I am more excited than ever to head to Katy. I have been to the SLC Tournament the last 5 years. This is the first year in sometime that I feel somewhat relaxed and excited. My mindset the last four years has been "please don't let bad SLC officiating or a hot shooting #3-4 seed ruin our 25+ win seasons". Don't get me wrong, I fully expect to lose my voice screaming down the refs and will be pretty upset if we don't win the tournament, But, this year is obviously different.
I feel like we are in a great position. New Orleans and other schools who haven't been to the dance in a long time have to feel like they finally have a small window to get into the NCAAs. We feel pressure but I think that the fact that we have beat each of the other tourney teams gives us a mental edge along with the fact that we have won here and also on much bigger stages.
I am also excited about the direction we are heading next year. Another year getting used to Keller's system plus the addition of Mack and Bogues should help an already athletic, young team with a healthy Charles/Holyfield/Gilmore/Canete coming back. I will personally miss Dallas Cameron. I will never forget his smack talk while dribbling out the clock against WVU, but I think we have more than capable replacements going forward. Obviously this forum has different views on Keller from time to time, but I think he also learned a lot this year about our team and being a head coach again.
I may just be trying to prepare myself up to deal with potential disappointment but I feel like we are not a one-hit wonder like other SLC teams that die when their best Sr. scorer graduates. CC or UNO without Thomas, NW without Woodley/West. That's not us. I feel like we have really built a program that is sustainable and setup to win the SLC for years.
I feel like we are in a great position. New Orleans and other schools who haven't been to the dance in a long time have to feel like they finally have a small window to get into the NCAAs. We feel pressure but I think that the fact that we have beat each of the other tourney teams gives us a mental edge along with the fact that we have won here and also on much bigger stages.
I am also excited about the direction we are heading next year. Another year getting used to Keller's system plus the addition of Mack and Bogues should help an already athletic, young team with a healthy Charles/Holyfield/Gilmore/Canete coming back. I will personally miss Dallas Cameron. I will never forget his smack talk while dribbling out the clock against WVU, but I think we have more than capable replacements going forward. Obviously this forum has different views on Keller from time to time, but I think he also learned a lot this year about our team and being a head coach again.
I may just be trying to prepare myself up to deal with potential disappointment but I feel like we are not a one-hit wonder like other SLC teams that die when their best Sr. scorer graduates. CC or UNO without Thomas, NW without Woodley/West. That's not us. I feel like we have really built a program that is sustainable and setup to win the SLC for years.
