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Post by rock70 on Dec 23, 2015 23:56:55 GMT -5
After watching the last several games I think my starting five would be as follows.
Point Guard - Biggie Minnis 6' 3" - He probably sees the floor better then our other point guards and I like that he can go strong to the rack and either pass or go to the rim. Our offense flows SO MUCH BETTER when he is on the floor. I think he is one of the main keys to this team. Biggie also appears to be a solid defender. Needs to play 30 or more minutes per game.
2 Guard - Joe Thomasson 6' 4" - I think if you free Joe up from bringing the ball up the floor he can be much more of a scoring threat as a 2 guard. Joe is a solid defender who can rebound well for a guard. Joe is just an all around good player. Needs to play 30 or more minutes per game.
Wing - Mark Alstork 6' 5" - Mark seems to be one of the more athletic players on the team. He also seems to bring a physical style of play which I like. He seems to be able to score both inside and out. I'm still not sure about his defense. Seems like he's good for stretches then he'll just randomly get beat off the dribble other times. Need to play 30 minutes per game.
Forward - J.T. Yoho 6' 6" - Best player on the team. Best scoring threat. Scores both inside and out. Heady player who just understands the game. Forced to guard other teams center on many occassion which hurts us but he'll do it for the team. Needs to play 30 minutes or more per game.
Center - Michael Korena 6' 10" - Michael is probably the one player who needs to play 26 to 30 minutes per game in order for us to have a chance to win most league games. He is our only player with height ( who actually plays ) and is a solid player down in the post. Billy MUST find a way to keep Michael out of foul trouble! I like how he played Michael in 3 to 4 spurts against Murry State then sat him for a few minutes. It seemed to keep him fresher and avoid silly "tired" fouls.
Bench:
Grant Benzinger - 6' 3" - I see Grant as being a HUGE scoring threat off the bench! When he is hot from outside he is unstoppable. I can see him playing 20 minutes minimum per game. He can rotate with Thomasson and Alstork at the 2 and wing.
Mark Hughes - 6' 3" - Mark would be my back up PG to Biggie. I really like Hughes a lot and think he'll be a solid Horizon League player.
Mithcell - 6' 4" - Still injured but I liked what I saw from him last year. He'll need to work his way back.
At this time I wouldn't go any deeper. The rest of our players are a significant drop off at this time. Some of them just need to add bulk or adjust to the college game. I would like to see guys like Parker, Morteson, and Davis play a couple minutes per game just to get some experiance and give Korena a break on occassion.
The key is keeping Korena out of foul trouble so he can play 26 to 30 minutes a game!
Just my .02 from the cheap seats.......
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Post by wolf41 on Dec 24, 2015 9:16:47 GMT -5
Very good post rock70. I agree with everything you said. But I would add that we need subs for Yoho and Karena. My first tall man off the bench would Mortensen followed by Ernsthausen. I think Motenson needs playing time if he is going to be here 3 more years. I question whether Ernsthausen is a DI player, but we have to play what we have. Both of these guys need to add muscle before next season. They could both develop as we lose our two big starters after this year. I really enjoy watching Yoho and Karena. Alstork and Minnis are bringing a lot to the floor for us. They are willing to attack the basket which does more for us than just passing the ball around the perimeter for 25 seconds.
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Post by paulkris on Dec 24, 2015 10:59:08 GMT -5
Think about this for a minute. You have players who are either injury-prone, recovering from an injury or are likely to pick up fouls and limit their playing time. Would you rather have them miss the first five minutes of a game or would you rather have them available with fresher legs and fewer fouls later in the game?
This is why I don't pay much attention to who starts the game.
The matchups of the other team also have a great deal to do with who starts. If you have a really quick opponent who makes a lot of threes you start a smaller lineup. If your opponent has a couple of big guys you respond to that lineup by starting the lineup that can best counter them.
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Post by riceownz2 on Dec 24, 2015 12:06:48 GMT -5
Think about this for a minute. You have players who are either injury-prone, recovering from an injury or are likely to pick up fouls and limit their playing time. Would you rather have them miss the first five minutes of a game or would you rather have them available with fresher legs and fewer fouls later in the game? This is why I don't pay much attention to who starts the game. The matchups of the other team also have a great deal to do with who starts. If you have a really quick opponent who makes a lot of threes you start a smaller lineup. If your opponent has a couple of big guys you respond to that lineup by starting the lineup that can best counter them. I wish WSU was a team that people tried to matchup against. I like the lineup rock70 suggested we just don't have much depth after that. Who is Todd Benzinger lol? Happy Holidays |
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Post by rock70 on Dec 24, 2015 12:53:56 GMT -5
Think about this for a minute. You have players who are either injury-prone, recovering from an injury or are likely to pick up fouls and limit their playing time. Would you rather have them miss the first five minutes of a game or would you rather have them available with fresher legs and fewer fouls later in the game? This is why I don't pay much attention to who starts the game. The matchups of the other team also have a great deal to do with who starts. If you have a really quick opponent who makes a lot of threes you start a smaller lineup. If your opponent has a couple of big guys you respond to that lineup by starting the lineup that can best counter them. Good points paulkris! I suppose I could have said "these 7 players need to play the majority of minutes". I can see the whole match up concept but I still prefer starting with two bigs ( Korena and Yoho ) but it can present problem since they are the only 2 legitamate bigs we have and they will need breaks during games. Billy's total lack of being able to recruit another usable big man or two has really put him in a bind. As far as subbing for JT and Michael I can see using the combination of Mortenson, Parker, and Roddrick to get some minutes for Korena and then your pretty much stuck with going with four guards when subbing for JT. Lol riceowns2..........I'm showing my age with the Todd Benzinger typo. BTW Todd is Grants father who won a world series with the Reds in 1990. |
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Post by paulkris on Dec 24, 2015 13:05:58 GMT -5
I have more hope for Ernsthausen than you guys do. He's never going to be able to muscle into the middle like Mike does but he may be more athletic than Mike. Rod Davis may not be what you consider a big man but he can also jump. Something not many bigs can do. The sleeper in the bunch is Mark Hughes. He's listed as 6'3" but his reach and leap allow him to play bigger than that. He's also pretty quick.
