Hurley needs to live in the moment. Stop talking about going for three straight. Stop talking about being the best coach in the sport. Stop talking about the refs giving respect to the defending back-to-back champs. And stop talking about looking at your championship rings after losses. Focus on getting this very flawed team into the NCAA tournament and in a position where maybe they can make some noise.
This doesn't look like a team that is well coached right now. Do I think Danny is a great coach? Of course I do. But he's not showing it right now. He needs to focus on fixing this and forget about the past.
The national media and the rest of college basketball would love to bury us. They'll forget about our back-to-back championships in no time. Focus on the present.
You nailed it, but left out one thing:
WE need to live in the moment, and to stop talking about going for three straight!
Okay, AK is back, but Diarra, Ball, Johnson, and McNeeley are just nowhere near the equivalent of Newton, Castle, Spencer, and Clingan.
Diarra and Ball have reached their ceiling, and we can’t expect more of them. The transfers, Reed and Mahaney, have been, at best, inconsistent, and the other two sophs, Stewart and Ross, still aren’t ready for big roles.
So let’s just swallow our disappointment and appreciate whatever this year’s team manages to accomplish.