Re: The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings
Surprisingly (even to myself), I haven't put a ton of time into thinking about what's going to happen this upcoming season. I'd love to think some of our new incoming talent will outweigh our outgoing talent, but we lost a few pretty good players.
I get the feeling we are still 1-2 years away from making some serious noise in the conference again, but I will be very happy if this year's team proves me wrong. I think a lot will depend on how the duo of Dykman and Riemersma connect on the court and how dynamic that 1-2 combo can be when it comes to just getting a strong basket when we need a basket. And if we don't have at least one or two of the freshmen really make an impact (my money is on Plitzuweit and Schaefer, but I'm also not a gambling man), it's going to be another more-average-than-not type of season. I think one of the most important pieces of the puzzle is whether Cartwright can play consistently at the level he showed flashes of around the mid-season point last year, or if he will have another year of fading in and out. I appreciated his fearlessness when it came to shooting and not hesitating to pull the trigger whether it was a game-winning/game-tying attempt or the first shot of the game, but I'd love to see more consistency from him night in and night out this year.
In general, I wouldn't be shocked if we ended up anywhere between 16-14 to 20-8. Anything better than that and I will be extra happy (as well as extremely excited for the future).
But again, those are just quick thoughts without my usual extensive over-consideration. I'm turning into Toucan and getting too distracted by life these days to give much extra thought to basketball season. :)
Originally posted by vikingfaithful
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I get the feeling we are still 1-2 years away from making some serious noise in the conference again, but I will be very happy if this year's team proves me wrong. I think a lot will depend on how the duo of Dykman and Riemersma connect on the court and how dynamic that 1-2 combo can be when it comes to just getting a strong basket when we need a basket. And if we don't have at least one or two of the freshmen really make an impact (my money is on Plitzuweit and Schaefer, but I'm also not a gambling man), it's going to be another more-average-than-not type of season. I think one of the most important pieces of the puzzle is whether Cartwright can play consistently at the level he showed flashes of around the mid-season point last year, or if he will have another year of fading in and out. I appreciated his fearlessness when it came to shooting and not hesitating to pull the trigger whether it was a game-winning/game-tying attempt or the first shot of the game, but I'd love to see more consistency from him night in and night out this year.
In general, I wouldn't be shocked if we ended up anywhere between 16-14 to 20-8. Anything better than that and I will be extra happy (as well as extremely excited for the future).
But again, those are just quick thoughts without my usual extensive over-consideration. I'm turning into Toucan and getting too distracted by life these days to give much extra thought to basketball season. :)
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