DC Today

[iommi]

DC had a double-double (11 pts, 11 rebs) in our 3rd game against Pitt last year. Seems to be the kind of guy we need against Pitt, though they are a different team under Stallings. Still, it'll be interesting to see how he's utilized today. If he doesn't play much at all, I guess we can chalk it up to a couple possibilities:

1) His knees are shot, as JB has hinted at
2) We are sticking with the 6-man rotation,regardless of Coleman's health and DC is just an afterthought now

I like the 6 person band of brothers thing but don't think it's sustainable, especially when we have quick turnaround games.

Thoughts?

 

[JoeySimz]

I think DC's playing time should remain very limited. He should only be used to match up if a big is too physical for our starters, or to give them a quick breather, or in the case of foul trouble and to strategically save Tyler/TT from picking up an extra foul at the end of a half like in the Miami game. He may have had success against Pitt last year but with a new coach and seemingly faster style of play it remains to be seen if he can keep up.

We are so much slower on both ends with DC so we can't afford to play him more than a few minutes at a time. Whatever we gain in defensive rebounding (and even that may be negligible with the way the Tylers/AW got after it against Miami) we lose in rim protection, blocks, steals, deflections, rotations, running the floor, defending the high post, etc.

Furthermore, I believe we have to keep the Tylers on the floor as much as possible and this means Lydon is going to play a ton of five. So it'll end up being situational for DC. Hopefully, he can kick it up a notch in limited minutes.

 

[jdubs30]

If Pitt still shows that they can carve up the zone without Dixon, I think TT will be a massive liability. But I think if JB has his way, fouls won't kill us and Lydon will play 38 minutes at the 5

 

[nycfan]

DC had a double-double (11 pts, 11 rebs) in our 3rd game against Pitt last year. Seems to be the kind of guy we need against Pitt, though they are a different team under Stallings. Still, it'll be interesting to see how he's utilized today. If he doesn't play much at all, I guess we can chalk it up to a couple possibilities:

1) His knees are shot, as JB has hinted at
2) We are sticking with the 6-man rotation,regardless of Coleman's health and DC is just an afterthought now

I like the 6 person band of brothers thing but don't think it's sustainable, especially when we have quick turnaround games.

Thoughts?

Personally, I would like to stick with the new 6-man rotation for now, mainly because it worked so well Wed and is the only rotation that has worked this year against a good team (unless you count Monmouth). Also, it's our most athletic rotation and gets Roberson the major minutes he needs as the team's best rebounder and best defender. If you give DC minutes, then Roby will be the one that will lose out. You can't touch Lydon's minutes--it's important that he gets his 38-40 to keep the best offensive players in the game the whole time. And you can't argue that he could take some of Thompson's minutes, as TT only played 5 on Wed---if anything, he is the one that needs more, which complicates matters even more. (in essence, Wed was really only a 5-man rotation). So I like your thought track, but would give TT the extra minutes today, not DC. And I have nothing personal against Coleman, especially since he has worked his butt off the past couple years coming back from the injury. As you know I was at the UCONN game, where he was the best player we had on the floor that night. It's just finding the right formula, and JB has had a few nice tourney runs with very tight rotations, so maybe that is the way to go. (and there will games when we get a few bigs in foul trouble, so we certainly haven't seen the last of DC by any means).

 

[iommi]

Personally, I would like to stick with the new 6-man rotation for now, mainly because it worked so well Wed and is the only rotation that has worked this year against a good team (unless you count Monmouth). Also, it's our most athletic rotation and gets Roberson the major minutes he needs as the team's best rebounder and best defender. If you give DC minutes, then Roby will be the one that will lose out. You can't touch Lydon's minutes--it's important that he gets his 38-40 to keep the best offensive players in the game the whole time. And you can't argue that he could take some of Thompson's minutes, as TT only played 5 on Wed---if anything, he is the one that needs more, which complicates matters even more. (in essence, Wed was really only a 5-man rotation). So I like your thought track, but would give TT the extra minutes today, not DC. And I have nothing personal against Coleman, especially since he has worked his butt off the past couple years coming back from the injury. As you know I was at the UCONN game, where he was the best player we had on the floor that night. It's just finding the right formula, and JB has had a few nice tourney runs with very tight rotations, so maybe that is the way to go. (and there will games when we get a few bigs in foul trouble, so we certainly haven't seen the last of DC by any means).

I'm on board with playing 6; my point is it might not be the long-term fix we need. As you said, there will be games Coleman will be needed. What we don't know is how healthy Coleman is.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Depends on score and what personnel pitt has on the floor, imo.

No issues giving coleman a few minutes of run each half.

 

[jncuse]

The foul situation could always be a factor as well.

 

[tbonezone]

i think we see DJC log some minutes in the middle today due to foul issues.