What a miserable first 15 minutes of the game. Nauseating and embarrassing. And that was with Sheldon hitting three 3's. Otherwise we had 2 buckets...a Jalen layup and a Kuany dunk. That 15 minutes from our best (Pavs, Kelly, Simmons & Hadaway) was truly horrific. Sadly I don't think I will ever forget it.
Outside of that it was fine, and the fight back to nearly tying it was fun. We definitely didn't help with allowing so many offensive rebounds and not hitting free throws, but the Toledo guards made several really great plays and kept shutting down our charges. Simmons was on a mission but it wasn't enough.
Pavs hasn't had the touch on his shot for awhile now. Kelly seems a bit forgotten and under-used. At one point down 4, it was clear Hadaway & Kelly cooked up an alley oop plan (not sanctioned from the coaches) coming out of a timeout and it failed miserably. That was a huge turning point in the game.
The likely rematch in Cleveland should be interesting. Simmons & Hadaway will be charged up, and as we all have seen that often doesn't mean good things. This team has not been one to rise the occasion these last 2 years, which doesn't give me faith vs Miami or in Cleveland. But I also acknowledge they are capable.
Sidebar observation from Senior Day...my God how many Managers does this team have? Is there a limit to how many you can have? They don't all travel with the team do they?