Most of us have overlooked the value of Coach Lanier on that staff in the past. It is showing up this year along with the lack of recruiting in the previous years. Barnes is going to need to either improve the staff or learn new tricks even with the stud class he is bringing in. Otherwise they will underachieve.
This year's deficiencies are obvious. Insufficiently developed big men and a quality PG ready to step in. Fulky improved, but he is not a 5. He could be a really good 4, however, they need him to play the 5 and it is unnatural to him. When he arrived on campus he was a tall 3 who shot and drove from the corner well. He's not allowed to do that anymore. Pons is a 3 having to play the 4 and switching out to every position on the floor at times. He's injured and he's wore out. Lack of a PG stands out like a sore thumb. Vescovi may become one, but he is just a newbie who is more combo that needs to improve his handle to the right to be effective. He's hitting the freshman wall now.
A lot to work on before next season.
i mean, i get all this and on some level, agree.
but not having Uros from day 1 hurt, and it's obvious he would have probably benefited a lot from pre season, non-conf play.
the two roster misses that i think hurt were the zach kid and DJ burns...had either of them been what we needed them to be, who knows?
and i think the killer for this roster, and for Jordan Bowden in particular, was how turner's deal went down. no one expected him to be another Bone, but i think most, self included, were pretty confident turner would do just fine as a returning, experienced, quaility vet running the point.
a lot of guys have been put in positions that probably weren't "in the plan" before the season started. you're right about Fulky....he should be a 4, but he has to play 5.
JJJ should be a 3, but he's having to split between 2, 3, and sometimes 1, pre vescovi. bowden, kinda the same. Pons makes some sense at 4 just because of how athletic he is, but probably better suited at 3, IF we had a true 4 and 5.
anyway...effort level has been pretty good all year, but these last two games have been poor...really poor on the execution front. waaaaaaay too many turnovers and just sloppy play in general.
they miss open jump shots, they miss layups, and they struggle moving the ball inside.
defensively, for the majority of the season it's been very solid....last two games not withstanding.
i expected a better season when it started, but i didn't expect this. i do think a lot of the roster issues we had played a big part in it.....
positives...i do think vescovi can be really good. i like where Gaines is headed....he's getting better. Pons, assuming he sticks around, should just get better and better. JJJ while underwhelming for the hype has flashed and you can see how talented he is, i'm anxious to see him with the next group, and a full year in the program. FUlky is better....who knows where Uros is headed in to next season, he's gotta get better with his feet, and be stronger around the rim....
and i still think Barnes is a good coach, and he's done a good job overall developing kids. this year was gonna be a transition year, we knew that. so i'm banking on this being a "lessons learned" season and moving on to bigger things next season.