And really, not just less enthusiasm, but close to half. Doug Fir appears to have gone TIE all season (unless someone did a CT against him) while the Warriors have been going Normal all season (EVO is on default, so that's a Nor/Nor game, and comments here indicate so was the Warriors/Rabbits game). Add in his HCA, and he's got a lot going for him before the game even starts.
The fact that Fir went 37-89 (and 17-36 from 3pt land) also indicates just how outmatched Leary and Anderson were in the backcourt. So sure, the Warriors had a huge advantage at center, but Fir had a pretty large one at the guards. And then Fir played an offense which focused on that, while Warriors played one which doesn't actually focus on the center.
Obviously it's disappointing for a DII team to be knocked out of the cup this early, but when a DII team concentrates so much on the league games, I think it isn't a bad thing that they can be beaten by a lower division team who puts more focus and effort into the cup games.
And the Warriors are still sitting in the driver's seat for the Great 8, having already gotten victories over the two 3-1 teams.
Last edited by Alec Burke at 2/6/2015 9:59:07 AM