Give me a real quality forward and I will roll with the team we will have next year. I think we could be fun. 2 sr's that are capable of having quality sr seasons. A frosh that I love at the pt. That leaves the forward spots. We have a question with Benny. We just can't have 2 questions at forward. I wouldn't want to have to play a road game with that forward group.
I think of it as an open competition for minutes at forward. We have JBA, Taylor, Bunch, Brown, Williams and Carey to compete for those minutes. Williams might have been given the "you are definitely starting" nod to keep him here, but JB definitely won't mind the quick hook with Williams if he isn't earning the minutes.
Out of that group, I think it's a solid bet that 3 of them become quality rotation players and at least one of them becomes a good ACC starter.
I also have faith that JB can figure out who deserves those minutes and put the kids in position to succeed.
If we get Ballard to be a giant backup to Edwards, I wouldn't mind a forward if somebody left, but I think we can roll with this squad.
All of the guys on the forward list are more athletic than both Swider and Jimmy, so the raw materials for defensive improvement are there. I think this is much more important than offense this year.
Our offense will come from:
-Motion offense to get Girard and whoever else JB trusts open 3 point shots. Girard might get the Cooney, Andy Rautins treatment running 20 miles off double picks every game to get open threes. I think he's up for it, if he gets enough rest. Fortunately, Mintz and Torrence are going to force playing time. Unfortunately, Girard might be the only reliable three point shooter, which means he could be left out there to die.
-Edwards/Girard on the pick and roll. I think this is going to be very hard to defend and is going to open up a lot of room for the other three guys. The last two games before Edwards got hurt, this play was really clicking. I think they start right back at it.
-Drive and dish. Torrence, Mintz and Copeland all have drive and dish in their game. Torrence at times has shown flashes of being elite. Girard might be able to do this off the ball, but he almost always looks to shoot first.
-Isolation with Mintz, Williams or one of the other freshman. JB has always given the isolation role to the best, most experienced scorer, but I really hope he sees Girard cannot play this role. Girard will help us many other ways, but running 10 plays a half where they clear out for Girard is a recipe for a lot of fast break points given up the other way. Mintz, on the other hand, has been called the best scorer in his class by some observers. His highlights of pull up mid range jumpers reminded me of Richard Hamilton. Nobody tries mid range jumpers anymore, so he might hit five jumpers a game because nobody remembers to defend against it. He also seems to elevate higher than most to get good looks.
-Edwards in the post. Edwards has some pretty good skill here, and we will have the guards to get him the ball where he can score. He also has decent passing, so hopefully a lot of our possessions start with Edwards in the post.
Our three guards and Edwards are going to generate most of the offense. I could easily see Mintz, Girard and Edwards combining for 50 per game. The other five guys in the rotation just need to rebound, defend and come up with 20-30 points by accident in the flow of the offense. I think Benny Williams will be a revelation next year, possibly on the level of Sherman Douglas. Even if he doesn't improve that much, we have six chances for good production from the forwards. I feel confident we'll cobble together decent enough play.
Sign me up for a guy who can compete physically when Edwards is out. Let's get Quincy Ballard if we can.
