UCF basketball post season play?
- Thread starter Central Floridave
- Start date
Keep in mind that Big XII Basketball was a regular Murderer's Row this past season.
The conference had FOUR teams in the Sweet 16 and Houston should have won the whole damn thing. And that's not counting perennial powerhouse Kansas and perennial top 20 teams Iowa State and Baylor. That's SEVEN Big Dawg BB teams on the schedule and yet UCF still won 20 games.
If you guys want to grouse about UCF men's basketball, complain that some bigwig alums aren't giving Dawkins more NIL money to recruit with.
Dawkins did the same thing in the AAC ..you need a good X&Os Coach when you have less money and that isn’t JD
Or you do something different like full court press the whole game and get turnovers and easy buckets.
He also could've won a natty in 2019 if Aubrey would've made that put back. Who knows how far we would've gone if we would've knocked off Duke like we should have. Shit still stings 6 years later!
I think Dawkins deserves another year as well. Of course need upgrade of player talent as well. Overall, UCF has pretty good crowd support at home games which helps. His style of coaching is definitely hand's off and more of a philosophical like coach and less X&O's. He probably teaches more at practice than during the game. He is also a player's coach and doesn't use negative reinforcement to instruct the players. Having Darius Johnson, his godson leaving the program and I'm sure he is thinking end game as well. I'd like to see a NCAA push next season.
One thing I didn't like this past season is letting Thiam take so many 3 pointers. The dude is 7'2" and is very athletic. He needs to be under the basket. Although Thiam got great experience this past season handling the ball and shooting from the outside, our rebounding was horrible this season. It was an Achilles heel. But, i'm no expert either. Probably better coaches out there but until Johnny Dawkins is no longer the UCF head coach I support him. Hell, so nice of a guy I'll support him after he's gone as well.
Just blabbing. Since we are a few days off from basketball season...exhaling.... was a fun season with all the ups and downs. Being in the inaugural Crown tourny was a positive thing for UCF basketball. Good thing with sport's though is...there is always next year!
Go Knights!
One thing I didn't like this past season is letting Thiam take so many 3 pointers. The dude is 7'2" and is very athletic. He needs to be under the basket. Although Thiam got great experience this past season handling the ball and shooting from the outside, our rebounding was horrible this season. It was an Achilles heel. But, i'm no expert either. Probably better coaches out there but until Johnny Dawkins is no longer the UCF head coach I support him. Hell, so nice of a guy I'll support him after he's gone as well.
Just blabbing. Since we are a few days off from basketball season...exhaling.... was a fun season with all the ups and downs. Being in the inaugural Crown tourny was a positive thing for UCF basketball. Good thing with sport's though is...there is always next year!
Go Knights!
I watched that game on a cruise ship. I will never forget it. The call at the end of the game that fouled Tacko out could have gone either way. If we had won that game, we could have gone really far in that tournament. That was a special team. They stayed at UCF together. Now most of the guys only play here for a season or two and transfer out. There isn't much loyalty any more. We will have to bring in new guys again next year and start over.
Watching that ball roll off the rim....omg....ugh! I'll never forget it. If it goes in, there's no telling what might have happened (besides the next round)!
The tournament added a little excitement after the season this year. There's a losing percentage that Thiam makes the 3 point shot. He shouldn't take it. We just don't have the talent to compete. And we won't until our budget expands or we get lucky. It's all about the money now. Also one note: Dawkins has to call time outs sooner to stop momentum from other teams and to stop the bleeding.
Full-court pressing the whole game causes players to tire faster and get in foul trouble more quickly, so you would need quality depth to play that way. We don't have much depth to speak of because, again, the money just isn't there - at least not yet.
Also, good teams know how to handle a press, so it can sometimes hurt you just as much or more than it helps. The bottom line is, no matter what style you play, competing "with heart" only takes you so far. If you're playing against superior talent on a regular basis you're not going to the Dance.
We had 12 guys play at least 18 games. That’s plenty enough to let them go balls to wall in 3 minute increments. You teach how to be aggresive and not foul. Trapping is the key and using side and baselines as extra defenders. UNLV with Tarkanian used immense pressure and Amoeba defense to cause turnovers and get easy baskets. Is it better to just give up and win 7 conference games or change what you’ve been doing and try something different? We only had 1 good big and needed to pressure other teams instead of them scoring at will and then go iso with Hall. Team played way better in the Crown because of hustle and not relying on 1 guy to score in a half court set. Granted the teams weren’t great but constant pressure could make good teams rush and throw ball away.
The Big12 may be a murders row, but that doesn’t account for losing to Colorado (helping them break a 10+ game losing streak), Cincinnati at home, Oklahoma State (they had an awful year), etc.
The twenty wins mark doesn't mean much anymore either, when you can pick-up three wins in a garbage tournament with teams at or below .500. UCF was a 17-16 team…
Thiam took so many three’s this year because he didn’t have the requisite strength to hold position in the paint long enough. And watch any high school and/or AAU game, all the kids are shooting three’s. That’s how the game is played now, for better or worse.
Winning any Big XII game on the road is tough, particularly at Colorado (no matter how bad their team is). The altitude in Boulder has always a hidden plus for the Buffs.
So you wanted guys like Nils, Mikey, Deebo, Benny, Rokus, JJ and the other below-average UCF bench players chasing around thoroughbred athlete players from Big 12 teams full court for significant minutes? Guys who are weaker physically and/or a half-step slower than their opponents simply cannot play that way effectively, no matter how good the scheme.
That’s not giving up; that’s being realistic. Having said that, I do agree with you wholeheartedly that we need to try something else…I just respectfully don’t think this is the answer (and TBH I don’t know what that answer is). We’ve tried different things over the years. For example, I remember Donnie Jones’ teams holding the ball until the shot clock practically expired to keep the scores down. That used to drive my crazy because it often resulted in a low-percentage shot.
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The three teams we beat were not “at or below .500.” Oregon St. was 20-12 coming into the game, Cindy 19-15, and Villanova was 21-14. The team we lost to (Nebraska) came into the game at 20-14.
Jeff Allen talks one-on-one with WKMG's Jamie Seh about UCF Sports
BIG 12 is always a monster Donor gives a ton of money to football but is a Pitino guy n gives St John’s money. But it’s his money n thank God he at least gives money to the football
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