Jays 72, George Mason 52
Jays 91, Dayton 90 (2 OT)
Jays 57, DePaul 72
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Sorry folks, been out of town with the holidays and what not...missed the last two games (hence no posts). I donated my tickets to the Dayton game to the United Way, and they got $200 for 'em. So while I missed an instant classic, at least someone got their money's worth and was able to enjoy the game from my seats.
I unfortunately made it back just in time to listen to their first loss of the year, a 72-57 defeat at DePaul. It seems to have taken some of the wind out of our sails, so to speak, but I think people are overreacting. A road loss in November is not the end of the season. And there will not be many nights when the Jays shoot 30%. Seriously, the defense forced almost 20 turnovers on the road...they kept pace on the boards...but the shots just wouldn't fall. This happens occasionally. If anything, its just frustrating that on a night we played good enough defense to win, the shots didn't go. We all know with the shooters this team has, that won't be the case many times this year. So don't worry, yet.
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The morning after a humbling defeat at the hands of the DePaul Blue Demons, a team picked to finish 11th or 12th in the 14 team Big East, the sentiment among many fans seems to be one of panic, anger, or worse, petty shots at other teams (namely, Nebraska). Come on. As poorly as the Jays shot last night -- 30%, and just 17% from behind the arc -- any serious Jays fan can remember many worse nights. Hell, as recently as last years' stinkers against Kent State and Wyoming, both at home. Or what about the blowout at Kent State on Bracket Buster Saturday two years ago? That game was nationally televised!
This is a tough loss, no doubt, but to scream bloody murder that the season is over is ridiculous. I was just as upset as the next guy, to be sure. Sitting there listening to the game on the radio while flipping back and forth between Iowa/NC State and Duke/Indiana on the TV, I was very upset. The cold shooting. The endless barrage of fouls on defense. The lack of anything resembling clutch shooting. But after digesting it overnight, things are not as bad as they seem.
I saw one person ask last night on a message board if this means people will stop picking the Jays to go to the Elite 8.
Blink. Blink.
I'm sorry, I needed a second to let that sink in. If you're seriously talking about what may or may not happen in March after 4 games in November, you're getting way ahead of yourself.
Folks, the team is 3-1. They've beaten a solid George Mason club on the road, beaten a good Dayton team at home, and lost to a rebuilding DePaul team on the road. That's an OK stretch. You'd like to win them all, for sure, but if you've seen this team play, you know that there are not going to be many nights where the team shoots 17% from three-point range.
Jeffrey Day continues his stellar campaign with another night stuck in neutral, unable to even hold his own in limited minutes spelling the A-train when he needs a breather. In a whopping 10 minutes, Jeffrey managed to stay quite busy, taking 2 shots and grabbing one rebound. Here's the thing. When you're missing a lot of shots, that means there's lots of rebounds to get -- just not for Jeffrey. Disappointing performance again from the guy who was our starting center much of last year.
With a week to the next game, I would imagine we'll learn quite a bit about this team. You would assume giving Dana Altman a week to work with his team on what they did wrong in this game would be a good thing. They'll improve throughout the year, that much is certain. I'd wager that in late February, we'll look back at the DePaul loss as a defining point in the season, the point at which the team finally realized they needed to work harder to reach their potential.
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