Mark Few has way above average talent to work with.
That's not the point. Numerous posters keep talking about "what Pat would do" and "how Pat would handle it," and all would agree that Pat had exceptional talent on her roster including some of the best ever to play. It's not just about talent. It's about knowing how to get the best out of your team, including how to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses.
I wrote about this team's mental toughness earlier. Right now that toughness is being tested. Their confidence is shaken, they're physically tired from the road and quick turnarounds, and they're running into teams that are exploiting their weaknesses. I couldn't see the game, but it sounded as though the veterans gave up at some point in the second half. Kellie's post-game comments about not having the fight needed alluded to that. She wasn't using the overtime game vs. Arkansas as an excuse, either. Coaching is a delicate balance of encouraging, demanding, cajoling, instructing, and supporting players by putting them in the best position to win.
The staff may need to rethink time out strategies to give the team opportunities to regroup and to make adjustments, remind players of strategies/assignments, and give encouragement. That might require getting a little more animated and demanding toward the team in general, but trying on a fake personality will be something the team sees through immediately. Kellie's approach is to inspire confidence, not to yell at and belittle players. That approach works for some coaches and for some players who seem to thrive on anger at the coach redirected toward opponents, but that won't work for Kellie. You can appeal to pride and honestly assess a team's (or player's) lack of effort or focus, but berating individuals in public just to placate fans will just create resentment that results in even more lack of effort.
This team can regain its confidence and drive to compete. Maybe they are more fragile than some of us thought (which actually makes the coaching job to get them to a great start more remarkable). We have witnessed some of our key players go through mental slumps in the past, and we knew that some of our close wins earlier this season were due to grinding out games more than through overwhelming talent.
Kellie's Sweet Sixteen team at Mo. State began the season with a string of losses, but they hung in there and kept fighting despite adversity (including losing a key player). Our team can recover, although we're in a valley right now while some teams are seeing dramatic improvement climbing out of their own valleys.
It may be time for the team leaders to have a closed door session to clear the air and for each player to honestly address what she will commit to doing to fix the team shortcomings.
(Too bad the fans aren't willing do the same.)
