One of the most overlooked aspects of successful teams is continuity.  We expect senior-laden squads to do well because they have played with each other for a long time.  It's why the best NBA teams are the ones that seem to have been playing together forever.  It's why people are saying, "Just wait for Amare' and Carmelo to get used to each other."  You can't fake it, you can only develop it.

Under Groce, we've lacked year-to-year continuity.  However, the last two seasons, the staff has been able to foster a growth of it within the season.  If you watch the last couple games and compare them to earlier in the season, you see players that know their roles, players familiar with one another, rotations that are predictable.  That wasn't happening at the beginning of the year.  It takes time.

There are several reasons why we didn't have any carryover from last year.  The first and most obvious is the defections.  We lost two critical players in the offseason in addition to role players, and I don't know of many teams that would be able to quickly rebound from that.  Those defections forced the freshmen into larger roles before ready than they otherwise would have assumed.  Ric and TJ are just now figuring things out.  Second, and this is related to the first, we had players taking on very different roles from a season ago.  Ivo went from the bottom of the rotation to heavy minutes, for instance.  It takes time to acclimate people to each other, and practice only goes so far in accomplishing that.

But things have been normalized and we're seeing rapid development.  One of the biggest reasons that DJ is taking fewer bad shots, in addition to just being smarter, is he has a better understanding of his teammates and how best to get them the ball in a position to score.  He rarely passes into a bad situation.  His teammates know if they get good position, they will be rewarded.

And defense is almost entirely dependent on continuity.  It takes time to learn defensive principles, rotations, and assignments.  We've gotten a lot better here, too.  And I don't think we're doing improving.

You may remember I was one of the few skeptical about our prospects this year.  I'm very optimistic about next year, though, if we get through the summer without major losses.  This is a team getting to know itself and beginning to realize its potential.  Ivo Baltic is one of the hardest workers we've had in Athens.  Reggie Keely is quietly showing improvement and is ready to take a step up.  DJ Cooper is spreading his wings.  Nick Kellogg is ready to take the torch from Tommy Freeman.  Ricardo Johnson is looking like a possible defensive stopper in the making.

We don't have a ton of size and we won't next year, but you know... I don't think that will be a huge problem.

I see a lot of flexibility in the starting lineup.  Jon Smith has been an absolute beast in practice, just killing the guys, and I can't imagine him not starting at some point, if not most of the season.  Jacobs will have to get a lot better over the summer to crack the rotation.  A nine-man rotation (minus Jacobs) looks really good.

I've been saying that for a while. Trying not to get my hopes up too far, given basketball's traditional attrition, but watching our young players develop, it is hard not to think about.

But for now, it's March -- the best time of the year, and our seniors have some more games to play.

Believe we spoke with Borna, Dragon and a little on air about this last night........it almost seems as if there is a broader base for success this year than last, and the steps for the future are now better lit. 

The only caveat to that is that it's easier to be 'high-variance' or have a higher ceiling with a guy who could give you 30 a night for a three-game stretch regardless of other circumstance. Like having the stupid ABA ball at the end of the 3 Point Contest rack, it gives you some margin for error. 

Though there is a ton of positive mojo right now with this team, the tolerances for this camshaft are a few microns thinner than last spring. 

Careful. One at a time.

Also keep in mind that Ohio has at least one scholarship available for the Spring, and is expected to try to sign another big man for next year.  We'll see how that pans out, but that could also add to the dynamic for next season. 

Man, I'm hoping to become the fan Tiptondevilcat wants us all to be.

No more "fringe fan" for me.

The season really looked like it was going in the tank a month ago and its very nice to see the rebound. Ohio with its win last night has clinched a winning season not what the outcome is of the next 2 games and that I think is worth at least a passing grade of C (and probably better in light of the defections). I think its highly unrealistic to expect a coach to put a program on a higher level than it was within 3 years. Ohio has traditionally performed at the level of 15-20 wins, so Groce greatly overachieved with the NCAA run. The goal should be to get this program to the 25+ win a year level with 20 acceptable in an off year. This program isn't quite showing it yet but I think good examples is SDSU and the time it required to have them as a contender for a high NCAA seed. With Groce winning 7 of his last 8 games down the stretch here he is showing solid coaching ability.