Elephant in the Room...

[Niastri]

That's not accurate. Joe shot over 40 pct last year (21-22).

I stand corrected... Failure to do research before posting is a plan to fail at posting.

(That's how that cliche goes, right?)

 

[Orangezoo]

Lots of good points around. If Mintz came back- Judah and JJ would get the lions share of the shots in that backcourt as Westry is the more unselfish of the bunch. Off the bench Copeland has a similar approach which would work with playing with those guys or Taylor/Bell.

 

[Consigliere]

When looking at the make-up of the team this upcoming year. Not a single Senior. We have these players (assuming no transfers) for two more years. Currently we have 2 open scholarship slots open. How many recruits are there for 2024-2025? If everyone stays we still have 2. Really need to look at the make-up of the team long term. I believe this team is build for a 2 year success. This upcoming year we squeak into the tourney as a 10/11 seed. In 2024-25 we are a Top 4 seed. If all the players stay around we have continuity and experience.

Go CUSE

Actually if EVERYONE comes back, including Judah, we have one open slot now and with Moore and Freeman committed we are already one over for next year. Obviously there wilkl be some early exits and / or transfers but what positions and skill sets? Makes roster management a real challenge.

 

[newmexicuse]

If Mintz comes back, the starters are pretty much locked in:

G Mintz
G Starling
G Westry
Williams
C McLeod

Rotation of Bell, Brown, Taylor, Copeland, Hima.

After that, Carey and Patterson if everybody else is hurt or fouled out.

This could be a rotation where a whole lot of players get between 15-25 minutes and everybody gets after it really hard when they are on the court. No more Marathon Men unless we go 6 overtimes again.

My biggest concern with this lineup is that Westry comes in and he's so much better than Bell in practices where even Bell and whatever crew he has can't help but admit Westry starting makes sense. Otherwise, it could be a chemistry issue in Red's first season, which would makes things harder. Giving Bell 25 minutes off the bench could make that better.

Secondly is that Mintz, Starling, Westry and Williams shoot well enough where we aren't forced to sub one of them out for Taylor or Bell when Red doesn't really want to.

Good post, but the more interesting issue is who is the 5th starter if no Judah. I hope it would be a truly open competition, but Bell would probably be the favorite.

 

[dollarbill44]

Good questions about the front court but is that the elephant? Seems like that has been discussed a ton. I think many just stopped talking about picking up a proven forward in the portal once it became clear red is good rolling with Benny, Bell, and Brown.

If Judah returns (or we get a replacement starter), things look a lot brighter because that should mean we have one of the spots fairly well filled, between Westry, Bell, and maybe JT.

As for Brown, he's the one player I don't feel like we should have questions about. If he could develop a jumper, that would be fantastic, although what he brings to the table is quite good.

I don't think there is an "elephant in the room". Haven't all of our concerns been addressed and discussed considerably at this point?

 

[Niastri]

Good post, but the more interesting issue is who is the 5th starter if no Judah. I hope it would be a truly open competition, but Bell would probably be the favorite.

I think in that scenario, Bell is the starter, even if it's the classic token starter with a quick hook.

You don't bench an established starter unless he's clearly been beaten out, or recruited over. It's hard to make even an outlandish case for Bell starting over Williams, Starling or Mintz. Maybe Westry, but he was much more highly recruited than Bell and didn't come here without some pretty strong assurances.

The "good news" might be that Westry is by far the most foul prone of our transfers and will likely take himself out of games often enough to ease the problem. He nearly doubles McLeod in fouls per 40, and he didn't even play in the SEC part of Auburn's season.

 

[Nicknack]

I don't think there is an "elephant in the room". Haven't all of our concerns been addressed and discussed considerably at this point?

Yes, I definitely think so which was the reason for my original response. There wasn't a day that went by that we didnt have multiple threads discussing the forward spot. I think it finally got beaten into the ground and people moved on because it was clear, Red wasn't focusing on this spot in the portal.

 

[rrlbees]

Good post, but the more interesting issue is who is the 5th starter if no Judah. I hope it would be a truly open competition, but Bell would probably be the favorite.

PG Westry
2G JJ
SF Bell
PF Williams
C McLeod

 

[Cusefan69]

PG Westry
2G JJ
SF Bell
PF Williams
C McLeod

Agreed but also assumes no new adds. Sounds like Jake heard IF Judah goes there could be a portal plan B. Agree with the Bell slot though otherwise. Though Taylor seems better equipped to fill other parts of the stat lines from the albeit limited data in year1 for them both.

 

[kcsu]

PG Westry
2G JJ
SF Bell
PF Williams
C McLeod

agreed. Based on what Griff said it also looks like Brown will be slotted at the 5. The rest of the guys are pretty interchangeable. Cope can play a few spots; Williams can play both forward positions. Brown Power and center. Taylor is a natural 2 but could play the 3 if needed Bell could maybe play the 2 if needed. Lots of options for Red