Hack's column:

http://www.bcsn.tv/news_article/show/457235

I always thought Pearson was a talented and explosive player when his game was on, but also a player who could become frustrated at times. I remember him on a number of occasions running down the court to get back on defense after making a poor play while shaking his head in disgust and once in a while being pulled from the game by Coach K to collect himself on the bench a bit before being sent back in. However, assuming Hack's points in the article about the team always turning to Pearson at crunch time are valid, then I have to admit that I seriously underestimated the intangibles that he brought to the team.

This year the team is certainly not off to the hot start that the had last year, but I don't really know why. The absence of Pearson is certainly the most obvious difference between this year and last year's teams but I am not convinced that his absence alone is sufficient to explain the differences in the results so far between this year and last.

One thing is we have no offense from the bench. Lauf is getting there but last year Smith had the confidence to shoot threes and Jon Jon could score.