As the final point ended, I joked to my friend that this was all Jaeschke's fault. Realistically, despite having 5 experienced tournament tested players coming back, the two that did not come back, Caldwell and Jaeschke, were too much to replace. In 2015, it took Loyola until April to figure out the Right Side position trying to replace Smalzer. In 2016, they had to replace their two best offensive weapons. Caldwell and Jaeschke were also two-thirds of the serve receive. As we saw lat night, and most of the year, passing was an issue on serve receive. The bic play on offense, which Loyola relied on heavily during the two championship runs, was non-existent last night and really most of the year. And that only happens with good passing.
So my feeling is that I don't think having Shane around would have made much of a significant on court difference. This team just wasn't running on all cylinders as they did the last two years.
Looking back, Loyola is a 2 time back to back National Champion. Those memories will last.
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