I think we definitely have reason to be optimistic about this year’s team. Smith was able to build on the core of guys we had last year. We brought back all major contributors in Carlson, Anthony, Stefanovic, Madsen, and Worster… We added much needed strength and athleticism in Keba Keita who is 6 ft 7, 230 lbs as a TRUE FRESHMAN!!! Dude should try out for the football team. We also added a highly sought after transfer in Mike Saunders Jr. He will provide much needed speed at the point (Worster is kinda crafty but slooooooow). We also added Gavin Baxter from BYU, who WHEN AND IF HEALTHY can be a major contributor. Ridiculous length and a very good athlete (at least he was before his body broke, not sure about now). Between him, Carlson, Ben Carlson and Keita our lineup of bigs is in a better spot than it has been since Poeltl and Bachynski were playing.
At the wing we have Marco Anthony, who is good at everything other than scoring. We also have Bostyn Holt, who was looking promising before getting hurt last season. Add Stefanovic in there (he might be the best of these three) and we’ve got a great group of wings that can all play the 4 if necessary.
At guard (1 and 2) is where we will struggle (unless Saunders turns out to be really good), we have Saunders, Worster, and Madsen… and then a bunch of bench warmers and unknowns. Exacte is a complete unknown who was recruited by us and pretty much nobody else… Then we have a bunch of holdovers from the last few years that probably shouldn’t be on a Pac12 roster. This was our worst position group last year. If Saunders is better than I expect he will be, and Madsen/Worster can become more consistent shooters we might be a fringe tourney team. If none of these guys learn how to shoot 3’s better, we will be better than last year, but still not good.
Our biggest issue will be shooting. We needed to bring in a reliable shooter, and we did not. We have several guys on the roster who are allegedly capable, but we haven’t seen it yet, hopefully their shooting (Madsen, Worster, Brenchley, Stefanovic, Carlson…) shows up finally, and we take some pressure off of Carlson to do everything. We need a 38%+ three point shooter on this team. That will make a huge difference.
Whatever combination of Carlson and (baxter/Keita/Stefanovic/Anthony) are on the floor at the same time presents difficult matchups for opposing teams. If Keita has any offensive skill whatsoever he will pair amazingly well with Carlson. Defensively if Carlson and Keita/Baxter can be on the floor together our rim protection will be off the charts amazing.
I am currently fantasizing about a defensive lineup featuring Carlson, Baxter, Anthony, Exacte, and Saunders. The defensive capabilities of that lineup would make us a top notch defensive team. Baxter and Carlson both have ridiculous length. Anthony is a great defender and rebounder. Exacte should be good for defense if nothing else… and Saunders is fast, so he should be able to defend well (not sure though tbh). OBVIOUSLY this lineup will not happen, as I’m pretty sure Anthony will spend a lot of time at the 4… but I would love to see it.
Yes, we have reasons to be excited, but we are not a good team yet. We needed to get a great shooter to be a good team this year, and we did not. Hopefully that guy is already on the team.
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