Rotation Thoughts while Freeman is Out

[Niastri]

In the four games since Syracuse lost Freeman, we have gone with a very JB looking rotation.

Starters have played bigger minutes, with George 33.5, Kyle 31.3, Starling 31.5 and Kingz 34.3 (he played very little against Iowa State, was he injured?) averaging over 30 per game. Betsey 23.5, White 21.3 despite "starting," and Anthony 20.8 have filled out the rotation with Souare as the .5 in the 7.5 player rotation at 8 minutes per game.

Nobody else has really played except in the blowout against Iowa State when Kingz played only 15 minutes.

I think this is our team going forward, with only spot minutes going to anybody else in an game that doesn't have a big lead or deficit.

I think it is a good team, with a nice rotation of size in Kyle, White, Betsey and Souare.

It has nice dribble penetration with Starling, George and Kingz.

It might have decent shooting, with Kingz and Betsey showing serious flashes of ability, and White, Starling and George at least adequate to keep 'em honest.

Rebounding will probably be a problem, as we got rebounded, in some cases badly in Vegas and Tennessee. I think we are again having a JB lite strategy of challenging the shot and worrying about the rebound later.

Our defense is very good, with us rating top30 after Tennessee in scoring defense and several other important defensive categories, without having a super slow pace to limit scoring. I did a pretty detailed analysis in the defense thread that popped up after Rich Barnes complimented our defense.

If this is the squad going forward, without any future 3 games against top opponents in 3 days type stretches, I think we can win a bunch of games.

If Freeman returns, I hope he comes back to a strong competition for minutes, as guys have proven their worth, and nobody is relegated to the bench as a result of the arguably best best returning. I hope he takes a few minutes from everybody and we get much deeper, not hurting the depth. Say, three to three and a half minutes from 7 guys instead of somebody being pushed to a deep reserve role.

I see big upside and/or present value in every player in our current rotation.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

In the four games since Syracuse lost Freeman, we have gone with a very JB looking rotation.

Starters have played bigger minutes, with George 33.5, Kyle 31.3, Starling 31.5 and Kingz 34.3 (he played very little against Iowa State, was he injured?) averaging over 30 per game. Betsey 23.5, White 21.3 despite "starting," and Anthony 20.8 have filled out the rotation with Souare as the .5 in the 7.5 player rotation at 8 minutes per game.

Nobody else has really played except in the blowout against Iowa State when Kingz played only 15 minutes.

I think this is our team going forward, with only spot minutes going to anybody else in an game that doesn't have a big lead or deficit.

I think it is a good team, with a nice rotation of size in Kyle, White, Betsey and Souare.

It has nice dribble penetration with Starling, George and Kingz.

It might have decent shooting, with Kingz and Betsey showing serious flashes of ability, and White, Starling and George at least adequate to keep 'em honest.

Rebounding will probably be a problem, as we got rebounded, in some cases badly in Vegas and Tennessee. I think we are again having a JB lite strategy of challenging the shot and worrying about the rebound later.

Our defense is very good, with us rating top30 after Tennessee in scoring defense and several other important defensive categories, without having a super slow pace to limit scoring. I did a pretty detailed analysis in the defense thread that popped up after Rich Barnes complimented our defense.

If this is the squad going forward, without any future 3 games against top opponents in 3 days type stretches, I think we can win a bunch of games.

If Freeman returns, I hope he comes back to a strong competition for minutes, as guys have proven their worth, and nobody is relegated to the bench as a result of the arguably best best returning. I hope he takes a few minutes from everybody and we get much deeper, not hurting the depth. Say, three to three and a half minutes from 7 guys instead of somebody being pushed to a deep reserve role.

I see big upside and/or present value in every player in our current rotation.

I agree that it looks like this is the serious rotation (that pushes to 8.5 when Freeman plays), but that we'll see some of the fringe guards like Zephir and Fennel a little more against the less challenging part of the OOC schedule.

 

[tbonezone]

okay after a grinding couple weeks, (toughest stretch in quite some time) we are finally into what i like to call Little Debby December. this is usually where we feast on cupcakes and pad the W column.
now it's okay to experiment with some different looks. 1st and foremost we need to establish who can consistently knock down an open trey. just driving and dunking on inferior squads proves nothing.
we NEED an outside weapon ! second thing i like to see is red and staff teaching sadiq white how to play hard but not commit silly fouls . challenge him to go 30 minutes and not foul out. work on that stuff til donnie freeman gets back and we can do some damage.

 

[MikeSU02]

In the four games since Syracuse lost Freeman, we have gone with a very JB looking rotation.

Starters have played bigger minutes, with George 33.5, Kyle 31.3, Starling 31.5 and Kingz 34.3 (he played very little against Iowa State, was he injured?) averaging over 30 per game. Betsey 23.5, White 21.3 despite "starting," and Anthony 20.8 have filled out the rotation with Souare as the .5 in the 7.5 player rotation at 8 minutes per game.

Nobody else has really played except in the blowout against Iowa State when Kingz played only 15 minutes.

