NS Who? Really? 67 points? Really?

The only good thing about scheduling NSU is that it wont hurt our RPI (because they are D2) but man do I hate these games. They make sense in November but not in January. Yes, our schedule has been upgraded but it has gone from abysmal to just average. I suspect we land around 110 for our SOS which will sadly be the hardest sched of the Woj era. I digress...

I was ready to POUND NSU today but when I arrived and saw less than 2000 people there (probably a third of which were NSU supporters) I reallized that I was one of the few left who still care. We can complain all we want about some people being negative but that is actually GOOD for the program, if you are negative, you still care. You know what will kill a program? Apathy. That is unfortunately where we are at. Think of it in these terms. Over THREE THOUSAND PEOPLE paid $20 to NOT watch the game today. Brutal. Style of play doesnt matter? Riiiiiiight. You can post all the attendance figures you want, the reality is that we are averaging 2000+ per game of, paid for, empty seats. We need to get THOSE people back first and not playing boring snoozville hoops is a great place to start.

Speaking of which, the first 12:30 of this game may be the most boring pile of dung I have ever sat thru. Did we really take the opening tip-off, stand around for 34 seconds and force up a 25 footer at the shot clock buzzer to start the game? It was 15-14 and our half court offense was PAINFULLY inept... against a D2 team. Jordan had 9 at that point, mostly due to him being half a foot or more taller than anyone guarding him. Then, we stopped trying to run offense and just felt out the game, this is what Self's teams did. We actually were able to score 18 in the last 7:30 after having 15 in the first 12:30. Interestingly, Jordan was on the bench most of that run. I think something is not right with him. He does not run the floor well and gets winded. Could he be anemic or something? I think the kid has made huge strides but I just dont get the NBA talk, let alone the lottery references. I hope he makes it as it will be nothing but great for TU. We'll see. We kind of cruised from the half on in but we never looked very crisp on offense. We should have forced the pace, they had no hope of staying with us but instead, we were happy to let them control the pace and we scored a whopping 67 points.

What happens in conference play when teams have us scouted and start to pressure us? When they start to double Jordan with a non-D2 center he cant easily pass over? The conference is stinking it up so we can still actually do some damage and I can tell you right now that I think we will beat UAB or even Memphis this year, it will be a 58-56 type game but I'll take it. I still dont know what to think of this team. It would not surprise me if we went 5-1 over the next 6 but it also would not surprise me if we went 1-5. We are missing some of the building blocks for a solid NCAA caliber team. Passing, chemistry, offensive execution... all just not there and I am not sure where it will come from.

One last rant. Please lay off Sam Mitchel. How is it HIS fault that he has to play because of people quitting, injuries, etc.? We have some very educated fans but when we struggle, the retarded ones come out and start saying things like Bawji is the savior of this team, etc. Newsflash, you same fools once thought Sam was the answer to all our problems, and JT Ivie before him, etc. Richard is young, does not have any clue where to be, who to box out, etc. that is why he gets limited minutes. He is athletic and could be a player for us, just not ready and Bawji? What on earth has he done on the court to make anyone think he needs more than garbage minutes? Again, young, does not know some of the basics, routinely out of position on defense and has done NADA in the garbage minutes he has picked up. Just weird that him NOT playing elevates his talent in many eyes. The real discussion here is why is Idlet not getting more minutes, he has SHOWN the most in actual game play. Also, while I am ranting, dont even get started with the fire Woj talk. He is the coach, our coach, we made the bed and we must lie in it, no matter how stinky the sheets may be right now. Last year we were not a good team until the end of the year, we havent even started conference play yet. I think we have lots of problems but last year we were in the same boat for most the year. I just am hoping that run starts early enough for us to make some noise in a real tournament (one with some history and legacy). If we flame out, I dont want him fired but I would like to see a new assistant with a penchant for offense and with some local recruiting ties (Texas, OK, etc.)

We have two roadies coming up, both we could win and both we could lose by 15. USM is decent and well coached, they just beat a pretty good Ole Miss team by 20 at home. Charlotte is an impossible team to figure out. I saw them play Clemson after losing to ODU and App St. I expected Clemson to kill them but it was nip and tuck the entire way. They then proceeded to get HAMMERED by ASU. They have lost a lot of close ones and I would expect this one will be close as well. I will actually be fine with a split. Of course, I may be one of the few who actually still care.