2023-24 Starters and Rotation

[OrangeinDC]

Starters
PG: Mintz
SG: JJ
: Bell
: Benny
C: McLeod

I think Bell balances this group out better then Chance. If I was coaching, my thought would be to put Chance in a position to grow/develop his game without deferring to Judah, Benny or JJ. Although JB was the HC, Bell and the guys returning do have a concept of what Red is thinking about, looking to build on or trying to change. Chance is going to have to learn it on the fly. I would like to see Chance as the alternate player with either Judah or JJ when one of them is out, learning to play the 1&2 and I would also like to see him and QC developed to be interchangeable in the backcourt between the 1&2. With the things Bell needs to do and work on, they're not really exposed with this group.

Bench:
G: Chance / G: Cuffe (situational)
G/: Copeland
G/: Taylor
: Brown / /C: Carey (situational)
C: Hima (situational)
* RS for Patterson

I could see where QC and Taylor alternating roles and minutes between 2/3 leaves a few more mins for Cuffe at the 1, or even going without Hima at times playing small ball, if Cuffe is healthy he has to be in the mix, even if its just development for next years role. He needs to see how it looks. I think we work Carey in as backup to Brown or Hima depending on situation.

Red has the ingredients to do some things based on what he wants. Seriously, it's just nice to be able to debate the options!

 

[AngryOtto]

Have to believe the main guys will be:
Judah
Starling
Chance
Benny
McLeod
Bell
Brown

After that, it's anybody's guess how much we'll see:
Taylor
Cuffe
Copeland
Hima

Taylor probably gets the most time because he can shoot. Cuffe is the wild card, but if his athleticism is back, he needs some minutes. I don't see where Copeland fits or why he'd play over any of the guys listed above him. We have better PG options, long guards that can defend, 3 guys that can drive and score better and Cope can't shoot. Maybe he plays 5-8 minutes in a press or something, but I'd consider him the 10th/11th man.

Not sure I would say Copeland cannot shot. You have to take last season into perspective on his play. I feel he knew he was going to get limited time with JB. He knew if he started to shot a three he was back on the bench. His role was to defend, rebound and distribute. Anything else he was back on the bench. I agree he played a little out of control at times but I feel that he was pressing to try to impress hoping for more minutes. If he feels he will not get pulled immediately over a mistake he may still down and really contribute. Hoping the same thing for Benny.

 

[AngryOtto]

I think Benny is maybe going to fall out of the rotation completely. Bell/Brown outplay him and we just go with more guards in general. Happy to be wrong and for it to click and him be a high end ACC player.

I am hoping Benny will be a completely different player under Red. Always felt he was walking on egg shells playing for JB. One mistake and on the bench. Confidence killer.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

I think Benny is maybe going to fall out of the rotation completely. Bell/Brown outplay him and we just go with more guards in general. Happy to be wrong and for it to click and him be a high end ACC player.

Extremely low chance Bell outplays Benny because Bell is allergic to rebounding. Benny’s upside is far greater than Bell.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I wonder if we see some Benny at the 5. I could see Red going Uber small in some situations.

 

[UpstateSM]

View attachment 228253

Would not be surprised if he is the first guy off of the bench.

 

[cuseincincy]

Bell and Taylor get more minutes than Copeland.

It will be a very interesting lineup for Red to play with in his first year. Looks to be rolling out a smaller, faster, more athletic guard dominated lineup. I expect him to play more guys allowing the pace to be pushed. My guess:

Starters
PG: Mintz (28 min)
SG: JJ (26 min)
3G/SF: Westry (24 min)
: Benny (24 min)
C: McLeod (18 min)

Bench:
G: Cuffe (13 min)
G/: Copeland (17 min)
G/: Taylor (8 min)
: Bell (7 min)
: Brown (20 min)
C: Hima (15 min)
Carey and Patterson sparingly

Here is my stab...

This leaves us 12 minutes per game without a center. I think we can do that.

