I would lean more towards Borges' original statement that "injuries are usually a rather lame excuse for a team's struggles".
Yes, this team would be better with Gilbert and Larrier. But our problems go much deeper than lack of depth and talent. I know it was early, but we did lose to Northeastern AND Wagner at virtually full strength.
We know Jalen Adams has the ability to take over a game, we've seen Purvis do the same. Facey has turned into a REALLY nice low post player and rebounder. Jackson and Vital can hit jumpshots.
The problem with this team is mentality. Missing countless wide open shots, turning the ball over, lack of movement on offense and several defensive lapses. It's the same thing. Every. Damn. Game. And it's against pretty mediocre competition, outside of the top 3 teams in the conference. These problems fall directly on the players as much as the coaches.
All I guess I'm saying is, this team was unfortunate with the early injuries, but the squad they have right now is more than capable of finishing 4th in the conference, and even that's not really shooting for the stars. We've had several losses this year that are absolute embarrassments for the program. Fine, lose to Cincinnati and Houston. But get blown off our own floor by 15, 20 points? Losing to Northeastern, Wagner and Eastern Carolina? Unacceptable.
I'm not calling for Ollie's head, because really his ability to recruit and relate to players will likely be unmatched by any coach we can get, but AD Dave absolutely should be critical of this team and look at his options more closely.
Here's to hoping everyone that can come back, does come back next year, both staff and players (healthy, players). But if we aren't in competition for the AAC regular season title and lock up an NCAA tournament bid, serious changes might HAVE to be made.
