What makes this year's team so much better than last year?

[Conndog]

I'm as excited about this year's team as anyone else, and I was doing a quick comparison of position by position of this year vs last year. Some of the same players are still in some of the same positions, yet the sky is the limit with this year's squad. So, what's the difference?

At the point- RJ vs Tristan. Hard to say who I'd want more
At shooting guard- Hawkins vs Hawkins- no difference
At the 3- Andre vs Andre- no difference
At the 4- Alex Karaban vs Tyrese Martin- wouldn't edge go to Martin?
At the 5- Sanogo vs Sanogo- no difference
But,
Back-up 5- Clingan vs Whaley- big edge for Clingan
Other major players on this year's squad- Joey Calcaterra, Hassan Diarra, Naheime Alleyne
Other major players players on last year's squad- Tyler Polley, Jalen Gaffney, Akok Akok

What accounts for the explosiveness this year? Clingan and Joey C being on the squad? Having another year's development for the returnees? Some kind of team cohesion/confidence that is hard to describe but undeniable?

 

[Umami Zen]

I'm as excited about this year's team as anyone else, and I was doing a quick comparison of position by position of this year vs last year. Some of the same players are still in some of the same positions, yet the sky is the limit with this year's squad. So, what's the difference?

At the point- RJ vs Tristan. Hard to say who I'd want more
At shooting guard- Hawkins vs Hawkins- no difference
At the 3- Andre vs Andre- no difference
At the 4- Alex Karaban vs Tyrese Martin- wouldn't edge go to Martin?
At the 5- Sanogo vs Sanogo- no difference
But,
Back-up 5- Clingan vs Whaley- big edge for Clingan
Other major players on this year's squad- Joey Calcaterra, Hassan Diarra, Naheime Alleyne
Other major players players on last year's squad- Tyler Polley, Jalen Gaffney, Akok Akok

What accounts for the explosiveness this year? Clingan and Joey C being on the squad? Having another year's development for the returnees? Some kind of team cohesion/confidence that is hard to describe but undeniable?

Quick comment re: your use of "no difference" for certain players. They may occupy the same position.. But they have all gotten much better in their skill development and they are very different from last year's version of themselves. Hawk/Andre/Sanogo as examples. Big Three

 

[superjohn]

I'm as excited about this year's team as anyone else, and I was doing a quick comparison of position by position of this year vs last year. Some of the same players are still in some of the same positions, yet the sky is the limit with this year's squad. So, what's the difference?

At the point- RJ vs Tristan. Hard to say who I'd want more
At shooting guard- Hawkins vs Hawkins- no difference
At the 3- Andre vs Andre- no difference
At the 4- Alex Karaban vs Tyrese Martin- wouldn't edge go to Martin?
At the 5- Sanogo vs Sanogo- no difference
But,
Back-up 5- Clingan vs Whaley- big edge for Clingan
Other major players on this year's squad- Joey Calcaterra, Hassan Diarra, Naheime Alleyne
Other major players players on last year's squad- Tyler Polley, Jalen Gaffney, Akok Akok

What accounts for the explosiveness this year? Clingan and Joey C being on the squad? Having another year's development for the returnees? Some kind of team cohesion/confidence that is hard to describe but undeniable?

Hawkins vs. Hawkins- no difference?

Jackson vs. Jackson- no difference?

Sanogo vs. Sanogo- no difference?

They are all light-years better than they were last season.

The talent is much better, the fit is much better, the depth is much better

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

For a kid who started playing basketball late the improvement in Sanogo's skill level around the hoop is borderline incredible. He's made so many tough plays look routine. He had those two gorgeous lefty post moves last night, including the one where he held the ball a split second longer to turn a little floater into an easy finger roll. He just looks really polished this year. My favorite was in the Alabama game when he pump-faked from the elbow and hit that little left-handed bank shot off the glass.

It really must be miserable to get abused by that kid and then have to deal with a mountain as his replacement.

 

[runner11]

All of the returning players have gotten a lot better. We have no defenders we need to hide, other than JC. Karaban and Clingan are 2 of the most impactful freshman in the land. The roster just makes more sense and I think having a skilled 4 who can shoot unlocks a lot.

 

[tcf15]

The main holdivers all got better and the staff hit on almost all of their new additions. There’s your difference.

 

[upstater]

1st step explosiveness, dribbling and ball movement.

As bad as Newton played last night, I would take him over RJ Cole. Just more explosive, dribbles and drives, whereas RJ pounded into the ground a lot. Newton creates space, and Diarra, Calcaterra and Alleyne are giving us much more than Gaffney ever did.

The floor is open because of better athletic abilities

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

multiple ball handlers, guys that can shoot, more experienced players and way higher Bball IQ.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Because it's a team built to work together and enhance the strengths of each of them. Last year we had a wonderful player, Whaley, at the 4. Given what he does well and poorly, he should never, ever play at the 4 next an offensive 5 like Sanogo. That's just one example.

You can put the 11 best QBs in the NFL on the field and they'd be a terrible team. Good players aren't enough if they don't fit together and become more due to complementary skills and abilities.

