I guess you're right that the point is that they have no depth. I'm just surprised that their bench is that bad that he has to play at all. Isn't someone else at guard on their bench better? At UConn he'd be glued to the bench.
Two things contributed to it. 1. Arterio Morris transferred from Texas and was dismissed before playing a game. He would have been a starter playing 20+ minutes. 2. When they went after Hunter Dickinson, the backup 5 and 4 from the prior class (freshmen now sophomores) transferred out. Then Bobby Pettiford Jr. transferred, as did guards MJ Rice and Kyle Cuffe. The entire 2021-22 classes are gone except KJ Adams.
They returned 4 total players from 2022-23. So if you do that and (a) your 5 star guard is just ok, not great and (b) your capable transfer SG from UT is scum and you kick him off the team and (c) your supposedly good transfer SG from Townson stinks, you have problems. I predicted they would in pre-season, thought the #1 ranking was nuts.
They've been lucky that Furphy is better than anybody expected, and McDowell is looking ok.