I opened the game thread with the following plea:
Pedal to the metal from the opening tip, please.
Yeah. Well. Losses sting. When we lose to Ohio State it's especially painful for me. After the game, I worked for a while and then took a long, two-hour walk around my hilly neighborhood until sunset. Afterward I realized I've made peace with this team and this season.
We have amazing freshmen and I'm looking forward to seeing them develop and lead. We have performed remarkably well at times given our lack of seasoned PG, which most fans projected last summer would be a challenge for the team. Jayden has done well in that role given his inexperience.
If these guys show up at the tip and compete for even 30 of 40 mins they can beat anyone, as we've seen. Anything less than that and, against talent, the ceiling drops fast. When they don't show up for a half, as they didn't on Thursday and Sunday, well, we either get a thrilling, generational comeback or the long tail of defeat. (OSU is not a bad team; they're just largely young and, until we put wind in their sails yesterday, were demoralized.)
I hope we play into the second weekend of the tourney. I'll enjoy each game remaining to the limit because I adore our program, our university, and support (to the wall) these magnificent guys who wear the O&B on our behalf. I no longer have any expectations, however. It is what it is.