While it seems a little strange to discuss basketball with everything going on, I suppose it's as good a distraction as we have. I was going to do a whole 'individual player report card' post but I got lazy and it feels too far removed from the season to worry about it. So I'll just do a sentence or two on the guys returning and Hughes and then post a few other thoughts.
Player reviews/thoughts:
Interesting to see the pursuit of a couple grad transfer centers, a traditional transfer center and a center recruit
Not sure what to make of this. Obvously Tape and/or Haarms would bring something that we don't currently have but it would also likely mean a redshirt or at least a very minimal role for Edwards and JBA. Wonder if this indicates the staff is a bit concerned about the development of those two? Not trying to stir anything up because Morgan would fit nicely next year with Sidibe leaving and maybe the big 7-footer would as well, but just interesting to see so much activity there.
Transfer portal free-for-all
Kind of an extension of the point above, I wonder if the days of trying to plan out a roster for the next couple years makes any sense. We've already seen the string of departures of kids who didn't exactly have dominant years to the NBA as soon as they get a whiff from the league (loved Lydon, Malachai, and Bazely is what he is, etc. and I'm totally cool with them leaving, but they didn't exactly depart as ready-made NBA stars or completely dominant college players). Then we saw the emergence of the 5th-year senior market. Now kids leave programs, sometimes even after playing significant minutes, seemingly to just go somewhere else.
I wonder if the new normal will be build the best roster you can for the upcoming year, hold onto as many of those players as you can, but be prepared to potentially add a transfer or two or more each season to fill holes? Interesting to think about.
Griffin's game reminds me a lot of Hughes' game
Before anyone flips out -- Griffin is very unlikely to be a like-for-like replacement for Hughes. It's just interesting watching his highlights from Illinois. Good shooter, pretty athletic, good for a few of those weak side blocks from behind, similar size, handle is decent enough to try to make a play 1-on-1. Doubt he's as good offensively as hughes but if he's a better rebounder/defender he could have a similar impact at some point. Interesting prospect.
Replacing Hughes
This will be the main topic of conversation here leading up to next season (if there is a next season) and I think everyone is OK with the fact that it won't be a single player replacing that production. If Griffin is immediately eligible, or even if he isn't, I don't think it's crazy to think this team *could* be better. For one thing, you don't have a host of guys trying to figure out how to play college basketball. Consider that not only did Girard and Guerrier come in and have to play big roles as frosh, but Sidibe really got his first extended action (while healthy at least), and Goodine and Edwards wound up on the floor in some key minutes as well.
Next season, Girard, Buddy, Sidibe, Dolezaj and Guerrier should hit the ground running. If Girffin is eligible, he is an experienced CBB player as well. Edwards and Braswell would be still pretty young in terms of playing experience and Kadary/Newton and JBA might be factors to some degree, but it should help to have at least five and maybe six pretty experienced guys.
Add to that the improvement Sidibe showed in the last six games (10 pts/11 rebs, close to 30 mpg) -- and we played pretty well in those games with Sidibe dominating the carolina game in a losing effort and still grabbing 10 boards vs. Miami -- and potential improvement from Girard/Guerrier and the potential to be a bit better defensively and on the glass without Hughes (who never rebounded particularly well and was inconsistent at best defensively). I think there's a path to a better preseason and similar acc slate. Still looks bubblish to me, but it's not crazy to think they could be better.
A healthy Braswell could be an X factor
For all we know we may never see a healthy Braswell but let's hope we do. If we do, he could prove to be a nice compliment to Guerrier and help us out on the glass. We shall see.
Player reviews/thoughts:
- Hughes: Phenomenal year for the kid and two things really stood out to me -- 1) The way he completely transformed his game from a guy who shot 70% of his shots from three and struggled with his handle, to a guy who was a three-level scorer with a pretty impressive handle. Not sure I can remember a player who's game changed that much in one year (Fab may be the exception but his was more a kid who was unplayable becoming a complete stud -- not sure that he really 'changed' his game). 2) His leadership -- kid has a really cool vibe about him, he constantly stayed positive and played hard in a season where it might have been easy to mail it in at some point. Really impressive and important for us to at least keep our heads above water.
- Buddy: I know the kid's a lightning rod here and realistically it would be nice to see a more well-rounded game or a situation where maybe we could play him closer to 25-30 mins instead of 35-40. BUT, 15/game with solid shooting and the addition of that turnaround 15-footer made for about as much as we could have reasonably asked of him. A legit third option in the rotation at guard (Kadary or maybe Griffin) would seem to help our ceiling as a team even if it meant Buddy didn't fare as well in the counting stats department but either way, kid had a pretty solid season.
- Marek: Again, a pretty solid season. Would we like him to be stronger and/or a better shooter? Yes, but I think the real key for him next year will be avoiding silly fouls and hopefully improving the consistency a bit. He had some really nice moments in ACC play (4 games of 17+ points, pretty close to a triple-double vs. ND, double-doubles against BC and VA Tech, really nice floor game in the win over UVA) but also had some ugly games (opener vs. UVA, 5 TOs 3-of-11 vs. Pitt, 5 fouls in 19 mins vs. UNC, fouled out in the clemson game in just 26 mins, 3 pts vs. Louisville). Kid doesn't have to score to be effective and if Braswell/Guerrier can step up that would help, but if he can just be a consistent presence and control the fouls better he could have a really nice senior year.
