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RU2323

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Been thinking about this a lot, but what is the starting lineup and rotation next year? We seem to have tremendous depth at the guard spot, but weak depth with our bigs. I think losing a body like Doorson hurts us more than some might think next year. Need Eugene to stay healthy. Here’s my best guess. Welcome any feedback.

Starters:
- C: Johnson (24 mins)
- PF: Eugene (30 mins)
- SF: Harper (25 mins)
- SG: Baker (30 mins)
- PG: Mulcahy (25 mins)

Tough to put Mathis on bench, but someone is odd man out. And here’s what I see for rest of rotation...

- C: Carter (16 mins)
- PF: Harper (5 mins)/Duke (5 mins) could see Harper getting a few mins at the 4, this is our biggest weakness
- SF: Thiam (5 mins)/Mathis (5 mins)/McConnell (5 mins); could see Mathis a few mins here if we go small
- SG: Mathis (5 mins), McConnell (5 mins)
- PG: Young (10 mins), McConnell (5 mins)

This does leave Kiss as odd man out. It’s tough enough to play 11 guys, let alone 12. Biggest concern is depth of our bigs. Also (in a good way), trying to find minutes for Baker, Mathis, Young, Mulcahy, McConell, and Kiss all at the 1-2 spot. Obviously they can go small and play 3 of those guys at once at times, but will sacrifice a bit on the boards if they do.
 
A ton of options with the perimeter players. It's going to be tough for Pike sorting that out. I think Young gets more than 10 min
 
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RU2323 said:
Been thinking about this a lot, but what is the starting lineup and rotation next year? We seem to have tremendous depth at the guard spot, but weak depth with our bigs. I think losing a body like Doorson hurts us more than some might think next year. Need Eugene to stay healthy. Here’s my best guess. Welcome any feedback.

Starters:
- C: Johnson (24 mins)
- PF: Eugene (30 mins)
- SF: Harper (25 mins)
- SG: Baker (30 mins)
- PG: Mulcahy (25 mins)

Tough to put Mathis on bench, but someone is odd man out. And here’s what I see for rest of rotation...

- C: Carter (16 mins)
- PF: Harper (5 mins)/Duke (5 mins) could see Harper getting a few mins at the 4, this is our biggest weakness
- SF: Thiam (5 mins)/Mathis (5 mins)/McConnell (5 mins); could see Mathis a few mins here if we go small
- SG: Mathis (5 mins), McConnell (5 mins)
- PG: Young (10 mins), McConnell (5 mins)

This does leave Kiss as odd man out. It’s tough enough to play 11 guys, let alone 12. Biggest concern is depth of our bigs. Also (in a good way), trying to find minutes for Baker, Mathis, Young, Mulcahy, McConell, and Kiss all at the 1-2 spot. Obviously they can go small and play 3 of those guys at once at times, but will sacrifice a bit on the boards if they do.
Click to expand...

Mulcahy has not even faced college competition. Let's wait and see. AND.....you don't put your best defensive guard on the bench.
 
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RU-Choppin-Ohio said:
Mulcahy has not even faced college competition. Let's wait and see. AND.....you don't put your best defensive guard on the bench.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, like I said, it's not easy to find the perfect split with the depth they have. If Mulcahy is as good as advertised, figured he might win the starting position.
 
RU2323 said:
Fair enough, like I said, it's not easy to find the perfect split with the depth they have. If Mulcahy is as good as advertised, figured he might win the starting position.
Click to expand...

He would have to be really, really good to start here next year. That’s not a realistic expectation for a freshman. He may be very good and we all hope and expect he will be, but thankfully we have Geo. He’s legit.
 
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Arizona Knight said:
RU2323 said:
Fair enough, like I said, it's not easy to find the perfect split with the depth they have. If Mulcahy is as good as advertised, figured he might win the starting position.
Click to expand...

He would have to be really, really good to start here next year. That’s not a realistic expectation for a freshman. He may be very good and we all hope and expect he will be, but thankfully we have Geo. He’s legit.
Click to expand...
Young is going to be our starting point guard and we will probably play a lot of 3 guards. Don’t forget about Duocore I think it’s a brilliant move by the staff to redshirt him this year just like they redshirted Myles Johnson last year!!
 
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I don't see how mulcahy starts. Too many guys got a lot of experience this year and will most likely improve in the offseason. Depending on how big of a jump they take some (hopefully all) will be way ahead of him. throw in young and he has a lot of experienced players to beat out.

I think Pike brings him along slowly like he did with the frosh this year. He needs to show he can play D at this level just like everyone else.
 
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Setting aside actual positions (1, 2, 3, 4), with all of the “smalls” depth we will have, I suspect Pike is going to borrow a page from the Jay Wright playbook and play four guards/wings at times, with one true big. Maybe 6-10 minutes per game.

