We should be.
I mean...........the first year Pope had to basically assemble a roster in such a small period of time and frankly he did an outstanding job doing so IMO.
This year based on the talent we brought in, we should be better. And I think we will be. I think it'll bear out over the course of the season.
That being said, I'm not really all that ready to say that we are actually "much better" than last season. Last season, we had a top 10 offense. We shot the ball extremely well and we didn't turn it over much. Early on but seems like turnovers might be a problem. And if we are giving the opponent extra possessions based on those furnovers, well then you had better be making that up somewhere else (maybe offensive rebounding will improve from last season).
The defense....well again we should be better. But I do think a huge piece of that improvement is currently sitting on the bench and won't be available until mid season at best.
If the gains on defense just make up for the losses on offense, the net result is the same.