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Message: [QUOTE="Niastri, post: 5496914, member: 722"] That's the thing. I think the "big man" rotation of Freeman, Kyle, Souare, Betsey, White (and Diawara in case of emergency) is going to be just fine. They are all long limbed and athletic. In many ways, they will be interchangeable on defense, as the average standing reach is around 9' for all of them. Any one of them would have been super helpful to us the last couple seasons (where Davis and Justin Taylor manned the PF position...). Even on offense, where losing Freeman could really hurt us, Betsey is "Freeman-lite" as an offensive player. He came in highly recruited and gained a ton of weight last season. He's no longer a small forward in body type, he looks like a power forward. Yet, all his highlights demonstrate his guard skills. The extra weight should allow him to do more things on the court than before. Actually, the intense weight gain is a theme among all our big men. Souare has gained at least 30lb since coming to college, Betsey 25-30lb, Freeman 20lb, Kyle 40lb, and White was listed at 180lb only 12 months ago on one recruiting site, now commonly listed as 205lb. These guys were always tall and long limbed, and now they have packed on the pounds as well. The thing is, in at least the case of Souare and Betsey, the rapid weight gain seemed to really sap their athleticism. It's hard to adapt to extra mass quickly without losing something. An extra off-season at the bigger weight, with a top notch trainer like Rob Harris pushing them to excel should really make a difference. I am expecting a much better defensive team this upcoming season, as we will have a rotation of excellent athletes who are switchable and who all will be able to get deflections and blocks at a much higher rate than last year. At least this season our defense of "hoping they miss and get the rebound" will be a thing of the past. [/QUOTE]

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