A poll while we wait . . .

Personally, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I sure hope this becomes a regular thing,

RC

With our 3 point guys gone, I was really worried about our scoring. Guess I was way wrong. We have a lot of scorers this year, at one time, than I ever remember in the past. Stretches between games is going to be painful. I was surprised by Charlie. I think more guys will start hitting those 3s but I do realize that Bill wants the ball going to the basket but 3 is better than 2 and runs up the score faster. But boy has Dok improved his game. Good thing he stayed and will get a championship ring before heading to the nba.

Ok, some perspective: this was the University of Vermont. This wasn't Duke. Or even K-State. So we shouldn't be bowled over if a couple of our guys have some crazy numbers.

At the same time, Vick can clearly get hot and shoot.

Do this once, and it's a fun evening. Do it 3 or 4 times and only THEN is it a habit. Remember this is the same guy who went 0-4 from 3 vs. Michigan State.

So some math/history of Vick and the 3:
>In his freshman year, 47% on 17 attempts
>Sophomore year, 37% on 92 attempts
>Last year: 37% on 158 attempts
>1st 3 years combined: 38% on 267 attempts

Last night was 8 for 8. History shows that Vick is going to shoot just under 40%, so his current 8-12 (67%) average will probably come down. Nevertheless, if part of what he was told prior to the draft was that he needs to be a better 3 point shooter, maybe he worked on it and he's actually improved.

My prediction is that he IS a better 3 point shooter this year, but not yet "an assassin". By comparison, last year Svi shot 115/259 from 3, good for 44%.

Bottom line, last night was a great game. Give him an "A". Meanwhile, he really didn't do well vs. Michigan State in any category, so at best that's a "D". So right now he's averaging a B-/C+. Who will show up when we play Louisiana? Toss a coin. If he can string a bunch of "A" games together and limit his losses so that a "bad" game is a B or C level game, he'll be much more valuable.

Call me cautiously optimistic. He's demonstrated his potential and needs to do so more consistently.

For those of you who could watch the post game interviews.....

Obviously Lagerald has never been in this position before. He was amped. Giggles. And why do kids talk so darned fast?

The glee was fine, but perhaps they need to work in a bit of “talking to the media” practice?

“we play one game at a time.” “ I just want to help the ball club.”

Can't blame him for being pumped. After about the 3rd or 4th one went in it was clear that something special was happening.

Confidence breeds confidence. Good times. Now go do it again, Legerald!

one other factor that might make prior stats less useful in predicting the future for him ( in addition the any extra work he put in) is that, unlike last year certainly, vick knows if he doesnt play the right way and let the game come to him he will sit. last year we didnt have that luxury. so in part we saw better shooting because he was using better judgement and taking really only good shots. while that wont translate to 8/8 in every game it cld well get him to 4/9 consistently which wld be svi-like and perfectly fine. i do think bill will have to learn how to play with a true 4 again. it seems like every time dedric gets the ball ( even in the msu game) hes out of position partly because dokes presence is clogging the lane so much and no one has to go cover him if he fades out to the free throw line. self will figure it out but im guessing it will involve moving dedric out to the perimeter like he did with josh and let him improvise. every dedric touch with his skills shld lead to him scoring, a doke dunk or a three by vick/grimes/dotson. once its working it will be a thing of beauty thats for sure. btw vermont is good for a warmup game, no 68 in the country and not an easy out in the tournament i predict.