i dont think a 7 footer is an absolute necessity...but what they provide is. if we had an arinze type that can use his weight at 6'9 i would be totally thrilled. kyle is good but he gets ragdolled by bigger centers and people with ornage colored glasses on think that is getting fouled when its just being lightweight.
blocks dont tell the whole story. i think kansas, tenn, and iowa state all had a lot of success scoring in the paint and rebounding. when a big or tall center gets position on kyle, they usually have success. most of kyles blocks are weakside and not on his man...and he has had some nice blocks on opposing centers but they are still having a lot of success. bidunga had his way. carey had his career high. kansas outrebounded SU 49-29. i didnt get to watch the iowa state game but the numbers were ugly. good teams are dominating SU in the paint...and kyle is doing a good job fighting and battling ...but you cannot teach height and weight.
my real issue is the 2 backup centers. suaore and diawara offer what exactly? they arent viable options for more than a few stop gap minutes.
how can you go into a season with only 1 viable center?
imagine kyle gets in foul trouble vs tennessee...or has to sit out any games in the future.
i dont care about blocks. blocks are so overrated to me. a lot of times you dont even get the ball off a block anyway.
the defense is playing well...its fine. but i just think there are potential issues lurking...and personally, i wish the team was better at scoring in the post and defending 1 on 1 in the post as a team.