Why I am Optimistic

If the question we were dealing with is "are these guys capable" then I would be fairly pessimistic. Based on the corpus of work this season these guys have the ability and they have shown it. The problem(s) are other than ability. And in my opinion it really boils down to 2 guys on the court that are the catalysts for this swoon. Those guys are Selden and Mason. Graham is who he is. As a sophomore he is not the leader and he is not a great playmaker at this point. He does some nice things but to be honest I am more often glad when I see Brannen coming in for Devonte'. Lucas is Lucas. He has been solid doing what he is there to do. Would I like to have someone better at the 5? Of course. But he plays better than decent defense and sets screens way better than anyone else and is currently our best rebounder. He sucks on offense and that is a problem. But when the other cylinders are hitting we don't really notice. Ellis has been rock solid. He has never convinced me he is the go to guy of a top 4 team but he is impressing me this season. I have raised my opinion of Ellis as this season has worn on. As I see it we have three key problems. Mason has gone brain dead for some reason that is a mystery. Selden has reverted to the old Selden that is less of a mystery but still a head scratcher. And we play play Jamari most of the minutes ahead of the other three guys. I have listened to Self's approbation a of Jamari and they are almost stretching for praise. I am yet to be convinced that he is an asset 90% of the time. 10% he is, 90% he is a detriment. I would play Mickelson or Bragg way more. I don't get the self love affair with Jamari. Sure, maybe he knows the plays better but he doesn't necessarily run them better. He is a mediocre rebounder at best. He is almost as big an offensive liability as Lucas and he is completely pathetic on help defense. So to get to my point, why am I optimistic. We have some young talent that I believe will contribute eventually and that will be a huge improvement on Jamari. Mason had a couple mini swoons last season but was otherwise rock solid. We know he can do it and has demonstrated. That is fixable. Hopefully Self will pull the right strings and make that happen. The same for Selden. He can do it. He is just gone back to bad decisions and timid play. There is a chemistry problem and a mental problem. Both should be fixable. Self needs to make that happen.