I can understand that. I just don't think that the result would be different given the lack of depth and experience.
Plenty of guys would die to have a rotation of Purvis, Vital and Jackson to cover the 2 and the 3? Come on champs.
It's a bit of a difficult topic because, while on one hand I agree with you, this also assumes a predetermined outcome regarding the development of our three seniors. And that's the thing. Even though Vital and Jackson have been rushed into oversized roles, they aren't the ones losing us these games. Our seniors are.
It's quite possible that the three seniors weren't going to get it regardless of who they played for. It's quite possible that the erosion of the games most basic fundamentals that we have seen over the past couple years - an inability to seal the post, pass through the interior, screen with purpose, pivot away from traffic instead of into it... - lies purely on the shoulders of the players.
We can't know that, though, and in any event, Ollie recruited these kids and determined that he wanted to stick with them. This is unequivocally his program, and while the sanctions may have had a delayed effect, there is still plenty to work with when compared with what he did in 2012-13.
So I don't think it is a matter of giving him a pass or not giving him a pass. This season is just something that happened. There are plenty of extenuating circumstances to contextualize all this to be sure, but our three seniors still don't know how to play basketball and it is simply not something that can be written off. My suspicion is that this crop of players just didn't work out and that the next batch will return things to normalcy, but what's done is done and if he's going to be (deservedly) credited for the amazing work of his past teams than he needs to be blamed for this one.