It’s really the only way to manage this kind of depth at 1-3 and the relative lack of depth at the 4-5, unless there are one or more transfers.
 
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Degaz-RU said:
Setting aside actual positions (1, 2, 3, 4), with all of the “smalls” depth we will have, I suspect Pike is going to borrow a page from the Jay Wright playbook and play four guards/wings at times, with one true big. Maybe 6-10 minutes per game.

It’s really the only way to manage this kind of depth at 1-3 and the relative lack of depth at the 4-5, unless there are one or more transfers.
Click to expand...
I can totally see that and with a lot of long players out there. I can see Myles with Harper, Caleb, Paul and Mathis (to cover the speed guy/scoring option on the other team)

I hope the last recruit is a 3/4 player like Eugene
 
In the early going, Mulcahy will definitely be coming off the bench until he proves himself on the court. Might that change by the end of the year? Possibly - but there is no shortage of talent at guard this year, so there aren't even guaranteed minutes as a freshman let alone starter minutes.

Doucoure will play more than 5 min, and will likely see time at center. Carter's natural position is PF, and he really hasn't played much at center this year. Doucoure played a season at center, though he has seemingly been practicing at the PF spot. I'd expect that Doucoure would be Johnson's primary backup at center, and Carter would be Omoruyi's primary backup at PF.

People are writing Doucoure off way too prematurely, imo.
 
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I think McConnell backs up Harper at the 3 more next year. I expect Mulcahy to earn the starting PG by the end of 2019. If Kiss or Thiam step up, they will be in the rotation..this isn’t Little League where everyone plays.

It will probabaly be Baker, Mathis, Harper, Eugene, and Johnson to start the season but Mulcahy will bump someone out soon enough. McConnell will deserve big minutes as will Young.

Lots and lots of versatility with this rotation, which is a big plus. Just hoping no one of significance transfers out.

Would love if Pike can pull in another big man for next year. Perhaps Doucoure can step up. Our size and length is starting to cause some problems for other teams in the B1G.
 
Mulcahy has talent ahead of him at all three guard spots, and cracking that as a true freshman will take a lot of work.

Hard to expect a freshman coming into a new system to uproot either Baker, Mathis, or Harper from their starting roles... and McConnell has also shown he's a more than servicable backup. He'll need to come in and try to immediately establish himself ahead of Kiss/Thiam in the pecking order, and fight with McConnell/Young for backup minutes.

If he takes to the defensive scheme quickly, hits his S&C hard, can show that he can shoot the ball, and can limit turnovers while he's on the floor, I can see him growing into a "first guard off the bench" backup role toward the end of the year. Young is going to be coming in fighting to crack that same rotation, too, and he's both a) 3 years of S&C and college practice ahead of Mulcahy, and b) been learning the system for a year already as a redshirt.

Love Mulcahy's game from HS film, and really excited to see him suit up in scarlet - but I'm not ready to crown him a starter or give him 20+ minutes until he shows a reason for it on the court.
 
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I think McConnell is going to have to get a substantial amount of minutes as he is our best shooter. I can't remember the last time we've had this many good wing players. It's a good problem to have.
 
Mathis is going to be a beast next year. Competition at the 1-2 will be fierce.
 
I think Mulcahy gets 15 mins/game coming off the bench.

Expecting more than that seems unreasonable, given how well everyone else is progressing.
 
Mulcahy, Harper, McConnell, Thiam and Eugene are all 6'6" and above, and really long, so while "wings" or "smalls" it wouldn't really be anywhere near as small as the 4 guard lineup that Nova used to put out...

Harper and Mulcahy even have enough weight to not be a complete joke defending non-traditional 4s
 
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Mulcahy starts once he becomes a legit three point threat. The rest of the starting line up could change from game to game.
 
Right now ...I see either Caleb or Mulcahy as fighting for the last piece of minutes at the number 8 as this is a 8 man regular rotation

Baker 28
Eugene O 28
Harper 26
Mathis 26
Young 26
Mulchay or Macconnell 26
Johnson/Carter 40

TThere just isn’t going to be many regular minutes for the odd man out of Macconnell or Mulchay. Kiss, thiam and doucoure are nice depth 10 thru 12
 
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Scarlet Shack said:
Right now ...I see either Caleb or Mulcahy as fighting for the last piece of minutes at the number 8 as this is a 8 man regular rotation

Baker 28
Eugene O 28
Harper 26
Mathis 26
Young 26
Mulchay or Macconnell 26
Johnson/Carter 40

TThere just isn’t going to be many regular minutes for the odd man out of Macconnell or Mulchay. Kiss, thiam and doucoure are nice depth 10 thru 12
Click to expand...

