So much pre-season hype from many of us about so many things (Carlton's MIP from last year, Gilbert's growth during last season, Whaley and Adams' improvement during summer workouts, three good games in Charleston and Bouknight's fabulous debut, Sid's fleetingly much improved play compared to last year and Polley's 3 point shooting), plus the win over an early season top 10 rated team (that has since lost to Utah State at home).
Then came the ridiculously slow starts time and again; the inexplicably poor decision-making by a former McDonald's AA; the BIG center's disappearing act; and all the other warts which have lead some to repeat the Randy Edsall refrain of "we can't win in my system with someone else's players". You dance with who you took to the prom and, according to those who hyped his hiring the most, Hurley's second year is when the team takes a huge leap forward. Time will tell, but we're fans and we want to boast like Clemson football fans or like we used to.
On the Clemson note, Dabo is famous for creating a true family vibe that Hurley seems to want to match. You don't do that by cleaning house on day one, but at some point his faith in the players has to be matched with effort and performances by those he kept from the previous regime. So far the only real jump from last year to this has been Whaley, a guy who Hurley admits he too often overlooked last year. Let us pray some others see Whaley's + performances even without scoring and decide to join the party.
