Here my preseason comparisons of last years NC team vs this coming season
2022-23 preseason evaluation :
We had three in system veterans
5 Sanogo was going to be good for 28/30 minutues
Filling the voids or foul trouble and we were talking Richie Spring as a Backup. Clingan was an unknown who became a huge force
2/3 We knew Hawkins was a great shooter but injuries kept him off the floor as a freshman so health was another ?
Jackson we knew his skill set and defense would keep him in the line up but fitting in on offense with his shooting created another ?
4 We thought it would be Johnson another injury prone guy with very few minutes experience.
Back up by a red-Shirt freshman who we heard could shoot but he was a freshman. Another ?
We lost our PG Cole and went to the portal to get a big combo guard who we knew was good . But coming in as outsider for a potential lead guard is not an easy thing to do
Totally different system plus you have to be a leader on the floor . It took him awhile but he eventually and almost invisibly became that leader
We went.to the portal and got some seasoned guys with burn in good conferences . But looking more like solid subs than spectacular
The Backup 5 , Karaban and the Benches ability to score helped that team make a quantum leap .
2023-24
Backup minutes at the 5 again a huge ? How many effective minutes from Clingan
Can Spencer be the missing shooter to at least minimize the loss of Hawkins
How will Johnson evolve and where will he be the most effective
Newton should be in a better position to anchor the team
Karaban is a keeper
the key to how far we go is how quickly the freshman can get up to speed
Diarra’s experience will be huge
Really most questions arise about our Bench . The starting team really has less questions than last year but this years bench lacking the experience of last year is more of a question mark.
The fun thing about college BB is to watch the growth , wztch who steps up to answer the ? .
My take is that we are going to be better than last year. I am not saying that we are going to win it all, but hear me out. I think DC will be better than Sanogo was last year. Kid is a monster, and you cannot teach being 7'2". I think that AK will be better as a sophomore, and that is saying a lot, because he was immense last year for us. I think TN will be more assertive, and more consistent than he was last year. I think that this year we have better TEAM shooting, meaning that while we wont have Hawk, we also wont have an offensive liability in AJ (not hating on AJ, just a reality that his offensive game sucked). I think that Castle is a stud. We did not have anyone like him last year. NOBODY. And with all due respect to Joe California and the bench last year, I think Samson, Ball and Ross will give us more impact off the bench. This year we are going to have 5 players at all times on the floor who can get a bucket. And if Samson stays healthy, our defense will be top notch as it was last year.