We have much bigger problems than John Lickliter.
Quite true, i.e.
1) The
reason JL is seeing so many minutes rests squarely on the shoulders of Anthony Tucker, again.
2) The fact that Bawinkle has no more right to see a D-1 basketball court than JL, yet retains a scholarship. JL merely busts his *** for the love of the game and has twice the all around skills. He's paying to play and asks nothing from the U of Ia or the fans except to support him when he gets his opportunity (is forced into action, thanks to the above 2 alternatives). He, nor his father, are the ones suffering from the delusion that he should be playing under normal circumstances.
(Unfortunately, the world is full of really stupid D.A.'s, let alone really low Bball IQ's, that are just compelled to spew out blame on an easy target. Too bad they cannot overcome their foolishness to focus a bit more effort on the 3 fingers pointing back at themselves, rather than the one finger pointing at which they cannot control.)
3) The fact that, despite their strong hearts and efforts, Gatens and Cole are just as athletically and physically overmatched at their respective positions as anyone on the team. No one seems interested in pointing out how frequently they've dropped the ball (literally and figuratively) at crucial points during these winnable games. I'm as disappointed in their underachieving, stagnant sophomore campaigns and their failure to deliver, relative to their skills and experience, than anything I've seen this season.
(Yes, Cole's a junior, but he lost a year due to the knee injury.)
4) Back to point #1 -- It is time for AT to see the floor and actually contribute to a BigXI basketball season. IMEO, this situation is getting uglier by the game and is beginning to
look like TL is dicking around.
He's paid his dues and he either needs to play or leave so both parties can move on in whatever direction this is intended to go. Right now, an out-of-game-shape Tucker is still a far better option than healthy minutes from either Bawinkle or L'il Lick and each game he is available but held out prolongs the situation and promotes more skepticism about TL's intentions.
