…I’ll give it a go.

This is the first time I’ve watched SU since the old days, so I can’t comment on any conversion of style from last year. But it is apparent that they cannot match up talent-wise with the Huskies. Compounding any weakness though, last night there was a lid on their basket—they simply couldn’t buy a FG or FT in the first half, while the Huskies were red-hot. It was hard to judge from this game whether they belong in D-1, though you could see in moments that they are capable of being a pesky team, and some of their wins are evidence that they deserve some respect. Further, SU did play hard for their coach—I saw nothing to suggest a lack of respect or commitment on their part—and you can usually tell when a team has lost that relationship. BUT…

Cameron Dollar’s hack-attack was petty and embarrassing. The game was too far gone to argue that it was anything but a childish response to (his view of) the officiating, and their own performance overall. This sort of garbage should be ostracized by his peers, and we’re lucky that nobody was injured as so often happens when players get chippy. One could sense Coach Romar shaking his head when asked about it in the post-game radio interview. And if I were an AD or coach in the WCC, I’d tell him to shelve it if he wants to play in that league.

I was looking forward to seeing Charles Garcia in person, especially to see how he matched up with known talent. He’s clearly a wild-stallion: great athletic ability, but out of control. While not afraid to bench him, I can’t see where Dollar is coaching him very well. Maybe he just hasn’t had enough time with him? Maybe Garcia picked up too many bad habits before joining SU? Maybe he’s not the most ‘coachable’ player in the world? In any event, he’s not in sync with his teammates, and they’re not complimenting each other in their play. I’ll give Dollar credit for sending him out to apologize after undercutting QPon, but again, who incited that sort of play to begin with? One can only speculate on what Coach Romar could have done given a few years to work with him.

Bottom line, Cameron Dollar did not impress last night. As you said, he “has a lot to learn,” and “a long way to go.” And players will only keep the faith as long as there’s consistency from their leader, and improvement in their overall performance.

A few other comments (not at you, John):
1) Pac-10 Officiating is consistently inconsistent. It’s incredibly aggravating, but generally (last night included), not biased.
2) It might otherwise be tempting to analyze our play with Isiah Thomas out of the lineup, but don’t go there. This game was way too out of control to make any such assessment.
3) Just forget about guessing what our performance in this game means at all.