Basketball '15-'16

[msstate7]

Long way to tip off, but what's your starting 5 and rotation? Anyone know if howland likes to just play 7-8 or does he like to play a lot of guys?

[Ifyouonlyknew]

PG - Newman
SG - Sword
SF - Thomas
PF - Daniels
C - Ware

Ready, Houston, & Holman are the 1st guys off the bench with Weatherspoon & a backup center as the next 2. There should never be a second of the game where either Chicken or Malik isn't on the court. Gavin also has to be ready to play 30-32min/gm. He has to be in the best shape of his life. We're going to push the ball more & hopefully we get more easy buckets this year & have to depend less on halfcourt offense.

[smootness]

I agree on that starting lineup and generally agree on who comes off the bench first, though I think it will initially be Zuppardo or Black playing more than Holman.

I don't think Ware will play 30+ minutes; I think it will be more like 27-28. Even if he can physically do it, you won't get 32 good minutes out of him. I'd rather him be fresh than simply on the court.

I think the only player who plays more than 30 mpg will be Newman.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I agree on that starting lineup and generally agree on who comes off the bench first, though I think it will initially be Zuppardo or Black playing more than Holman.

I don't think Ware will play 30+ minutes; I think it will be more like 27-28. Even if he can physically do it, you won't get 32 good minutes out of him. I'd rather him be fresh than simply on the court.

I think the only player who plays more than 30 mpg will be Newman.

I think for us to be the best team we can be Gavin has to play that much & play effectively. The fact that 1 of the 1st things Howland said was Gavin has to be in the best shape of his life. He's going to more than likely be our 2nd option on offense behind Malik & the main & pretty much the only true post option we have. He's the key to our season being it's best IMO.

[PSYCHO(thesis)DEFENSE]

1 - Newman; Ready
2 - Chicken; Newman > Weatherspoon
3 - Thomas; Houston
4 - Daniels; Holman> Zuppo
5 - Ware; Black > Falloooouuuuuu

W/ the 1st rotation I insert Ready, Houston, & Black; Slide Newman to 2 & leave Ware.
2nd rotation Holman subs for Ware & Black slides to 5; Chicken subs for Newman at the 2.
I envision a consistent 9-man rotation w/ Weatherspoon, Zuppo, & Fallou getting spot duty for foul trouble.

I like having Ware & Black on the court together, but IDK if Howland sees Black playing his 4 spot at all. I also like putting Holman w/ the starting 5, and leaving Daniels in with the 2nd rotation to provide another scoring threat. W/ Newman, Chicken, & Ware on the court, I don't see him being aggressive offensively in the starting 5, and I would rather pair him w/ Houston & Black to counter their limited skill set on offense & space the floor.

[smootness]

I think for us to be the best team we can be Gavin has to play that much & play effectively. The fact that 1 of the 1st things Howland said was Gavin has to be in the best shape of his life. He's going to more than likely be our 2nd option on offense behind Malik & the main & pretty much the only true post option we have. He's the key to our season being it's best IMO.

I'm not really saying you're wrong. I just don't think Ware can be effective for 16 minutes every half. I'd rather him be great for 13 or 14 minutes than be good for 10 and a hindrance for the rest.

I don't really even want guys like Sword and Thomas playing that much. I think we'll start out with a deeper rotation. Daniels probably won't play more than 25 mpg, and I doubt anybody plays more than 30 or so. So there will be at least 50-60 minutes up for grabs after the starting lineup, and I don't see them all going to Ready, Houston, and Holman. It may take some time for Holman to really work his way into much playing time.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I'm not really saying you're wrong. I just don't think Ware can be effective for 16 minutes every half. I'd rather him be great for 13 or 14 minutes than be good for 10 and a hindrance for the rest.

I don't really even want guys like Sword and Thomas playing that much. I think we'll start out with a deeper rotation. Daniels probably won't play more than 25 mpg, and I doubt anybody plays more than 30 or so. So there will be at least 50-60 minutes up for grabs after the starting lineup, and I don't see them all going to Ready, Houston, and Holman. It may take some time for Holman to really work his way into much playing time.

Yea I see where you're coming from on Gavin. I think the depth of the rotation is going to be determined in the non conference & it will be shortened or lengthened depending on how the guys play. If Holman can add those needed 15lbs like Howland said that he will get 15-20min/gm & perform well.

[smootness]

Yeah, if Holman can add some strength quickly, it will help him a lot. I certainly hope he can help us this year. I think one of the other big men will have to be in the rotation, at least for 5-8 mpg.

But I think everyone is pretty much in agreement that your starting rotation plus Ready and Houston will be our primary contributors early.

[messageboardsuperhero]

The main thing I want from Holman this year is defense and rebounding. He needs to block some shots for us this year and get some tough boards. I've seen some analysts question his strength on the block, so hopefully Howland's new S&C coach can put that weight on him.

[Johnson85]

Gavin also has to be ready to play 30-32min/gm. He has to be in the best shape of his life. We're going to push the ball more & hopefully we get more easy buckets this year & have to depend less on halfcourt offense.

I'm just not sure how realistic it is to expect Ware to play big time minutes, while we push the ball, and also while we make things harder on him by him usually being the only true post player on the court for us. If we're going to mostly play him with an undersized 4, and push the ball, it seems like he's going to have to have more breaks than that to be effective, even though we're going to have a significant drop off when he steps off the court.