Starting 5 now, Starting 5 late in the season

[UnolocoLobo]

Wow does Coach Alford have a problem, great players at all positions and lots of them !! So who does he start and what will be his rotation. Here is my thinking on how he progresses thru the season.



To start the season:

• At the point: Gary, not a question here, 30 mins a game top sub will be Garth
• At the wing: Toppert, 20 mins a game top subs will be Tony D, Ro and Wills
• At the wing: McDonald, top recruit will start, 20 mins a game, sub Tony D, Wills, Dennis
• At the 4: Brown, top recruit will start, 20 mins a game, sub AJ
• At the 5: Faris, will play 20 mins, sub AJ and Kem

End of the season: in order of playing time, project best defenders,handlers, shooters

• Point: Gary, Garth
• Wing: McDonald, Toppert
• Wing Tony D, Dennis,Wills, Ro = any one of these four are interchangeable. Dennis the best shooter, Wills the better defender, Ro the most well rounded, Tony D is the most athletic
• Four: Brown, AJ, Farris
• Five: Rusher,AJ, Farris,Kem (Kem will not be a major factor this season)

Most playing time for the year: top to bottom, assuming all players pick up the system

• Gary = best point in the conference
• Brown = no one can take his mins unless he gives them up
• AJ = will get mins at the 4 and 5, he could be the big surprise of the season
• McDonald = best player by the end of the season at his position in the MWC
• Farris = because Rusher will only play half the year

Biggest surprise of the season:

• Lobos finish second in the regular MWC season but win the conference tourney in Vegas and play two games in the NCAA !!!

[LoboMike]

Where's Tony D???????????

[Kent_Brockman]

For the beginning of the season I would guess this lineup.

Gary
Wills
Danridge
Martinez (maybe Will Brown or AJ Hardeman depending on matchups)
Faris

But don't take my word for it, I'm usually wrong about these things.

It's nice to be a starter, but the players who finish the game are even more important.

[Maxwell58]

Hey UnolocoLobo, this could be an interesting thread. Hit the edit button and correct Mr. Wills and add Mr. Danridge to your roster. This team is very deep. It's sometimes hard to remember all the players. That's a nice problem to have after the short roster last season.

[UnolocoLobo]

Sorry, how could I have missed Tony D !!!! Wow what a team....

[loboray]

Could we see two almost equal fives substituted in mass early on? We could really wear teams down in the pit with an up tempo game substituting five at a time.

[Mark]

I hate to be so PC here but I really think its about whos finishing rather than whos starting but I will give you my 2 cents anyways.

Tony is unquestionably the best player on the team at this point. Noway he isnt in the stating 5 unless he cant walk.

Gary is a lock and I really shouldn't have to go into detail. He will abuse the MWC this year but im not ready to say hes the best in the league. Theres a guy by the name of Wink who might hold that distinction for another year. Hes been tearing it up this summer and is in consideration for MWCPOY. I hope DG puts in foot through his head though. :)

Ro. Ro is just being Ro. (you like that uh) He does everything heady on the floor and Coach Alford like players like that plus hes a vet.

Faris will start again this year and will be improved. Banging with all these other kids has made him better this year. Also, your not going to leave one of your captains on the bench.

McDonald. I dont think he was recruited to sit one min on the bench unless he needs a breather. He will also start at the other wing and deserves it. The guy can seriously play. MWC frosh of the year.

Toppert, Dennis and Will Brown will log some serious mins. Top is instant offense and will spark the team when the others are cold. Dead eye.
Curtis is another dead eye. Many dont understand, hes pretty athletic and is going to surprise a ton of you at the howl.
Brown will spell the 4-5 spots. Hes got a serviceable mid range shot and he like to mix it up down low. He battles and blocks shots. Hes D's further along than his O but were not looking for him to score at this point, just rebound and put back the bunnys.

All the others are so capable of logging mins that I almost feel like im being unfair to them right now. AJ can shoot it from long and has a much better shot from what I saw at the Elite camp. As I suspected, the altitude must have gotten to him at the camp.
Wills, this guy might be one of the best shooters on the whole club and was thrown into the fire last year so he has a year under his belt.

