New Rotation - Starting Lineup (w Melo)???

[newmexicuse]

XMas at this stage of his development is clearly better suited for the five than for the 4. It would now seem foolish to give him cameo starts at the four & risk having him pickup cheap fouls early.

It appears he has moved ahead of BMK for those backup 5 minutes.

That should make our starting five:

Melo
CJ
Kris
BT
Scoop

Leaves the bench w regular rotation players:

Dion
James
Rak - unusual situation if it plays out this way of a player being "promoted" out of the starting lineup and onto the bench.

Leaves MCW & BMK on the fringes in close/seriously contested games.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

XMas at this stage of his development is clearly better suited for the five than for the 4. It would now seem foolish to give him cameo starts at the four & risk having him pickup cheap fouls early.

It appears he has moved ahead of BMK for those backup 5 minutes.

That should make our starting five:

Melo
CJ
Kris
BT
Scoop

Leaves the bench w regular rotation players:

Dion
James
Rak - unusual situation if it plays out this way of a player being "promoted" out of the starting lineup and onto the bench.

Leaves MCW & BMK on the fringes in close/seriously contested games.

Absolutely not. You don't demote XMas for good play, that makes no sense. You continue to play BMK, especially for non-crucial first half minutes. He increases the depth of the bench and will provide foul protection. Also helps his development.

If Xmas can contiue his good play at the 5, I agree JB should consider using him as the backup center in the second half of close games.

But you want to continue grooming XMas for the 4. If XMas develops into a force at the 4 the front line of SU will be sick in years to come. XMas, Fab, DC2 for banging along with CJ/JS/ and a developing Grant. Wow.

 

[newmexicuse]

I really see no evidence that XMas has the skillset to be a 4 anytime soon. He is much better suited to the five right now. More backup minutes available @ the five than the way Jimmy is using him @ the four.

Backing up Melo would be a reward.

 

[Garbs]

he can still become the primary backup for Melo but I agree you don't move him out of the starting lineup

if/when fab gets back I would try to run more high low with Xmas in the high post

 

[jekelish]

I have to say, as much as I love CJ, he hasn't earned that starting spot (if Fab returns) based on the last two games. I've actually been disappointed in him, and would not demote Rak at this point.

And I'm as big a CJ fan as you can find.

 

[Garbs]

I have to say, as much as I love CJ, he hasn't earned that starting spot (if Fab returns) based on the last two games. I've actually been disappointed in him, and would not demote Rak at this point.

And I'm as big a CJ fan as you can find.

agreed, has been much better off the bench

 

[JoeSU]

I don't think you change your line-up based on one or 2 good or bad games.
And I still maintain that the emphasis on who starts is irrelvant.

 

[pfister1]

I don't think you change your line-up based on one or 2 good or bad games.
And I still maintain that the emphasis on who starts is irrelvant.

Well OPs point wasn't really about who starts and who doesn't as much as if Xmas is going to be the back up to FAB at Center do you want him starting at the 4 and being unavailable to back up the 5 because he picked up 2 or 3 cheap fouls in the first few minutes playing the four.

The other thing that is happening that could make this change more possible is that James has shown an ability to provide a little bit more on the inside at the 4 in recent games.

I'd say wait and see (i) if Melo is back and (ii) if Dirty and Xmas can replicate against WV as they are tougher team inside than either of the two teams we've just played.

 

[otto123]

Absolutely not. You don't demote XMas for good play, that makes no sense. You continue to play BMK, especially for non-crucial first half minutes. He increases the depth of the bench and will provide foul protection. Also helps his development.

If Xmas can contiue his good play at the 5, I agree JB should consider using him as the backup center in the second half of close games.

But you want to continue grooming XMas for the 4. If XMas develops into a force at the 4 the front line of SU will be sick in years to come. XMas, Fab, DC2 for banging along with CJ/JS/ and a developing Grant. Wow.

This is not demoting Xmas but promoting him he would get more minutes at the 5 then the 4. We need CJ at the 4 he has been playing great all year

 

[orangefan13]

Not so sure I agree that Rak is better at the 5 then the 4.

1. Cincy did a awfull job getting it to Gates the last 6 minutes Gates desreved better. On top of that with us not having a PF it didn't really make sense. With Fab being such a shot blocking presense teams are not going to drive without getting a body into Fab trying to take away his reactions(not that that will help them becuase it won't). Cooley really got into Bayes body. Cincy lacked that the last few minutes against Rak and Rak knows it.

2. That being said so much easier for a center to rebound when they don't have to play the ball. Offball rebounds are easier Hence Raks numbers.

