OK, I'll take the role of Captain Obvious and say...
The three things we've most improved on from last season have been our shooting, our defense, and our floor generalship. Last year, we were "The Little Team That Couldn't Shoot Straight". Thank goodness that's not the case this year. Ivan has finally found his outside touch. TJ is hitting shots from inside and outside. And Kevon suddenly can't miss from anywhere on the court.
Kevon in particular has really surprised me. I knew he was good, but he honestly didn't show a lot of great scoring ability last year. He's worked on that in the last seven months and it has paid off big time. Add to that the shooting ability that Shannon has brought to the team and it's no wonder we're 100% better shooting the ball. Also, the ability of several guys to drive to the basket is vastly improved, too. Hitting from the outside is obviously a big factor in opening up the driving lanes.
On floor generalship, the improvement of Aaron has been absolutely mind-blowing. Before the season, Coach K was abuzz about how much he had improved since last year, and the coach wasn't just whistling Dixie. He's a totally different guy. His ball-handling has been wonderful, with very few turnovers. And he's made some outside shots, too, something he never did last year. And to have John to spell him during games with very little falloff has been great.
On defense, the trapping defense we're employing now is amazing. It will cause headaches no matter who we play. Bring on more of the Big Boys! It may be the best defense I've ever seen at SFA, and I've seen a lot of them through the years. Other teams just don't have the speed, quickness, and agility to match up with our traps. The traps are something that we've just ramped up recently. Earlier, I saw them practice it during warmups before games, but once the game started it never happened. Boy, it's happening now! I guess it took a while for the potential benefits of that type of defense to sink into the minds of our players. It takes tremendous conditioning to pull it off, but we're seeing the rewards of what it can produce. The obvious downside is that we give up several open looks from the corners during games, but not many (if any) of the remaining teams we play will have the shooting stroke that Mizzou showed.
Finally, I think Coach K has grown a lot as a head man in the last year. He's grown out of acting like an assistant and has become a more vocal in-game leader. He finally has the manpower and depth to do the things he would have liked to have done earlier. I've enjoyed seeing him get more emotional during games this year. A lack of in-game emotions had me worried about him last year, but that has changed.
I suppose the only thing that I would like to see improved upon would be deceasing the number of fouls. When we get in tight games, sending other teams to the foul line might be the only way we could lose to teams that otherwise wouldn't stand a chance of beating us.
One last thing (and pardon me for looking so far ahead). Can you imagine what this team can accomplish next year, with the returners we'll have and the addition of two great players in Seraille, Hughes, and who-knows-who-else?? Again, pardon me for looking ahead... Good times, they are back at SFASU!
Edit: I want to add one more thing, something usually overlooked in all of the buzz... Our three Assistant Coaches - Cox, Mason, and Haymon - are doing an absolutely fantastic job with this bunch of Jacks. Let's show them some love, too!!