Shack, I think you’re way overestimating Carter’s ability to play big, and underestimating the need for another true “big.”

Carter is not a center, as he just doesn’t have the strength to man up against the Big centers in this conference. He’s a good rebounder, and is pretty adept around the tin, but he’s kind of soft on defense.

I do agree that we will play 4 smalls and 1 big AT TIMES, but this league is brutal and requires big tough guys in the middle. We either need to hope Doucoure gets healthy and can give us 15 solid minutes as a backup center, or Pike needs to get a grad transfer who will fill that role.
 
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Degaz-RU said:
Shack, I think you’re way overestimating Carter’s ability to play big, and underestimating the need for another true “big.”

Carter is not a center, as he just doesn’t have the strength to man up against the Big centers in this conference. He’s a good rebounder, and is pretty adept around the tin, but he’s kind of soft on defense.

I do agree that we will play 4 smalls and 1 big AT TIMES, but this league is brutal and requires big tough guys in the middle. We either need to hope Doucoure gets healthy and can give us 15 solid minutes as a backup center, or Pike needs to get a grad transfer who will fill that role.
Click to expand...


I agree with most of what you said but don't think he is soft. He is just often out of position and gets pushed around as a result. He gets better each game IMO. It's like he never had a coach that taught him how to play defense before Jay Young. Still get's lost some times but decent now.

also agree he is a forward not a center.
 
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Degaz-RU said:
Shack, I think you’re way overestimating Carter’s ability to play big, and underestimating the need for another true “big.”

Carter is not a center, as he just doesn’t have the strength to man up against the Big centers in this conference. He’s a good rebounder, and is pretty adept around the tin, but he’s kind of soft on defense.

I do agree that we will play 4 smalls and 1 big AT TIMES, but this league is brutal and requires big tough guys in the middle. We either need to hope Doucoure gets healthy and can give us 15 solid minutes as a backup center, or Pike needs to get a grad transfer who will fill that role.
Click to expand...
Doucoure isn't a center either
 
Scarlet Shack said:
Right now ...I see either Caleb or Mulcahy as fighting for the last piece of minutes at the number 8 as this is a 8 man regular rotation

Baker 28
Eugene O 28
Harper 26
Mathis 26
Young 26
Mulchay or Macconnell 26
Johnson/Carter 40

TThere just isn’t going to be many regular minutes for the odd man out of Macconnell or Mulchay. Kiss, thiam and doucoure are nice depth 10 thru 12
Click to expand...

McConnell and Mulcahy are too good to be “odd-men” out. There will be six players (Baker, Young, McConnnell, Harper, Mathis, and Mulcahy), playing 3 spots (PG, SG, and SF). Harper can relieve Eugene at the 4 at times. Barring injuries or transfers, I think it’s going to be tough for Kiss and Thiam to get minutes.
 
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RUDead said:
I agree with most of what you said but don't think he is soft. He is just often out of position and gets pushed around as a result. He gets better each game IMO. It's like he never had a coach that taught him how to play defense before Jay Young. Still get's lost some times but decent now.

also agree he is a forward not a center.
Click to expand...

Carter will be fine for 15-18 minutes at the five spot. Not a knock on doorson, but if we didn’t have mikes Johnson, I’m pretty sure we would be saying that Shaq Carter is the best low post player we have had here since hamade and Greg Ech...and that’s nearly 10 seasons
 
Is the 6’10” walkon that’s redshirting good enough to give us meaningful minutes next year?
 
May I capsulize? It's better than it has been for a long time. There is now a future. We have a great coaching staff. Depth of talent. . More on the way. The RAC is once again rocking .We are media buzz worthy. The sports watching public knows who Geo is. We play D like we did in '76. Let's stay in our happy lanes. Next year will take care of itself .Today is very cool.
 
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sct1111 said:
I think McConnell is going to have to get a substantial amount of minutes as he is our best shooter. I can't remember the last time we've had this many good wing players. It's a good problem to have.
Click to expand...

McConnell best shooter? Are you sure?

Maybe Harper and Geo??
 
Greene Rice FIG said:
McConnell on March 3, 2019 needs a lot of improvement.

Defense and ball handling are issues.
Click to expand...

He’s had some very good moments defensively. He’ll get better there.

Offensively I think he can be very good. Nice stroke. Can get to the hoop. Can make passes. Makes free throws especially down the stretch lately. He rebounds.
 
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whofrewdatmataRU13 said:
Not sure how Mathis only gets 10 minutes in your rotation.

Let's just wait until November
Click to expand...

I agree with others...this is pointless for several reasons.....projecting minutes for a roster that will not be finalized for many more months, there is still one open spot that may get filled this Spring/ Summer and the guy being handed 25 minutes is still in HS and has not faced Quicker, Fastest and Better college competition yet.
 
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