What will this year's team look like?

[AZOrange]

Fairly tall. Not as skinny.

 

[Niastri]

Admittedly I don't follow recruiting much, so I'm perpetually ignorant about the guys we're bringing in until the school year begins.

However, the compounding factor this season is that we don't seem to have brought in many big name/big school guys via the portal either. I heard all about Lampkin. Then I was surprised to see that we brought in guys from Hofstra, Delaware and Georgia State too. Not that I'm saying they'll be bad, they just weren't names or programs that'd get me excited.

Football was the opposite this past offseason. Guys from Ohio State, Texas A&M, Georgia etc. Hard not to get interested when that happens.

Considering your point about where our transfers came from... I agree it was exciting when Fran Brown pulled starters from other power conference teams.

Red did that with Lampkin, btw... Other than that, consider this question:

Would you rather your depth be recruited from upperclassmen from lower levels of division one hairball, or from lower levels of high school recruits?

Last year, we had a stacked bench off guys that couldn't play behind the Highlander. Injury stopped Hima from contributing, but Carey and Patterson just weren't ready to play at all.

If we had the center equivalent of Davis, Lucas Taylor and Carlos last season instead of lightly recruited freshman backups, we make the tournament last year.

Once I started looking at our transfers through that lens, it makes a lot of sense.

Especially when you consider the fact that Red struck out on the various PGs he wanted.

We would be looking great on paper is we had gotten a bona fide starter at PG.

 

[5OutFred]

I think as a fanbase we also forget just how much went against Red last year:

- Starting PF and expected big contributor kicked off the team mid-season
- SG/SF placed into starting PF role while also losing all confidence in shooting ability
- Undersized 5 with no back-up forced to play all game (obviously Maliq was great, but out of position nonetheless)
- Lack of shooting and ball movement team-wide

Not to mention all the off-the-court immaturity, which manifested itself on the court in multiple blowouts.

This is part of the gig, of course, for Red. But looking at the offseason additions, many of those holes have been addressed, and I'm excited to see what Red can do with his guys.

 

[DoctahLexus]

My worry is that despite all of the mentioned setbacks we put the ball in the hoop at a respectable rate last year. It was our defense that was a bigger issue. We were 6th in the ACC in ppg. With all the talk of no ball movement and guys who can't shoot, whatever we were doing was getting passable results. But we were 13th of 16 teams in points allowed. Our 2 best defenders in Mintz and Maliq are gone now, but our two main defensive problem children remain (JJ and Bell). Then we add Lampkin who has some serious game on the offensive end and is strong on the boards, but struggles as a rim protector on defense.

Yes players can always improve in any area at any stage of their career, but we are really not setting ourselves up for a turnaround on the defensive end if we have Starling Bell and Lampkin out there for 30 plus minutes a game. I feel like using some of our depth pieces for more than just spot minutes could be crucial to turning things around on defense. Taylor Davis and a healthy McLeod all have potential to be strong on defense. If they are indeed the backups to Starling Bell and Lampkin, I hope the amount of run they get is at 15 mpg or higher. We cannot win giving up 80 plus against any team with a pulse this season.

The silver lining is that we will actually have a 4 playing the 4 and a 5 playing the 5. That could go a long way on the boards, especially if Freeman shows some promise there. Lampkin has a weak vertical but he can box out anyone. A good deal of our given up points last year could be attributed to our undersized/out of position front court. It sure seemed like teams had a zillion second chance points on us last year. Think there is still reason for some optimism.

 

[Orangezoo]

My worry is that despite all of the mentioned setbacks we put the ball in the hoop at a respectable rate last year. It was our defense that was a bigger issue. We were 6th in the ACC in ppg. With all the talk of no ball movement and guys who can't shoot, whatever we were doing was getting passable results. But we were 13th of 16 teams in points allowed. Our 2 best defenders in Mintz and Maliq are gone now, but our two main defensive problem children remain (JJ and Bell). Then we add Lampkin who has some serious game on the offensive end and is strong on the boards, but struggles as a rim protector on defense.

Yes players can always improve in any area at any stage of their career, but we are really not setting ourselves up for a turnaround on the defensive end if we have Starling Bell and Lampkin out there for 30 plus minutes a game. I feel like using some of our depth pieces for more than just spot minutes could be crucial to turning things around on defense. Taylor Davis and a healthy McLeod all have potential to be strong on defense. If they are indeed the backups to Starling Bell and Lampkin, I hope the amount of run they get is at 15 mpg or higher. We cannot win giving up 80 plus against any team with a pulse this season.

The silver lining is that we will actually have a 4 playing the 4 and a 5 playing the 5. That could go a long way on the boards, especially if Freeman shows some promise there. Lampkin has a weak vertical but he can box out anyone. A good deal of our given up points last year could be attributed to our undersized/out of position front court. It sure seemed like teams had a zillion second chance points on us last year. Think there is still reason for some optimism.

