Welcome to the Bulldawg Illustrated Hoops Reports. It’s like a bionic elbow from Dusty Rhodes. And that’s what the Dawgs got in the second half of the Awburn game this past weekend.
After playing a solid first half and building a 14 point lead, the Dawgs looked like they’d never seen a basketball before in the second half. The offense was stagnant, the defense was non-existent and we showed zero emotion. As we stated last week, the Dawgs need to split these two games with Awburn and Arkansas. So if we take care of business on Tuesday night, all is well. But I will tell you Saturday was concerning.
We looked like we didn’t care if we won or lost in the second half. Granted, Awburn is good. You don’t win 14 straight if you suck. That said, they don’t play defense. They win by outscoring their opponents. So it’s concerning when we go over fifteen minutes and score only one basket. My three-year-old son asked me why we stopped scoring. He learned some words he’d never heard before. Hope he doesn’t hear them again. In the end, this game was a road loss to a ranked opponent. No one on the Tournament Selection Committee will even remember it in two months. Let’s just hope they are even looking at our resume.
The Pigs are next. They’re a projected tournament team right now with an 85% chance of making the Big Dance. If the Dawgs can find a way to get the “W”, that will be at least our third win over a current projected tournament team. We’ve been really good at home all year, save the Lamecock game. So we’ve got a chance to take care of business. If not, we’re sitting at 3-5 in conference play and some really tough games on the way.
I will say there’s a little ray of hope. Juwan Parker has been playing well the last two games. We know Yante Maten and Derek Ogbeide can score double digits. So why can’t anyone else help? Can you please step up? Anyone? Turtle? Tyree? Jordan? Bueller? Bueller? Make no mistake that our season and Mark Fox’s future currently hangs in the balance. I’m not certain which way things will go.
Our team needs help. A full house Tuesday night could cure some ills. We need to be loud. We need one spark to reignite this season. I have no idea what it may be. But I don’t know if the spark is not lit soon, it’ll be too late. The ice is thin and Tuesday is huge. If you can make it, go to the Steg! And Go Dawgs!!!
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