andy katz on UM bball
has some interesting quotes for JB.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4856776&name=katz_andy
January 25th, 2010 at 5:50 PM ^
right. This team has talent...but no leader. Merritt and Lee didn't do much to show up on the stat sheet last year but they brought a lot of intangibles onto the floor with them.
January 25th, 2010 at 5:57 PM ^
I couldn't agree more. I think both of those guys were under-appreciated last season. They didn't put up big numbers, but they seemed to have a huge effect on that team's mentality. Before one of the games televised on ESPN they showed Dave Merritt giving a pre-game pep talk and it was awesome. I can't see anyone on this year's squad getting everyone fired up like that...
January 25th, 2010 at 6:07 PM ^
I had been speculating for the last few weeks that the key problem with the BBall team must be leadership, and that Merritt and Lee were more important to the team than most outsiders realized. It seems that neither Sims nor Harris has taken on that role as well as either of last year's seniors, and most of the rest of the team is still quite young. So where do they get leadership, and will they find it yet this year? From what I'm observing (as a total outsider, of course), is that Zack Novak, who has always done the dirty work on the court, is becoming more vocal as well. Does he step up to fill that void? And do the others accept him in that role?
January 25th, 2010 at 6:18 PM ^
I think the the leader of the future will be Morris, or possibly one of the new guys coming in. Novak may be the guy that, if steps up, could be a leader. Other than that, I don't see a leader on this team. Definite problem for JB and company.
January 25th, 2010 at 5:59 PM ^
I didn't appreciate how much they'd miss Lee and Merritt...I'm not entirely disappointed that Harris was expressing frustration about the season, though obviously he needed to do it in a better way.
January 25th, 2010 at 6:16 PM ^
Novak is the guy currently on the roster who I can see stepping up and taking a major leadership role.
January 25th, 2010 at 6:25 PM ^
that Novak is a leader for the near future.