Originally Posted by
CDu
Actually, I don't think guard length and physicality has been our problem at all. Roach, Goldwire, and Moore are pretty stout physically and aren't getting bullied by any guards in college, and Moore and Steward are plenty long to defend guards.
Our bigger issue defensively has been a lack of defensive awareness across the board, along with bigs who aren't great at defending on the perimeter. Some of the lack of awareness may be a function of new faces and changing defensive strategies multiple times this year. Some of it is that we don't have a ton of great defenders. Goldwire is certainly pesky on the perimeter, Moore is versatile although probably better against bigs than littles, Johnson is good at getting steals and blocks, and Williams is a shotchanger. But Hurt, Roach, Steward, Brakefield, and Tape are probably hurt the defense overall (Johnson might be as well depending on his awareness). Coleman might have some defensive value, but until the UNC game he's played minimally.
I'm interested to see the direction the team goes moving forward this season. Coach K is a legend, of course, but this is probably the most challenging coaching job he's had in over a decade. Between the roster turnover, the youth, the lack of multiple one-and-done talents, and the pandemic ruining preseason prep, he's got a lot on his hands. Now, he's got to get the team to come together quickly ahead of a fairly tough back end of the schedule to salvage the season.