Duquesne showed how big an edge they had just by having an athletic 4 on their roster. Noah got a lot of effort boards last season, but he could not keep such guys off the boards. And Richie was just too small to do it, unfortunately. And that certainly wasn't for lack of trying. Such a 4 — so long as the opposing coach prepped him well — could entirely neutralize Noah or Richie. Like we saw in the Duquesne game — & in the Big 12 battles down the stretch, too.

Khalifa was an extremely limited defender, but generally he gave us a lot of heart & brains on D. But against Duquesne he was too hobbled to give us that. We really needed a true 4 that night to pick up the slack. Just a defensive one, even. Fouss gave us better on D than Khalifa, but their 4 just killed him on the other end as a help defender. And neither Noah or Richie could make him pay for it.

Mag's just the sorta guy that woulda entirely changed that game for us — just his defense & his threat as a slasher alone. Granted, an Egor or Kanon woulda given us a huge edge on offense, & a better counter than we had on D as well.

We had great chemistry & leadership last season, but, man, we were limited in the paint. Without a single solid 4 (which Noah was NOT), & without a strong defensive 5 (despite Fouss & Khalif both gaving us a lot of heart & brains on D). (Yes, Keita's gonna be huge for us this season, too.)