Defense is a concern for sure. I feel like that was a combination of the drama, poor communication, youth and guys not playing the positions they should by necessity. Paired with overall ending up as a smaller team for most of the year.

We brought in a coach who has a history of being a defensive tactician and have much better size, especially up front.

Lampkin was a poor defender at Colorado but was solid at TCU( not winning any awards but not a weak spot either). He dealt with a back issue last year as well. Just looking at his practice tape now vs his game tape even as recent as the tourney you can see he’s slimmed down a good bit which was definitely needed.

JJ is a gym rat and has committed it seems ( his words ) to using his speed and athleticism more on the defensive side of the ball to pair with honing his playmaking skills on offense.

Carlos is a decent defender, Taylor showed on tape he can be and coaches seem to see him as a good defender and he has the size and frame where he should be. Naheem being healthy means we have a post presence and Donnie being the athlete he is should be able to help on the weak side as we will be challenged on ball screens and pick and roll with the big guys. The staff and players have noted the importance of the big guys handling being put in that action.

Cuffe has trimmed down and looks explosive and showed to be a decent on ball defender in stretches but he just was too heavy last year.

So far it seems everyone is eyes wide open about defense so it comes down to execution. Red made what he could out of having one committed defender last year (maybe two in Taylor) in Brown. Judah was Jekyll and Hyde on defense. Had he committed every game we might have made the tourney but that’s in the past.

I’m neutral until we see them play a game but there is more reason to be hopeful about defense when you look at everything leading up. Notice I am silent on Bell- he’s got a long ways to go so I’m still expecting he is probably a major weak spot out there.

 

[IthacaMatt]

But we were 13th of 16 teams in points allowed. Our 2 best defenders in Mintz and Maliq are gone now, but our two main defensive problem children remain (JJ and Bell). Then we add Lampkin who has some serious game on the offensive end and is strong on the boards, but struggles as a rim protector on defense.

Please stop with this nonsense. Judah was our worst defender, by a mile. It wasn't even close. At least a half dozen times a game, we played 4 on 5 because he was busy yapping at the ref about why didn't get a call. He played matador defense when he did bother to run back. HE WAS THE WORST. And he's gone.

Justin Taylor was a good kid, but a terrible basketball player, and was asked to guard guys bigger than him. He was bad on defense, and he's gone.

Maliq is a very good player, but he was a defensive problem trying to guard centers down low after MacLeod was out for the year in December or January. He was a big liability, every game. He's gone.

JJ Starling was not the problem. He played with effort. That's the most important thing on defense. He had no shot blocker behind him, and often the other guard (Mintz) was out of position.

Defense is a team thing, not an individual thing. But when individuals have breakdowns, or are out of position, it makes the other guys look bad.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Please stop with this nonsense. Judah was our worst defender, by a mile. It wasn't even close. At least a half dozen times a game, we played 4 on 5 because he was busy yapping at the ref about why didn't get a call. He played matador defense when he did bother to run back. HE WAS THE WORST. And he's gone.

Justin Taylor was a good kid, but a terrible basketball player, and was asked to guard guys bigger than him. He was bad on defense, and he's gone.

Maliq is a very good player, but he was a defensive problem trying to guard centers down low after MacLeod was out for the year in December or January. He was a big liability, every game. He's gone.

JJ Starling was not the problem. He played with effort. That's the most important thing on defense. He had no shot blocker behind him, and often the other guard (Mintz) was out of position.

Defense is a team thing, not an individual thing. But when individuals have breakdowns, or are out of position, it makes the other guys look bad.

You're opinion of JJ's defense is in the severe minority my friend. Stats do not tell the whole story but he had almost literally the lowest defensive rating of any ACC guard last year. That is a remarkable feat for a guy who was not the problem. You see something in his defense that almost nobody else does. I am sure at least 90% of the board agrees with me that JJ and Bell were our worst defenders last season.

 

[Orangezoo]

You're opinion of JJ's defense is in the severe minority my friend. Stats do not tell the whole story but he had almost literally the lowest defensive rating of any ACC guard last year. That is a remarkable feat for a guy who was not the problem. You see something in his defense that almost nobody else does. I am sure at least 90% of the board agrees with me that JJ and Bell were our worst defenders last season.

They were our worst and Judah was our most inconsistent.

 

[djcon57]

Please stop with this nonsense. Judah was our worst defender, by a mile. It wasn't even close.

You can have an opinion, but per every metric, you're just wrong.

Your points about Judah yapping with officials and not getting back are BAKED into the numbers.
Same as JJ TRYING real hard.
And Maliq allegedly not being able to guard centers.

The numbers include every possession not just anecdotal plays

 

[djcon57]

They were our worst and Judah was our most inconsistent.

Agreed with this take