Have they forgot how to play defense or have the refs stopped letting them hold people?

 

IMHO anyone who has seen Grant play in the past knew they were going to be below average. Carr is a special player and you don't recover from a loss like that easily.

 

Losing Carr hurts you on offense, no doubt about it. However, my thoughts were that, while they wouldn't necessarily have someone go off for 25+ each night, they'd have a nice compliment of kids that could consistently go for 12-18 that would help offset that. When Cummins got hurt, that took away one of those players, meaning the others had to step up even more. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case.

 

The kid that no one is mentioning...and perhaps a reason for the defensive drop...is Anglin. He was a great defender out on top, and forced quite a few turnovers. With him graduating last year, I don't know that Grant County has a ball hawk like him right now.

 

All that being said, I don't know that expecting them to be "below average" is accurate. Yes, they lost a couple of key kids from last year's squad, and lost another one due to injury at the beginning of the year. And yes, the schedule was amped up so that they're not playing the Little Sisters of the Poor on a regular basis, so the record wouldn't necessarily reflect how "good" or "bad" the team is. But, I still think many people (myself included) expected them to be at least competitive, even in the losses.

Agree on Anglin, he made life miserable for opposing ball handlers. Those who legitimately watched their games last year without bias, knew that they wouldn't be near the team this year that they were last. You can't lose your top defender and your best player and expect to be better. Totally unrealistic.

^ Welcome to the site, MD3!:thumb: