And there's a knock-on badness there. Our desperate need for Kane and Giorgi to soak up as many minutes at the 5 as they possibly can makes it basically impossible to play the two of them together, which would be the only lineup with real size that we can currently throw out there.
And like, we have all these new players learning to play together in this system, and in practice they have two true freshman big guys to play against and that's it.
It's just really crazy that this is the roster for Year 2. Black and Ebo are nobody's David Robinson and Tim Duncan, but it's beyond measure how much better this situation would be with those two.
A couple of things:
1. I don't think that anyone would tell you with a straight face that the total amount of roster turnover from last year will not impact this season's team in a negative way. That said, if Leron Black wanted to be playing college basketball in 18-19, he'd be playing college basketball. He isn't. If Ebo wanted to live in Champaign-Urbana, he'd be living in Champaign-Urbana. He isn't, having chosen to move somewhere that has a substantial Nigerian community. I have trouble drawing a line from those two departures to a prediction of an Underwood-related exodus in the upcoming year. (I got the over at 2.5, but just barely.)
2. Sourcing the primary starting lineups from kenpom.com, some facts about the B1G last season:
Number of teams with two starters 6'10" or above: 0
Number of teams with two starters 6'8" or above: 5
Number of teams with no starters 6'8" or above: 2*
Number of teams with no starters 6'10" or above: 4
(* - This includes Minnesota. Before Lynch got booted, they would move into the category of having one starter 6'10" or above, but not two above 6'8".)
It's rare that teams deploy two true post players in this day and age. Even if all goes well and it's possible to do so, I think it's highly unlikely that Kane and Giorgi B see the court at the same time for any significant period this season. And I believe that Nichols and Jones at least have the physical tools to guard a typical 6'8-ish stretch four. (Their technical defensive skills, regardless of who they are guarding, may not keep up, but that's an entirely separate issue from 'not having enough post players'.)
I'm not enamored with our options in the post due to health and inexperience reasons, and I think that we'll continue to have one of the worst 2FG% defenses in the P5. But I also think that systematic familiarity, increased athleticism across the board, and better perimeter defense will have a significant impact on the number of two-point shots that are given up, helping to soften the blow a bit.
I'll welcome the plate of crow if I'm wrong about any of this, but we will see improvement.
