We are not talking about fans going off the rails after a single bad performance. What we ARE talking about are trends that have been totally consistent ever since this team took a bad loss to an inferior Memphis team.

Our starting PG has struggled, and continues to struggle, with bringing the ball up court against anything more than token pressure. He's a defensive liability because of a lack of size and quickness, and is unable to finish at the rim when he gets near the basket. Yet his minutes continue to be substantially greater than our backup PG, who is a more confident dribbler and a more athletic player.

Our starting SG has many games where he can't hit the broad side of a barn. His efficiency rating is the lowest on the team of anyone playing meaningful minutes. He, more than any other player on the floor, is prone to taking bad shots outside the context of the offense. And his defense, turnovers, and rebounding tend to suffer when it becomes evident early in a game that his shot is off. Yet he continues to see substantially more minutes than his backup, who is a much better shooter and has a higher efficiency rating.

Our starting center continues to wear down late in games. His defense and rebounding, and ability to attack the basket, are visibly lower in crunch time as opposed to tipoff, because he's flat out exhausted after playing so many minutes, particularly against taller opponents. Yet his backup, who is a good rebounder and physical presence in the post, doesn't even leave the bench in many games.

The evidence is there, both statistically and in simple eye test terms, that this coach is not reacting to what is actually happening on court. He has a predetermined philosophy on who is going to play, and for how long, and he has shown that he's going to stick with that no matter what. And that, my friend, is the definition of stubbornness.