vs. St. Thomas (12/21)

[hammb]

I’m not disagreeing with any of the points made and have a lot of the same frustrations. Usually not an optimistic person, but I think it’s important to note that 3 out of 5 starters are injured. We should still be competing so
I’m not making any excuse but Johnson has to play more minutes than he can, Felt is a low-D1, high D2 player in the starting lineup. The injuries have caused different lineups to figure each other out. I do think Squire deserves more minutes than Felt. Felt has bad body language and brings no value to either side of the floor.

From what I’ve heard, Humphrey should be back soon.
Khayat is about 4 weeks out.
Towns was given 4-12 weeks at time of injury.
Hoping Green isn’t seriously injured.

While it is tough to watch, I still have hope for this team to get to Cleveland. Trey Thomas will start to heat up. Hoping that Humphrey will bring some defensive energy that he brought last year and we can get on a roll.

Also, in almost any sport, isn’t in common to see a sophomore (2nd year) slump? Coaches and/or players.

A lot to unpack, LOL.

Thanks for the update on the injuries. Towns is the most important piece in my opinion.

As far as the sophomore slump, Scot Loeffler would tell you that you should be pathetic and dreadful in year 2. So if Simon starts blaming Huger and Jans, he should get no pushback internally.

Yes without Towns we don't have a rebounding presence. Felt makes 3-4 great looking boards a game but otherwise doesn't consistently use his size or athleticism for anything useful.

Khayat is clearly a starter and long athlete but in his limited time I didn't think he was a plus defender either.

Still there is little doubt the injuries have made it look worse than it really is.

Fwiw Mahmoud was back on the bench yesterday.

[Matty B]

I’m not disagreeing with any of the points made and have a lot of the same frustrations. Usually not an optimistic person, but I think it’s important to note that 3 out of 5 starters are injured. We should still be competing so
I’m not making any excuse but Johnson has to play more minutes than he can, Felt is a low-D1, high D2 player in the starting lineup. The injuries have caused different lineups to figure each other out. I do think Squire deserves more minutes than Felt. Felt has bad body language and brings no value to either side of the floor.

From what I’ve heard, Humphrey should be back soon.
Khayat is about 4 weeks out.
Towns was given 4-12 weeks at time of injury.
Hoping Green isn’t seriously injured.

While it is tough to watch, I still have hope for this team to get to Cleveland. Trey Thomas will start to heat up. Hoping that Humphrey will bring some defensive energy that he brought last year and we can get on a roll.

Also, in almost any sport, isn’t in common to see a sophomore (2nd year) slump? Coaches and/or players.

A lot to unpack, LOL.

Agree 100%. I don't think this game was an indicator of the coach or the program. We saw the potential of this squad when we outplayed Sparty for 35 minutes.

But sometimes you just have terrible injury luck and it tanks a season. Show me any MAC team that can lose 4 of its top 8 players and still compete. Without injuries this would have been an even matchup (ST was a 4 point favorite), but they were at full strength and we were not.

Fully healthy, This is a top half of the MAC team at worst. But we're not. Even with the injuries, we'll get some microwave games from Johnson, Butler and Campbell and stack a couple MAC wins together, especially if Felt develops throughout the season. But we'll also get some games where those guys go 5-29 and we're ready to blow the whole thing up. It's just gonna be one of those years.

Injuries suck, man.

[gspointer]

93-68 at the Stroh. That’s a really bad loss.

I really thought this group was primed to be special, but they absolutely aren’t. And that blows.

I just do not see anything elite about this team talent wise.