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(05-31-2018 06:58 PM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote:  

(05-31-2018 06:31 PM)ODUDJ96 Wrote:  Jones didn’t miss all those FTs and threes against WKU in the CUSA tournament - just like he didn’t hit Freeman’s “shot.”

He did, however, tout himself as the guy who knew how to get us back into contention -- complete with weird introductory ads showing him emerging from a smoky silhouette saying "let's get it started."

I have enjoyed every season that JJ has coached for us. But every one of them has ended with me thinking that we coulda/shoulda done better. I am already looking forward to next season, especially if we land another promising journeyman big. But I am fully expecting it to end again in coulda/shoulda fashion.

That's good enough for me. I'm old and easily entertained. But I fully understand why it is not good enough for others.

I'd be more entertained if I had that dopamine flow going into the big games where I had some confidence that we had a good chance of pulling off a win. I was entertained in those MTSU and WKU games last year, but we all knew we were going to lose those games going in and that sort of takes the edge off and makes it more of a casual viewing and less of feeling like part of the game. It also takes the friendly smack talk and back and forth among fans away. I miss that aspect as well. I know that the lack of natural rivalries in this conference was going to reduce that anyway, but I don't even get into it with the VCU fans anymore. Kind of difficult to give them a hard time when you have nothing to back it up with and you seriously doubt you'll win.

Blaine certainly wasn't all rainbows and unicorns, I hated his hockey substitutions and I think he toyed around with his lineups and strategies too much against mediocre teams and I don't know what his problem was with the Patriot Center. I also think he "threw" some midseason games to teach his kids a lesson by exposing their weaknesses and that frustrated the hell out of me, but I do miss the aspect of having enough confidence to invest emotionally down the stretch when it really mattered. Now it is just numbness and, while still entertaining enough to keep up and attend games, it just isn't what it used to be.