 

[Orangezoo]

I wonder if we see some Benny at the 5. I could see Red going Uber small in some situations.

Purely from a height standpoint that would be bigger than Maliq at the 5..

 

[Orangezoo]

Here is my stab...
View attachment 228259
This leaves us 12 minutes per game without a center. I think we can do that.

Take 4 off Benny and 3 off Westry and split between adding on Brown and Copeland. Copeland is someone who could end up closer to 20 if he becomes consistent

 

[RF2044]

Starters
PG: Mintz
SG: JJ
: Bell
: Benny
C: McLeod

I think Bell balances this group out better then Chance. If I was coaching, my thought would be to put Chance in a position to grow/develop his game without deferring to Judah, Benny or JJ. Although JB was the HC, Bell and the guys returning do have a concept of what Red is thinking about, looking to build on or trying to change. Chance is going to have to learn it on the fly. I would like to see Chance as the alternate player with either Judah or JJ when one of them is out, learning to play the 1&2 and I would also like to see him and QC developed to be interchangeable in the backcourt between the 1&2. With the things Bell needs to do and work on, they're not really exposed with this group.

Bench:
G: Chance / G: Cuffe (situational)
G/: Copeland
G/: Taylor
: Brown / /C: Carey (situational)
C: Hima (situational)
* RS for Patterson

I could see where QC and Taylor alternating roles and minutes between 2/3 leaves a few more mins for Cuffe at the 1, or even going without Hima at times playing small ball, if Cuffe is healthy he has to be in the mix, even if its just development for next years role. He needs to see how it looks. I think we work Carey in as backup to Brown or Hima depending on situation.

Red has the ingredients to do some things based on what he wants. Seriously, it's just nice to be able to debate the options!

Well-reasoned post, but I think you are completely off target with Chance / Cuffe.

But despite that disagreement of opinion, nice post.

 

[UpstateSM]

Not saying it’ll happen but it wouldn’t be crazy if Chance is better than Judah. And if he is we are going to be really, really good.

 

[cusefan88]

Waters, Donna, and Axe had a brief but pleasant podcast today. Mike and Donna spoke glowingly of Chance (said he was an amazing passer in HS) and they all agree the team is tournament bound.

From a media perspective, I'm sure they are happy to sink their teeth into new storylines and less of the same story of recent years.

 

[orangefog]

How cool is it to have 11 players that you can argue for. I can’t wait to see how Red handles this roster. Personally, I like Judah, JJ, Westry, Benny and McLeod to start with Taylor, Copeland and Maliq being the main guys off the bench.

 

[Trueblue25]

Westry’s an MCW like prospect. We always exaggerate prospects. But I dont think this is a stretch at all

 

[Niastri]

Bell ain’t starting

I agree, it looks like Westry takes Bell's starting spot. But, Bell's best skill is the most important one in the game, so I suspect he plays starters minutes as the 6th man.

If you played a perfect rotation of 10 players, they all would play 20 per game. For every guy who gets more, somebody's playing less.

I think the odd men out are Cuffe, Carey and Patterson, based on lack experience and lack of recent playing time.

Mintz, Starling and Williams play 30 or so... After that, Westry and Bell playing in the mid 20s with Taylor, Brown, Copeland, Hima and McLeod playing the remaining minutes in variable amounts based on effectiveness and matchups.

There is always a chance that somebody makes a jump and pushes into the higher minutes group, or somebody is ineffective and falls down a rung.

That's why this roster is going to be fun.

 

[Orangezoo]

Westry’s an MCW like prospect. We always exaggerate prospects. But I dont think this is a stretch at all

Of the days we talked about about Dior, Zion and Westry... it was Chance who was the real get of those 3 end of the day. Thay says something. As does it was Pearl and his $EC Auburn team that landed him as a frosh.

 

[Niastri]

I am not in any way trying to put Westry down please look at his stats game by game. If he had played for SU last year half the board would try and run him off. I am afraid some people have backup qb syndrome going ion here.
I think he will be a good player but he will need time. Bell played a lot more minutes than Chance last year.

