This team doesn’t believe in themselves
- Thread starter TheC
- Start date
We were down 11 on the road - stop it. MI made shots and we missed free throws. Better players make big shots.
We were up 7 on the road. Its not even choking anymore. It’s just acceptance that they don’t deserve to win.
Correct. We are close but our players just not quite good enough to win at this level.
Of course they will never say that, but you can tell in the way they play to close out games.
Playing tentative or nervous (even if true - seems to be for Nance) is a lot different than accepting they don’t deserve to win, which is what you said.
Because Collins runs this program as if he believes they are a bunch of losers. He doesn't instill confidence in his players - down to how he schedules a full OOC slate of cupcakes every year. The players can't believe if the coach doesn't.
The majority of this team has played tons of tough teams; hardest schedule in all of NCAA last year. Everyone plays some cupcakes, and that actually can help with confidence at the start of a season. You are off the mark.
There is no veteran leadership to hold this team together when the game is on the line. The veterans are not leaders. Nance is soft, mentally and physically, and Buie is incredibly inconsistent especially in crunch time. This team has no killer instinct, and just can’t put anybody away in a close game. Cats are capable of losing a close games by poor free-throw shooting, turnovers, or poor shot selection.
It’s time to look to the future and start playing, Roper, Simmons Nicholson and Barnhizer.
It’s time to look to the future and start playing, Roper, Simmons Nicholson and Barnhizer.
Yes, our opponents had a 13 game winning streak last year, they must have been pretty good. /s
I don't think anyone is saying these players, or even CCC, are bad people or are not trying. Or that they are bad athletes. But they lack the ability to close the deal. These aren't raw Freshman. The team is littered with upperclassmen, including multi-year starters. Face it, they are not going to "get it" at this stage in their career. And certainly Collins isn't going to somehow pull a rabbit out of his a$$. It doesn't help being in the B1G. As Finley Peter Dunne might have said "the B1G ain't beanbag"