I am reminded, once again, as I read some of the recent posts about the amazing fade by both Julian Vaughn (2/21 from the field over the last 5 games) and Austin Freeman (49/156 from the field over the last 10 games). I remember Julian fading the previous year as well, but Austin not so noticeably. Those last ten games were played over a 46 day period.........with the last five games played over a 29 day period. Hard to really see physical fatigue as an issue - particularly at the end. Maybe there are medical/injury reasons we do not know about. Add in Jason Clark who, while not suffering any prolonged slumps, would just not show up every 4th or 5th game and finished the season shooting a very low 3 point percentage (6/29 over the last 5 games).

Given our recent history of slumps during and at the end of the season, are there other factors at work here? Are we just not a mentally tough team? Does this derive from player personnel or from coaching?

I know that Chris Wright's injury hurt us........but other teams suffer injuries too. I think we were fading before the injury occured............and then just rolled over and died. We lost our last 5 games by an average of just over 15 points!!

In many ways, this is probably useless forensic analysis.............unless it manifests itself again next year. But with low expectations and a whole new roster, people will likely focus more on the occasional big wins than a series of somewhat anticipated losses. I know that Nate, Markel and Jabril will bring the fire. Will the team and coach keep it stoked?

With paranoia,