Special year in Basketball

[zephyr]

We can have this discussion, for entertainment purposes. History shows that the administration does not pay much attention to the views expressed on this forum on this issue. Having said that, I will give an opinion which I think is pretty close to how things are being viewed at this time. A championship of any sort, regular season or tournament will result in retainment. I don't think a new contract will be more than two years. Any conference finish less than third place results in a change. Now if the results are in between those two scenarios, I don't have a clue as to what will occur. I think Express had the right idea. Let's enjoy any success we do have. Again, this is just opinion. I could be completely off base but don't think I am.

Ball movement in general was good, especially in the first half and particularly when Michael Thomas was not in the game. I'm not sure what the deal is with him but he pounds the ball too much and the game slows down when he's running the point. We won't be able to do that against teams like JMU.

I'm concerned about how many minutes we are playing Brown and Lewis. To ultimately be successful this season, we are going to have to find a way to spare those guys some minutes and actually get production from those who replace them. Bench depth is a concern at this point.

[ZoomZoom]

I'd be open to that if that guy comes in and gets us an NCAA tournament win.

It's better than where we are now where consistently fail to make the tournament.

Pick a sport, we got plenty of options.

[zephyr]

I'd be open to that if that guy comes in and gets us an NCAA tournament win.

It's better than where we are now where consistently fail to make the tournament.

Not only do we fail to make the tournament, we really don't ever challenge for the conference title in general. Our average position of finish over his tenure has been roughly 4th or 5th with maybe 2 regular season titles? Not exactly raising banners.

[RaginDave]

Ball movement in general was good, especially in the first half and particularly when Michael Thomas was not in the game. I'm not sure what the deal is with him but he pounds the ball too much and the game slows down when he's running the point. We won't be able to do that against teams like JMU.

I'm concerned about how many minutes we are playing Brown and Lewis. To ultimately be successful this season, we are going to have to find a way to spare those guys some minutes and actually get production from those who replace them. Bench depth is a concern at this point.

At this point it is, you are correct, but that will change when a few things happen.

#1--Kobe Julien coming back. Kobe is not as physical as Lewis or Brown, but can give you minutes that will spell one of them, specifically Lewis.
#2--Joe Charles and Isaiah Richards have to continue to improve and I think they will.
#3--We are playing allot of guys right now (10/11), that won't be the case when conference play rolls around, by that point your rotation will be 8. Here is what I see.

PG--Fulks
SG--Garnett
SF--Williams
PF--Lewis
C--Brown

Bench will consist of:

Julien if and when healthy
Charles
Thomas as you will need a backup PG but his minutes will be limited unless foul trouble
Dalcourt

You will see others play spot minutes, but the 9 listed above will gobble up the majority of the minutes. Thomas' minutes will not be as high as they are now and much of this will depend on the health of Kobe. If he is ready and 100% this team becomes much better.

Just my opinion.

[Jacob81]

At this point it is, you are correct, but that will change when a few things happen.

#1--Kobe Julien coming back. Kobe is not as physical as Lewis or Brown, but can give you minutes that will spell one of them, specifically Lewis.
#2--Joe Charles and Isaiah Richards have to continue to improve and I think they will.
#3--We are playing allot of guys right now (10/11), that won't be the case when conference play rolls around, by that point your rotation will be 8. Here is what I see.

PG--Fulks
SG--Garnett
SF--Williams
PF--Lewis
C--Brown

Bench will consist of:

Julien if and when healthy
Charles
Thomas as you will need a backup PG but his minutes will be limited unless foul trouble
Dalcourt

You will see others play spot minutes, but the 9 listed above will gobble up the majority of the minutes. Thomas' minutes will not be as high as they are now and much of this will depend on the health of Kobe. If he is ready and 100% this team becomes much better.

Just my opinion.

So who spells brown and Lewis? Charles and julien? That would be some small thin lineups. We need Richards in the middle I think.

[Jacob81]

Also would be curious to see Richards at the 5 and brown at the 4 Lewis at 3 for a few minutes to see what kinda havoc we could cause in the half court.

[Turbine]

Front page of what?

The web ... the term carried over.

[zephyr]

At this point it is, you are correct, but that will change when a few things happen.

#1--Kobe Julien coming back. Kobe is not as physical as Lewis or Brown, but can give you minutes that will spell one of them, specifically Lewis.
#2--Joe Charles and Isaiah Richards have to continue to improve and I think they will.
#3--We are playing allot of guys right now (10/11), that won't be the case when conference play rolls around, by that point your rotation will be 8. Here is what I see.

PG--Fulks
SG--Garnett
SF--Williams
PF--Lewis
C--Brown

Bench will consist of:

Julien if and when healthy
Charles
Thomas as you will need a backup PG but his minutes will be limited unless foul trouble
Dalcourt

You will see others play spot minutes, but the 9 listed above will gobble up the majority of the minutes. Thomas' minutes will not be as high as they are now and much of this will depend on the health of Kobe. If he is ready and 100% this team becomes much better.

Just my opinion.

If you look at a box score, we are playing a lot of guys right now. However, in meaningful games this season, our starters are averaging well over 30 minutes each with much lower minute contributions from the bench. I think that shows the trust Marlin has in the starters but also may show that he's not as confident in the guys off the bench.

Julien will have to help in the front court but he won't be able to do what Lewis or Brown do in regards to his rebounding, rim protecting and defending opposite bigs. My biggest concern is running JB down, especially through the grind of the conference season. Hopefully one of our other bigs can step up and be productive.