That was one of my bigger beefs with K. Lahat could be playing well, but wouldn’t see the court in the 2nd. Carlson would be tearing it up, but then would rarely play the last 5 minutes. It was like K was trying to lose at times.
TA’s Godfather specifically stated, following that Compton AAU tweet, he’d make up his mind definitively once our new hire was completed….Haven’t heard anything since.
I’d definitely say it’s a good sign that we’re having players returning to the team from the portal. Based on what I’ve seen on social media (so take it with grain of salt), seems like Battin and Thioune are pretty good friends and probably not a coincidence that once Riley decided to come back, Lahat wasn’t too far behind. Good news for our depth next year.
It’s a good sign… but replacing them with more complete players would have been faaaar better. Lavatory was under used for us. If he can put even more weight on this summer he’ll be needed inside. Battin offers streaky shooting, but he’s a negative in virtually every other aspect of basketball.
The biggest thing is just being able to have some sense of continuity.
I don’t know basketball more than a casual fan, but I’ll say when Lahat hit the three late at the end of the ASU blowout (?) I thought… “why hasn’t this guy seen more playing time!” I’m super glad to have him back.