Its soooo early but I’m eating lunch so lets jump in to the conversation a little.

I’m surprised by those who are pessimistic about Moore and Roach. Moore has borne the brunt of the Covid seasons and the one and done world where practice was inconsistent and the lineups were in constant flux. K believes in Moore. He defends, he can bring the ball up, his jumper kept getting better last year (not hard early in the year) and if he can have a real summer where he can tighten his handle further, clean up the jumper further and tweak his driving decision making, I expect a really good (if not flashy) year for him. I hate comparisons because my memory isn’t usually accurate enough (and I’m too lazy to research) but a Matt Jones + type year but just what a freshman dominated team needs.

Roach had a tough freshman year relative to his incoming rankings. Shooting and passing weren’t where they needed to be for a lead PG in ACC play. However, again, no offseason and this is a kid who was hurt his Jr. year. I also don’t think this team needs him to be great. He’ll be stronger physically and on the ball. The summer will really define where he and this team’s season goes but I think the sophomore leap is going to be real here. He didn’t have a normal freshman season and that is bound to disproportionately hurt a young PG. I also think K’s desire to win led to lots of tinkering to find what worked (some of it overcoming Roach to be sure) but that probably also slowed Roach’s development. I’m not saying that was a bad call but had consequences.

Keels size really excites me. Steward’s size along side Roach was a problem in ACC play. A line-up with Williams, Banchero, Griffin, Keels/Moore, Roach, is big, and athletic in ways that feel much more familiar to K’s good one and done teams. When he is slotted at the 2, Keels bring 3 inches and about 50 lbs (if the roster is to be believed) over Steward. Pick and roll defense will look very different between those two.

Calling a team “deep” under K seems code for, he doesn’t really know who he can count on which was last year. This team will have much more clear roles and that too will help. A tight rotation of 8 to 9 tops seems inevitable and will build closeness and clarity for the players and coaching staff.

I’m terrible at the minutes game (perhaps on par with our friends on the Pod ) but CBS had then recently at #7 and I think the top ACC team. I think that is about right but add K magic to that mix and who knows…………..