This is my first diary and I am writing from a recovery bed after hernia surgery.  So apologies in advance if any of my oxycodone induced ramblings seem oxycodone induced.  

With my newfound, albeit temporary, free time, I would like to discuss/reflect on the elephant in our collective UM-fandom-party-room: Potential Dickinson Foul Trouble (PDFT).

I realize that PDFT has been discussed on the periphery of many of Brian’s posts, iMGoPodcasts, and board posts.  I write this diary as a way of sharing my own thoughts and as a way of giving PDFT a home base for ongoing discussion, debate, and thoughtful consideration. 

My thoughts are:

1. Hunter Dickinson is fucking great and I like our team a lot with him on it.  He’s got amazing touch around the rim, is an incredible passer, hits free throws, is a total disruptor on defense and makes me smile when he does something good and runs up the floor, singularly upright, while subtly flexing. 

2. I love our whole team and I love that coach Howard has created a culture that emphasizes comradery and unselfish play.  That said, I think Dickinson is the fulcrum to the unselfish approach.  His proficiency down low draws so much attention and his willingness/ability to dish back out to all our guys seems like a (the?) key reason we are the juggernaut we have become.  

3. I marveled throughout the first ⅘ of this season at how wild it was that he stayed out of foul trouble.  I can’t think of anyone his size/ability who seemed to draw so few fouls so consistently—-until late in the season.   

4. Though we could lose any of the potential upcoming matchups in the tourney for a variety of reasons, I also happen to think we could beat ANY team in the country (truly) with Dickinson staying out of foul trouble accompanied by a hot shooting night from 2-3 others.  

5. I humbly submit that PDFT is the most important factor determining whether or not we advance in each and any game we play from here.  

Losing 3 out of 5 games toward the backend is obviously partly the product of Livers/Brooks injuries but it also seems pretty closely linked to Dickinson’s newfound propensity to pick up cheap fouls (and the consequently increased amount of time he spends on the bench in key stretches). 

This is a good time to say that I also LOVE Austin Davis and think he is super underrated and valuable offensively.  I told my son earlier this year that Davis gives us depth that could make us a final four team.  I still believe that.  But I also think it’s fair to say that our team is a significantly better defensive team with Dickinson’s disruption near the rim.

Ok, this is all super obvious and you all know these things BUT here’s what I’m getting to:

I am not interested in concern trolling.  Of course he could foul out in any game and that would be bad.  He could also revert to early season form and this could all be moot.  Rather I would like to:

1. Invite analysis from MGoExperts about whIch teams remaining in the tournament are most likely to exploit/benefit from PDFT.  

2. Ask the question:  Is it possible that Hunter is exacerbating the problem and kind of inviting refs to call cheap fouls with the way he reacts to their calls? It seems like his go-to response is a pretty big “are-you-fucking-kidding-me” kind of hands-in-the-air incredulity just about every time.  I don’t want Hunter to lose his fire but is it possible he could reduce the ticky-tack calls by keeping it a touch more stoic when called?  Or do refs pretty much ignore this stuff and call it as they see it?

3. For experts and former players:  can any of this be coached?  If so, what kind of things do coaches do in a practice/film room to address issues like this? Is there any hope that we see reduction in PDFT this tournament?  

Thanks for indulging me in a very long post about a very specific line of discourse and inquiry.  All I’ve got is time and my phone.  Thoughts, responses, and humiliating repudiations are welcome (though go easy on my dudes—it’s been a long day and I’ve already received the closest thing to a literal dong punch than I have ever before experienced :))