How does Red show fans he has the right handle on a rotation?

[Niastri]

I didn’t mind the rotations as much as many of you. Sometimes the coach knows something we don’t…

Especially when it comes to issues that would be covered by HIPAA violations. He can’t tell us if a kid is nursing an injury, a child or a hangover. But his substitutions need to reflect those realities.

We also can’t be entirely sure if a kid is getting yanked because he’s not following instructions. A wide open three taken by a player instructed not to shoot is a good reason for some bench time, whether it goes in or not.

My biggest problem with Red comes from his apparent lack of offensive system for much of the year. He absolutely seems to struggle teaching defense. Talent may have accounted for both issues. How do you get decent offensive play when you are starting Lampkin, Starling and three decent low major players? How do you teach defense when even your best players are subpar defenders?

The talent acquisition/team building aspect of this past season was undesirable, to say the least. It was made worse by injuries. (We’ve covered this). The upcoming season is going to be way better talent wise.

The rotations need to be cleaner, yes. But what about offensive system, play calling and consistency with all this new talent? What about defensive strategies, especially when your senior leader, Starling, isn’t a good defender?

On paper, Kyle, Freeman, Kingz, Starling and George is way better than Lampkin, Freeman, Bell, Starling and Carlos on both offense and defense. Without the injuries last season, the team is clearly better, and better constructed for different offensive and defensive schemes. Kyle, White and Suoare are huge defensive upgrades over Lampkin, Majstorovic and Davis. That difference is going to be huge.

I digress.

The team’s ceiling will be determined by coaching. We haven’t seen enough yet, imo. I think that’s why Red got his third season, with maybe a little help from some guys named Anthony.

 

[Niastri]

Especially when it comes to issues that would be covered by HIPAA violations. He can’t tell us if a kid is nursing an injury, a child or a hangover. But his substitutions need to reflect those realities.

A funny typo, I’m leaving it for accidental humor sake…

 

[Hopkins16]

When it comes time to play the best teams in and out of conference, and hopefully, tournament time, defense will win games. We will need guys to buy into playing defense and work on their S&C. The teams that went far in the tournament did not look like little boys and defense was at a high level. Cabiles need to be held accountable for not getting our guys where they need to be in the strength department. If Red goes next year due to lack of team improvement, Cabiles should go too.

 

[MikeSU02]

I think the first thing he needs to do is PICK A LANE.

Any of those options you list could be an effective system / approach. And maybe it varies slightly from year to year, based upon personnel.

But first, pick a lane and then run your rotations that way.

Agree with this.

Different systems can work, but pick a lane.

The other thing I'd say is to maintain offensive rotations that keep at least one guy that can break down a defense off the dribble on the floor at all times.

On defense... we have to be functional. Doesn't need to be great. Can even be below average as we get into the bench play, but it has to be functional. Cannot put out a rotation that cannot stop a team on any level.

I really like the off-season moves that Red has done, so I'm fine if he has to be flexible, especially at the beginning of the season. There are a lot of new faces.

I know I keep harping on this, but I think JJ's role when we kick off the season will be key to how we'll be on offense because I think it's going to be a bellwether to the overall strategy of the team (inclusive of rotations).

 

[CardiacCuse]

one thing about the rotation that bugged me last year was the impression that the 1st half was kinda like...give everyone a couple of looks...spread the opportunities and minutes around evenly ...perhaps to be "fair"///as the pre-decided game plan every game.

then in the 2nd half...whatever happened in the 1st was largely thrown out the window...and the rotation was smaller.

red didnt seem to sub players out a la carlos if they were ineffective...bc they were so necessary as dribblers or whatever cockamie reason

then on the other hand sometimes a player like cuffe would be very hot...in the 1st but get yanked quickly then never get back in, despite the team struggling to score.

there's a couple of layers to this - 1 play the hot hand and dont play the cold hand...i dont think red has a very good handle on this, generally. furthermore, feature the hot player or the one scoring easily until the other team stops them! for instance, lampkin might score 2 quick and easy buckets and not shoot another shot for 20 minutes! it makes no sense...its not only rotations...but also volume matching performance...which goes back to spreading it around and being "fair"

another layer is the depth of the squad - red said in preseason how deep they were and that they had 12 guys who can contribute...this should be a good thing...but it is also a double edged sword...managing depth and giving all of the guys is tricky. a carpenter with 10 tools isnt necessarily better than a carpenter with the right 3 tools. in other words, i think managing a deep roster is something red hasnt quite figured out.

JB just cut it down to 7 or 8 ...perhaps to make it easy on himself. it just simplifies everything. (it was also much easier to keep good guys on the bench before the portal...transferring was much less appealing than it is now) ...but otoh one of the best ever JB teams had 11 guys or so...with waiters off the bench. smaller rotations arent inherently better...but they do make it easier to play the combinations for the coach and the team...it just becomes obvious who should be in and out...when you have a 7 man rotation. with a 10 or 12 man team of active players...it is much more complex...and i dont think red figured out who to play this last year and when...it also took him a long time in his first year with this as well.

ive also noticed this when playing fsu when leonard hamilton would seem to make some poor decisions on who to play because he had 12 guys that were in his rotation...its going to be tricky if you have that many playable guys.

that said, generally i do definitely want as deep a roster as possible - if it were up to me I would fill all 15 scholarships - but I think that would certainly come with the downside of playing the wrong players at the wrong times and counteracting the supposed advantage of having that depth.

im not quite sure what kind of logic red uses to make his rotations and subs...but i hope he changes it for next year. but one change i hope he doesnt make is leaving good players on the bench simply to keep the rotation easier to manage. I want every player who is a plus out there to be out there in some form or other. and even more than that, i want the volume of shots to match performance. if the other team cannot stop JJ...i want him to shoot or drive every time until they stop him...and i dont want him to defer to share the ball to be nice or fair to the rest of the team. and that goes for every player.

there was a game last year when lucas taylor had like 10 quick points in the 1st half on some absolutely incredible shots...and barely did anything the rest of the game...bc he wasnt really getting the ball or minutes...i really really want that to stop.

if i was coaching that game ...taylor wouldve shot 20 shots...or at least he woulda kept getting the ball until he stopped scoring.