I disagree. If you are Louisville or North Carolina, you can bring another 5-star off the bench, but midmajors don't have that option.
The fact is that Creighton did not "dance" in 2006 when they should have.
Creighton was the favorite to blow through the MVC and win everything that year, with Funk as a senior. They slumped down the stretch and they were beaten in the first round of the MVC tournament (by Bradley) and they missed the NCAA tournament. They did get invited to the NIT, but got knocked off at home by Miami (FL), a team that would never have beaten them at home if Funk was there. And they did have another All MVC player on that team in Anthony Tolliver.
So do you think Creighton wouldn't have done much better or made the NCAA with Funk that season? Of course they would have.
Nobody is using DRs injury to make excuses. But it is not logical to suggest that an injury to the key player on a midmajor team shouldn't have a negative effect. It always does.
With all due respect, BU was expected to contend for a MVC crown and NCAA berth with DR. Without DR, of course expectations are lessened to a degree. I certainly didn't expect to win every game he missed, but I expected us to show up at home, beat lesser talented teams, and tread water until he gets back. I had 3rd-5th place in my mind, which is quite a drop from contending for a league title IMO. I thought this group was more than talented enough and deep enough to still do that. I certainly wasn't giving up the season. No way. A teams that's supposed to contend for a league title and supposedly has depth and a great recruiting class should be able to do that, it's not asking the world of anyone. If we're sitting here a month from now and BU has won 4 of 5 and gone 4-6 or so in DR's absence, then perhaps my comments will look knee-jerk or reactionary, but today they are not. I have been eye-witness in the last 4 games to some of the worst basketball I have seen in the last 6 years, and a lot of it has very little to do with one of our better players being injured. I have also seen other teams sustain similar injuries to similar-caliber players and at least have been able to tread water against tougher competition.
The Creighton argument holds a lot of water in this situation. They lost Nate Funk for whole year, and Josh Dotzler for the 2nd half of the league season. They still went 12-6 in MVC play (in one of the toughest MVC's in the last 20 years), won 6 of their final 10 games, and earned an NIT bid. Yes, they still had an all-league caliber player in Anthony Tolliver, but not much else. Yet they found a way to not only tread water, but have a successful season by just about anyone's standard. Now we have BU this year - BU has lost Dan Ruffin, is 7-8, 0-3 in the league (a watered-down MVC no less), and has lost 5 straight games (4 in a row at home for the first time in 16 years) in embarrassing fashion with no end in sight. They still have an all-league caliber player in Jeremy Crouch, an all-league freshman team player in Andrew Warren, an all-freshman/all-newcomer lock in Sam Maniscalco, and a recruiting class that was touted by several national publications as being among the nation's best. I am sorry, but there is NO EXCUSE for how poorly BU has played the last 3 games, specifically the last 2 home games. This injury is not an excuse, not the way we've been getting embarrassed by sub par competition on our home floor.
We have 16 games to get this thing fixed. Right now, it's hard to pencil in a win anywhere. But this is a crazy game, and so far it's been a crazy season. 2 wins this week and everyone is singing a different tune. All we can do is play at this point. Let's hope for a miracle tomorrow and hopefully a little basketball magic to try and save this sinking ship.