Nate. Say what you want about him being too thin but this is a good thing. When DG is banging down the other PG Nate can come in and sprint the team up and down the court. He has good handles and can shoot it from long. I think once he gets that up and down high school mentality out of his system he will also impress. You can drive the lane like you did in high school anymore and look to pass out once you see theres no shot. Having said that Nates one of the smartest kids on the whole team so I would be surprised to see that out of his system by the howl.

All in all were a athletic team who can shoot it from deep with the best of them. Were not a selfish team and dont have ANY egos on the team that ive seen. They all seem to really like each other. I still worry about where our reboundings going to come from that JR produced and another concern is our ability to defend. Almost one common is that were a "long" team but coming from HS/prep where defending isnt stressed like Alford stresses is scares me a little. If we can do the two things well I think we have a really good shot at a special season.

[Burro lobo]

Thanks RPS for all the info. But a question, Alford started two freshmen at times last year and they were our # 2 and #3 best defenders by year end. I know both Gary and Wills were so much better at the end of the year, Gary was a good high school defensive player, but Wills picked up most of his guarding JR during the season. Now don't you think Alford will insist all the new players play very good D?
When I read your report (and others) about all the athleticism, the first thing I thought was they will be able to move their feet and pick up the D easier. I was hoping that some of our returners would pick up their defense some. With the firepower returning and new ones entering the main worry for me would be rebounds.

[UNMfan]

if I had to guess at the starting lineup:

C: Farris
PF: Brown
SF: Dandridge
SG: Wills
PG: Gary

SG could go to Toppart, but Wills looks much improved and Toppart would be killer with the second group.

You've then got a glut of mid-6-ers to move around: McDonald, Dennis, Hardeman, Martinez, and Toppart.

Can McDonald run the point if need be?

Once Rusher gets here I could see this kind of a lineup with the subs every now and then:

PG: Garth
SG: Toppart or Dennis
SF: McDonald or Dennis
PF: Hardeman
C: Rusher

A lineup with Garth, Dennis, McDonald, Hardeman and Rusher would be wicked athletic...not very experienced, but wicked athletic....

[Roob]

Lots of different takes on the lineup. It's good to have this kind of a problem where you've got 12 to 13 talented players to pick from. Curtis and Phil may not start to begin the season, but I will go out on a limb and say this about them - if they learn to play defense, they will both be logging significant minutes by the end of the season. They are both athletic, can slash, can rebound, can shoot from long range, and if they can add defense to their repertoire, they will separate themselves from the logjam of talented wings. Those two have the most upside potential because they have an all around game. It's going to come down to how much they improve on the defensive side.

[Lobodawg92]

Roob, your post just brings me back to the starting point at the scrimmage. Who sits. We have so much depth that I think I see 100% effort on offense, defense and transition from all our guys. They don't have to "save" themselves for logging 30+ minutes per game. We should be able to wear other teams down, and whoever has the hot hand for us on any given night can change on a game by game basis. This team is good now, and with the addition of Kem and CRusher, only gets better.

Maybe you are right, and some players begin to separate themselves, but for now, I see everyone getting quite a bit of time.

Go Loobs!

[LoboSpur]

My top five to start and end the game are: Gary, McDonald, Ro Martinez, Tony D and Faris. Toppert is the 6th man while the others will get their minutes.

[LoboInTheLair]

Top was the second leading scorer on the team last year and he's a senior. He earned his starting spot. He'll have to lose it. I think Top's minutes will stay about the same throughout the year (20-25), even if he moves to the bench.

Faris will lose minutes as the year goes on. He'll start the season playing a lot (assuming he can stay on the floor that long) and will dwindle down to 15-20. He may even lose his starting job after Rusher arrives. As the teams get better and the competition gets stiffer, we'll need more rebounding and defense inside.

Our wings are good enough rebounders (and Gary for that matter) that we can afford to play 4 guards at times. Top, Ro, Dennis & PMac get some extra minutes that way.

To begin the season: Gary, Top, TD, Ro & Faris

To finish the season: Gary, TD, PMac, Brown, Rusher

Top Scorers:

Danridge - 15 pts/game
Toppert - 14 pts/game
Faris - 10 pts/game
McDonald - 8 pts/game
Martinez - 6 pts/game

[Catcus Jim]

Dairese G
Phillip M.
Tony D.
Will B.
Daniel F.