I don't think that question can be answered yet. Eleven is fine IF:
the transfers deliver Manek/Ingram levels of performance
Washington/High show they can be effective over long stretches on the court
Cadeau can make the freshman to sophomore jump we need
the freshmen are able to contribute
a couple of players (apart from RJ) show they are consistent outside threats.
That's a LOT of questions but not impossible. Hubert has shown he can coach when plan A works but has not proven he can adjust when he has to go plans B or C. NIL and the portal has completely changed the landscape of college basketball. The days of being able to rely on the development of guys who saw spot minutes the previous season but are now ready for the big stage are gone - those guys tend to look elsewhere if they don't get their minutes. Dudley Bradley contributed little his first two seasons but developed his skill set and was a key player his junior and senior seasons. Hubert Davis played a little over 5 minutes a game as a freshman.
So many unknowns at this time - all fans can do is speculate. If you look at the glass half full then UNC is a FF threat, if it's half empty then the unproven inside game and absence of outside shooting to help RJ is great cause for concern.
Excellent post, could not agree more!
Yes, you sure can win and not have a 7ft center. We have done that, Seam May and Meeks are just 2 examples of that but they are as well 2 examples of something else we do not have, a guy with those big wide shoulders that has the strength to carve out space. We had Bacot for 5 seasons, I think maybe we got so used to having him around that we took for granted what he did for us, he was that big body in the paint that few could move out.
Of course we have the talent to be able to win big next season but our approach is going to have to change drastically, and they are going to have to be consistent in that different approach. I have watched our approach change multiple times each season so far under Hubert. I get that, new head coach, searching for his own preferred style of play, takes some experimentation before the formula is just right, I get that.
I believe we have the talent to win but I do think it is going to take a lot of adjustment and consistency from both the players and the coaching staff. I think the coming season, more than any of the 3 that Hubert has been our coach, will depend heavy on understanding your players strengths and weaknesses and playing to those strengths and I am not yet convinced in our ability to do that. Our A plan should be fine but when the A plan does not work that B plan has to be ready, you have to expect the other teams adjustments and be ready for them and that is the part I am really concerns with. IN a lot of ways Hubert was much better last season so he showed progression but there were short comings as well. Those short comings have now got to be addressed or we will have some really pissed off fans next season.
Now maybe Hubert is seeing things none of us are able to, reports from pick up games, how guys are progressing in strength and conditioning, how certain skills are progressing as in how Cadeau or Seth are jump shooting, in other words information we fans don't have. So maybe our center position did not need addressing but why did we chase centers in the portal if we didn't need to? I assume we needed to address the 5 position, I assume the staff realized that. This is about getting it done, it isn't about trying to get it done, it is a win or not deal.
I love what I see in Jalen's ability, I do think he has NBA potential but the reality is that he averaged 8mins a game last season as a soph, not a freshman, a sophomore? Yet now we will have to depend on him for the lion share of 40mins and be very under sized when he sits? It can be done with the guys we have, I just have not yet seen the creativity or the individual player development that assures me we don't have the major problem it seems to me we now have. So yeah, I am concerned. I wanted to look at this coming team with the mindset of we will be fine and this is why not we will be fine IF and yet all I have is IF, every IF I have ever seen comes along with it's partner, IF NOT then what.