlum98 said:
Come on guys. Don't get too excited. Miss St. is VERY young and barely beat Norfolk State. Off to a good start, but haven't really faced anyone just yet. UMass will be the first real test.
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Uh, Miss St. got 4 votes this week in the AP poll. They had the #3 recruiting class in the nation.
Heck with U. Mass. We play a solid 3-0 Charleston at home tonight, and if we somehow manage to win that, UCF goes up against the defending national champ #3 ranked Villanova on Sunday.
As I've said before, Frost did wonders without much, but football's just the appetizer for UCF fans this year. Dawkins starts out with top-notch, experienced talent. Jones was a good recruiter but didn't know how to coach it.
 
UCFProf said:
Uh, Miss St. got 4 votes this week in the AP poll. They had the #3 recruiting class in the nation.
Heck with U. Mass. We play a solid 3-0 Charleston at home tonight, and if we somehow manage to win that, UCF goes up against the defending national champ #3 ranked Villanova on Sunday.
As I've said before, Frost did wonders without much, but football's just the appetizer for UCF fans this year. Dawkins starts out with top-notch, experienced talent. Jones was a good recruiter but didn't know how to coach it.
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I agree with your last statement, but receiving votes early in the season means squat. Same with recruiting class if several aren't playing.
When we get by Charleston, Nova will wipe the floors with us.
 
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EngAlum98 said:
I agree with your last statement, but receiving votes early in the season means squat. Same with recruiting class if several aren't playing.
When we get by Charleston, Nova will wipe the floors with us.
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Will be tough beating Charleston. Nova wasn't getting much respect before season began.
As far as recruiting classes, in basketball that just ain't so. Kentucky starts most all frosh every year. And Miss St has one of the top coaches in America.
Lastly, Dawkins is a proven coach. Bet you wouldn't say such things about newbie Frost's team.
 
UCFProf said:
Will be tough beating Charleston. Nova wasn't getting much respect before season began.
As far as recruiting classes, in basketball that just ain't so. Kentucky starts most all frosh every year. And Miss St has one of the top coaches in America.
Lastly, Dawkins is a proven coach. Bet you wouldn't say such things about newbie Frost's team.
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Kentucky brings in 5 5-star frosh and can play them because they don't worry about academic ineligibility. In contrast, MissSt brings in 6 4-star frosh and has one ineligible for the season and one injured plus only 2 upper classmen. It will take a while for that team to click.
And yes, I say the same things about Frost. The team hasn't beaten anyone with a winning record yet and probably won't this season. But last season was so bad, everyone will overlook that. It's nice to get hyped up, but we won't know where we truly are for a couple of years. Think of this as "Preseason Polls".

P.S. Let me add to that, I never EVER liked DJ.
 
EngAlum98 said:
Kentucky brings in 5 5-star frosh and can play them because they don't worry about academic ineligibility. In contrast, MissSt brings in 6 4-star frosh and has one ineligible for the season and one injured plus only 2 upper classmen. It will take a while for that team to click.
And yes, I say the same things about Frost. The team hasn't beaten anyone with a winning record yet and probably won't this season. But last season was so bad, everyone will overlook that. It's nice to get hyped up, but we won't know where we truly are for a couple of years. Think of this as "Preseason Polls".
P.S. Let me add to that, I never EVER liked DJ.
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Keith, B.J., Tacko, Rompza, Kennedy started from day one. None of them were 5 stars. Taylor, Sykes, Jordan took several games to get much playing time. Miss. St. also had two great players returning and some journeymen.

I just get tired of the automatic response that our teams have to earn fan's attention, as if we're buying toothpaste or a laptop or picking out fantasy teams. The year we were ranked and started the season 14-0, I still heard mostly so-whats. As a result, most fans miss sharing how the team got there, and aren't present to pack the house for any home court advantage. Buying in these days to a candidate, a relationship, or a favorite team is so rare today because its much safer not to risk making a commitment and having your heart broken.
 
When I was in school we had some great attendance. Upwards of 9k I think we can get back to that if excitement goes up.
 
To think depth will not be an issue is absolutely absurd. Yes, we have a great upgrade at coach and it looks like we are playing defense with a passion, but playing a full season with 6/7 guys will be a grind. It's the last 1/3 of the season which will be tough on this team.
Right now we have only 6 productive players. 7 with AJ coming back. Someone is likely to get banged up over the long haul and we're back to only 6.
Ideally, you want 8 productive players and we are not getting that this year.

