This is a bad situation. Dan isn’t wrong; his seniors are underperforming. Benson hasn’t lived up to expectations, but anything short of Russell 2.0 was going to disappoint this year. He was given an impossible act to follow. Braun has been declining for the last two years and I’m glad he’s finally being called out for lack of defense. It’s great that he can drive and shoot it. Like Dan said last night, Braun couldn’t guard the podium he was speaking behind. If you can’t play defense you shouldn’t be on the floor.

He was complimentary of Lever and said he could keep feeding him the ball and could work with him. Same with The other freshmen. He’s just tired of guys performing in practice then getting in a game situation and failing to execute. How many chances do you give players who are inconsistent and lackluster?

I do have some concerns about airing out the dirty laundry in public like that. It’s one thing to acknowledge poor performance as a team and say that it’s an area that needs addressing. But tearing down individual kids isn’t likely to help them improve. That being said, Dan spends more time with these guys than we do and should know their buttons. Maybe he is doing exactly what they need in order to ring them back in. We will see what happens in Orem.

My gut tells me they overlooked an NAIA team and a game they thought would be less competitive than an Intrasquad scrimmage. They got caught by guys from a smaller school looking to impress on the only big stage they’d have all year. It’s tough to snap to once you’ve mentally checked out of a game. The shots were falling early and they built a lead seemingly effortlessly. Heck, they shot 62% from the field last night. But defensively, you just can’t let teams take uncontested shots. Nearly bit them last night.

Dan is hacked off. Rightfully so. I think I he’s also smart enough and experienced enough to know that sometimes a team just has a horrible night and makes mental mistakes. They are college kids after all. It hopefully served as a huge wake up call. Dan isn’t leaving. He will get them ready for Utah Valley. I think they’ll come back strong and steal one from the fellas in Orem.