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Wow, Gazoo & Smitty10! You're proving that 2 people can actually having a substantive, thoughtful discussion on a fan board! What a concept!
Actually, I agree in large part with both of your points. While you can't simply add what we thought XW would deliver to what TL actually did deliver, we can say that TL, JoshC, DD, and others in the frontcourt rotation would probably have been more productive down the stretch with another experienced, capable body eating 20-25 minutes/game at the 4/5 spots.
Then there's the issue of weighing the "DD got worn-out" variable against the "TL really came-on this year" variable. It's anybody's guess how much the expected XW contribution (11-13 PPG & 5-7 RPG, with a few blocked shots here or there thrown-in for good measure) would have meant toward our overall record, once you decrease TL's impact (from playing fewer minutes at the 4, and spending a portion of those at the 3, spelling DD).
I still think a 3-game improvement in the record, and an NIT bid (probably on the road, as someone else said) would have been the best we could have gotten, even with a healthy & engaged XW.
Now, add a motivated Sam M and a healthy Ryan M, and you might have another 3-4 wins, and then we'd have been in "bubble" territory. But then you're getting into "ifs and buts" territory.
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