 

[Travelman6]

An extra year of experience.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Sanogo’s footwork has really improved, as has his range. Hit an elbow jumper last night, has been hitting floaters from 8-10 feet out since at least last year, and obviously is hitting straight-on threes. He’s progressed from a no-name to an All-American.

Hawk is moving without the ball even better, quickly looking like Ray/Rip; and his shooting has improved and he’s looking like a potential lottery pick.

We have the best freshman in the country, who stands 7’2” 265. Who comes off the bench.

We have an extremely solid set of transfers that have bolstered our back court. Kromah-type kids all around.

 

[jake14mw]

Biggest by far - Shooters. Last year you really had two scoring options Cole and Sanogo. If Sonogo got in foul trouble, game over. Last year, Jackson's athleticism made him the 3rd athletic non-scorer on the floor. This year, his athleticism is a complement to the shooters/scorers.

Hawkins last year had no confidence and was a dissapointment. This year he is living up to the potential we all knew he had.

 

[REB1094]

It’s an entirely new system, with key upgrades made to the places we needed.

PG - last year RJ got forced into being an isolation scorer because we only had 1 other player that could reliably get a bucket (Sanogo). He did great in that role, but that wasn’t how we would want him to be used. Newton is playing the distributor role, almost to a fault. He’s wildly inconsistent but we know he can get a bucket too

SG - Tyrese was scrappy junkyard dog, Hawkins is smooth lights out shooter. And dare I say Hawkins is better defensively as well. Big difference here, and that hurts me to say because Tyrese was my favorite player last year

SF - Andre’s stats may be similar from last year but he’s grown as a leader, floor general, and has shown a willingness to take some shots. Better this year than last year

PF - we went from defensive stopper who couldn’t play a lick of offense to a VERY high IQ offensive player who is also a threat from deep. The team defense covers individual deficiencies

C - similar to Andre, even if the stats end up being similar, Sanogo is much better this year than last year. An upgraded offensive arsenal and much more disciplined defense.

Bench - went from 2.5 players (Hawkins was in and out of the rotation) with only 1 dependable guy, to 2 major contributors (Joey/Clingan) and 2 others who bring solid defense and are still capable of playing major minutes (Alleyne/Diarra)

Coach - Hurley is a young coach. He’s learning and growing along with the players. He seems much more mature this year

Playstyle - last year was a scrappy and bruiser team that would fight you tooth and nail and find a way to will out a victory. This year is improved core players with a number of shooters around them, several versatile players that can play multiple positions, and a bench that can completely switch up play styles at a high level. It’s really hard to defend if you can’t predict what the other team is doing. This team is much better prepared for the modern game

 

[Poe]

Better player and ball movement. Love that there’s no one dribbling the ball for 20 seconds before running a play. Not saying that was the case last year, but definitely was in years past.

 

[polycom]

The way you discount experience is shocking to me, a year is a long time.

 

[Umami Zen]

Aside from Big Three's dramatic improvement.. Team first mentality-BBIQ-Sharing the ball.. Commitment to defense and roles.

Upgrade in talent from freshmen and the portal..

 

[MDHuskFan]

---

The main holdivers all got better and the staff hit on almost all of their new additions. There’s your difference.

Fixed

 

[Conndog]

The way you discount experience is shocking to me, a year is a long time.

I typed my post quickly, it came off kind of ignorant, of course extra experience is a big factor. I just wanted to start a discussion and learn what others have noticed about the squad this year.

 

[bigknight3]

Quick comment re: your use of "no difference" for certain players. They may occupy the same position.. But they have all gotten much better in their skill development and they are very different from last year's version of themselves. Hawk/Andre/Sanogo as examples. Big Three

Hawkins vs. Hawkins- no difference?

Jackson vs. Jackson- no difference?

Sanogo vs. Sanogo- no difference?

They are all light-years better than they were last season.

The talent is much better, the fit is much better, the depth is much better

I stopped reading after I saw no difference...

 

[Tenspro2002]

The returning guys are all better and the pieces around them are a much better fit even if, individually, there may not be a huge dropoff man-for-man.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Tom Brady '96 - Tom Brady 2016: no difference. Conndog, probably.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I'd say the defense is considerably better.... and we weren't bad at D last year.

 

[prankster]

Our Freshmen.

 

[tykurez]

Defensively this team is significantly better. They are currently 4th in the metric on kenpom and finished the year 43rd last year. They are also bigger at every position that had turnover … no offense to the guys last year but Tristan and RJ are not on the same level defensively and almost anyone you throw in there is a better rebounder than Polley.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

A good amount of this has already been mentioned but:

1 - the most important players are all a year older and their games are more developed (AS far more developed)
2 - we are a significantly better passing team this season
3 - we have more depth at all positions (especially center)
4 - we have more balanced scoring than last season
5 - our defense is improved for among other reasons better height at the 1, more physicality at the 2, better conditioning and better bench at the 5

There are additional ancillary items (including an additional season with DH implementing his preferred style) that can be added but concisely this can be described as further development of the program