I'm not making arguments or defending Billy. The players we have are the players we're going to have for the season. I have hopes that some of them are going to continue to improve and work into the system and we will have some interesting conference games. Personally, I think we'll have a winning record at the end of the year if we can keep everyone healthy.
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Post by twizman on Dec 24, 2015 15:58:18 GMT -5
I agree 100 percent Rock. That would be my starting 5 too.
I'd really like to see Roderick Davis step up as a viable backup at C. That way when Karena gets in foul trouble (most games) we would have 10 fouls to spare and not just five. I really thought/hoped R.Davis would be further along by now. He showed flashes last year. Good size and athletic ability.
Anyway... Minnis, Thomasson, Alstork, Yoho and Karena seems like an obvious starting 5 to me. Hopefully BD goes with it.
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Post by Dr J on Dec 25, 2015 17:10:26 GMT -5
In my opinion one thing needs to happen, Yoho or Karena needs to be on the court. I have not been supportive of BD but always supportive of our players. We have some limitations but not ones we can't handle. Our style of play needs to blend in to the line up. The smaller quicker line up needs to use the quickness to their advantage. When Karena is in the line up we can be more dilberate. When the ball goes into Karena ,Yoho, Grant or Joe needs to move into position for a pass for 3 point shot. Too many times no one is in the right position for that to happen. I want to be able to say I was wrong at the end of the season.
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Post by twizman on Dec 25, 2015 18:34:58 GMT -5
And even though I think that's a good starting 5, I'm very bullish on Benzinger. He'd be excellent as a sixth man this season (and will obviously be a starter as a junior and senior).
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Post by paulkris on Dec 26, 2015 7:50:55 GMT -5
I completely agree. During our stretch of poor play one of the most depressing statistics was the number of missed baskets within 5 feet. We were not able to convert the drives, make layups or have Mike get it into the hoop. Over the last two games the drives have been working much better. There are not a lot of bad things that can happen if you are able to be quick enough to get through the lane on a drive. You're much more likely to either score or get a foul than you are to get a charging call. The problem for a young team is that they don't have the confidence to make a decision really quickly. As they gain confidence they react and drive.
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Post by rock70 on Dec 26, 2015 9:44:00 GMT -5
I completely agree. During our stretch of poor play one of the most depressing statistics was the number of missed baskets within 5 feet. We were not able to convert the drives, make layups or have Mike get it into the hoop. Over the last two games the drives have been working much better. There are not a lot of bad things that can happen if you are able to be quick enough to get through the lane on a drive. You're much more likely to either score or get a foul than you are to get a charging call. The problem for a young team is that they don't have the confidence to make a decision really quickly. As they gain confidence they react and drive. I agree paulkris that with the ability to drive to the rim it seemingly opens up the entire offense. My observations is that when Biggie is on the floor our offense looks pretty good. Biggie has that knack for getting to the rim to finish BUT ALSO has excellent peripheral vision to make the assist. Biggie also seems to be able to feed the ball into the post with ease and for a player like Korena it is imperative to receive the ball in such a way that his defender is still on his hip and has yet too bodied Michael up. Please keep in mind that Biggie played in the A-10 so the Horizon League competition shouldn't be and issue with his confidence in the least. I don't necessarily see us as being a young team. My proposed starting five consist of 4 seniors ( Michael, JT, Joe, and Biggie ) and a junior ( Alstork ) with my reserves being Benzinger (soph), Hughes (FR) and Michell (soph). If this team struggles in league play it'll most likely be due to the fact that Billy has left himself with only 2 useable bigs and we simply won't be able to match up with teams that have any kind of post players or if we can't keep Korena and JT out of foul trouble. These first 3 league road games could determine our season! I know it's early but I have a feeling the tone will be set early. |
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Post by Raider3G on Dec 26, 2015 10:32:20 GMT -5
Rock70 makes a good point. Arguably the best five are very experienced, just not with each other on the court in a game-time situation. Hopefully that has turned a corner. I think the bench, regardless of if it is Yoho or Benzinger, will be able to provide some scoring punch, with Mitchell also showing some ability last year to drive and score. The real wild card are the two reserve bigs, Parker and Rod. Are they going to see valuable minutes? If so, which one, and how well will they perform.
Every league game is huge, but agree on the importance of these next three---these next three league games will really show how much we fans can take away from the last three wins.
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Post by hhgreen on Dec 26, 2015 11:59:49 GMT -5
If we run and gun when we play the bigger size teams we might have chance to win quite a few games. Matching up against big team will still be an issue. We played well the last 3 games pushing the ball with Biggie leading the way so let's keep the momentum going. We should be building the team towards winning the league tourney. Getting a bye in the tournament would be great. Making the NCAA is the goal.
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Post by paulkris on Dec 26, 2015 12:23:03 GMT -5
I completely agree with the comments on Biggie. He's going to be a really important part of the team. He's to this team what Julius Mays was to Kentucky in his fifth year. He's stable and has a good basketball IQ.
I really don't know what the rest of the league has as far as bigs. I do know how hard it is to recruit a high level big when you're a low mid-major school. About the only way to do it is to go overseas which we've sort of done with both Mike and Daniel, though I guess Daniel is only marginally a big.
The other options for getting bigs is to recruit locally and mine the JC's. We've had some success doing both but it could be better.
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