Considering none of us are in practice or in team meetings, hard to answer these two. But since there's no concrete answer, you're right, correct?
This is the first year under Avery the defense has been an issue. You honestly can't argue otherwise.
Who says it has? If anything, I would say this is the first year there's not a dominant player to run the offense through. In his first year, the offense went through Levi. Second year was Retin. Last year was Sexton. This year? Kira? Petty? Hall? Mack? To me, the offense is better without the obvious guy for the defense to stifle.
Want to address something you asked yesterday about the players.
Are you talking about the Herbert Jones that is shooting 42.7% this year compared to 40.8% last year and is up to 7.1 points per game after scoring 4.2 last year? Or are you talking about the one that is averaging 4.4 rebounds a game this year (3.5 last) and 2.3 assists a game (1.4 last)?
If anything, Herbert's defense has weakened because he's getting called for more fouls this year.
Do you honestly not see improvement in Petty's game? He's still not great handling the ball, but he's better than he was last year.
Who do you expect Galin to play over this year since Mack is in the lineup? He averages 13.7 minutes a game, which is a minute more than he averaged last year. Between Mack and Riley playing and Reese's minutes increasing, Galin's not going to get into the rotation drastically more this year.
BTW, you want some crow for your dogging of AJ in this thread after last night?
If you cannot watch the game and see how Herb struggles handling the ball and being effective compared to last year, that is on you. He averages more because, like you said, we do not have a go-to guy. That doesn't mean he hasn't regressed offensively. Petty is still incredibly inconsistent with his shot and is not a good ball-handler. As far as AJ goes, one game does not a season make. If you think he should be playing more, again that is on you. He should be a situational player to give Kira targeted rest and when foul trouble dictates. Look, I have said it before and I will say it again, I hope I am 100% wrong. We will see. If not this year, then next. At some point, he will either prove to be the answer or we will be looking for another coach. If we are sitting at 15-17 wins at the end of the season and we have an opportunity to go out and get a proven college coach, I hope we jump at it.