Postby Po Monkey Lounger » Thu May 25, 2006 12:44 pm
With regard to the regional host issue, I still think the Rebs need another win or two to make a serious push for consideration. Since we have hosted the past two years, we need to be clearly separated from other contenders. If really close, a site that has not hosted in a while, or one that could generate even more attendance than ours, may instead get the nod.
Of course, by winning more of the early non-conference games that the Rebs lost to inferior low RPI opponents (ISU, Murray State, Arkansas State, etc.), we would likely not even be having this discussion, as the Rebs would have had 40+ regular season wins and be a lock for hosting at this point. But, we dug our own hole, and will just have to take what we get. I don't think we are in much of a position to "demand" or "expect" anything other than a regional bid.
The flip side is that we probably lost a lot of those early non-conference games due to experimenting on the mound and in the field with young players who needed PT and who Bianco felt we would need to come around in order for us to even have a chance later in the season to play above .500 in SEC play. He obviously felt that getting PT for some key players to develop needed depth for down the road, was more important than going all out to win those early NC mid-week games. Sticking with Will Kline after several bad outings is one great example of that. If Bianco had benched Kline (like I and many other Reb fans thought that he should have) prior to his "break out" game against MSU in the Mayor's Trophy game, where would we be now? Probably sitting at home watching the SEC tournament.
I had fairly low expectations coming into this season, due to all the starters, especially pitchers, that we lost to the draft and graduation. But, the young talent on the team has continued to develop and get better as the season has progressed, expecially at the plate, and to a lesser degree on the mound. Our pitching is now decent enough to win, as long as we score at least 5-8 runs per game. Anything less than that type of run production, and we struggle. That will surely improve as our young ptiching staff gains experience. But, right now, that is our reality. Thank goodness, our hitting has been very good, and our base running very solid with lots of speed. Defense has been very good as well. All of these things we do very well, help mask to some degree our pitching weaknesses. I am pleasantly surprised with this team this year.
Now, we need to beat the LSU Tigers tonight and stay in the winner's bracket, so we can take off Friday to rest.
Last edited by
Po Monkey Lounger on Fri May 26, 2006 11:57 am, edited 1 time in total.