Both of you are correct. I don't believe Ali Ali is as big of a positive to this team as many people make him out to be. I will always go back to his disappearance in the UCLA game, and the specific frustrations people had with him throughout that season when the movement/flow/rhythm on offense died with the ball in his hands.
If Dawson is healthy last year, we would've had that legitimate complimentary piece to X2.0 & Freeman that can defend & score in a multitude of ways. That was what we were missing and what would've catapulted us to be MAC champions.
Ali Ali is on our roster, and his participation decision is being held up by the crooked NCAA. Regardless, he is on our roster, therefore it is appropriate to play a bit of the "what if" game. We had an 8-man rotation after playing a tough game 24 hours prior against a team that played extremely hard, up-tempo, and a HAVOC defense. Within that 8-man rotation, 3 players barely showed up in the stat sheet. We needed 4 points. Ali Ali would've given us the depth and extra points we needed to overcome the missed layups, turnovers, etc. In addition, Utah State's length caused a lot of issues for us. Ali Ali would've been an equalizer in that department.
In this game specifically, Ali Ali makes the difference. It's a damn shame the NCAA can get away with screwing around with programs and people's lives.
@Zippy87 Great point about Prather Jr as well. Everything about his game during the recruiting process was exciting. Really hope whatever the issue is, it gets figured out and he can become a producer for us.