I stayed off CF for the initial meltdown yesterday, but I have enough thoughts that I'll unpack. Glad
@Peter retracted his outburst.
This team is in a slump right now, but there is still a lot of basketball left to be played. A lot of teams go through slumps (Kane's team lost 3 straight after beating #7 Baylor at home, and was 3-4 in conference at one point. Heck, they were only 6-5 after getting their asses handed to them at WV), but I think we're freaking out because it's coming at a bad time. Still been a good season and bounce back from last year.
The past couple weeks have exposed us, not as a bad team, but as a team with too many weaknesses to play consistently to win a championship. I'll admit I was one of the ones that bought into the hype and have been let down, but I also didn't expect to be in the conversation going into this season. I maintain my stance that if we have a healthy Solomon things would be different. With him, I don't know if we beat Baylor, but we wouldn't have gotten out-rebounded by that margin. I think we've done a good job this season considering the injuries, suspensions and some bad luck.
Calling us a young team is somewhat of a half-truth. Yes, we have a good balance of young guys and veterans, but most of these guys are competing with each other for the first time this season. Wiggs, Lard and Talley are the only holdovers from last season. We do have freshmen getting meaningful minutes, and lo and behold they've played like freshmen at times. K-State is probably going to win the conference this year, mainly because they have a team of veterans that have been playing together for years. I'm excited to see guys like Tyrese and George develop in this program.
Re: Prohm, is he a perfect coach? No. I think he's stubborn to try things he's not comfortable with, and question some of his substitutions. But I think he's also a young coach with a lot to learn still, and he has a done a fine job rebuilding from last season and rebalancing the classes. Criticism of his coaching is fine, but the speculation of whether or not he's the right man for the job is premature. Especially the select few throwing out McD comparisons; McD's teams each year won 14-15 games, finished in the Big 12 cellar, and had his best players transfer out. We're not close to that point yet. Personally, I want CSP to succeed because I'm tired of cycling through coaches every 4-5 years; I think that's been the elephant in the room as to why we haven't been able to take the "next step" we talk about so much.
I did have to laugh at the poster saying just making the NCAA tournament is "mediocre." Making the tournament is the standard most non-blue blood programs use as their barometer for success. It's how Bruce Weber saved his job a couple years ago.
Rant over. See you all in Hilton tomorrow.
