The more I think about it, the more that UT loss felt exactly like what we saw under Ford.
-On the road, against one of the worst teams in the conference and a weak crowd
-Only 1 or 2 OSU players seem to play to their potential, the others disappear
-Tons of foul trouble for our guys. No foul issues for their guys.
-Allow 1 big run in the second half to put the team in position to have to try to close the gap and give themselves a chance in the final minute of the game.
-The gap is closed, but the other team is able to do just enough to keep us from tying it up.
-In the end, OSU is saddled with a road conference loss and the opponent is celebrating their first decent win of the season.
I still have faith that Underwood is going to get this team into the NCAA tournament this season and will have major future success, but that was a game that we should have won. The loss is going to require him to come out of a future expected loss with an unexpected win.
I'm not sure how much we are being hurt by Shine's absence, but I sure would like to see what he could do if he were completely healthy. Anything that keeps Dillard off the floor seems like it would help. He is also a better man to man defender than 3-4 guys who are getting heavy minutes.
Hunziker said, during the game, that Waters would have helped a lot last night, because he is solid fundamentally, a great passer, and the ball doesn't "stick" when he is in the game on offense. Maybe he is right about that. I will have to see more before I decide if he is right.
I really thought, in the second half, when Solomon/Lucas were saddled with 4 fouls, that Underwood should have gone small (Evans, Averette, Forte, Carroll, McGriff/Hammonds) and tried to speed UT up. Maybe it wouldn't have worked, but nothing else was working, and UT isn't a very deep team.
-On the road, against one of the worst teams in the conference and a weak crowd
-Only 1 or 2 OSU players seem to play to their potential, the others disappear
-Tons of foul trouble for our guys. No foul issues for their guys.
-Allow 1 big run in the second half to put the team in position to have to try to close the gap and give themselves a chance in the final minute of the game.
-The gap is closed, but the other team is able to do just enough to keep us from tying it up.
-In the end, OSU is saddled with a road conference loss and the opponent is celebrating their first decent win of the season.
I still have faith that Underwood is going to get this team into the NCAA tournament this season and will have major future success, but that was a game that we should have won. The loss is going to require him to come out of a future expected loss with an unexpected win.
I'm not sure how much we are being hurt by Shine's absence, but I sure would like to see what he could do if he were completely healthy. Anything that keeps Dillard off the floor seems like it would help. He is also a better man to man defender than 3-4 guys who are getting heavy minutes.
Hunziker said, during the game, that Waters would have helped a lot last night, because he is solid fundamentally, a great passer, and the ball doesn't "stick" when he is in the game on offense. Maybe he is right about that. I will have to see more before I decide if he is right.
I really thought, in the second half, when Solomon/Lucas were saddled with 4 fouls, that Underwood should have gone small (Evans, Averette, Forte, Carroll, McGriff/Hammonds) and tried to speed UT up. Maybe it wouldn't have worked, but nothing else was working, and UT isn't a very deep team.
