Welcome to the board. Your optimism is in the minority here but welcomed.
I offer two counterpoints. Ben’s first year, despite the last place finish, offered some hope that there was a plan and style of play we could look forward to in years to come. Solid ball movement, etc. Defensively they were bad, but I gave them a pass because they were so weak inside. That was a mistake.
Last year offered no reasonable hope that anything was really being built. They were short handed, but showed no vision of what the program would be built on. They were miserable defensively. The offense was disorganized. Most discouraging to me is that I thought the effort was poor. About the only positive sign coming into this year was a more complete roster.
While we are heading into game two, I have not seen anything to improve my outlook. I see disorganized offense, bad defense, and not great effort/out of shape players. Three years in, we should at least see a plan. I see none. I’m not sure at all what Ben wants to do.
The building the program approach isn’t working. They are not doing the things an out talented team has to do to grow. Play defense. Run a clear system. Outwork the other team consistently.
Eventually someone will write the book “Establishing Culture in the Portal Era.” It won’t be Ben.