ADVERTISEMENT

Ready to rumble? Tonite ESPN2 9:30 Tacko, BJ vs. #3 'Nova

U

UCFProf

Golden Knight
Nov 13, 2011
7,900
2,057
113
Football was just the undercard. Now for the main event
UCF's RPI now up to #5 ranking
Defending national champions Villanova favored by 16
But Knights have humbled three good opponents by at least 20 point each
Won by dominating the boards, strong defense, high energy, confidence, and teamwork
Despite injuries, Johnny Dawkins has already put his winning stamp on the teams character
UCF plays mostly with 4 seniors and 3 sophs, but that's been enough so far
 
  • Like
Reactions: UCFhonors
16? Erg. Should be an interesting game. At least some good exposure where this team is. The past 3 wins were impressive but was the opponent any good? Not sure they were. Villanova we know are good. Hoping for the major upset. We need it after 'undercard' (don't know about that either) loss....

Go Knights!
 
  • Like
Reactions: UCFhonors
Right to not to commit. It's risky to tell your friends that you support the team because they might ridicule you, which is really important to avoid. Best to be dubious, because you can always climb on board late and be welcomed. And not supporting becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: don't talk up the team hurts attendance and crowd enthusiasm, thus preventing UCF from winning home games. That's the UCF tradition. Fair-weather fandom.

On paper, seems a horrible mismatch. A bad team from last year loses 3 to graduation, 2 more transferred, two starters out with major injuries, our only freshman and several transfers not eligible. Frost showed coaching can only do so much. But Frost's never been a head coach nor mentored by the most successful coach around. Frost's cupboard bare of returning starters -- 2 linemen, a linebacker, couple receivers, some DBs, and a running back...and few experienced backups to step in.

Lastly, KL says next year will be our year, ignoring that we lose 4 seniors and possibly Tacko to the draft. Why can't we be good this year AND next? Huh?
 
I'm so stoked about this game. Villanova are reigning national champions. Allow me to remind everyone that in 2012, we made it to semi finals of a holiday classic tournament in the Bahamas. We faced UConn who were also reigning national champions. And we won!

That was our last year in CUSA, a mid major. Now we are in a major bball conference and have major talent.

BJ is our best player and he makes everyone else better.

Tacko is much improved

Matt can get hot on the 3s and defense is solid

Tank is much improved

Banyard has been a huge addition

Chad Brown has the talent. When he develops his offensive game, he will be a major contributor.

And most importantly, Johnny looks likes he can coach.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mikesi and UCFProf
UCFhonors said:
I'm so stoked about this game. Villanova are reigning national champions. Allow me to remind everyone that in 2012, we made it to semi finals of a holiday classic tournament in the Bahamas. We faced UConn who were also reigning national champions. And we won!
Click to expand...
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/recap/NCAAB_20111125_UCF@CT/ucf-rallies-to-knock-off-no-4-uconn/rss
Good comparison (see story above, since Sentinel didn't think it worthy to cover). I also forgot we were down by 17 in the second half! Also beat Memphis, UF, and Miami under Jones. Went from never beating USF in basketball to winning most of the time. Arena was filled back in those days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UCFhonors
UCFProf said:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/gametracker/recap/NCAAB_20111125_UCF@CT/ucf-rallies-to-knock-off-no-4-uconn/rss
Good comparison (see story above, since Sentinel didn't think it worthy to cover). I also forgot we were down by 17 in the second half! Also beat Memphis, UF, and Miami under Jones. Went from never beating USF in basketball to winning most of the time. Arena was filled back in those days.
Click to expand...

Interesting to read from the other perspective.


There is a great article about toknights game.

http://ucfknights.com/news/2016/11/19/-m-basketball-to-the-final.aspx
 
UCFhonors said:
Yet I would argue that Orlando produces the best basketball talent of any sport.
Plus we have a clearer and easier path to complete our rise to prominence in basketball than in football.
I wish we had more basketball fans.
Click to expand...
Great point. The ESPN announcers keep reminding us about all our local players (even Tacko). And so many get away to schools up north. I recall Vince Carter in high school whose scoring was mostly 3-pointers and dunks. Amare Stoudemire moved here for high school. There's tons more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UCFhonors
We lost to depth toknight. Gosh I'm still pissed at the scholarship reduction that we had which are still having an effect

It's amazing how much Tacko has improved. I really hope he continues on this path.

Matt came out on fire behind the arch. Then he cooled and adjusted by dishing and driving.

BJ looked gassed, understandly so. He still put out a massive effort. Good game.

Those 3 almost scored all of our points.

Can't wait to get AJ back. He was our best last year. Think he'll be #2 behind BJ this year.

We can be phenomenal this year.

Thanks Johnny.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UCFProf
UCFhonors said:
I'm so stoked about this game. Villanova are reigning national champions. Allow me to remind everyone that in 2012, we made it to semi finals of a holiday classic tournament in the Bahamas. We faced UConn who were also reigning national champions. And we won!

That was our last year in CUSA, a mid major. Now we are in a major bball conference and have major talent.

BJ is our best player and he makes everyone else better.

Tacko is much improved

Matt can get hot on the 3s and defense is solid

Tank is much improved

Banyard has been a huge addition

Chad Brown has the talent. When he develops his offensive game, he will be a major contributor.

And most importantly, Johnny looks likes he can coach.
Click to expand...


Yes to all the above
 
  • Like
Reactions: UCFhonors
Hopefully Dawkins can refine the pick and roll a bit because at the moment its looking a bit like Donnie's "Drive with your head down and hope someone rebounds". I have faith he will with time and new players coming in.
 
Just checked the team stats, and UCF held Nova well below their FG% (42%) and 3-pt% (27%), while we matched their accuracy (45% and 25%).

The depth critique proved to be a red herring argument: 'Nova only played 7 players and 5 did almost all their scoring.

Instead, it's all about player quality. We had to rely on 3 players for scoring. Why? At this level, even a decent defender like Chad Brown can't be on the court, and good players like Efianayi and Banyard couldn't score, defend, or rebound against 'Nova's great athletes!

However, Nova couldn't pull it's starters either. They played 36, 35, 32, 30 minutes, and Reynolds only 26 minutes because he fouled out guarding Tacko!
 
  • Like
Reactions: UCFhonors
You must log in or register to reply here.
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back