I'm left to wonder whether the issue is really the importance of playing defense vs. the ability to play defense.  Trey Autry and Christian Jones are great playmakers on offense but try as they might, they just can't seem to flat out defend against quicker guards.  Luke Hunger just doesn't have the experience or knowhow.  Garrett Johnson just lacks the footwork.  It's illuminating to realize exactly how much ground Slim made up for his teammates.

This brings me to Tre.  To quote Buffalo Springfield, "there's something happening here.  What it is ain't exactly clear."  What I do know is that Tre Dinkins doesn't play only 12 minutes on Saturday unless something's up.  I don't know this for a fact but this is lingering into a near season-long issue. He's making too much money for a guy who can't play defense.  Some teammates (and maybe coaches) resent him for this.  He's only about himself and not the team.  I can't say for sure whether any of these things are definitively true.  But what I can say is that there's something very wrong about this situation.  There have been some coaching luminaries who've left the profession once player salaries entered into it because they didn't want to have to deal with massive egos and hurt feelings.  Just another thing that CC and all coaches have to navigate and deal with.  If Tre is in some way the culprit here, taking away minutes from him serves as a punishment but at the possible expense of wins and losses?  Tre playing 30 minutes may have resulted in a GW win, or GW may have scored 92 and still lost.

Slim will eventually be back and there will be somewhere between a hope and an expectation that the team will flip a switch and go on a great run.  Still could happen, but I put the odds at being less and less until this team gets its proverbial house in order.