Trent’s regression since his freshman year is quite troubling. We really miss that alpha dog gunner he was that season. He had the confidence then to go off and get his own. Now, he seems to be in a shell and has been reduced to catch and shoot only when Ayo or Curbelo decides to pass him the ball.
This has indeed been frustrating. Our offense, especially in clutch situations, needs to be a COMBINATION of Ayo/Kofi creating and
knowing that Trent, Adam or Da'Monte (maybe ... lol) are going to be open. It seems we either pass around to find someone who's "not Ayo" or we default to "Ayo" mode. That is just unacceptable for a team with this many weapons. In his defense, the number of times I have seen Ayo realize a drive isn't there and loft a pass over to Trent that he can't do anything with is infuriating, too. I know we have beaten this horse to death, but an offense that has the likes of Trent Frazier and Adam Miller as 3-point threats, Kofi down low and Ayo to worry about should be damn near unstoppable. And that's what keeps me the tiniest bit optimistic: these guys just need to figure out a groove that they can CONSISTENTLY rely on.
Also, RE: the post above mine about the draughts literally costing us four losses, that is so true.
Let's say even without an inexcusable mental lapse that turns into a hole too deep to climb out of, we STILL lose at Rutgers. I think it's beyond debate that we would have beaten Missouri, Maryland and even Ohio State. We would be 13-1 (7-1), with wins vs. (NET) #20 Ohio State, at #25 Missouri, vs. #28 Minnesota, vs. #34 Purdue, vs. #41 Maryland and at #42 Penn State ... probably ranked #6 or #7, first in the Big Ten and possibly eventually riding an 8-game winning streak into a top 5 showdown in Champaign vs. Iowa. I'm sure it does ... but I hope it clicks with these guys just how much has been lost already due to these lapses, and just how much there is to still lose if they don't figure it out. The talent is there, only the players (and possibly the coaching staff) can figure out why we can't keep up the intensity. They'll have my full support until they do, as always, but it's getting hard to watch such a potentially special season get wasted away. I don't buy that "expectations were too high" or whatever. These guys' intensity has lapsed, and it CAN be fixed.