Pullen - Hard to say he has improved, but also think it's hard to tell with the lack of Denis, position differences, and opponent focus on stopping him. Just hope he can find his groove soon.
Kelly - Haven't seen improvement thus far, but he has at least shown flashes (ok maybe only Duke....a flash). Was hoping for at least what we got last year...which was pretty good by the end of the year. I think we're still going to see it from him, but I don't know that he has gotten any better.
Samuels - Can't say he's shown any better than last year, which is disappointing because he took huge strides from FR to SO. Was hoping his perimeter game would develop and we could play him at the 3 some. So far though, pretty much the same inconsistent performer, though he is playing a little better and might be getting ready to make a move. And he is fouling way less, which is a big positive.
Judge - Pretty obvious answer here at this point. It's all about confidence with him. Stay with it Wally. It'll come at some point.
McGruder - Pretty solid improvement. Love the rebounding. Good shooter most of the time. Now just needs to develop his ball handling skills and be more consistent.
Irving - Also think he has improved. J looks better, ball handling has been solid. Needs more PT.
JHR - Improvement is there. Moves better, has gained weight, looks more confident. Still not someone who can be a consistent performer for us, but at least he's on the right path. Would prefer to see him get minutes over Asprilla.
Russell - Really didn't see enough of him last year to evaluate improvement. Skills and athleticism are there. He just needs to stop pissing Frank off every time he plays. Shoots too much too soon and doesn't get into the flow of the game before getting yanked.
Vic - Definitely better, but still shouldn't be seeing very many minutes.
Newbies - can't evaluate improvement, but can based on expectations
Asprilla - Definitely not as good as advertised. Not 6'10" either. He is a relatively average role player that shouldn't start. Art Alvarez's player descriptions should always be toned down by about 50%.
Spradling - Better than advertised, but for this year if he is playing as much as he is playing, this team's ceiling isn't going to be very high. Athletically he just can't get us into offense well enough and can't lead us to any fast break points, which is huge considering how poorly we've been executing on offense. I think we need to play Irving and Russell more and live with their mistakes because for us to get anywhere this year it's going to have to happen with them. Those two and Curtis were the only ones who could athletically compete with a team like Duke on the floor. (Jake & Jamar can too.....they just had bad games that night) Still a fan of Spradling, but he just can't be our featured point guard like he is now....at least this year.
Southwell - Needs work. Not ready.
Williams - See above.
Myles - Haven't seen enough, but doesn't appear to have enough game to contribute yet.
Still think this team can make some noise this year, but they need to get it figured out and hopefully soon.