Chance Westry Game by Game Stats and Performance | ESPN

Latest on Auburn Tigers guard Chance Westry including complete game-by-game stats on ESPN

www.espn.com

Westry had a medical redshirt last year. His talent level is very high. People sometimes overrate shooting, because it is very important... Westry would have been a top10 recruit if he was at all consistent shooting from distance. He's a very good player, him getting hurt before the season cost him, and his team, a lot. He's like the anti-Bell, he's good at everything except shooting. But he's not 0-14 bad. He'll hit enough to keep'em honest.

 

[billsin01]

Here is my stab...
View attachment 228259
This leaves us 12 minutes per game without a center. I think we can do that.

This is all guesswork, but I’d be really surprised if Judah isn’t at 32 mpg. Everyone likes the idea of us having good depth but if one or two players are significantly better than the others they’re going to see 30+, imo. I think there’s a good chance JJ is could be in that category too.

On the flip side surprised to see so many projecting big things for Benny. We need his size but he’s got to play and play to his size. I think he’ll be ok, but I’m not banking on it. Brown is by far the safer bet I think.

As for Bell/Taylor/Copeland/Cuffe I think some will play but I’d be really surprised to see them all in a regular rotation. The first three all had some moments last year and Cuffe has some pedigree but I’d think they are all fighting for minutes with one or two emerging, but not all four.

All of that said, who knows? Will be interesting to watch at least.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

This is all guesswork, but I’d be really surprised if Judah isn’t at 32 mpg. Everyone likes the idea of us having good depth but if one or two players are significantly better than the others they’re going to see 30+, imo. I think there’s a good chance JJ is could be in that category too.

On the flip side surprised to see so many projecting big things for Benny. We need his size but he’s got to play and play to his size. I think he’ll be ok, but I’m not banking on it. Brown is by far the safer bet I think.

As for Bell/Taylor/Copeland/Cuffe I think some will play but I’d be really surprised to see them all in a regular rotation. The first three all had some moments last year and Cuffe has some pedigree but I’d think they are all fighting for minutes with one or two emerging, but not all four.

All of that said, who knows? Will be interesting to watch at least.

I think Red is going to shift to a guard heavy, up tempo style spreading the floor and using the speed, athleticism and driving ability of the guards to create space and score. Usually you need deeper bench and more frequent rotations to run that type of game, which is why I’m guessing most guys won’t play over 30 minutes.

 

[orangepassion]

Mike and Donna spoke glowingly of Chance (said he was an amazing passer in HS) and they all agree the team is tournament bound.

I heard JB guaranteed it

 

[Sherman20]

Bruce Pearl’s opinion of Chance last fall was very high.
Pearl: Chance Westry 'was going to be a starter' before injury

 

[dlegend44]

I am really high on McLeod!!! I remember watching the FSU game last year and having center envy. He went 7-9 from the field for 16pts, 8 boards and 2 blocks...in just 26 minutes against Edwards. McLeod looked like a much better natural athlete than Edwards. Injuries and the resulting lack of conditioning held him back. If McLeod puts it together this year, gets in better shape and can stay healthy...he will dominate ACC centers.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

For whatever reason, I’m high on Taylor this year. I think he will surprise us. And I don’t mean at the 3.

Also, everyone thinks we will be running and gunning, but unless we solve our rebounding issues, we ain’t getting the boards to run.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Everybody plays, nobody sits.

Welcome to Red's Roughnecks.

 

[OrangeDW]

I am well aware of the history. Tell me I am wrong. If he had played for SU last year with the same injury and same stats do you think people would consider him someone who should start this year.
Again I truly expect Chance to be a contributor but I don’t want to see expectations get too high is all I mean. He is coming off a kost season basically.

Saying Bell should start over Westry in ‘23, is a little like saying Thues should start over Edelin in ‘03 because Thues played a lot the year before and Edelin was unavailable.