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Message: [QUOTE="IthacaMatt, post: 295256, member: 405"] This is how I see it. Starting Five C: Coleman PF: Christmas SF: Fair SG: Triche PG: MCW First In: : Southerland G: Cooney C: Keita Next (likely pre-Big East only): : Grant G: Mookie G: Walk-On PG I don't think we go 10 deep like last year, at least not with the same quality. The only way I see Mookie getting minutes is if someone gets injured. I would like to see the kid get a fair chance in his last go round. I'll bet he has matured a ton. And we might actually need him. I'd love to see him light up some team for 15 p0ints some night coming off the bench. He totally could do that. Grant may force himself into the rotation for Big East play. It's a matter of how well CJ and Stinky take their opportunities to increase their roles on this team. CJ is a solid garbage man in the Josh Pace mold, but a better mid-range shooter. I don't think he'll have a reliable 3 this year, but he might be able to make them now and then. Stinky could blow up this year into a Preston Shumpert kind of player for us in his last go-round. Seems really odd that Southerland is a senior already. A 3 guard rotation is all you need - just look at the last several years - so long as a couple of them can handle the ball and a couple of them can shoot the 3. We've got 3 guys who can do both. That's a huge plus. We've got size and athleticism at guard, too. Not as deep a team as the last couple years. We weren't that deep in 2010, either. This could turn into a similar team with good inside presence and offense around the basket in Coleman and Christmas, like AO and Rick provided. Cooney matches Rautins as the dead-eye shooter off screens, and can drive hopefully as well as Devendorf did. MCW is a rangy PG. He's got a bit of Z Sims in his game, in terms of long arms on defense, good size up front, and an ability to see ahead in the play and make quick decisions to deliver the ball. Very confident in that manner. Better shooter than Sims, quicker on his feet, and will be better at getting to the rim. If MCW can shoot FTs with confidence, it will be very important. I think Cooney's redshirt year is going to be a great thing - I think he will be much better prepared for being a solid contributor as the third guard. He's been "bodied" by big crafty guards in practice for a year, so hopefully that's made him a better player. I like Triche as the Derek Jeter of this team - don't force it, don't overtly "try to be the man", just be yourself, just execute on your fundamentals, play with confidence and understand how good you are. Bring confident leadership. Be your cool self. Baye Keita (LET'S ALL DROP THE "MOUSSA" THIS YEAR, PLEASE. THAT'S NOT WHAT THE KID CALLS HIMSELF.) He will be a very solid back up center for us this year. We don't have to have Christmas as our sole back-up center against a big strong center. Although Keita is thin, he is long armed, and he noticeably bothered Sullinger in the tournament, where Christmas tried hard, but was "big boyed" by a guy who outweighed him by 30+ pounds. I don't think Keita will ever be more than a part-time guy, but he could play a Hilton Armstrong role on this team. I just hope he has gained 15-20 pounds and his hands are healthy. With Christmas, it's entirely up to him. He needs a better motor, and maybe started to get that, when the intensity turned up on the post-season, when Melo was suddenly gone again. Christmas did play fairly well at center. Can he be effective at PF ? I think if we rotate him and Coleman up and down the lane into the low post, they both can be effective. Is either one a good passer in the high post ? I don't know. Keita, IMO, is an underrated passer in the high post, and I like him setting screens out there. He does well for a skinny guy. I can see Christmas being an effective, back-to-the-basket, classic low post center. Same goes for Coleman. I see them both having pretty good hands to accept and convert drop-off passes from the guards on the drive. We could be very good down low. I hope these guys can shoot 70%+ from the line. If so, we'll be a very good team and can contend in the Big East and nationally. [/QUOTE]

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