- JGIII: Another guy who spurs a lot of debate, but took on a huge role for a frosh -- especially one coming from a smaller, upstate public HS -- and took good care of the ball, hit some big shots and played pretty decently. Defense will remain a question, i think, but I'm of the belief (and perhaps I'm alone here) that there is potential for significant improvement. I think he can shoot better and make more plays in the lane (whether it's passing or finishing). Regardless, love the way he pushes the ball and plays with his head up.
- Guerrier: Slow start, strong finish and wound up putting together a solid season. Always thought it was a tall ask for him to simply replace what Brissett did as a freshman. That said, thought you could visibly see the improvement over the course of the season. Key will be if he can make more FTs (his per 40 FT attempts -- not a perfect measure -- were the most on the team) and add some more dimensions to his offensive game.
- Sidibe: If you were asking for the most important story coming out of the season, it's Sidibe's last 6 or 7 games. The fact that he stayed on the floor, played really well and battled was huge. If we see that more consistently next season, that would help a ton. (more on this below)
- Edwards: Pretty much did what you'd expect from a freshman big who wasn't a top 25 or 50 recruit. Needs to get stronger but I thought he did OK for what we could have expected. The key thing here is I don't see any reason he couldn't be much better and potentially give us 10-ish mins of decent post play next season. It's not a given, obviously, but think there's potential.
- Braswell: Sucks that he was injured. Hope he's healthy b/c I think he could be a really solid piece next season.
- Washington/Carey/Goodine: Not that much to say. I wasn't in the camp who thought Goodine should have played appreciably more b/c I thought he really struggled offensively even though he had the makings of a really good defender in the zone. Carey struggled then got injured. Washington is a guy I would liked to have had back but I'm not sure he was ever going to be a true rotation guy.
Interesting to see the pursuit of a couple grad transfer centers, a traditional transfer center and a center recruit
Not sure what to make of this. Obvously Tape and/or Haarms would bring something that we don't currently have but it would also likely mean a redshirt or at least a very minimal role for Edwards and JBA. Wonder if this indicates the staff is a bit concerned about the development of those two? Not trying to stir anything up because Morgan would fit nicely next year with Sidibe leaving and maybe the big 7-footer would as well, but just interesting to see so much activity there.
Transfer portal free-for-all
Kind of an extension of the point above, I wonder if the days of trying to plan out a roster for the next couple years makes any sense. We've already seen the string of departures of kids who didn't exactly have dominant years to the NBA as soon as they get a whiff from the league (loved Lydon, Malachai, and Bazely is what he is, etc. and I'm totally cool with them leaving, but they didn't exactly depart as ready-made NBA stars or completely dominant college players). Then we saw the emergence of the 5th-year senior market. Now kids leave programs, sometimes even after playing significant minutes, seemingly to just go somewhere else.
I wonder if the new normal will be build the best roster you can for the upcoming year, hold onto as many of those players as you can, but be prepared to potentially add a transfer or two or more each season to fill holes? Interesting to think about.
Griffin's game reminds me a lot of Hughes' game
Before anyone flips out -- Griffin is very unlikely to be a like-for-like replacement for Hughes. It's just interesting watching his highlights from Illinois. Good shooter, pretty athletic, good for a few of those weak side blocks from behind, similar size, handle is decent enough to try to make a play 1-on-1. Doubt he's as good offensively as hughes but if he's a better rebounder/defender he could have a similar impact at some point. Interesting prospect.
Replacing Hughes
This will be the main topic of conversation here leading up to next season (if there is a next season) and I think everyone is OK with the fact that it won't be a single player replacing that production. If Griffin is immediately eligible, or even if he isn't, I don't think it's crazy to think this team *could* be better. For one thing, you don't have a host of guys trying to figure out how to play college basketball. Consider that not only did Girard and Guerrier come in and have to play big roles as frosh, but Sidibe really got his first extended action (while healthy at least), and Goodine and Edwards wound up on the floor in some key minutes as well.
Next season, Girard, Buddy, Sidibe, Dolezaj and Guerrier should hit the ground running. If Girffin is eligible, he is an experienced CBB player as well. Edwards and Braswell would be still pretty young in terms of playing experience and Kadary/Newton and JBA might be factors to some degree, but it should help to have at least five and maybe six pretty experienced guys.
Add to that the improvement Sidibe showed in the last six games (10 pts/11 rebs, close to 30 mpg) -- and we played pretty well in those games with Sidibe dominating the carolina game in a losing effort and still grabbing 10 boards vs. Miami -- and potential improvement from Girard/Guerrier and the potential to be a bit better defensively and on the glass without Hughes (who never rebounded particularly well and was inconsistent at best defensively). I think there's a path to a better preseason and similar acc slate. Still looks bubblish to me, but it's not crazy to think they could be better.
A healthy Braswell could be an X factor
For all we know we may never see a healthy Braswell but let's hope we do. If we do, he could prove to be a nice compliment to Guerrier and help us out on the glass. We shall see.
