Coach mentioned in post game that the game plan was to wear out the high pick and roll. As people have commented on, Miles has struggled with that, so Richardson gets his longest run and we get to the hoop and make the free throws and shoot better from 3. It seems that Miles will never be strong enough to be a post up guy and his real strength will be as a defensive rim protector...So how do you find an offense that he can be a part of? But it seems we found a solution for one game..and Rhode Island seems average at best....

Well, WTF! The best team we played all year and we get a win. This is a weird team to say the least. My thoughts:

1. Drew's post game comments were interesting to say the least. He indicated they called fewer plays today and the players had more freedom in the offense. We know Drew likes to micromanage a game and perhaps some of the players may have mentioned it to him, may other coaches??? If so, I have always thought part of our player development problems were/are both Porter and Drew really like to control the games from start to finish. Sometimes you just got to let guys plays and feel comfortable.

2. I really don't like our high screen much. We really don't cut and screen much away from the ball and without a trigger guy who can really pass it like Krut did, it gets stagnant. Also, teams are defending it like we should be defending high screens (like we used to) by jumping them with big and forcing the guard to retreat before the big drops back and the guard or forward can recover to his man. We do not force opposing ball handlers to retreat back towards half court. Take a look at when we beat Illinois in NCAA. This what we don't do anymore, but other teams do to us when we run high ball screens. Pay particular attention to how connected the defense is and how we aggressively dictated where the Ayo could and could not go on the floor, hand placement, no fouls, keeping guys in front. contested shots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77gpsEFDRdc

3. Richardson was better and Santa Clara had some bigger post people. I would expect Richardson to be a little more comfortable guarding bigger players. He looked like the guy on Euro highlight reels.

4. I really enjoyed, no I REALLY enjoyed, the comments coming from the Santa Clara fans and some A10 fans after we won. Santa Clara fans were upset that we lost and we complaining the loss may have cost them an at large bid because of our Kenpom ranking. The A10 fans, SLU were whining how it cheapened their 1 point win over Santa Clara. Saw another comment from A10 that LU should have taken one for the conference. Others commenting that LU would screw the conference and probably get a win or two against some of the "better" A10 teams. I thought they were precious. My response is we are, from a talent standpoint, the best 299 ranked team in Kenpom! I hope the guys finally understand what it takes to win. Fun and games are over with now. A10 starts next week and the excuses are done.

5. Amos has certainly helped. I am glad he's playing and he needs more conditioning, but he is a good player. What I did not like about this trip is Chuck Love playing 9 or 10 minutes at San Fran. He's a future core piece, if you can keep him. He needs to play at least 20 minutes a game.

6. I am not happy at this point, but I am record as saying that I would reserve judgment until A10 started. Weird team, underperforming to date, but talented. We will know against RI and Dayton coming off an 11 day break what were are closer to, the talented team we expected or a bust.

I'll celebrate this one. Santa Clara is an A-10-level opponent. Let's hope there are a few more of these to come.