Lucious’ absence isn’t the problem, but I do think it is a problem. In terms of team dynamics, having a scoring/passing threat on the floor, even if it’s an inefficient one, is preferable to playing guys who offer almost no threat.

But then I remembered what that last performance did to my eyeballs. Seriously, Korie’s a factor here, but he’s not the only one. Trying to figure what’s wrong with this team has often reduced me to an incomprehensible mess. It’s not just any one thing. And I don’t share Pomeroy’s optimism/rationale. This thing can get way, way worse.

There is a lot to the game that is unmeasurable by statistics, ways that players can make the team better when they are on the floor that are hard to quantify (not that Lucious was an allstar but his importance I think is bit understated here). That said, I think that much of this season has to do with off the court issues, the Lucious dismissal not only being a result of that but also possibly a catalyst for future problems in that area.

how they are performing given expectations. I think losing Lucious hurts some, but is not a major blow or a major factor – statistically – in our poor performances since his departure. There may be a psychological impact to his dismissal that can’t be quantified in production statistics, but on a pure production basis we don’t lose enough to explain the home loss to U of M or getting demolished by Iowa.

Basically, if Lucious had been injured for the Iowa game, and we had to roll out a lineup of Lucas, Summers, Green, Roe, and one other serviceable player (Nix or Appling, take your pick) would you have expected that team to win comfortably? I’d answer that question with a yes. I’d also argue that that starting lineup should have been able, on paper, to beat U of M at home and IU by a comfortable margin, even without much help from the bench.

The bottom line is that, given the talent on hand, we’re clearly underperforming. I’m not saying we should be a top 10 team, but we’re looking at starting 4 highly recruited players, all of whom have played significant roles in winning two straight Big Ten titles and getting to two straight final fours, including a run to the national title game. If those players, plus a couple of reasonably competent role players, play up to their potential for 30 mpg a piece, we should be a pretty good team – certainly top 20. Right now, we aren’t.

I think it’s worth noting that before his dismissal, Lucious was 5th on the team in minutes played. Thus, even though he didn’t start, we basically lost the equivalent of a starter in terms of minutes played. This has caused Appling to go from about 20 minutes me to 33 minutes per game and Kebler to go from 4 minutes to 13 minutes per game. While Lucious wasn’t incredibly productive, his absence has most definitely created drastically different lineup combinations and playing time distribution.

Also, can we get some odds on the chance that we’ll have to face the Cyclones either next season (with Allen) or the season after (with Lucious)? I just have a feeling this will happen.