3/12 UTAH STATE game (WAC tourney)

[boxerdog]

No, you're missing the point -- we started losing games LONG before KG was hurt. Rolle was only hurt for one game. You're revising history. KG's injury hurt us in the Boise and Fresno games, but let's be honest -- he wasn't exactly lighting up the scoreboard from late January on. Rolle's injury hurt us against USU, no doubt.

You can come on here and call people oblivious or whatever you like, but those are the facts.

All I'm saying is that if we win those 2, we're in the NIT. In fact, I would argue the only reason we aren't in the NIT now (even with the losses) was because Rolle got injured (as evidenced by our being displaced by teams with higher rpi's).

We lost a realistic chance of making NCAA tournament after losing to San Jose (imo). At that point it all rode on winning the conference tournament. When KG went down, that become an improbable feat. When Mag went down, that became impossible.

Our conference schedule was frontloaded--giving the illusion that we were better than we really are. The Utah State blow-out at our place was a very bad game for them. The reality check came for us when NMSU outgunned us in Ruston. After that, I thought we regrouped and played quite well in the road swing to Las Cruces, Logan, and Boston.

We were leading the Boise game at home when Kyle was injured. That particular injury is like Nevada losing Babbitt--devastating.

[mildawg]

All I'm saying is that if we win those 2, we're in the NIT. In fact, I would argue the only reason we aren't in the NIT now (even with the losses) was because Rolle got injured (as evidenced by our being displaced by teams with higher rpi's).

We lost a realistic chance of making NCAA tournament after losing to San Jose (imo). At that point it all rode on winning the conference tournament. When KG went down, that become an improbable feat. When Mag went down, that became impossible.

Our conference schedule was frontloaded--giving the illusion that we were better than we really are. The Utah State blow-out at our place was a very bad game for them. The reality check came for us when NMSU outgunned us in Ruston. After that, I thought we regrouped and played quite well in the road swing to Las Cruces, Logan, and Boston.

We were leading the Boise game at home when Kyle was injured. That particular injury is like Nevada losing Babbitt--devastating.

That is all true. I agree completely.

[NateDawg]

We were close in some of those. But what injuries are you referring to, and which games? Again, KG was the only injury we had before the USU game, and he was only hurt for the last 3.5 games. Did his injury hurt us? Absolutely. And Rolle's absence against USU was immeasurable... well, I guess we can measure it by the 30-point loss.

The only point I've made is this -- people are excuse-mongering with the injury talk. Of the 8 games we lost down the stretch, injuries hurt us in 3 of them. We started on a downward spiral WELL before KG hurt his ankle. We knew we needed to win the WAC tourney to make the NCAAs, but with Rolle going down and USU shooting the lights out, it wasn't our night. But the odds are we wouldn't have beaten USU or NMSU with both of those guys healthy. We weren't the same team that beat USU, Murray State, and Houston. Something went wrong, whether it was tired legs or travel fatigue, long before KG rolled his ankle.

Did the injuries hurt us in a small percentage of our games? I'll concede that. But let's not make excuses for 2.5 months of average to below average play.

I'll agree with you on that. Something did change the 2nd half of the season. But, I don't think it was realistic to expect us to win out the rest of the season after making it through the first half with only 3 losses. I would have expected 3-4 more losses and a close fight for 1st place in the WAC. Barring those injuries, which cost us the agreed 3 games, we weren't too far from that goal (close losses like the USU game).

All in all we weren't the same team the 2nd part of the year, but I blame most of that on KG, either injuries or poor performance when he was playing. I remember one game here in Ruston he was 2 of 9 on 3 pointers in the first half...

[LookingForResults]

I'll agree with you on that. Something did change the 2nd half of the season. But, I don't think it was realistic to expect us to win out the rest of the season after making it through the first half with only 3 losses. I would have expected 3-4 more losses and a close fight for 1st place in the WAC. Barring those injuries, which cost us the agreed 3 games, we weren't too far from that goal (close losses like the USU game).

All in all we weren't the same team the 2nd part of the year, but I blame most of that on KG, either injuries or poor performance when he was playing. I remember one game here in Ruston he was 2 of 9 on 3 pointers in the first half...

And Rupp did not alter one thing to adjust for it! If a player is not delivering then the coach must.