Given the logjam at guard, my sense is they will push the pace. Smith, Shungu, Deloney, Robin Duncan, and Mazzulla...only one of them is a proven commodity at shooting the ball, but all four of the players we've seen in a Catamount uniform can get to the rim and are quick enough. I do hope that all those who need to know how to shoot (the four guards minus Smith + Patella, Powell, and literally anyone else) lock themselves in the gym when they can all summer and 1-2 of them can come out of it above 33-34% from deep. You can do it, forgotten man, Eric Beckett.
Inside, Davis just has to have it together for the entire year, but I think he'll be reliable. Got better defensively, but that's still a red flag. Powell...honestly don't know. He's the make or break guy, and my gut tells me he's nothing more than like a solid third option at best. If that's something like 8 and 5 I'll take it, but we all can agree the hype on him is dead and just hope he becomes something consistently helpful. He's the guy I would most like to see prove me wrong. Same with Demuth, hoping he figures out a role. Patella, isn't a frontcourt guy, but, I think if he can take on some of the rebounding load that will help. We know what he is and he plays his part and that's fine. The Fiorillo kid, I am expecting nothing of even with his redshirt. All that means is he probably has the means to pay for 5 years of college. Perhaps as an upperclassmen he carves out a bench role but that's all you can hope for. The freshman big committed, like any freshman, you can't judge. My guess is a minimal role at best.
That leaves them with two scholarships barring any transfers, and since they can't go out on the road and recuit because of COVID-19, that means a lot of tape and scrounging the portal. You can't replace Lamb but you can nearly replace Everett Duncan and Giddens, at least in the roles they play. If there's a shooter who can defend a frontcourt position as more of a wing guy, that would help, and so would a defensive big with size. The style of the team is likely going to change a lot, and if I had it my way I'd really try and stay away from one-year rentals, if only because you don't want the bottom to fall out after losing Smith and Shungu, and you should want the transition after them to smoothly go to someone like Deloney as the lead guy while making sure he has the guys around him that help him be successful too. It's why I think guys with 2 years if they don't have to sit, or the JUCO route would just make a lot of sense, especially when you're not going to have time out on the road to evaluate this spring and potentially into summer if this pandemic continues.
Well there you have it folks, my cathartic take to make up for the fact that none of us got true closure on the season and probably aren't going to be able to enjoy our needed breaks post March.