Between FTs, open looks at the 3, and some layups we had every opportunity to win this game and just couldn't hit the shots.
Thought defense was solid overall and it bodes well that even against their back court we were able to generate chaos. Khalid had the best game of his career and it was nice to see Kelly hit a couple as his stroke can help us in future games. Usher had a good all around impact kind of day.
But Josh and co have to get away with this overthinking and trying to get cute nonsense. The small ball line up with Ush at the 5 doesn't work against good teams. Sure we had a good 5 minute stretch with it, but the other 20 minutes we tried it, it was horrible. Keep it simple. Play Howard. When Howard comes out, play Saba or Meka. Maybe if Coleman and Kelly were juniors, or Smith or Sturdy had the experience of a year playing and an offseason to reflect, it might be worth it, but that isn't true. Saba and Meka may not be ready for what we need, but that doesn't matter, because neither are the aforementioned players ready to do what we need in a tiny ball line up.
And if we thought going small was a way to play for a win, then you don't sit Devoe. I don't care if he was off a bit. He still needs to be on the court if you're playing for a win. And if you're not, then you play the back up bigs to get them experience.
Moses Wright developed in part because he actually played. He played 414 minutes as a freshman. Saba has played a total of 153 in his career, and there is no way he is in a worse spot than Moses was as a freshman.
