i like Holt. I don’t think this years team was very talented and played way over their heads (much like his previous teams). They played well as a team but didn’t have a real game changer. Washington was sometimes that, but not really until the end of the season. Liddell looks like he’ll be that guy soon.
I think we have a bright future with him
Agree w your analysis of season. For the most part, their lack of perimeter D (not just on 3, but in defending against the dribble drive) was a hurdle that ultimately got them. They were not as bad on D as Iowa, but close. Washington was a game changer when he took the ball to the basket routinely. He either scored or got to the line (or both). That made his 3-point shooting that much more effective. Unfortunately, there were too many games when he relied on 3-pointer first (very early in season, during the 4-game late-season swoon and in the NCAA game). Got team out of rhythm, took offensive rebounding opportunities away, took Liddell out of the focus or got Liddell the ball too late where Liddel would fade away instead of going straight to the rack. I think CJ Walker was a good player, but they needed someone with a little more umph in terms of leading the team and in defending on the ball to make the transition from really good to great team. Kyle Young provided some of that umph in leadership, but not enough of it at times, and the late-season concussion really hurt the entire team and rotation (not to mention the hobbling of Sueing and Towns). With the number of bodies they had most of the season (albeit hobbled in the end), and their general ability to rebound the basketball in spite of giving up size, would like to have seen them run more - they always seemed to have to work so hard for every basket, not many runouts or easy 3's in transition. That would have resulted in easier looks for Washington, as well as for Ahrens (who could not get open in the half-court once teams decided to take him away).
Not sure that the loss in the tournament should define their season, as ORU was a really strong a 15th seed and OSU was probably over-seeded a bit, thus making the tournament loss seem worse than it was. And yet in hindsight, Big Ten's performance in NCAA suggests that all the hype over Big Ten strength may have been just that - hype. You've still got to stop the other team more than you get stopped.
They probably exceeded expectations at the beginning of the season, but showed enough promise/potential that the last 9 games (even with the Big 10 Tournament run) felt so disappointing. Actually, the last 8 games - I thought they played a helluva game in the regular season against Michigan, just got beat. But then the swoon began.
Hopefully Holt finds a way to improve at point guard and defense without destroying some of the offensive character of this team. I don't know if Meechie Johnson is the guy, or if an incoming freshman is the guy, but they need someone in command of the ball so that you set up Washington as a scorer rather than the ball stopping in Washington's hands too frequently.