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| Aggie fans' first world problems |
Kevin McCarthy, like he so often does, pretty much nailed it yesterday in offering some therapy to Utah State fans. I also can't help but wonder if much of that was in response to my own personal explosion of frustration regarding the State of the Aggies after 20 games. Seeing as how he used the exact same picture of stepping off a ledge I used back in December when I made the same plea, I dare say he's paying attention to this site... or he just does a Google image search for random photos just like all of us bloggers out there do.
The point is, he basically threw down the perfect counterpoint to my point, with a little outsiders perspective.
Yes, Aggie fans have been spoiled as hell the past few years. From 2009-2011, USU lost one fewer WAC game over a three year span than last year's second place team did in 2011 alone. Prior to losing at home to Nevada this season, the last time USU lost a WAC home game, the current USU freshman class were eighth graders. The last time Utah State lost three WAC games in one year, nobody gave a shit, or even really yet knew of Sarah Palin (Those were the days, eh?)
Maybe it's good we're remembering what it's like to lose. This season will make winning feel that much better if/when the team gets back on track.
History lesson
Since the WAC as we know it came to be in 2005-06, no other team has suffered a greater loss in a single offseason as what USU has had to deal with going into this year. One of the closest examples though is what Nevada lost after the 2009-10 season (you know how I love me some historical comparisons).
Luke Babbitt, Armon Johnson, Brandon Fields, Joey Shaw and Ray Kraemer all moved on, leaving Dario Hunt as essentially the only returning player with experience. The result was a 13-19 team with a .500 record in WAC play last year. There were good individual performances, but their inexperience held them back, particularly in playing as a team. They averaged just 11.8 assists per game on the year. USU this year is averaging 11.7... See why I dig these historical comparisons?
And just look at Nevada now.
Leadership
Everything changed once Brady Jardine got hurt. The dude is just a leader, plain and simple. Preston Medlin is growing into that role, but it's just not the same as it would have been. One of the biggest complaints is that this year's team doesn't look or play like a Stew Morrill team, but they still play for Stew, and eventually he'll mold them into what he wants to see.
Not how things were supposed to be
The problem this year isn't just that six seniors graduated, the team's leader getting hurt and a massive amount of inexperience. James Walker and Norvell Arnold would likely have been stars on this team. Antonio Bumpus and Steven Thornton would have provided MUCH needed depth on the wings. Deshawn Stephens probably would be the first big man off the bench right now had he held his commitment.
In other words, plan A of this rebuilding year pretty much entirely fell through. Stew had to resort to plan B, and with the injuries to Jardine and Bumpus, plan B was done no favors. The last time a team this young was forced to learn on the fly, the young guys had Jaycee Carroll, Gary Wilkinson, Kris Clark and Steve Ducharme to help them along.
The result is that we're finally seeing that down year that the has been prophesied by Stew for so long. We didn't want to believe this would be the case, and with a Jardine in the picture, it likely wouldn't have been, but it is.
In closing...
Yes, it does look like the Aggies are sharing their gold this year... Enjoy it WAC. We don't plan on sharing it for long.
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