Am I the only one who hates how every thread like this devolves into an argument about who the starting five is going to be? Am I the only one who really doesn't care what the starting line up is? Its pretty clear that we are going to play many different line ups this year, and we are going to play different line ups in different games to exploit our opponents weaknesses. Who cares what line up we play during the first couple minutes of the game, which by the way are the least important minutes when both teams are still feeling each other out.
Anyway, as an attempt to change the direction of the conversation, I'm going to throw out a few line ups which I think are interesting or useful. Here are the rules I am going by: first, to me SU has only 3 positions, not 5, and those three positions are (1) top of the zone (2) wing of the zone (3) center. I'm going to play everybody at their regular position and nobody is going to switch positions except Lydon and White who I think are capable. Second, I'm going to have Lydon and Battle in every line up. Why? I think those are our two best players (maybe more hope than think in Battle's case, but its more of an educated guess than a wild hope because I saw him play quite a few times in high school).
Best defensive line up:
Howard, Battle, Lydon, Roberson, Chukwu - Pretty self explanatory here, tons of length, tons of shot blocking, tons of rebounding. I could see White possibly emerging as a better defensive option at the top of the zone, its a little too early to tell just yet.
Best offensive line up:
Gillon, Battle, White, Roberson, Lydon - I'm imagining 4 great shooters with Roberson down low to vacuum up every miss. Also with this kind of court spacing Battle will dominate just about anybody who tries to guard him 1 on 1 without help. For me, one of the most interesting questions is if we see Lydon at the 5 this year, and if so, how much. I think Boeheim will decide to play Lydon at the 5 when he sees an advantage - like when the other team's 5 is resting or in foul trouble, or when team's are not going down low against us.
When we press (or get pressed):
Gillon, Battle, White, Lydon, Chukwu - If we really want to sell out on the press Howard can replace Lydon. This could be one of our best pressing teams ever. I think we use this option in most competitive games.
Best offense/defense balance line up:
Howard, Battle, White, Lydon, Chukwu - I think there are plenty of minutes for both Roberson and Chukwu but we lack a little balance with both on the floor at the same time. I wonder if they become an either/or situation in many games even though they don't play the same position. I could have also said Howard, Battle, White, Roberson, Lydon. I could also replace Howard with Gillon in either of these line ups. Lots still to be worked out.
Most intriguing line up:
Battle, White, Lydon, Roberson, Chukwu - Lots of defense in this line up, plus three good shooters, and five rebounders. The flaw is that this line up is dependent on a freshman to do almost 100% of the ball handling, and distributing, and a disproportionate amount of the scoring. If Battle is a Carmelo Anthony type (not in style or even really in quality, but in the fact that he can be THE man on a championship caliber team as a freshman) then its possible we see this line up a lot and it becomes a very successful line up.
Players you don't see in any of these line ups: Coleman, Thompson, Moyer. You'll see Coleman in every game, and you'll see Thompson in every blow out, but I don't think any of these three will be on the court when it really really matters barring Coleman playing because Chukwu is in foul trouble.
If we win the championship these two things will happen:
1) Battle is a one-and-done top 10 draft pick.
2) Chukwu is the ACC defensive player of the year.
