What is wrong?

[HuskyHawk]

PC got into the bonus like 9 mins into the 2nd half because Whaley can’t set a screen for his life.

They got into the bonus because Duke isn’t a PG and stumbled against the press all by himself 3 times with no contact. Each time a foul was called. Same with Watson who got foul calls every time he missed a shot.

 

[Kitaman]

Sounds like we're making excuses with COVID and injuries. I think we have the talent to win more games, and certainly could have converted some of our losses to wins. The team has practiced enough to learn each other's tendencies and to be unified to overcome adversities.

Sure excuses can also be called reasons, but in this case its excuses. Its February, we are either good or were not, but its not too late to achieve success, make the Tourney or build for next year. Bouknight is not the cure, as I fear players will defer and stand around watching him or over relying on him. What his absence did prove is that Vital's leadership is still a void. Amazing how we got all over him, but his biggest quality and team contribution (leadership) left with him.

If I were to know what's wrong I would be a head coach. At this point Hurley needs to make his final tweaks and push the right buttons, or this season could be a disappointment.

 

[Dean Wormer]

Maybe I'm just not a "sky is falling" type, but the idea of Hurley losing the team does not concern me in the slightest. That kind of stuff cultural stuff is in his wheelhouse.

Agree. I’m just not as chicken little on this team as others. We are good, and at full strength are much better. Hurley can be a dweeb but I’m not too worried about him other than some in-game blips here and there. Reinforcements are coming. We are fine.

 

[Umami Zen]

Despite the fact that our three best athletes have spent the majority of the year injured, in four of our recent losses we were within two to three points mid-game. In some of those losses we had to rally back from large deficits and we did. And yes, we've played fewer games than many of our opponents because of COVID scheduling.

IMO those were winnable games. We need someone to accept the leadership role until Bouk returns to prevent future losses .Unfortunately, it appears that our seniors are either uncomfortable in that role or incapable of stepping up. We have to find some winners capable of making winning plays at crunch time. Oddly enough it looks to me like our freshmen are willing to step up if given the opportunity. We have to protect AS from foul trouble so that he can stay on the floor.

Need W's in our next two games to reverse the momentum and gain some positive energy prior to Bouk's return. Who knows .Maybe Bouk will be ready for the Nova game and we can run the table up to BET.

It's doable. Let's go out and do it.

 

[boog204]

Exceptional? Let's be real. Bouk is easily one of the best players in the country. We lost him. The rest of the surrounding cast is average at best. Martin is the next best and he's an above average player. Sonogo and Jackson are freshmen and will be inconsistent, Polley is the same streaky player he's always been, Gaffney is nowhere near exceptional, and RJ Cole is the same player he's always been, except now, against real competition. With Bouk, we are an above average team. Without him, we are average because the talent is still not there.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Well the biggest issue with today's game is that instead of feeding Sanogo we had to watch Polley brick threes and watch Martin throw layups everywhere but through the hoop.

They won 2 games because Polley was hot. Lost some when he wasn’t. It’s been a gamble

 

[gsmooth]

This is it with Polley. He is streaky and if he is not hitting his shots early, most likely will remain cold. His effectiveness for the duration of the game can be determined early.

That is exactly correct and what I said during the game threads. If he misses at least 2 of 3 of his first shots, he will most likely remain cold because his confidence dwindles. In the Marquette game, he didn't have to think about shooting because they were behind by 18 and there was nothing to lose so he could let it fly without any game pressure or repercussion. Once he made a bunch and the game was close, he already had made a lot of shots so he felt very confident to shoot, even if the game was tight.