3. Check out Raks rebounding numers at the 4 in MPG.

4. Fair opperated with Rick in the high post last year, hes opperating with Melo and Keita in the low this year. He isn't opoerating without a post presence though. Dion I think can opperate better without Melo then Fair can once he finds his hesitations again. He was rushing things the last two games.
Clearly Fair should get minutes with Melo and its obvious. He was beginning to show his aggression right when Melo had academic issues.

5. Howbout some 3-2 defense with KJO taking a extra step out and Melo taking a step or two to the right while Rak takes a step or two to the left. Or maybe a 1-2-2 with Triche being the first line. Not for long maybe for 5 mpg.

6. There will be a minutes jam between Rak Fair and JSouth right now if Rak doesn't play a few minutes at the 5.

7. What about Keita at the Four??? We have some his length and speed he is clearly a step ahead of Rak. Many of us were screaming for him to play some PF last year. Big difference between a jacked Center and a jacked PF. Keita will have nice height for a PF and has good mobility. It might help his rebounding ain the same light that being at Center Raks was helped yesterday.
I really Really Really think Keita at the Four could bring some decent results and better rebounding.

 

[jekelish]

Not so sure I agree that Rak is better at the 5 then the 4.

1. Cincy did a awfull job getting it to Gates the last 6 minutes Gates desreved better. On top of that with us not having a PF it didn't really make sense. With Fab being such a shot blocking presense teams are not going to drive without getting a body into Fab trying to take away his reactions(not that that will help them becuase it won't). Cooley really got into Bayes body. Cincy lacked that the last few minutes against Rak and Rak knows it.

2. That being said so much easier for a center to rebound when they don't have to play the ball. Offball rebounds are easier Hence Raks numbers.

3. Check out Raks rebounding numers at the 4 in MPG.

4. Fair opperated with Rick in the high post last year, hes opperating with Melo and Keita in the low this year. He isn't opoerating without a post presence though. Dion I think can opperate better without Melo then Fair can once he finds his hesitations again. He was rushing things the last two games.
Clearly Fair should get minutes with Melo and its obvious. He was beginning to show his aggression right when Melo had academic issues.

5. Howbout some 3-2 defense with KJO taking a extra step out and Melo taking a step or two to the right while Rak takes a step or two to the left. Or maybe a 1-2-2 with Triche being the first line. Not for long maybe for 5 mpg.

6. There will be a minutes jam between Rak Fair and JSouth right now if Rak doesn't play a few minutes at the 5.

7. What about Keita at the Four??? We have some his length and speed he is clearly a step ahead of Rak. Many of us were screaming for him to play some PF last year. Big difference between a jacked Center and a jacked PF. Keita will have nice height for a PF and has good mobility. It might help his rebounding ain the same light that being at Center Raks was helped yesterday.
I really Really Really think Keita at the Four could bring some decent results and better rebounding.

JB said Rak is better at the 5. I'll go ahead and side with him right now.

(I think Rak is eventually a 4, but right now, he's a 5)

 

[Sgt Cuse]

This is not demoting Xmas but promoting him he would get more minutes at the 5 then the 4. We need CJ at the 4 he has been playing great all year

I think most people who start and then subsequently do not start view that as a demotion.

If he is outplaying BMK at center then give XMas more minutes during the second halves of close games as the backup center. More minutes would be a reward.

As stated earlier, I think long term Rak can make a lot of noise at PF. Not many teams will be able to line up 2 bigs to counter DC2, XMas, and Fab (if he is around).

One of the great things about how JB has been handling the lineup is, not only is the team off to a great start, but he is doing it in a way that is developing the team for the future - playing more people, distributing minutes, playing Rak at the 4. I don't want to see him give that up now.

It's short sighted to freeze BMK out of the lineup. It reduces the size of the bench and delays the development of where you want XMas to be down the road (and probably would hinder the development of BMK as well). That is the move the old JB would have done. I, for one, like the adjustment JB has made and hope he doesn't have to change. If Fab is out, well then, bummer, yeah you've got to move Rak over. But even then, JB might do it in a AO/RJ type method.

 

[Garbs]

lol @ BMK playing PF

 

[stuckinbig11]

XMas at this stage of his development is clearly better suited for the five than for the 4. It would now seem foolish to give him cameo starts at the four & risk having him pickup cheap fouls early.

It appears he has moved ahead of BMK for those backup 5 minutes.

That should make our starting five:

Melo
CJ
Kris
BT
Scoop

Leaves the bench w regular rotation players:

Dion
James
Rak - unusual situation if it plays out this way of a player being "promoted" out of the starting lineup and onto the bench.

Leaves MCW & BMK on the fringes in close/seriously contested games.

Plain and simple: NO.