Something about this group gives me hope. There seems to be hardly any drama on the court. They seem to get along with each other, they play will together and seem to be coachable. (If they weren’t they wouldn’t have been able to muster second halves like they did more times than not in the last month of the year.)
A lot of the older guys came back last year stronger, more athletic and with improving skills than they showed at the end of 2013/14. I realize the biggest leap is usually between frosh and sophomore years, but I do expect even further improvements to come in this offseason. For example, if Anya adds endurance during this summer, it will be added to the strength he added a year ago. If that happens he will play more quality minutes because he won’t be tired. He’ll foul less when he’s not as tired late in contests. And as for Abu and the other freshmen? Expect a big step forward.
Other players need to work on their frees throws so that they remain viable options to handle the ball during winning time. And so on.
It’s up to them, but there really is the making of a champion-calibre team in this group. Given a top four ACC finish, they could finally have a decent bracket in the conference tournament. They would also be a far better seed in the NCAAT, putting them into a position for a long run. But…it’s up to them how good they want to be.
