You could fill volumes with what I don't know about basketball. What I DO know:
-3 games with a lead in the final 2 minutes. 3 losses. Common denominator in all three was lack of defensive rebounding, poorly run offense, missed shots. Lot of that falls on Caupain and Ellis. Either get the job done or find someone who will.
-37 minutes at the point is too many for Troy. Barring some kind of disciplinary thing, not playing Jenifer at all is an absolute joke. I'm sure Mick has some sort of reasoning for this (didn't want to play him against a high caliber player like Nic Moore, etc) but that's just garbage. Another opportunity wasted to get JJ much needed experience and prepared for the late stages of the season.
-I don't want to live in a world where Shaq Thomas takes as many shots in 17 minutes as Jacob Evans does in 29. 6 shots in 29 minutes for Jacob. Unreal. The guys that can create and score have to be given the opportunity to do so and if they are being given that chance, they need to sack up and start being aggressive. Never seen a more passive team in my life.
-I'm essentially done with Shaq. To see a senior who can barely dribble and can't finish from 5 feet in is a disgrace. Probably the biggest disappointment I've seen in my 27 years of bleeding Black and Red.
-24 minutes out of Ellis and DeBerry. They took 5 shots. FIVE. 6 points, 5 rebounds combined. Thanks for caring, fellas.
-Torn on the subject of officiating. I find it hard to believe that an entire team could play 40 minutes of physical basketball and commit 9 total fouls (and one was on the offsetting techs!). What I find equally hard to believe is that a team facing a 6 or 7 man rotation could be so passive on the interior (see the aforementioned note on DeBerry/Ellis). Absolutely baffling.
We want to ascribe blame for what can only be described as a tremendously disappointing season to this point. Caupain, Ellis, Shaq, Mick. I say there's plenty of blame to go around. They've ALL failed. Still time but the clock is ticking down fast. As fans, we can only sit around and piss/moan about what we're seeing. We're helpless. The guys wearing the uniform and the men coaching them hold all the power. The only thing I can take away from them is my passion for the program, the money I spend on it and the time I spend watching and caring. The consensus on this board is that this particular team is dangerously close to losing our support. I love this program, I'm a UC grad and I will support them through good times and bad but man...these are trying times based on what I'm seeing.
