Reading comprehension has never been a strong suit for this board
He adjusted for the exchange rate
Tbh, Reibe should eventually be fine because we need him and he’ll get a chance to play through mistakes.
This year is going to be about the starters again. We probably have the best starting 5 in the country. We were deep in '24 but we had by far the best starting 5. They were so good Solo never played once we were at full strength.
Lol. Whenever people throw out deep team labels. it usually means we don't have an elite Starting 5.
It is overrated. But that being said, in 2023 when our 2nd team took the floor and it was as good, and in same cases better, than the first starting 5, that was an absolute nightmare for every team we played - it felt unfair
at times. 
Are you being contrarian just for the fun of being contrarian?
Correct. I think that Clingan was the wild card that made it go even in his first year when he only played 15 minutes a game. Our second unit not only kept up but often pushed out leads when they were brought in.
I'm just saying when it comes to Tournament play or against elite teams, give me the players who can make a bucket or get a stop during crunch time. You usually don't get that from depth players. It's why we lost to Florida last year when it mattered. Depth can only get you so far.
You wanna talk depth I have a story for you.
We do but the guys on this forum who know basketball much better than we do say he’s not quite ready yet.
Our starters shot 7 for 27 from three pt range in the Florida game. We lost by two. If they shoot to their season averages-Maybe a different outcome. Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda
Been to Turkey. It’s not Disneyland coddling like America. As a a guy with international background he’s probably pretty resourceful, motivated and tough.
I think where 2023 separates itself is that if we did these comparisons by their defensive ability, everybody except Silas/Newton and Karaba/Karaban clears easily.I consider depth to be the the strongest players from spot #1 to the end of the rotation, not just how many serviceable players we have
The team to beat is 2023. The 8/9th guys were Diarra and Calcaterra. Technically in terms of minutes played it was Diarra and Clingan. But, like Reibe this year, Clingan was the clear backup C that was always going to get minutes every single game. He wasn’t that fringe rotation guy
PG - I’ll take Silas over 2023 Newton over the course of the entire season. I have high expectations. This could end up being wrong
SG - if Solo comes back with improved defense and a more developed scoring game, he wins. If he comes back as the same player, I go Hawkins. So call it a wash for now
SF - I’m calling this one a wash. Braylon is a better overall player than Andre Jackson, but 2023 doesn’t come close to happening without Andre. It’s really hard to compare value at SF
PF - 2026 Karaban > 2023 Karaban
C - giving the nod to Adama until Tarris proves me wrong
6-7th: Clingan and Alleyne should be > Stewart and Reibe
8-9th: Malachi and either Ross/Furphy vs. Diarra and Joey. This should go to the current team, assuming Malachi is healthy and one of Ross or Furphy steps up
So 3 positions in favor of 2026, 2 in favor of 2023, and 2 washes with some potential swings based on how Silas performs and how much Solo develops. AKA, impossible to tell until we see them play
Spot on - key to how good this team is will be driven by how much of a defensive upgrade we get with Silas/Mullins at the 1 & 3. Major reason that I don't see any way that Stew gets majority time at the 3 is that he will never be a great defender at the 3 and we really can't stay flat on that end. I'm limiting my expectations on any major defensive leaps by AK or Solo.
This is a fair point, but it still depends on what one means by "depth."It is overrated. But that being said, in 2023 when our 2nd team took the floor and it was as good, and in same cases better, than the first starting 5, that was an absolute nightmare for every team we played - it felt unfair
I think that’s what Hurley set out to do with recruiting. I can see why certain players left or decided not to come - we are stacked at every position.
Obviously so many unknowns… Will players show what they’ve show in practice on the court when there’s fouls being called… We have no idea until we see them in November….
Yup. A lot offensively will depend on how Silas adjust to being the lead PG for this team. Hes going to have to find his groove between finding others and knowing when to find his.
Ajax could not only guard 1-3, but also caused a ton of havoc on the defensive end and was a big part of the motor that made us go. If you think about that team, there weren't a ton of great individual defenders outside of Jax (we did have length). Newt wasn't an amazing defender, nor was Hawkins or Karaban. I wouldn't have called Adama a force on defense either. Amazing what one high plus perimeter defender can do.