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Post by Bomber on Feb 3, 2013 15:01:22 GMT -5
I think it's obvious our fans want a shake up in the starting line up. I just don't see it happening. I think Donlon made those statements to motivate some of his starters that are under performing and also to buy him some time with our fans. The problem is if he keeps making statments like this and never delivers (like his uptempo offense comments earlier this year) fans are going to just stop believing him.
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Post by riceownz2 on Feb 3, 2013 17:04:26 GMT -5
I think it's obvious our fans want a shake up in the starting line up. I just don't see it happening. I think Donlon made those statements to motivate some of his starters that are under performing and also to buy him some time with our fans. The problem is if he keeps making statments like this and never delivers (like his uptempo offense comments earlier this year) fans are going to just stop believing him. Well said. BD seems to say the right things, but doesn't seem to deliver on those statements very often.
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Post by rock70 on Feb 5, 2013 14:54:50 GMT -5
Young is 1st team all conference if he starts & plays 25-30 minutes. Let him play thru his mistakes BD.. he's that good ! I agree. Young should get more minutes then most on our team. I realize last night he was in foul trouble but that hasn't always been the case this season. JY is a game changer and yes he will let his aggressiveness get the best of him on occassions but Billy needs to let him play through it like his does his "favorites". I honestly believe any other coach in the Horizon League would kill to have Young on there team and would actually play him meaningful minutes. Dixon is in Donlon's dog house. He has barely played the last few games. It is puzzling how little minutes Miles get especially when you consider how much we struggle on offense. He is one of the few players that can get into the lane pretty much at will and get a shot off. He seems to play solid defense so I can't figure out way so few minutes. Does it bug anybody else that Billy plays mind games with Miles? I'm talking about once or twice a game he will put Miles in for less then 30 seconds then pull him out. Gotta leave young in the game with 4 fouls. Keep Dixon on the floor with him. Along with darling that's 3 that can create their own shots. Tough to match up. With Kendall & whomever at the point. Dixon and Young should be on the court a heck of lot more then most players on the team. Both are solid defenders and both are two of our top three scorers ( Cole being the other ). So riddle me this batman, if both play solid defense AND both can score why would you play a "defense only" guy more minutes??? Lets all remember how the momentum of this game shifted: the energy provided by a line up with Young, Dixon, Bobo, Griffin, Sledge when we first starting really full court pressuring them. The most athletic line up we've put on the floor all season. I say we came back to beat Loyola because Donlon actually had his best players on the floor at the end of the game. You can have all the "grit" in the world but in the end talent wins. Just to clarify I consider Reggie one of our top players as well and Bobo is still and unknown due to lack of minutes on the floor. Finally that grit again!! With all due respect I don't think it was so much "grit" that won this game at the end but that our better players were on the floor. Imagine if Dixon and Young got the minutes that the players who "do the little things" got??? [glow=red,2,300]Honest question to everyone, do you think we beat Loyola if Donlon doesn't put Young and Dixon in at the end?[/glow] I'm glad we won, but this game didn't need to come down to the final possession. Donlon said a lot of things this past week about how we were going to play different. He waited until there was less than 10 minutes left in the game to live up to that promise. If we would have sat Reggie sooner, player Young and Dixon sooner, and pressed earlier in the game this could have been a comfortable win for us. I don't get Donlon's reluctance to play Young and Dixon. I don't understand why we don't press more. We usually have very good success when we do press. I'm giving your post " the post of the night"! Here is the combined line on 3 of our starters in tonight's game. 58 Minutes, 3 Assists, 3 Rebounds, 4 turnovers, 0 Points. I'm thrilled that somehow they pulled this game out in the end, but when you get this kind of non-production from 3/5th's of your starting lineup,its tough to win games regardless of what league you play in. Well said BBJ, well said. It is shameful to see Dixon and Young rot on the bench. But kudos to Miles, Jerran (as streaky as he is) and the bench...they won that game. Really? Young..streaky? I see him as our most solid all around athlete and a very gritty player who goes harder than anyone else out there when he has the chance. He shoots the ball well, he fights for boards on both ends, gets blocks, can penetrate, and always seems to go 100%. The only problem is the over aggressiveness on the defensive end and the foul trouble. The only thing streaky about him is Coach's trust in him. We need to use everybody from top to bottom more often to see what true potential this squad has because it's a talented bunch. Young is a stud and should play more minutes then most. To me Cole is the leader and our go to guys but can you imagine the damage we could do if Cole and Jerran played together for significant minutes.
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Post by raiders93 on Feb 5, 2013 20:31:00 GMT -5
I agree we lose if those two don't hit the court (Miles and Jerran). I've been saying for weeks that they both, in addition to Antonio, deserve more playing time, especially when Billy's favorites are laying an egg on the court. If he hadn't finally shaken it up last night, we lose. I wonder how many of the 7 point and closer losses could have gone the other way if we'd been doing this sooner. Oh well, it's yesterday's business, hopefully the staff's eyes were opened a bit after the Loyola game and we see a strong finish.
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Post by Raider3G on Feb 5, 2013 21:20:16 GMT -5
In looking at our normal rotation, I think you can break down our guys into categories:
Offensively skilled, defensive liability: AJ and JT Defensively Skilled, offensive liability: Vest (though he has had some good games passing) and Bramanti Defensively skilled, getting better on Offense: Sledge and Griffin Streaky on both offense and defense: Jerran and Miles (when on, two of our best. When not feeling it, it can be bad) Defensive and Offensively skilled on consistent basis: Cole A different category each game: Reggie
I'm ok with our starting line-up, but I think Bramanti should be a 15-20 min, and Reggie a 20-25 min player tops. The good news offensively is that Sledge and Griffin can now go for anywhere from 8-10 pts each night, which helps make up for Vest's drop-off in scoring. Also, I'd like to see more of at least these three together on the court: Sledge, Jerran and Cole. We can still match-up big or small against any teams, and also have balance inside and out.
But overall, I do question Matt Vest's playing time and his hesitancy to drive to the bucket. He can drive on most 3s or 4s (guys who normally guard him) but he looks to pass and kick out almost every time. He makes up for it in other ways (on D, rebounding) but his seeming lack of confidence in his own skill set (from what this normal fan sees) is odd.
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