Sober and rational thoughts...
I waited until my hangover ended to respond to my own babble last night. 2003-2004 was the most disappointing season in memory for UA Basketball fans. It was the proverbial "down" year, which speaks volumes about how spoiled we are considering we won twenty games and was a #9 seed in the tournament. They'll be back next year though, likely a Preseason Top 10 if Stoudamire and Igoudala stay (doubtful on Igoudala), with another outstanding recruiting class. Last night's game was the entire season in a nutshell, the Cats looked dominant when they decided to play defense and very weak when they didn't. Also the Cats struggled the whole season when Stoudamire's shot wasn't falling, last night was no exception. Thankfully next year Lute will go to his bench if someone is slacking on either side of the ball, a luxury he did not have this year.
Not having Latimore, Fox, Bynum, Ebi, and Dunn ended up being a huge part of the problem this year. I'll probably get grief but Lute coached very poorly this year, from game situations to locker room management he seemed to be out of touch at times. Player selfishness and lack of focus were also factors during this forgetttable season. A focused team with 6 future NBA players should never give up 14 point second half leads to mediocre squads like Seton Hall, but it did happen and both the players and the coaches need to be held responsible. There is a whole summer for the team and coaches to figure out these problems as well as to decide who is going to fill the gigantic viod in leadership. So as a Cards fan I'm used to saying this so here goes
"wait 'til next year."
Meanwhile at Tempe Normal, Diogu is still good and the rest of the program still sucks.
