Many people think you can't tell much from a big mismatch, but I disagree. I'm really eager to see how we do against Wofford. While we certainly should have beaten Dayton and had it well in our grasp to do so, there were a lot of factors that I hope were specific to that game:
Wofford is the 198th team in the country. Obviously if heaven forbid we should lose to them, the season is at risk of going completely off the rails. I mention that possibility only for completeness, because I don't think it will happen.
If we win in OT or by less than about 8-9 points, plus or minus a few depending on unforced turnovers, I'm going to be pretty concerned that the team is not at all dealing well with Kornet's absence. On paper as Chris notes, we have plenty of talent without him. I'll start to wonder if this is a very negative trend, and I'll wonder if getting him back full strength is a necessary condition for the team to make the NCAAs.
If we win by 25+, I'll be slightly peeved that we don't yet have a good win but fairly optimistic that the Dayton performance is attributable to the non-repeating factors above.
If it's somewhere in the middle... meh. I'll think that Kornet's absence is hurting us more than it should. I'll especially keep an eye on the turnover issue.
- Losing Luke Kornet two days before--Kevin said that they had not adapted well on short notice. How well do they adapt with plenty of notice?
- Exams--I don't recall us ever really playing well during the exam period, although it's probably my own perception bias
- Just the normal letdown that comes three days after losing a last-second game on the road to a really good opponent.
Wofford is the 198th team in the country. Obviously if heaven forbid we should lose to them, the season is at risk of going completely off the rails. I mention that possibility only for completeness, because I don't think it will happen.
If we win in OT or by less than about 8-9 points, plus or minus a few depending on unforced turnovers, I'm going to be pretty concerned that the team is not at all dealing well with Kornet's absence. On paper as Chris notes, we have plenty of talent without him. I'll start to wonder if this is a very negative trend, and I'll wonder if getting him back full strength is a necessary condition for the team to make the NCAAs.
If we win by 25+, I'll be slightly peeved that we don't yet have a good win but fairly optimistic that the Dayton performance is attributable to the non-repeating factors above.
If it's somewhere in the middle... meh. I'll think that Kornet's absence is hurting us more than it should. I'll especially keep an eye on the turnover issue.
