Completely agree here. 11th is maybe a bit low, but 9/10th is probably about right. No way expecatations should be higher than this year's 8-10 while losing over 50% of our scoring from this year. Too much emphasis on the incoming Freshman class. The jewel of the class, Tilmon, is rated about where Leonard was coming out of HS. Meyers averaged 8 mpg while scoring 2 ppg. I'd expect more out of Tilmon given our roster, but not even close to replacing what Mav did for us this year.
The list got a little murkier with Trimble declaring today, and i think iowa a bit overrated here with the loss of Jok. I just don't see how we can reasonably expect a top 6 finish.
I'm personally not expecting much from Tilmon. Love his upside but I think the BIG is rough on freshman interior players until they have strength/skill to post up. There's a lot to learn physically and mentally for guys who have often relied on their physical advantages in hs. Maybe he's more skilled than I realize, but if he gives us a post threat, can score in transition, learn a little rebounding from Black, and figure out footwork and how not to foul so he can stay in the game longer than 15 minutes, that's enough for me.
One thing I do expect is a major culture shift and much smarter bball. Some things I think Underwood will do that Groce failed utterly at:
* Pick up the tempo instead of walking the ball down the court when it's late in the game or half and we're down. So stupid and happened all too frequently.
* Showing up when the game starts.
* Avoiding long stretches where we look lost.
* Avoiding bad disruptions (bad substitutions, play calls, time-outs) to tempo when we have some flow
* Playing defense for an entire game
* Understanding how defense leads to offense
* Guys moving and creating instead of waiting
* Creating an identity where guys know their groove, and strive to get back to what they do best when the other team tries to disrupt them
We've become so numb to bad coaching, that we bought into the idea that the players are the main problem. I'm not saying we have the best talent in the league today, but this is arguably the best freshman class in the league (assuming we keep everyone, which is looking like a fair bet), and guys like Kipper and Black will do well. I'm not expecting us to go from 9th to 1st, but I do think we'll move up and start to be dangerous.