If any one or two of Osborne, O'Leary, Johnson, and King had left the program it wouldn't be a big deal. But all four at once?

Even if you assume that King and O'Leary were the weakest two of that foursome, how different would the roster look with those two still on available? Even if King and O'Leary never took a shot, their presence in the paint (and I mean the word "presence" as mere existence, not domination by any means) would offer a very different look from the defense we're likely to see this coming season.

Even in severely limited minutes last season, King had seven offensive rebounds and 15 total. It works out to 7.8 rebounds per 40 minutes (3.6 offensive). By comparison, 6'5" Christian Thomas-- who has quickness and great inside positioning footwork-- averaged 2.7 offensive rebounds per 40 minutes. King also had three steals in 77 minutes of total playing time. Although he didn't have any blocks last season, King was a prolific blocker in high school. Just looking at his length, I'm sure there were a few players who opted for passes or jumpshots rather than driving the lane.

O'Leary is really a small forward, not a center or power forward by any means. But even still he had 15 blocks (second on the team) and 21 steals (fourth on the team) averaging only 20.1 mpg.

If only Osborne and Johnson left, we'd be a little weak in the frontcourt, but we'd have some options to resort to. As it is, Christian Thomas is the only player on the roster over 6'4" with a single minute of D1 experience, and he's only a generous 6'5". It's hard to deny that the coach was a factor when four frontcourt players leave at all at once.

100% agree with this. 4 players leaving at one time is too much, and leaves us thin in the front court for a big season that's basically going to amount to a must-win season. The fact that he's still pulling the "We have a young team" card in year four is a major indictment of how PM has run his program.

I could see the other side of the argument with the fact that the 4 players who left weren't good enough. Some didn't develop, some were misplayed (All of the hype around O'Leary was about his 3 point shooting/pick and pop ability, which is way more wing/small forward than pure power forward), some might not have been good enough pure and simple and were reaches to be on the roster to begin with. But the buck still stops at Moser when it comes down to player development, coaching, and recruiting.

Hopefully James steps in and really contributes. Hopefully Rajala turns into a real hidden gem. I don't think you can pencil them in just yet for major performances, but I would really like to be wrong on that front.

Marlon Jones recently committed to New Mexico State; I'm very curious to see how he ends up playing at the D1 level. I thought he would be a big time player in the MVC.


http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/marlon-jones

? Missouri Valley is D1. And likely a better conference than... whatever conference New Mexico St. plays in.