how they looked to me last night - tired and tight.
They have faded badly in second halves of games. (Even in their wins over Oregon they utterly collapsed at the end and were saved by Dylan's very very lucky desperation heave that somehow went in.
The travel has been horrible - travel to Nebraska, fly back home and get only one day before facing Michigan (which was on the road but had two days to get ready for our game and stayed in the same time zone, then turned around after a couple days and flew across country to Maryland and then stayed out there, traveled to New Jersey and played Reuters. And then traveled back home.
Have a bit more time now but then two teams that are better than either MD or Rutgers.
They looked really tired to me.
And clearly they are playing tight. Bilodeau has to be dealing with his defensive challenges and he simply is not up to playing center against real centers. He looked both tired and tight to me - every one of his shots was short, clanking into the front rim. Over and over again. That's certainly tight. Dylan's game has disappeared. Clark and Perry have mostly played side to side rather penetrating the defense to force the defense to move around and get out of its basic formation, the positioning they practice and are trained to play. (Perry seems to have the most mature game - despite his youth - and does a bit more but he's challenged on defense and Clark isn't showing the offense he has had in the past.
Mack is the only one penetrating defenses but his game is still what he did in high school. If he ever learns to pass off his drives we'd really have something there. Right now he plays because he's the only one making things happen much of the time, the only one in the back court playing with confidence and aggression. But it's a team sport and he's a solo guy at this point.
Mick certainly failed to understand he has to land a rim protector body inside to compete in the Big Ten (he should have listened to Phil a long time ago). But did he also misjudge the mental toughness of the kids he brought in, at least of some of them. He's a defense first coach; his system is based on defense. But defense is based on energy and effort especially for kids - like Tyler - who aren't gifted defensively.
Don't know if Mick understands you cannot coach every player the same way. John Wooden famously back in my day would challenge Walt Hazzard during practice in front of the whole team (Hazzard would respond with an "I'll show him!" attitude) but would correct Gail Goodrich in private because they were different guys who reacted differently to how they were corrected (coached, taught).
If he lands Burries, that is the response to the backcourt situation. And - if he can play well - Freeny's toughness will likely help next year also. But if Burries buries himself somewhere else, then Mick has two positions to fill for next year. And they're the two most important on the team. (Neither Mara nor Devin Williams seems to me like they have the body types to add enough muscle to really hold their position in the paint on O or on D. Watching Aday get shoved under the rim and out of the going for a rebound last night was really, really sad.)
Anyway, they look tired and tight to me last night.