next year's starting Frontcourt | Syracusefan.com

next year's starting Frontcourt

Shark58

Shark58

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I'm thinking Motor Moyer at the 4, MD.eu at the 3 and TT in the middle


what you got?
 
I could see one of three lineups, but they are contingent upon landing Thorpe:

Frank
Thorpe
Battle
TT
Chukwu



Thorpe
Battle
Dolezaj
Moyer
TT


Thorpe
Battle
Dolezaj
Brissett
TT
 
Hope Brissett's more capable of producing quality minutes at the 3 than many of us believe.
 
I am pretty surprised to see so many penciling Chukwu in as a starter. He was behind a hobbled Coleman last year and even before the injury struggled to play up to speed and grasp the situation. I'm not saying he won't be much improved but I don't think we can count on it. Personally I have Thompson and Sidibe ahead of him on the depth chart until I see him in action.

Trying to pick our front court starters is pretty much a head scratcher though. We have a very promising looking group with zero game experience at the forward spots. Thompson has experience at center and will score it but played very poorly on the defensive end. Chukwu got hurt early last year but didn't show much of anything. Sidibe is a freshman big that has talent but they can take time to develop. You would think Moyer with a year in the program would have the advantage to snag one of those starting forward spots. Dolezaj looks like the only natural 3 to me. Brissett was the best player in Canada and has been developing quickly.

If I had to guess I'd say:
Dolezaj SF
Moyer PF
Thompson C
That said I think Brissett plays as many minutes as Moyer and Dolezaj and could wind up starting at either forward spot.
 
If Thompson doesn't play the 5 where does he play? I will grant you kids can improve on D but he has miles to go before he can even think about playing the back wing on the 2-3.
 
Newhouser said:
If Thompson doesn't play the 5 where does he play? I will grant you kids can improve on D but he has miles to go before he can even think about playing the back wing on the 2-3.
Expand...

This is why I keep coming around to him starting at the 5. He's going to play 30+ minutes. There is no indication that he will be any good on the wing defensively either. I also remember that he started the season coming off the bench and playing on the wing. He wasn't good there defensively but it also makes me wonder how much he worked on playing the 5 before the season started. Its possible he was just thrown into the spot on the fly because of Coleman's Knees and Chukwu's eye.
 
longislandcuse said:
If we get Thorpe I'm rolling with:

Thorpe/Howard/Washington
Battle/Howard/Washington
Dolezaj/Moyer/Battle
Brissett/Moyer/Sidibe
Thompson/Chukwu/Sidibe
Expand...

Swap Sidibe and Chukwu on that last line and I could see that.
 
My hope is Sidibe can be freshman year Baye Keita defensively because I don't believe TT can play defense. I think we start:

Howard
Battle
Dolezaj
Moyer
Thompson

I think the "winning" lineup will be:

Thorpe
Battle
Brissett
Thompson
Sidibe

The entire season to me comes down to whether we can make enough 3's to be a top 40 offense and TT being much improved defensively because that's where this team is going to have to earn its wins.
 
jordoo said:
Swap Sidibe and Chukwu on that last line and I could see that.
Expand...
Yea, that's more hopefulness in Chukwu than basing it on anything factual. If the eye injury wasn't the cause of his play last year than Sidibe with his athleticism should be the primary backup. Just really hoping that, at 7'2, Chukwu can be that guy.
 
TT at Center would be a major letdown. Maybe he'll start there, but I sincerely hope most of his minutes are at the 4 this season.

I'd prefer to see Moyer and TT at the 3 and 4 with Sidibe at the 5.
 
Brooky03 said:
TT at Center would be a major letdown. Maybe he'll start there, but I sincerely hope most of his minutes are at the 4 this season.

I'd prefer to see Moyer and TT at the 3 and 4 with Sidibe at the 5.
Expand...

I don't get that. I mean yes Thompson was bad defensively at center but will likely be worse on the wing defensively. So if he's going to play a lot wouldn't you prefer pulling the other guys center away from the basket on offense and playing two actual forwards on the wing defensively that have the potential to be good. I look at Moyer, Brissett and Dolezaj and see a lot of minutes and three good forwards. I look at Chukwu and Sidibe and see a huge question mark and a talented freshman who I think can be a good backup this year. If you are splitting time for Thompson at the 4 and 5 then he is less likely to improve defensively. Its a tough call though.
 
Last edited:
jordoo said:
I am pretty surprised to see so many penciling Chukwu in as a starter. He was behind a hobbled Coleman last year and even before the injury struggled to play up to speed and grasp the situation. I'm not saying he won't be much improved but I don't think we can count on it. Personally I have Thompson and Sidibe ahead of him on the depth chart until I see him in action.

Trying to pick our front court starters is pretty much a head scratcher though. We have a very promising looking group with zero game experience at the forward spots. Thompson has experience at center and will score it but played very poorly on the defensive end. Chukwu got hurt early last year but didn't show much of anything. Sidibe is a freshman big that has talent but they can take time to develop. You would think Moyer with a year in the program would have the advantage to snag one of those starting forward spots. Dolezaj looks like the only natural 3 to me. Brissett was the best player in Canada and has been developing quickly.

If I had to guess I'd say:
Dolezaj SF
Moyer PF
Thompson C
That said I think Brissett plays as many minutes as Moyer and Dolezaj and could wind up starting at either forward spot.
Expand...
There's a starter, then theres a JB starter
 
Trueblue25 said:
There's a starter, then theres a JB starter
Expand...

