Of course they're going to hurt, they were our leaders. But let's not act like a year ago anyone expected Brice to average 20+ and earn 1st team all B1G. IMO, Gary's toughness is what we'll miss more from a replacement standpoint.
Berke has 2 years left, I wouldn't call him a bust just yet. (I did expect a little more from him though)...
I just don't get the "as of today" comment. (Assuming) Sandfort & Lawrence are N, they are upgrades over portals from a year ago (Griffiths & Worster) with 3 remaining spots. Mast > Meah, so we really have 3 spots to fill and another Allick/Morgan will do wonders. Today looks a heck of a lot better to me than a year ago...
Valid point starter v off the bench.
But he was tied for 5th in minutes played (22/game) this past season. It dropped to 20.5/game in B1G games only so I don't think 24-26 mpg is an unrealistic expectation. And I'll guess Essegian feels the same as he knows his defense is what's holding him back for more minutes. IMO, no different than Tominaga really struggling defensively as a junior. And when their offense is clicking, what we lose defensively is more than worth it. KT averaged 25 mpg his junior season and scored 13 ppg. Connor averaged 22 mpg and scored 10.6 ppg. Not that much difference, especially considering KT as a junior had a PG (Greisel) and C (Walker) that could see the floor a lot better than Worster and Meah/Morgan.
FWIW - Greisel and Walker combined for 218 assists in 2022-2023 (KT's junior season). Mast & Lawrence combined for 181 KT's senior year. Worster, Morgan & Meah combined for 130 this year.