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Message: [QUOTE="AZHuskiePop, post: 2532435, member: 1609"] Of course there are expectations every year of making the tournament That doesn’t happen and never has . Yes KO managed to keep a decent core together a couple of years enough so that they developed into a very good TEAM and won a NC. Every year since has been a rebuild compounded by the fact that we had a number of less than great recruiting classes. Those with any honest memory should remember that one of the key impediments to recruiting were daily media stories that KO was leaving . The fact that he was somewhat coy at least publicly didn’t help. It did get him a lot of money though. We’ve never developed enough depth to overcome a departure especially if that was premature. We got to the NIT in 2014-15 with a complete new backcourt playing RB out of position. Injuries to RB and Rodney didn’t help. I don’t think either played in losses to Texas or Yale. 2015-2016 We introduced JA our first legimate PG since Bazz and with the addition of two decent grad transfers and Hamilton made the Tournment for the second time in two years. and won 25-26 games plus the AAC Championship* *(The AAC regular season is unbalanced I believe a Temple team who played a weaker schedule than us won but we blew them out on a neutral flow .) 2016-2017 with KO safely secured we had our best recruiting class in years With a five star PG and a five star transfer coming in With Jackson ,Durham and Diarra and a throw away name Christian Vital added to Sophmore JA , Steve Enoch ,Seniors Brimah and Facey plus post grad Rodney Purvis , the optimist on board were talking deep run. If anything the predictions bordered on insanity. But KO ‘s achievements with less made anything seem possible. Third NCAA in 4 tries was assured Maye number 5 was in the works Those are heady goalposts. Hamilton not coming back for his junior year was a blow but we still had a preseason top 20 ranking. What happened over the course of last season and especially this spring shellshocked the faithful. Here is my take Hamilton left too soon Rodney was in a funk due to personal issues. Diarra was lost for the year The team got off to a bad start in part due to KO giving the point to Gilbert and JA unsure of his role Than they promptly lost Larrier, and Gilbert for the year and Durham was in no real shape to contribute . Steve Enoch couldn’t stay in a game in a year he should have been getting as many minutes as Brimah. We ended up with JA , Jackson ,Purvis, Facey, Brimah,and Vital as the super sub. with no secondary ball handler anyone who didn’t reduce expectations had to be delusional. The odd thing about this lineup is JA took that team over and they became decent. I didn’t say great or even good but a pretty decent if thin team. If JA didn’t sustain two key injuries ,a concussion,and a sprained ankle that he played the final third of the season on I suspect that team would have easily made the NIT. A disappointment but in the real world stuff happens . Maybe expectations for this year we’re not the same but With JA, Larrier, Gilbert , Vital, Jackson, Enoch , Diarra,and Durham returning there along with some decent recruits like MAL,Whaley, Carlton,and Polley I suspect the NCAA was legitimatly in reach. The departures of two and possibly three future starters plus our key guard recruit in addition to Brimah, Facey,and Purvis and the team is pretty much devastated. Why this happed is anyone’s guess but KO is in charge . That type of event is a goal post mover or let’s call it reality. For those of you with little knowledge of team construction carrying over guys from year to year starts the new team at a higher level to begin with.especially true of backcourt and wings. So this goal post moving theory is actually pretty redictules. Its failure to achieve expectations ,possibly beyond what is normal that’s the reality. I don’t pretend to know the internal factors that caused the disruptions But to deny they play a part in our current situation is absolute nonsense, Also to say since KO arrived we have tempered expectations is ridicules . If Anything his success in 2014 with a less than great players , made future expectations greater and magnified failure to achieve those expectations. [/QUOTE]

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