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Now that we're pretty much settled on the roster (except for maybe another guard or forward), let's take stock of who we lost and who we gained. There are two ways we can do that:
1) Comparing this year's roster to last year's, i.e. should the team be better or worse than last year?
For these purposes, let's only consider guys who got meaningful minutes in big games. Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo return.
Cole --> Newton
- Slight downgrade on offense, probably slight improvement on defense/size.
Whaley --> Johnson
- Big downgrade on defense, but may be better on offense and probably a more functional lineup fit
Gaffney --> Diarra
- Big upgrade
Polley --> Karaban
- Should be a slight upgrade, mostly because Polley was a liability in every other aspect of the game besides his strength (shooting)
Martin --> Alleyne
- Sort of apples and oranges, obviously a downgrade in rebounding and toughness, but maybe a slight upgrade in shooting and positional fit (though Martin's shooting doesn't get enough credit)
Akok --> Clingan/Springs
- fairly inconsequential, hard to say
On a position by position basis, it's probably a slight downgrade overall, but the pieces should mesh better and may also be offset by improvement from the returning 3. It's not unreasonable to project this team as in the 20-25 range with both higher upside and downside than last year.
2) Comparing the incoming transfers to the outgoing transfers, i.e. should we expect the guys we got to contribute more than what we would have expected from the guys who left?
Gaffney --> Diarra
- higher floor and higher ceiling for Diarra for the backup guard role, clear upgrade
Diggins --> Newton
- unproven sophomore who looked bad in games and probably not much better in practice vs. an All-AAC guy, clear upgrade
Floyd --> Alleyne
- who knows what we would have gotten from Floyd, generously you could call this a wash
Akok is the only one we haven't replaced.
It's clear that the portal has been a big net upgrade for our roster, big wins for Hurley. The only question is whether we need more, given the guys we lost to graduation, and whether the overall sum will end up being better than last year.
1) Comparing this year's roster to last year's, i.e. should the team be better or worse than last year?
For these purposes, let's only consider guys who got meaningful minutes in big games. Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo return.
Cole --> Newton
- Slight downgrade on offense, probably slight improvement on defense/size.
Whaley --> Johnson
- Big downgrade on defense, but may be better on offense and probably a more functional lineup fit
Gaffney --> Diarra
- Big upgrade
Polley --> Karaban
- Should be a slight upgrade, mostly because Polley was a liability in every other aspect of the game besides his strength (shooting)
Martin --> Alleyne
- Sort of apples and oranges, obviously a downgrade in rebounding and toughness, but maybe a slight upgrade in shooting and positional fit (though Martin's shooting doesn't get enough credit)
Akok --> Clingan/Springs
- fairly inconsequential, hard to say
On a position by position basis, it's probably a slight downgrade overall, but the pieces should mesh better and may also be offset by improvement from the returning 3. It's not unreasonable to project this team as in the 20-25 range with both higher upside and downside than last year.
2) Comparing the incoming transfers to the outgoing transfers, i.e. should we expect the guys we got to contribute more than what we would have expected from the guys who left?
Gaffney --> Diarra
- higher floor and higher ceiling for Diarra for the backup guard role, clear upgrade
Diggins --> Newton
- unproven sophomore who looked bad in games and probably not much better in practice vs. an All-AAC guy, clear upgrade
Floyd --> Alleyne
- who knows what we would have gotten from Floyd, generously you could call this a wash
Akok is the only one we haven't replaced.
It's clear that the portal has been a big net upgrade for our roster, big wins for Hurley. The only question is whether we need more, given the guys we lost to graduation, and whether the overall sum will end up being better than last year.