Column: It's not time to jump ship

The Knights were going to win some games this year, and lose some as well.

That was a given from the start. It's kind of how these things work.

What has been unique, though, is their streaky play. They won fourteen games in a row. Then they lost four in a row.

Apparently, mixing things up hasn't happened yet.

Doing thing in streaks tends to cause overreactions in both directions. When the Knights were hot, they became a hot ticket and the expectations were high.

The hype may have gotten a bit unrealistic.

Then they lost four in a row, including an inexplicable home loss to Rice, and of course there are going to be people who jump ship.

It's a shame, either way, because we still don't really know who this basketball team is.

Smoke and mirrors from the start?

A 14-game win streak was fantastic, but a little misleading. The Knights are good, but they'll probably be the first to tell you there's a lot of work to be done. In the same breath, a four-game losing streak, during league play no less, is awful. But it doesn't mean this team all of a sudden isn't good anymore.

If anything, what we've seen from the Knights since their first loss to Houston is the Knights at their worst. Anyone who has watched all season and then saw Saturday's lackluster losing effort would likely be inclined to agree. They're better than that in regards to talent, and they're certainly coached better than that.

Young players adjusting on the fly

It's the first season of the Donnie Jones era, and there are new faces and the reality is there are still adjustments to be made and that Jones' system isn't even close to perfected yet. The team's best players, Marcus Jordan and Keith Clanton are both sophomores. They've both shown tremendous growth as players, each carrying the team at different times, but aren't finished products by any means. They're only going to get better.

Meanwhile, the Knights scout team may be the best in the country. It has ineligible transfers from Illinois, Oregon and Virginia. Jeffrey Jordan [brother of Marcus], Josh Crittle and Tristan Spurlock, are all players from bigger programs who are going to come in next season and make a splash.

Add in Jones' recruiting ability, and by the way, he's been recruiting. The Knights new class is shaping up to seriously contend with the class that brought in Clanton and Jordan as basketball's best ever.

Recent-commitment Michael Chandler is one of the top-five senior centers in the country. Rod Days also was highly sought after and has the ability to come in and make an immediate impact. Shawn Smith, who committed on Monday, is ranked as a four-star prospect and turned down big-name schools to join UCF.

Long-term success trumps short-term failures

Whatever the Knights accomplish this season, however they finish, the season itself  will more than likely be a success. The team has garnered some true national attention and it had nothing to do with shoes this time. Despite the losing streak, they've made a splash this season. Yes, they've had an unimpressive start to Conference USA play, but now everyone gets to find out truly how resilient this team is.

Losing to Rice in anything besides baseball is always rough, and never something to be proud of, but UCF basketball is still in the best shape it's ever been in.

 Jumping ship just wouldn't be wise.