I expect Hunt, Dji, and Walz to start with 2 incoming transfers/freshman. We lose our top two 3 point guys in King and Bigs and likely have to replace them with 3 point guys if we are to match the success of this season.
PG...we saw what King did for us. Hopefully, the right transfer PG saw that too and will be the perfect fit like King was. Tyne showed some promise, but I'm not sure he is ready to be a big minute PG, so our best option is probably the portal.
Hunt. I really liked what he brought and think he had a solid year. He also showed what a great leader he is, and should be an even bigger leader next year. We might need a little more scoring from him next year, and I would like to see him shoot more 3s. He made 22 of 57 (38.6%). So doubling that would help us tremendously.
Dji. He had a really good year at both ends of the court. He is really good at driving and did a good job finishing at the basket. He needs to dramatically improve his FT shooting, and I still think he needs to find a way to at least be a threat from 3 if left open. He averaged 31 minutes a game, but only shot 38 3s ( 12-38 for 31.6%). Regardless of who we land in the portal, I'm not sure they will match the volume and percentage from 3 that King (84-203 for 41.4%) and Bigs ( 48-128 for 37.2%) gave us. So, Dji has to work and work and work that much more on becoming a 3 point threat.
Walz. I liked what I saw this year. He is physical, he can block some shots, doesn't back down from anyone, and thank goodness he doesn't shoot the floater. I appreciate everything Quinn gave us, and he had some huge games for us, but I was never a fan of his floaters and push shots. Even when he made a few, I think our opponents were more than happy to give him those all game long. When he shot those, we weren't shooting 3s, weren't shooting lay ups, and weren't drawing fouls. It's just not an efficient shot and I hope we never see it again. At 7 feet tall, I just never understood why he couldn't take one or two more dribbles for the layup or slam, or draw a foul at the rim, especially considering he rarely got doubled. But, he did a lot of real good things for us this year, so just because I didn't like his floaters and push shots doesn't mean he wasn't a good player for us. He absolutely was and we will miss him. Back to Walz, I think he is ready for good minutes. I like how active and physical he is, and with more minutes, he will need to stay out of foul trouble and be a key inside presence for us.
Bench: Roche. Need a bounce back year from him. I would never count him out. If you can shoot, you can shoot, and we all know he can shoot. It wouldn't surprise me to see him get his confidence back next year and be a key piece for us.
Tyne. Love his quickness and confidence with the ball. Needs to be much better from 3 point land. He got a lot of good looks and needs to knock more of them down.
Everything else is too much of a guess right now. Not sure how many minutes our current freshman will get next year. Hopefully, Soulis is ready to get minutes and back up Walz. Hard to tell what roles Tanner, Smith, and Graham will have without seeing much of them yet. I think Noyes might be exactly who we saw this year, so not sure if I expect him to be a rotation guy. Maybe he can prove me wrong, kind of like Dji did this year. I'm excited about Robinson and McGlothin coming in and McGlothin looks like he could get some minutes from day 1. Who knows? Maybe even start, because the minutes will be there to grab.
PG...we saw what King did for us. Hopefully, the right transfer PG saw that too and will be the perfect fit like King was. Tyne showed some promise, but I'm not sure he is ready to be a big minute PG, so our best option is probably the portal.
Hunt. I really liked what he brought and think he had a solid year. He also showed what a great leader he is, and should be an even bigger leader next year. We might need a little more scoring from him next year, and I would like to see him shoot more 3s. He made 22 of 57 (38.6%). So doubling that would help us tremendously.
Dji. He had a really good year at both ends of the court. He is really good at driving and did a good job finishing at the basket. He needs to dramatically improve his FT shooting, and I still think he needs to find a way to at least be a threat from 3 if left open. He averaged 31 minutes a game, but only shot 38 3s ( 12-38 for 31.6%). Regardless of who we land in the portal, I'm not sure they will match the volume and percentage from 3 that King (84-203 for 41.4%) and Bigs ( 48-128 for 37.2%) gave us. So, Dji has to work and work and work that much more on becoming a 3 point threat.
Walz. I liked what I saw this year. He is physical, he can block some shots, doesn't back down from anyone, and thank goodness he doesn't shoot the floater. I appreciate everything Quinn gave us, and he had some huge games for us, but I was never a fan of his floaters and push shots. Even when he made a few, I think our opponents were more than happy to give him those all game long. When he shot those, we weren't shooting 3s, weren't shooting lay ups, and weren't drawing fouls. It's just not an efficient shot and I hope we never see it again. At 7 feet tall, I just never understood why he couldn't take one or two more dribbles for the layup or slam, or draw a foul at the rim, especially considering he rarely got doubled. But, he did a lot of real good things for us this year, so just because I didn't like his floaters and push shots doesn't mean he wasn't a good player for us. He absolutely was and we will miss him. Back to Walz, I think he is ready for good minutes. I like how active and physical he is, and with more minutes, he will need to stay out of foul trouble and be a key inside presence for us.
Bench: Roche. Need a bounce back year from him. I would never count him out. If you can shoot, you can shoot, and we all know he can shoot. It wouldn't surprise me to see him get his confidence back next year and be a key piece for us.
Tyne. Love his quickness and confidence with the ball. Needs to be much better from 3 point land. He got a lot of good looks and needs to knock more of them down.
Everything else is too much of a guess right now. Not sure how many minutes our current freshman will get next year. Hopefully, Soulis is ready to get minutes and back up Walz. Hard to tell what roles Tanner, Smith, and Graham will have without seeing much of them yet. I think Noyes might be exactly who we saw this year, so not sure if I expect him to be a rotation guy. Maybe he can prove me wrong, kind of like Dji did this year. I'm excited about Robinson and McGlothin coming in and McGlothin looks like he could get some minutes from day 1. Who knows? Maybe even start, because the minutes will be there to grab.
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