1. I was overjoyed when we weren't ranked this morning. Disrespect looks good on this bunch.
2. You've got a real superstar on your hands when they can put up a quiet 17 & 18 like Kofi did tonight. The paint was his every second he was on the floor.
3. We're going to be vulnerable against teams who are good at pressing and make that their identity, but winning a game like that where we suffered the consequences but found ways to get it done makes me feel a lot better about the potential upside here.
4. It's officially time to discuss if we're better without Curbelo. We have really found something with four shooters surrounding Kofi and playing inside-out. In theory Curbelo and Kofi are a devastating pick and roll combo. In theory. And the shooting to stretch the floor enables that, something we were in a slump with when Curbelo was out there. But it's just a much more narrow, static way to play. I think at the very least when Curbelo comes back him dominating the ball needs to be one option rather than our default bread and butter.
5. I know we all hate Fran, but he has been such a great addition to the Big Ten. Back when college basketball as a whole was initially trying to clean up its act, the Big Ten had Weber, Bo Ryan, Matt Painter, Tubby Smith, Bill Carmody, Todd Lickliter, and the king of them all Ed Dechellis, a historic murderers row of dedicated practitioners of excruciating non-basketball. Iowa hiring Fran was that first glimmer of someone imposing tempo and an open court on the conference. Everything has changed now, what a great game to watch that was.
6. Arizona's the first for real good team we'll have played. I gave up on the idea of this as a top 10 team after such a raft of weaknesses got exposed against Marquette and that got heavily confirmed by Cincy, K-State, and UTRGV. But something *might* be brewing here, and now's our first chance to really prove it.