[oldalum]

Seems to me that reaching any conclusion about Hambly is premature. One drawback to having a bolus of 5 (and 6 the final year) superstars in one year is that younger players do not get playing time to develop. One would expect a couple years of rebuilding after the star class leaves. The first was the Covid year which was almost worthless developing players because of very limited-time and inadequate-numbers practices, and fewer games. Remember there is only one player on the current team that had practiced and played a full season before this year. We also have zero depth, so missing just one starter has a significant effect that is enough for us to lose close matches that we might otherwise have won. There also may have been an effect of the superstar class on recruiting. Yes we are clearly underperforming expectations for this year, which is not even over yet. Next year will be more telling.

[oldalum]

Seems to me that reaching any conclusion about Hambly is premature. One drawback to having a bolus of 5 (and 6 the final year) superstars in one year is that younger players do not get playing time to develop. One would expect a couple years of rebuilding after the star class leaves. The first was the Covid year which was almost worthless developing players because of very limited-time and inadequate-numbers practices, and fewer games. Remember there is only one player on the current team that had practiced and played a full season before this year. We also have zero depth, so missing just one starter has a significant effect that is enough for us to lose close matches that we might otherwise have won. There also may have been an effect of the superstar class on recruiting. Yes we are clearly underperforming expectations for this year, which is not even over yet. Next year will be more telling.