I think the team was fresh and used the time off and scheduled game of Caldwell to prepare themselves for 18 games of tremendous work.
I know Lafayette and Caldwell can easily be reached for as a reason to look for reasons to be negative. But they went into the holiday break dialed in and players took time off for returning home for family and to decompress.
Keep in mind, this roster has been intact since Spain and although the 4 games in Spain were viewed as nonsense, it was 4 extra games to experiment and break down mistakes.
We are continuing to make tons of little mistakes that can be cleaned up. We were very sluggish to get to loose rebounds in the 1st 8 minutes but got things organized after that.
Jacob Young......let's just all agree that he's erratic and all of those things. But he has an ability to guard and wore down Cam Mack from Nebraska, annoyed the Wisconsin guards and matched the energy and intensity of Quincy McKnight of Seton Hall.
I don't think the B1G has a better 6th man right now and that covers a lot of ground with a lot of programs. I don't view him as a 6th man per se, just see him as a better player than the opponents 3rd guard or 4th guard and he can score against teams backups and starting guards.
I still am amazed by the jump Mulcahy has made from mid November to early January. It's not a scoring/shooting jump, it's an appearance that he belongs on this stage. He was asked to do everything at Gill St Bernard and his focus is to highlight what he does well. By being asked to do everything in HS, he's not lost on having to execute plays, make passes or find shooters.
There are legitimately 9 B1G players on this roster and realistically, I can argue they all have upside. Things aren't perfect by any stretch but there is real live optimism for this year and next year to change the narrative about RU basketball on a national scale.
