KNOW THIS: If you didn't believe we're on the bubble before, you should sure as shit believe it now. Also, if you were bullish on the overall quality of the team, you might want to re-examine that, too.
Consider:
- KT Harrell and James Johnson were too soft/weak/immature/fragile/scared/selfish/etc. to stick it out, and they transferred, effectively sapping our end-of-bench depth. We could really use a couple of good fluffers right now.
- Assane Sene broke his foot, effectively destroying our frontcourt depth and throwing our frontcourt balance out of whack. We miss you, Zu.
- Sammy Zeglinski has clanked, thudded, and airballed his way into the most horriffc shooting slump I've seen since Mamadi Diane was building houses out of bricks in the hissing remains of the grease fire known as the Dave Leitao era.
- Joe Harris (sadly, no longer Joey Hoops) broke his hand on a - let's be honest - stupid loose ball play in a hopeless situation against UNC. Now he's a glorified decoy, unable to catch the ball, unable to pass the ball, unable to effectively rebound, and edging over toward Zeglinski-level bad shooting. Losing Harris might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back for us this season. God bless him for trying to play through the injury, though. But please Joe, don't buy into the glory the announcers try to heap on you for trying to make hustle plays. You are too valuable for hustle plays. Let Akil Mitchell dive all over the court like a lunatic. You are a sports car, Joe. Let the jeeps drive it off road.
- For all of Mike Scott's awesomeness, he's not there in the clutch, and he hasn't even really been there in the second half of games lately. ACC Player of the Year makes plays to win games late in the second half. Mike Scott is just disappearing completely at that time. Not a good trend. For all of Mike Scott's stepping up, we really need him to step up to a new, higher level. And one more thing: can he work his low post offense without turning it over? He's become a one-dimensional jump shooter. There, I said it.
- Akil Mitchell is J.C. Mathis 2.0 -- a truly damning comment, I know. But consider the traveling, consider the "completely lost" plays. I think Mitchell can and will be better than Mathis... but he's not there yet. I do like his pogo stick rebounds though.
- Our second-best player, and now our second-best scoring option is a
free safetypoint guard who spews turnovers and has zero - ZERO - jump shot. Hallelujah for Jontel Evans' development of that runner, which is now our second-best offensive weapon to Mike Scott's 15-foot half-fadeaway jumper. - Darion Atkins can't get playing time. He also can't avoid fouls. *sigh*
- Paul Jesperson can't make a shot. I think he looks really good in terms of his effort on defense and his "fit" in the system, but I hate what I've seen when he gets the ball in position to shoot. It's like he's trying to decide whether or not to shoot, and that hesitation is throwing off his rhythm. It's all part of being a freshman thrown into the deep end of the pool without the early season cupcake games to snack on, I get it. More collateral damage from KT Harrell's cowardice. We really need Jespy to gun that ball up and start becoming a perimeter threat... because the form on his shot is sweet as Yoo-Hoo. I know he can be a real weapon for us shooting the ball, once he gets his legs under him and gains confidence in his role. But that might not click into place until next year.
- Malcolm Brogdon has shown flashes. Unfortunately, we need more than flashes right now. I don't have a whole lot of faith that his line drive perimeter shot is going to suddenly get more accurate within the next few weeks, but at least he hasn't come down with the crippling communicable disease that put Zeglinski's jumper on its death bed. Brog turns it over a lot when he puts the ball on the floor and tries to drive, but that might be a necessary evil because we desperately need another scoring option right now.
- We are hemorrhaging turnovers. That ain't Bennettball. It's mostly due to our starting
running backpoint guard needing to think of himself as more of a scorer and getting sloppy with his handle, but it's also bad passes, out of control dribble drives, and bad ball security. It killed us against UNC, and it killed us tonight. - Maryland, @ Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Florida State, @ Maryland, first round ACC Tournament game. Do you see us winning four of those six games with the way we're playing right now? No, I don't either. Three wins in that stretch puts us on the bubble. Two or fewer? NIT, baby. Get used to the thought.
What we have going for us is Tony Bennett's coaching, our defense (which is less reliable now with Sene out), Mike Scott drawing double teams, and Jontel Evans discovering his scoring ability. It's not enough. This team does not look like an NCAA Tournament team right now.
Frankly, I am scared shitless that we are going to have a sad Selection Sunday. If the cookie crumbles that way, I hope we can gather our pride and at least make a good run in the NIT.
Meanwhile, I am officially worried about Tony Bennett's grip on our fickle, slippery fanbase. Miss the Big Dance this year, and apathy returns. We desperately need to beat Carolina or FSU and make the Tournament this year.
Saturday is a home game against Maryland. That is a must win. Lose it, and the sky starts falling.
Bonus thought: Would you trade Mike Scott, Sammy Zeglinski, and Assane Sene for Justin Anderson, Evan Nolte, Mike Tobey, Teven Jones, a potential mystery recruit big man, and lowered expectations?
In my mind, Sene isn't playing, Sammy is an offensive liability, and Mike Scott is tapering off. Jones > Zeglinski, Tobey > Sene, Anderson + Nolte > Scott, and mystery recruit and lowered expectations are gravy. Continued improvement from Jontel Evans, Joe Harris, Akil Mitchell, Malcolm Brogdon, Darion Atkins, and Paul Jesperson is also gravy... but also a given.
Suddenly looking forward to next year...
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