Jon Rothstein live from Cuse practice today

[Dave85]

Maybe you can tweet Gillon and ask him

Dude! You almost made me spit out my drink!

 

[Oráiste]

He is a 2 on defense and a 3 on offense.

given what we've heard about his athleticism and White's relative lack of lateral quickness, it seems conceivable that he ends up playing the 3 on defense as well when those two are on the court together

 

[dasher]

given what we've heard about his athleticism and White's relative lack of lateral quickness, it seems conceivable that he ends up playing the 3 on defense as well when those two are on the court together

White is a much better rebounder

 

[Oráiste]

White is a much better rebounder

of course it was while playing in a different system than the 2-3, but he got those rebounding numbers playing guard

 

[Brooky03]

If White and Battle are on the court together, White plays 3 on both ends and Battle plays 2 on both ends. I don't see how it'd be any other way.

There's no requirement that a SG has to be a knockdown 3 point shooter. Battle could play a little PG, but Howard and Gillon make that an unnecessary move.

 

[pearl31]

There's no requirement that a SG has to be a knockdown 3 point shooter.

Yep.
Waiters, Dion

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

If White and Battle are on the court together, White plays 3 on both ends and Battle plays 2 on both ends. I don't see how it'd be any other way.

There's no requirement that a SG has to be a knockdown 3 point shooter. Battle could play a little PG, but Howard and Gillon make that an unnecessary move.

Our 2/3 on offense are interchangable.

 

[RF2044]

Our 2/3 on offense are interchangable.

I see this declaration made a lot, often with some posters not understanding that it is only true if the players manning those positions have generally interchangeable skill sets. Otherwise, it is a truism.

 

[iommi]

I see this declaration made a lot, often with some posters not understanding that it is only true if the players manning those positions have generally interchangeable skill sets. Otherwise, it is a truism.

And offensively, White and Battle's skill sets are not interchangeable. To generalize, Battle is a slasher and White is a shooter. To me, Battle is a slasher who can shoot; White is a shooter. Can White slash? We shall see.

 

[Cusefan0307]

The Waters/Ditota bench discussion today implies they believe Howard and White start in the backcourt with Gillon and Battle coming off the bench. Interesting.

 

[jordoo]

The Waters/Ditota bench discussion today implies they believe Howard and White start in the backcourt with Gillon and Battle coming off the bench. Interesting.

I caught that as well. That's one huge starting line up then if its Howard, White, Lydon, Roberson, Coleman.

 

[asj410]

This might be the first year ever that I have no real confidence in guessing what our starting lineup will end up being. I prefer to not even think about it at this point and just have JB surprise me

 

[Jake]

I'm pretty sure there is only one starting spot that's not solidified.

PG.

 

[orangefog]

I'm pretty sure there is only one starting spot that's not solidified.

PG.

And is that a two way battle three way battle?

 

[NYCorange]

And is that a two way battle three way battle?

I see what you did there...

 

[iommi]

I'm pretty sure there is only one starting spot that's not solidified.

PG.

As indicated above, it'll be: 2) White 3) Lydon 4) Roberson 5) Coleman?

If Battle gets the nod, that starting lineup would be really short on ball handling. The backcourt would be huge.

 

[cusetown1]

And some said White would never play 2.

 

[RF2044]

And some said White would never play 2.

Nonsense--that would be more about shoe horning Lydon in at 3 to get him in the starting lineup than White's capabilities as a 2.

Even if it works out that way, he won't be playing there much--the quick first sub would shift players around to other positions, a la the 2010 team.

 

[UD1954]

Coleman
Howard
White
Battle
Roberson .....Lydon off the bench because of versatility but will play starters minutes...I see Howard and Gillon splitting PG minutes for to most part.

 

[Cusefan0307]

And some said White would never play 2.

JB did very early on.

 

[dasher]

Coleman
Howard
White
Battle
Roberson ...Lydon off the bench because of versatility but will play starters minutes...I see Howard and Gillon splitting PG minutes for to most part.

Lydon is our best player. He starts

 

[reedny]

From the article: Bring Battle into the game, move White to small forward and switch Lydon to power forward and you've got an incredible array of offensive options.

That creates the lineup I expected: Howard/Gillen (PG), Battle (SG); White (SF); Lydon (PF) and (from the context) Chukwu (C). I can't think of a more talented group in recent memory ... rebounding, shooting (galore), slashing, distributing (the only think lacking is low-block scoring). No matter which direction JB takes, his bench will be LOADED.

 

[RF2044]

From the article: Bring Battle into the game, move White to small forward and switch Lydon to power forward and you've got an incredible array of offensive options.

That creates the lineup I expected: Howard/Gillen (PG), Battle (SG); White (SF); Lydon (PF) and (from the context) Chukwu (C). I can't think of a more talented group in recent memory ... rebounding, shooting (galore), slashing, distributing (the only think lacking is low-block scoring). No matter which direction JB takes, his bench will be LOADED.

The group I expect to close a LOT of games would be: Howard/Gillon (PG), Battle (SG); White (SF); Roberson (PF) and Lydon (C). Incredible offensive group, with everyone in natural positions, even Lydon [who can easily play C, despite being a more natural 4].

I also could see Chukwu out there with four scorers as a highly effective lineup. Matchups and game situations will dictate who plays, as will playing from ahead as we close out games / milk the clock [in such instances, defense might be more important than offense].

BTW, I think the FT shooting is going to be vastly, vastly superior to what we've had in recent years.

 

[Dcuse]

I'm pretty sure there is only one starting spot that's not solidified.

PG.

Really? I don't think it's a given that White doesn't fill the role Waiters had and be our turbo power off the bench.

 

[iommi]

The group I expect to close a LOT of games would be: Howard/Gillon (PG), Battle (SG); White (SF); Roberson (PF) and Lydon (C). Incredible offensive group, with everyone in natural positions, even Lydon [who can easily play C, despite being a more natural 4].

I also could see Chukwu out there with four scorers as a highly effective lineup. Matchups and game situations will dictate who plays, as will playing from ahead as we close out games / milk the clock [in such instances, defense might be more important than offense].

BTW, I think the FT shooting is going to be vastly, vastly superior to what we've had in recent years.

Good post. I think the FT shooting should be better, as you said. White and Gillon help a lot there. Two players who need to improve there are Howard and especially Roberson, who had some awful streaks from the line. Coleman looked pretty good there last year and that was a pleasant surprise. I can't see Chukwu being good there but I doubt he gets to the line much.