the imperative has to be (and is) winning games now. This team has a chance (albeit slim) to get into the NCAA tournament. Fran has decided the best way to do that is to have a rotation of 9 or so guys who hang their hat on defense. And to do that, they need to give a lot of effort on the defensive side and play more than 6-7 guys.
Next year will be a whole different dynamic. They only lose May, and introduce talented players in Uthoff and Jok. I don't think Fran is really giving too much thought to what this team will look like then.