I think an underrated aspect of next year’s team is whether or not Trent can add some real strength. He has gained some weight and size in the past 2 years, but he still has a kids body. He got banged up quite a lot last year when driving, and seemed to interfere with his aggressiveness as the year went on. Would love to see him gain 5-10 pounds of core and upper body strength. If he can start driving through people he’s going to get a lot more calls and not just have to fling it off the backboard like he has been doing. Granted, he is pretty good at circus shots, but him being able to penetrate and finish stronger at the rim will get us more calls and keep him healthy. Him and Ayo have potential to be not only one of the best duos in the big ten, but in the country. No reason they can’t combine for 30-35 a night.
The next key is gameplanning around Kofi. Yes, he could benefit from losing 10-15 pounds, but having a guy who’s 7” 290 is not something a lot of teams can contain. He either needs to cut weight and work on his dribbling, passing, shooting, or we make some tweaks to our offense that play towards his strengths. If him and Giorgi can gel well together (the Italy trip is going to be great for them) than there’s no reason we can’t get 20-30 a night from those too as well.
Id say those are pretty realistic expectations, and already would account for 50-65 points a night. If we can get 20-30 from a combination of Jones, Kipper, Feliz, Damonte, Griffin, Kane, than our offense is going to be really really good. Remember, Underwood had the most efficient offense in the country at OSU. This roster is really coming together well, and I’d say 4/6 of our potential starts (Ayo, Trent, Giorgi, Cockburn, Feliz, Holyfield/Jones*) would all compete for a starting spot on those teams. (save a spot for Juwan Evans, it’d be a battle for that 2 guard spot).
The talent is there, Id say our top 6 is just as good as any other non-top 10 team in the county. There’s too much firepower and athleticism at all spot. We FINALLY have a legit big ten roster top to bottom.
This team is going to be really special. Top 5 big ten, and second weekend potential is very realistic.