Here are some of my concerns:
1. Off-the-court/culture issues
2. Recruiting stagnating
3. Poor offensive execution
1. As has been discussed, these player issues are mounting and that does not help Groce's situation in any way. These are all his guys. On the other hand, the players healthy and playing have not rolled over under an incredible amount of adversity and pressure on them. They clearly still care and respond to their coach. That says a lot, as well.
2. Though we can still bring in our share of top 100 players, our misses at pg and c are glaring. 1 pg decommit at the last minute to Louisville may have started this vicious cycle, but it must end in 2017.
3. Our defense/lack of TOs keeps us in games, and we can usually hang our hat on that. However, the fact still remains we have 1 B1G game with a shooting percentage of at least 50%. Maybe it would be different with different talent/healthy talent, but our offensive struggles are bringing down the ship.
It cannot be overlooked, though, that our preseason lineup was: Abrams/Tate, Nunn/JCL/AJ, Hill/JCL/AJ/DJW, Black/Paul/Finke/DJW, MT/MM. We have 3 players out of position currently, and relying a LOT on freshman (1 or 2 of whom may have been good RS candidates) and a grad pg transfer.
I am a Groce supporter and believe he has the coaching ability, passion, and pride to be successful over the long haul. Let's not forget what he had to start with after bp3 and dj graduated. Bertrand, Abrams, Shaw, Henry, Langford, Ibby, Rice, and Egwu. There was no junior or frosh class when he started in 12-13, and Shaw, Henry, Langford, and Ibby were all gone soon after! 2-3 more wins in the last two seasons and this thread would probably not exist. If we are healthy, and if hill and nunn are back with a decent class, we're dancing next year.