Lineup Thoughts Heading into A10 Play

[23won]

I think Fran has done a good job instilling a winning mentality and developing some players up nicely.  Now the hard part as we head into A10 play where there will be no relative cupcakes and some tough road games against teams with greater size and athleticism.  Here are some thoughts on playing time heading into that from what I have observed on the floor.

As far as minutes go, I see Brantley and Jig as a lock around 35 minutes / game, but there are times when jig disappears and when that happens, I'd play him a little less and spell him for Gill a bit; that should give him notice to step up and I think he would respond in a positive way.


Whether due to injury or not, Rokas is not a rim protector and he also tends to disappear; when that happens, I'd play him a little less and see what happens



Shep seems like a lock for 28+ minutes after the killer bees. 


Beyond that, I'd rotate Gill, Marrero, Tunde and give Marrero & Tunde more minutes until proven otherwise.

I don't see much downside with a starting rotation of Killer Bs, Shep, Marrero & Tunde. I'd see how that goes and think the scoring boost there could allow us to get and keep an early lead, and I don't see a rebounding drop-off. Gill could be man 6 and pick up any net point (+/-) shortfall or obvious opponent player mismatch/ defensive shortfall.

I'd go with that as a primary 6 and add Rokas when needed. Shorten the bench for league play with this focus IMO.

Also, depending on the opponent, I think we could go small ball for certain games and big stretches with Killer Bs, Gill, Shep and Marrero or Tunde.

It amazes me how ill-prepared teams are for zone D. I'd use that strategically especially when in small ball mode.

Pulling for Fran to make the most of the season!

[JoeFedorowicz]

I think the starting lineup is set exactly the way it is and Brantley, Brickus and Shepherd are going to play 34 minutes a night. And it’s going to be hard for them.

[23won]

Understand your opinion. IMO if we stick with the existing starting lineup, we will almost never grab an early lead and dictate pace of play and substitutions to our favor going forward. Hope Fran is flexible enough to try this.

You don't get medals for doing a better job in the second half and being competitive with the final score.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Dec 18, 2023 10:01:46 GMT -5 23won said:

Hope Fran is flexible enough to try this.

Guy has coached 945 college games I think flexibility isn't the issue. If you were to do what you said, you relegate people into roles they might not be ready for. I might disagree with Fran on not fouling before a three...but I'd never disagree with his ability to read a roster's makeup.

[23won]

All due respect, I think Andres has proven himself. Tunde is getting there. On the flex point, I heard Fran directly say over the summer something to the effect that if he had guts he's start Andres out of the gate to pick up where Nickelberry left.

He has been a little slow taking the training wheels off so whether it's a semantic point over guts or flex the time for commitment/action on this is now (and perhaps a little late).

I don't think we benefit by running Rokas the first 8 plus minutes in A10 games. IMO you dig yourself a hole per my prior point.

So depending on matchup issues, I'd really like to see

Killer Bs, Gill, Shep and Tunde

or

Killer Bs, Shep, Andres and Tunde (preferred).

Your opinion may vary, but I sure as hell would love to see it tried out now and in early A10 play, since these could yield positive effects IMO.

[explorer88]

It is hard to evaluate Rokas without knowing whether he is hurt or not.

Now is a good time to insert Milos into the lineup with Rosemont and Howard upcoming. Covers if Rokas is hurt to sit him and let him get much needed rest or also just let him sit and watch from the bench without expectations. We need to get this situation fixed to a point of at least getting serviceable minutes from our bigs.

What I do like is Dunphy plays his best players a lot of minutes. Ash drove me up the wall after the constant substitutions. We make a run and those players would come out. Never made much sense.

Dunphy does pull Rokas when he is not playing well. I think he is just trying to find something to spark him at the moment. Last thing would be let him watch from the bench for a while and give someone else his minutes.

[diehardexplorer]

Dec 18, 2023 13:23:22 GMT -5 explorer88 said:

It is hard to evaluate Rokas without knowing whether he is hurt or not.

Now is a good time to insert Milos into the lineup with Rosemont and Howard upcoming. Covers if Rokas is hurt to sit him and let him get much needed rest or also just let him sit and watch from the bench without expectations. We need to get this situation fixed to a point of at least getting serviceable minutes from our bigs.

What I do like is Dunphy plays his best players a lot of minutes. Ash drove me up the wall after the constant substitutions. We make a run and those players would come out. Never made much sense.

Dunphy does pull Rokas when he is not playing well. I think he is just trying to find something to spark him at the moment. Last thing would be let him watch from the bench for a while and give someone else his minutes.

howard will not be an easy game.  they're struggling now but earlier in the season i watched them take georgia tech and cincinnati down to the closing seconds.  their roster is very athletic and experienced.  they have two quality grad students in seth towns (transfer from ohio st / harvard) who is finally healthy and jelani williams from penn.  last year their soph forward shy odom killed us and we were lucky to get out of there with a win.  they also have dom campbell, a highly recruited transfer from notre dame.  

[I was in LA, were you]

Dear 23won,

I agree.

[coachd]

One more game against Howard before we can look ahead to A10 play.