Da’Monte is definitely good enough to be on this team, but he probably should be a rotation player rather than a starter.Samba has to stay and improve over the summer. Can't count on January or Holyfield. Da'Monte is just not tall enough, or good enough.
Jones has shown great promise on offense and with a good defense will do well.
BUs defense strategy/scheme has to change, or similar season loses like this year. The center has to stay home, not out to the 3pt line. This is especially true for Samba; play zone, or box and one to cover a 3pt shooter. When mismatches occur with our guards, Samba will be there. Cofi, the same senario as he will be called for fouling, a lot.
I don't see much, if any improvement without at least two bigs, at 4 and 5, playing at any given moment, with a third in the rotation, in a different defense scheme. Tevian has to start; the offense needs variable strategies to play against different teams with their different strengths. Samba has shown promise IF BU uses him properly.
Lastly, Groce called on all players to shoot 15,000 shots during the summer. Try different types, tear drops, 3pters, etc. Can't win if can't make the shots. I hope the coach does not simply play transfers, a disaster will result.
In terms of defense, the D that we played during on short lived win streak was great. Guys played with energy and forced a ton of turnovers which lead to extra possessions for us. I don’t think this should change much, but having someone like Kofi near the rim to swat shots will certainly help. I hope Samba stays and gets stronger, but let’s remember that he reclassified to come here so in reality, he should be a senior in high school. The potential is there, but he needs more practice experience, too. Jones can start if he’s ready to do so and stops with the off the court nonsense. He needs to get stronger and grow into his body a little more. If you watch him on defense, you can see how awkward he is at times.
I don’t know that evoking the name of a coach who is playing .500 ball at a md major is the way to go, but BU certainly preaches everyone adding to their individual games. Go back to last summer where he told Trent that he needed a right hand, the ability to hit runners, etc. Trent improved his shooting numbers across the board compared to last year.