There are a lot of tangible reasons why the team might be struggling-- injuries, new players being worked in, the coaches still figuring out how all the pieces (when rarely available fit together).
Valid points...but a word about injuries (and new players).
We have struggled against other teams who have also been hampered by injuries. Wasn't Wichita State's leading scorer out for the game? And ETSU...which kept up early...was missing their leading scorer/best player.
Meanwhile, our most talented players & most highly-ranked players (except Nared) have been available, even if DeShields has been hurting. Compare our injured roster to an unranked team losing their best player...one who accounts for a huge part of their scoring each night...and notice that some still take up the slack & hang with us. Losing Harrison last year was a blow...but this year's injuries, so far, have mostly affected depth. We have plenty of talent & experience to put on the floor to be able to overwhelm most opponents. To be honest, injuries just sounds like an excuse when it comes to the likes of VA Tech & Wichita St.
Keep in mind that Chattanooga beat us last year with a starter/team leader out with an injury. Other teams with far less depth and talent have to cope with those problems...and those problems
should affect them more.
Same with "new players." Yes, it takes a while for new players to get used to each other, but that accounts for the occasional errant pass, misread cut, blown assignment, failure to call the pick, etc. It shouldn't account for standing around on offense, failing to react to rebounds, failing to collapse in help defense, not getting back in transition, etc. Those are skills learned at a very young age these days by most players...just plain fundamental basketball. You could watch college intramural teams who have just recently met, and their best players know most of the above (and do them in games).
Also consider some of the freshman players for other teams who are lighting it up. They don't seem to have the difficulty adapting.
The points you & others have made about negativity should be considered. However, the coaching staff & players could stop a lot of the negativity by addressing the fundamental problems on the court. It's not just a matter of wins/losses/margins of victory. If the coaches exhibited confidence that the problems would be fixed (instead of saying, "I could stand on my head...I don't know what else to do...I decided not to talk to them since they wouldn't listen") and the players were busting their butts on every play (and actually trying to get open & find the open player), I believe that most fans would be squarely behind both coaches & players.
Also, IMO, some critics need to stop acting as though it's wrong to compare the state of the current program to (A) past LV teams and (B) UCONN...not that it's wrong to compare to either. After all, that's what EVERY team should aspire to become...or at least, the attitude to emulate (pursuit of excellence). The critics need to realize that we're comparing our program against the likes of ND, Baylor, SC, and even other SEC teams whom we used to dominate.
UCONN is not the only team to maintain consistency as a Top 5 team. Right now, we're just aspiring to be as successful as Notre Dame over the last decade...a perennial contender. That was the position we used to occupy & where most would like to see us reach again. To do that, there has to be a lot of improvement among the players who ARE available. This isn't the "Baby Vols" team consisting mainly of freshmen; these players have game & practice experience playing together. Cooper is the only real rookie getting much floor time, and by this point in the season, we should be seeing some stretches of really good basketball. That is all most people are asking for. FL State had 26 turnovers against UCONN...but
that was against UCONN...not Wichita State.
The "Fire Holly" talk can be suspended (ain't going to happen right now anyway, nor should it), but fans have every right to express their disapproval of the effort & execution on the floor. At this point, there's not a lot else to talk about unless it's just to express blind faith that things will improve by March (and that other teams have peaked already and won't also be improving).
Just sayin'.