Unless we are in the hunt for the post season, I don't see McSpadden coming back this year.
 
rd14ital said:
To think depth will not be an issue is absolutely absurd. Yes, we have a great upgrade at coach and it looks like we are playing defense with a passion, but playing a full season with 6/7 guys will be a grind. It's the last 1/3 of the season which will be tough on this team.
Right now we have only 6 productive players. 7 with AJ coming back. Someone is likely to get banged up over the long haul and we're back to only 6.
Ideally, you want 8 productive players and we are not getting that this year.

Unless we are in the hunt for the post season, I don't see McSpadden coming back this year.
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Guess we should just fold up shop and concede. Oh, wait. Maybe this is the best UCF team ever? Yes, that's the ticket. Chad Brown hardly played at all til the end last year, so he's still a work in progress. He has all the physical tools and he'll get lots of playing time to grow.
 
rd14ital said:
To think depth will not be an issue is absolutely absurd. Yes, we have a great upgrade at coach and it looks like we are playing defense with a passion, but playing a full season with 6/7 guys will be a grind. It's the last 1/3 of the season which will be tough on this team.
Right now we have only 6 productive players. 7 with AJ coming back. Someone is likely to get banged up over the long haul and we're back to only 6.
Ideally, you want 8 productive players and we are not getting that this year.

Unless we are in the hunt for the post season, I don't see McSpadden coming back this year.
Click to expand...

While that maybe be true...EVERY GAME will probably be tough for this short roster...especially till at least AJ comes back.

Having just 6 scholarship players means like Matt Williams said...you can't go all out...you have to pace yourself on both ends of the court...and that's without anyone in foul trouble.

We saw Tacko pick up some close-call and one or two silly fouls the last 2 games...and those could haunt UCF in any upcoming game...as UCF is a totally different squad on both ends of the court without him.

BJ, Williams, Tanks, etc...can't get into foul trouble too...let alone Tacko's back-up (Brown), who fouled out in just 6 mins of play the other night.

Enjoy every win...as the future is always unknown.
 
PG is what I'm worried about. Laing won't cut it. I'm betting one of the guards Donnie signed wish they came here now.
 
Knight_Light said:
While that maybe be true...EVERY GAME will probably be tough for this short roster...especially till at least AJ comes back.

Having just 6 scholarship players means like Matt Williams said...you can't go all out...you have to pace yourself on both ends of the court...and that's without anyone in foul trouble.

We saw Tacko pick up some close-call and one or two silly fouls the last 2 games...and those could haunt UCF in any upcoming game...as UCF is a totally different squad on both ends of the court without him.

BJ, Williams, Tanks, etc...can't get into foul trouble too...let alone Tacko's back-up (Brown), who fouled out in just 6 mins of play the other night.

Enjoy every win...as the future is always unknown.
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Yeah, like every game so far? Good opponents are going into shock and rolling over against UCF. Our players are just taking care of business, another day at the office, and mopping the floor with the opposition even when UCF isn't making shoots.

I've watched from the front row as 7-deep teams win national championships and go undefeated at UCLA. Sure they were lucky to avoid injury, but perhaps our bad luck with injuries has run its course. In 2013, the football team was lucky to avoid critical injuries. That's what it take to have a good season. And college basketball is noticeably less physical since the rule change. Suddenly, a post-season tournament seems a realistic goal for this team (Note: I saw a post by a Stanford alum saying good riddance to Dawkins because they were tired of merely NIT championships from him).
 
UCFProf said:
Yeah, like every game so far? Good opponents are going into shock and rolling over against UCF. Our players are just taking care of business, another day at the office, and mopping the floor with the opposition even when UCF isn't making shoots.

I've watched from the front row as 7-deep teams win national championships and go undefeated at UCLA. Sure they were lucky to avoid injury, but perhaps our bad luck with injuries has run its course. In 2013, the football team was lucky to avoid critical injuries. That's what it take to have a good season. And college basketball is noticeably less physical since the rule change. Suddenly, a post-season tournament seems a realistic goal for this team (Note: I saw a post by a Stanford alum saying good riddance to Dawkins because they were tired of merely NIT championships from him).
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NIT is great this year. In 3 years no one wants that.
 
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