Having had some time to recover from this past season's frustration and huge disappointment, and watching other games, I have no clue what really happened to Cuse. I think if we are all honest on here, we just don't know how much poor coaching, poor play, off-field problems and injuries contributed to the bad results. It seems very strange to me that, on paper, only Rehfuss played up to expectations among the returning seniors. Was that because he had fun playing with Hiltz who seemed to have great chemistry with him? Are we to believe that Trimboli, Dearth, Porter etc. all underachieved because of their own problems?
Watching Georgetown yesterday was an eye-opener. Without their starting fogo (and no solid backup), they seemed to wilt. Their defense looked vulnerable and McElroy looked very ordinary against quality shooters. Carraway seemed unable to do anything when the going got tough - something I enjoyed given his over-the-top celebrations against us. In other words, they looked like Cuse in our blowout games.
UNC looked surprisingly average yesterday - couldn't get their offense going, poor shot making etc. If Rutgers had been able to avoid a couple of turnovers late in the game, they would have won. Are the Rutgers coaches geniuses for having a great defensive scheme against UNC? I don't think UNC looked that bad all year. Maybe Rutgers success was due to great coaching.
Watching Loyola against Denver was also surprising. With mid-level talent by top D1 standards, they have played with poise, discipline and energy. It will be interesting to see how they do against Duke.
My best guess at what went wrong is that the Cuse coaching staff did not know how to handle all the adversity and challenges. When adjustments were required, either none was made or they were made later in the game. One of the most critical losses IMO was the loss to Duke - the team played a great second half and we got contributions from just about everybody. Adjustments however, were either made at half time or not at all. The defense played much better in the 2nd half. You simply can't make adjustments after the first half against elite teams. Where was the analysis and game strategy? Where was plan B and C? Why was Savage brought in to play (losing his redshirt) against ND and then not used any more when we were struggling?