siudawgs wrote:Adunk33 wrote:
100% the feeling of Redbird fans.
Pedon going into year 4 of a 5 year deal. It's a make it or break it year.
Congrats to ISU for pulling off the modern-day holy grail of retaining all-conference players.
A lot of upside with this group and reason to be excited about potentially breaking the long NCAA drought. They should have little trouble scoring. If I were the ISU coaching staff, with whatever remaining rides they have, I'd be looking to add a salty defender or two to the mix, as their offense seemed ahead of their defense for much of this past season.
I'm still in some state of shock that Pedon and our collective, The 1998 Club, was able to pull this off.
You bring up a very good point. We'll bring back most of the scoring but have massive holes to fill in what already was a shaky defense. Jordan Davis and Dalton Banks were our two best defenders with Malachi Poindexter probably being third. All three graduate.
That said, the only way the team adds anyone is if they decide to go up to 15 scholarships. Otherwise, our 13 are filled.
I agree, some post depth and length would be welcomed. Right now, the post is Chase Walker, Brandan Lieb Cameron Barnes, Walk-on Nick Feather, with freshman Nick Allen coming in. Numbers wise, that's okay. You've got the MVC Preseason POY in Walker but question marks with everyone else. Lieb is coming off an injury where he nearly lost a finger, Barnes needs to put on serious weight or develop a better 3pt shot if he wants to contribute and Allen won't be ready day 1 to offer significant relief of Walker.
I see a need for some post support as well as an athletic, versatile wing. It's hard to keep 13 guys happy. It'll be even harder to keep 15.