I'll preface this by saying that I didn't get to see any of the second half, and about the first 12-13 minutes of the first half. Long run, I think they'll be fine. For me, there's no denying the bright future of the trio of Simmons, Dartis, and Block. The other three freshmen are unknowns a little to this point, but I've seen enough flashes from Gollon and Taylor to believe they'll be good players. I can't argue enough about the idea that we're watching a team with 5 freshman, 3 sophomores, and only 2-3 real upperclassmen. The inexperience shows, and its frustrating sometimes. 2010-2011 was frustrating too in case some have forgotten.
I have concerns about defense, and maybe whether or not all the pieces are there to play the way Saul wants. Defense and rebounding, from my untrained perspective, is to a certain degree effort & focus more than anything else. That's the only real concern I have.
I've been a believer of this since the beginning of the season and a defender of KK to anyone who'd listen. However, I'm slowly beginning to believe that what we're seeing from KK is what we're going to get from him this season and next. Hope I'm wrong and that the original optimist in me proves accurate.
I'm completely on board with the what we see is what we're gonna get with regard to KK. The only way I'd say that's inaccurate is if the shoulder is a lingering issue. What we get isn't bad. I'd just hoped for a bit more on the offensive end, but on the other hand there are only so many shots to go around.
How many YEARS do we give him to "get his guys" and "implement his system"? I'm not saying we need to make a move. I'm just saying there's not a lot to instill confidence or be excited about. Part of that is I don't think he has the horses to do it yet, but recruiting is a big part of being successful. To say I've been underwhelmed by his recruiting so far is a huge understatement, and it's not getting better next year with only 1 guy coming in either.
Any college coach, in my opinion, should get 3-4 years unless there's something egregious going on. You can't get a true impression of what they're made of until their recruits get to the Jr and Sr years.
As for next year's recruits, there is another scholarship left to give, and I'd expect it to get filled in April when the signing window opens. It wouldn't surprise me if there was another one that comes open because someone wants more PT, or to be closer to home. No knowledge there of any situations, just a feeling that something like that could happen because it's commonplace nowadays.
I got a headache as soon as I got to the part about how we'd be better off if Christian was still here.
Me too. The combination of three coaching changes in 5 years, and the lack of players in the cupboard after JC left is why we're even having this conversation. To suggest Saul should magically be able to fix those things isn't fair. I'll be more than willing to scream from the rooftops if the caliber of defense doesn't improve of the course of time from now to this time next year. Otherwise, I can see that there's already improvement over last year, and I hope that trend continues.