Most important takeaway for me

[Southport Cat]

One of the deepest, most talented teams in the country came into our house (well, not our house, but our apartment) and got eviscerated in all phases for twenty straight minutes. If halftime didn't exist we win by 40 points. Those first half 'Cats could not only win the BTT but make real noise in the NCAA Tournament as well, and without either of our PGs available. That is simply a statement you could not have credibly made, before now, in the history of this program. Full stop.

Then the lid goes on the rim, the team remembers that this year hasn't gone as planned and is visibly tensed up, and that talented team in the other uniform remembers why they'll be a number one seed come March.

Could CCC have made a lineup adjustment here or there, called a TO at a different time that might have made a difference? Probably. Could the seniors still healthy and on the floor have risen up and made a play? Absolutely. Is the season an abject failure and should we suddenly re-legislate the last five seasons of 'Cats hoops? No, and it is absurd that so many want to go in that direction lately.

It never makes for message board hot take fodder, but the answers as to why a 23ish win team becomes an 18ish win team (hell, 19 or 20 are certainly possible this year still) with largely the same roster are almost always complex and unsexy.

• A 50/50 call goes against the team at a pivotal juncture in the game
• Your leading scorer has a few shooting funks and wears it on the defensive end for a few too many possessions afterwards
• Intensity on both ends of the floor lapses for the wrong 60 second stretch (GT, Rutgers, others I am sure I am forgetting)
• Your elite PG (any assertion otherwise is silly, Mac is BT quality and a joy to watch, period) gets into a turnover funk at the wrong time, likely because of the pressure and workload on his back night after night
• A key player gets hurt for a game or three against the wrong opponent
• A lottery pick becomes the second coming of Steph Curry against you for 40 minutes
• Expected contributors go months without giving the team much for murky basketball or non-basketball reasons
• 21 year olds just don't quite play as well as they did when they were 20

It is totally fair and appropriate on a fan board to criticize, praise, and discuss the players and coaches for what we see in the games. It is appropriate to have a reasonable back and forth about the pros/cons of previous and current coaching regimes. It is something else to make each game, shot, decision, or turnover a referendum on the state of the program and its players and coaches. It gets boring to read. I don't post much, but I read the discussion every week, and frankly it just isn't fun to see the most joyful season we have ever witnessed be retroactively dismissed because we aren't playing as well this year.

 

[Pasadena Bound]

Thank you. One of the better posts I've seen on these boards in quite a while.