This team was built was built with the thought Donovan Mitchell and JJ would be back. The freshman class was brought in to provide depth at key spots. Obviously Donovan leaving left a huge void at the 2G plus he could swing over to the PG spot if needed. JJ, in hindsight would have been invaluable member of this team from strictly a rebounding perspective but also an interior scoring threat. Once Donovan left, my opinion, Pitino knew his roster had a major problem. Here comes Bowen, a perfect replacement for Donovan. The pieces where back in place. This may give us a little insight into why Pitino chose to look the other way with his recruitment. We know the rest of the story.
The roster today lacks a legit high level SG. It is a roster full of players that need others to make them better. There is only1 player that has that ability, Q. The game plan from this point forward take the ball out of Q hands and force Deng/King to beat you (they won't score 40 against Virginia). The reality is neither guy has that skill level or basketball instincts to make others around them better. They both requires others to make them better. The bigs requires others to get them the ball in scoring position neither can create their own shot. None of the freshman have that skill level. Perry could facilitate but he wants to score.
The only thing Pitino would have been able to do with this group is on the defensive side of the ball. They would have been a train wreck offensively under Pitino too. .
I am really not sure they will make the tournament mainly because they will be easy to defend. I think the only way they make the tournament is if they get much better on the defensive side but when 2 starters can't defend consistently the ceiling is pretty low.
The roster today lacks a legit high level SG. It is a roster full of players that need others to make them better. There is only1 player that has that ability, Q. The game plan from this point forward take the ball out of Q hands and force Deng/King to beat you (they won't score 40 against Virginia). The reality is neither guy has that skill level or basketball instincts to make others around them better. They both requires others to make them better. The bigs requires others to get them the ball in scoring position neither can create their own shot. None of the freshman have that skill level. Perry could facilitate but he wants to score.
The only thing Pitino would have been able to do with this group is on the defensive side of the ball. They would have been a train wreck offensively under Pitino too. .
I am really not sure they will make the tournament mainly because they will be easy to defend. I think the only way they make the tournament is if they get much better on the defensive side but when 2 starters can't defend consistently the ceiling is pretty low.
