Ok, I am a South Florida alumni now and over the years I have realized a few things, the Earth revolves around the Sun, 2+2=4 and USF Men's Basketball is simply terrible. Last year the Bulls finished a terrible year at 9-22 and because of the Big East makeup actually made it to the tournament which was just a way of showing the rest of the nation how sad our program is. They were able to compete in many games, keeping the score close and often pushing the best teams in the league to push hard and keep their starters in for longer than expected but the youth and lack of talent for the Bulls kept them from winning many games. Stan Heath is in his third year and if his track record is true, such as Kent State, then this is the year that the Bulls should be able to come together and put a winning season so far. So far this is true, the Bulls at the end of the non-conference portion of their schedule are 10-2, more wins than last year and the two loses (Central Michigan and South Carolina) were a combined total of 6 points. Many USF fans around the country are excited and should be. The team is playing well, PG Dominique Jones is playing at all-conference level, Jarrid Famous the new center is dominating, while veteran Howard and Leemow are mixing well with new comers such as Dumars and Fitzpartick who are providing depth and more offensive as well as a new defensive presence at the other side of the ball which is leading the Bulls to steals and turnovers which lead to wins. But before the bandwagon begins for this young team, take a moment and look at the team to see what they are really about here.
First off, with the lose of Gilchrist, our top scoring option til at least mid January with a high ankle sprain, the Bulls offense has hit a bit of a wall and unable to manufacture points and break the 70 point mark in many of their games. This is a major concern for conference play with teams like Notre dame and Uconn that average over 70 points a game. The defense may not be able to hold everyone under 70 and keep the games close to were USF can handle them. Dominique Jones is playing well so far but he is being held to the PG position until Anthony Crater is eligible to come back, the Ohio State kid has had some issues off the court but is the best pure PG the Bulls have, but sitting on that bench and then jumping into the Big East might be hard for the Bulls to get him into the mix of the offense and lead the team. Jarrid Brown the new center has been impressive but at times has been quiet on the offensive side of the ball, at 6'11" he must be a force in the paint because the Big East conference has many big men in the center position, we will have to see if he will be able to handle the size of the conference after coming from community college where he was able to dominate everyone with his size. In this league, everyone is the same size so he must be smart and play well or could find himself being dominated. Then their is the schedule problem. The Bulls have a terrible schedule, ranked 268th in difficulty strength, meaning those 10 wins have come against San Diego, San Francisco, and other weak programs, how will this prepare them for the toughest conference in the nation in basketball. Will the experience of beating up weak teams help the Bulls when they travel on the road to Uconn, Louisville and all of the other tough opponents in the league?
Let me be clear, I love the Bulls and will cheer for them every game but those who are believing this time might be incredible or is headed to some sort of post-season, I am saying be very careful right now. The Bulls are still learning and the learning process continues on Dec. 30 when they travel on the road to Louisville to face the Cardinals, maybe then we will be able to see the true Bulls team.
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