Bench regression

[FrazierFanatic]

If we view Jessie as the starter he has been until now, and presumably will be again after today, our bench gave us virtually nothing today. Jason and Sims were liabilities when they were in, as was Nikita (the only benefit - Jessie apparently got the message); Vaughn ahd a few nice moments, but also a few bad ones. If this wasn't a "blip" for our bench, it does not bode well for the last 3 weeks.

[RBHoya]

I wouldn't worry too much. Important to note that most--well, really ALL of our bench guys are inexperienced, and this was their first time playing at the dome, and playing in front of 30K+ orange-clad, drunk and hostile Cuse fans isn't like anything any of these guys have experienced previously, not to mention the big difference in perspective which is underrated in the effect it can have on your outside shot. Clark, Sims, Vaughn, Nikita, Wattad... none of em has any experience playing on that floor (neither do Wright or Monroe and they did aight, but they're a little different), and it isn't a welcoming place for anyone, let alone a neophyte.

For most of this losing streak I've thought the blame belonged primarily to the starters for not stepping up in crunch time, and I thought the bench progressed over the year with Nikita looking like a legit option off the bench and Sims looking good in his time. Nobody other than Julian looked good today, but I don't think you can call one sub-par game for a bunch of freshmen a regression. It's just a game, not a trend.