The problem with starting Chukwu is Thompson starts at the 4 and you are sitting two of Dolezaj, Moyer, Brissett in favor of Chukwu when all three are better basketball players than him. I said this last year when we started Roberson. You pushed Lydon out of position to the 3, White to the 2 and Battle to the bench. It makes no sense when all 3 are better than Roberson and Coleman for that matter. It was a hot mess. I'm cool with JB's quick hook starter who really isn't a starter if you are only displacing the guy who is coming in for him and at the same position. When you start moving multiple guys out of position or sitting multiple guys who are better players just because he's 7-2 and you want a real center you've screwed the pooch. Its not going to end well and then you are weeks behind other teams finding your actual rotation.
 
I'll be very disappointed if TT plays the 4. We have three talented Forwards in Brissett, Dolezaj and Moyer who should be able to contribute in big ways this year.

TT, unless he worked his butt off, is not quick or athletic enough to play the wing. My hope is he put on some muscle and can bang down low at the 5 more effectively.

Offensively, with our forwards being slashers with question marks at 3 point shooting, TT is able to pull his man away from the basket as his defender has to respect Thompson's ability to shoot. That opens up the lane for OB, MD and Battle.
 
longislandcuse said:
I'll be very disappointed if TT plays the 4. We have three talented Forwards in Brissett, Dolezaj and Moyer who should be able to contribute in big ways this year.

TT, unless he worked his butt off, is not quick or athletic enough to play the wing. My hope is he put on some muscle and can bang down low at the 5 more effectively.

Offensively, with our forwards being slashers with question marks at 3 point shooting, TT is able to pull his man away from the basket as his defender has to respect Thompson's ability to shoot. That opens up the lane for OB, MD and Battle.
Expand...

I agree with all of this! I'm really looking forward to seeing these three forwards this year. If Thompson gets stronger and can learn to hold position and cut off drives like AO used to that would be good enough IMO. AO created a lot of rebounds for our forwards as well as making it easy for the weakside help to come. He did it by knowing where to be, cutting off drivers and then walling up with his ARMS IN THE AIR.
 
Unless Thorpe joins the team before July and lights it up over the summer/fall, I see an opening day starting lineup of

PG) 6'4 Frank Howard
SG) 6'6 Tyus Battle
SF) 6'7 Oshae Brissett
PF) 6'8 Matt Moyer
C) 6'10 Taurean Thompson

That gives us 7'2 Chukwu off the bench to give Thompson a rest, or to slide Thompson to the 4 for a few minutes. Also lets Dolezaj, if he's ready, flexibility at the 3 or 4. We really need another guard, either Thorpe or Ayala to be a 3 guard rotation, I don't have a lot of faith in Washington being ready to contribute in the ACC as a freshman.
 
jordoo said:
The problem with starting Chukwu is Thompson starts at the 4 and you are sitting two of Dolezaj, Moyer, Brissett in favor of Chukwu when all three are better basketball players than him. I said this last year when we started Roberson. You pushed Lydon out of position to the 3, White to the 2 and Battle to the bench. It makes no sense when all 3 are better than Roberson and Coleman for that matter. It was a hot mess. I'm cool with JB's quick hook starter who really isn't a starter if you are only displacing the guy who is coming in for him and at the same position. When you start moving multiple guys out of position or sitting multiple guys who are better players just because he's 7-2 and you want a real center you've screwed the pooch. Its not going to end well and then you are weeks behind other teams finding your actual rotation.
Expand...
Bet he starts and is pulled within 45 seconds. Like freshman dajuan.
 
jordoo said:
I don't get that. I mean yes Thompson was bad defensively at center but will likely be worse on the wing defensively. So if he's going to play a lot wouldn't you prefer pulling the other guys center away from the basket on offense and playing two actual forwards on the wing defensively that have the potential to be good. I look at Moyer, Brissett and Dolezaj and see a lot of minutes and three good forwards. I look at Chukwu and Sidibe and see a huge question mark and a talented freshman who I think can be a good backup this year. If you are splitting time for Thompson at the 4 and 5 then he is less likely to improve defensively. Its a tough call though.
Expand...

I'm hoping that TT learns to play D at the wing. The letdown of him playing Center is that would mean he either is incapable of playing Forward in the zone or we again have no true Centers capable of playing a little bit of basketball. If he can't play Forward on D, his offensive production has to be sky high for him to be a net positive on the court. I'd rather have him be bad on the wing with a shot blocker at the rim than have him bad in the middle of the zone, allowing Centers to eat us alive. If neither Sidibe or Chukwu are ready to step up as the rim protectors we're hoping they are, then it's all moot cuz we're a 15 win team at that point, unfortunately.

I think TT is an actual Forward. It seems to be the more natural fit and that's what he'd be looking at playing in the NBA. If the Slovakian Wonder, Moyer, and Brissett are all productive players and TT learns to play passable defense in the middle, then okay, put him on the court with 2 of them and let them roll. I'm optimistic that one of those 3 will play really well, but not so optimistic that we'll get 2 of them to play well enough on offense to justify bumping TT to Center. For instance, if the 2nd Forward on the court with let's say TT and Moyer can't produce much better on offense than Sidibe (probably like 6-ish points), then I'd prefer the defensive advantage (we hope) of Sidibe at the rim over a few extra points from a wing.

I say all of this with the expectation that JB will probably be playing TT at Center, I'm just really really not looking forward to it. Watching Lydon forced to play Center hurt my soul and I miss watching a tall dude ruin lives at the rim in the middle of our zone. I want to watch a real Center for a change, darnit!
 
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