Again, not perfect comparisons, but the closest we have at ISU were the years with Royce and Allen coming on board, and the following year with Clyburn and Lucious. Both of those seasons, like this one some solid returning guys and talented newcomers. The challenge is to figure out the roles, fit them together and make the team work. Those teams were on the edge of the tourney much of the year and ended up as 8 and 10 seeds. That's about where most of the predictions for this season started, with some expectations a bit lower just because of how bad last year went. Those expectations also had a healthy Wigginton and Young, as well as an eligible Lard and Talley baked in. Obviously being in the drivers seat to dethrone KU makes the losses sting, and reset expectations. I think that is reasonable, but I still think being this harsh to the team is crazy considering they are losing close games to tournament teams, and are still going to exceed preseason expectations despite a lot of unexpected roster instability.
I know that Solomon is not a star, but the guy would be far and away ISU's best P&R defending big, and best physical presence and rebounder. Guys like Tyler Cook absolutely destroyed this team a year after getting handled by Solomon. He was also becoming really good on the pick and pop before shutting it down last year. Really the things that have cost this team wins are the things he did well.