I think this is our team going forward, with only spot minutes going to anybody else in an game that doesn't have a big lead or deficit.

I think it is a good team, with a nice rotation of size in Kyle, White, Betsey and Souare.

It has nice dribble penetration with Starling, George and Kingz.

It might have decent shooting, with Kingz and Betsey showing serious flashes of ability, and White, Starling and George at least adequate to keep 'em honest.

Rebounding will probably be a problem, as we got rebounded, in some cases badly in Vegas and Tennessee. I think we are again having a JB lite strategy of challenging the shot and worrying about the rebound later.

Our defense is very good, with us rating top30 after Tennessee in scoring defense and several other important defensive categories, without having a super slow pace to limit scoring. I did a pretty detailed analysis in the defense thread that popped up after Rich Barnes complimented our defense.

If this is the squad going forward, without any future 3 games against top opponents in 3 days type stretches, I think we can win a bunch of games.

If Freeman returns, I hope he comes back to a strong competition for minutes, as guys have proven their worth, and nobody is relegated to the bench as a result of the arguably best best returning. I hope he takes a few minutes from everybody and we get much deeper, not hurting the depth. Say, three to three and a half minutes from 7 guys instead of somebody being pushed to a deep reserve role.

I see big upside and/or present value in every player in our current rotation.

Donnie needs to play. He is by far our best guy at getting to the FT line and making FTs. He was at 9 FTA/game and making 78% of them. For the year, our team is 153rd in FTA and 365th in FT%. He's also our second best rebounder. He's also efficient. If he continues on his current pace, he would be the first guy over 25 PER since Jesse.

The other area where we can make a jump is with 3PT%. We are 209th in 3PA and 320th in 3PT%. Even incremental improvements, like in FTs, will equal wins.

Betsey is taking 6 threes a game and making one third. Not good enough.
Kingz is taking 5 threes a game and making a quarter. Not good enough.
Kiyan is taking a hair under 4 a game and making less than a quarter of them. Not good enough.
George is taking slightly more than 3.5 a game and making 31% of them. Not good enough.

If two of these guys uptick just a bit, we will be cooking with gas.

We are so so so close to being a top 25 team. I truly believe that. We just need some guys to settle in, get Donnie back, have George be a lead guard and Kingz remember he is an assassin from three, we will be ok.

 

[Orangezoo]

Donnie needs to play. He is by far our best guy at getting to the FT line and making FTs. He was at 9 FTA/game and making 78% of them. For the year, our team is 153rd in FTA and 365th in FT%. He's also our second best rebounder. He's also efficient. If he continues on his current pace, he would be the first guy over 25 PER since Jesse.

The other area where we can make a jump is with 3PT%. We are 209th in 3PA and 320th in 3PT%. Even incremental improvements, like in FTs, will equal wins.

Betsey is taking 6 threes a game and making one third. Not good enough.
Kingz is taking 5 threes a game and making a quarter. Not good enough.
Kiyan is taking a hair under 4 a game and making less than a quarter of them. Not good enough.
George is taking slightly more than 3.5 a game and making 31% of them. Not good enough.

If two of these guys uptick just a bit, we will be cooking with gas.

We are so so so close to being a top 25 team. I truly believe that. We just need some guys to settle in, get Donnie back, have George be a lead guard and Kingz remember he is an assassin from three, we will be ok.

One thing about the 3 pt shooting is we aren’t missing by much. A lot of shots in and out or soft misses which does bode well on the law of averages. We easily could be 4-5 pts higher as a team in that space which if paired 5 pct points higher on FTs in the context of recent outcomes we may have only 1 loss or none if the third game in Vegas was an easier opponent…

To your last comment , with Donnie back I 100 pct agree. This is a top 20 defense and is a few things you noted from being a clear top 25 team.

 

[MikeSU02]

One thing about the 3 pt shooting is we aren’t missing by much. A lot of shots in and out or soft misses which does bode well on the law of averages. We easily could be 4-5 pts higher as a team in that space which if paired 5 pct points higher on FTs in the context of recent outcomes we may have only 1 loss or none if the third game in Vegas was an easier opponent…

To your last comment , with Donnie back I 100 pct agree. This is a top 20 defense and is a few things you noted from being a clear top 25 team.

Agreed that the threes, mostly, are coming within the offense and that, to your point, should mean that if we trust the process, they should start falling.

I hate that I'm convincing myself we could rip off a regular season run that could get us solidly in the 6-8 seed range, but I know that is magical thinking a bit.

 

[Orangezoo]

Agreed that the threes, mostly, are coming within the offense and that, to your point, should mean that if we trust the process, they should start falling.

I hate that I'm convincing myself we could rip off a regular season run that could get us solidly in the 6-8 seed range, but I know that is magical thinking a bit.

Watching this team it just has a feeling like there will soon be a game where things just click on offense in terms of transitioning from multiple stops on defense and on the confidence of getting those shots to fall. The talent is there for things to be much easier than they have on that side of the ball especially with Donnie in the mix. He and Sadiq both can score in the lane using that baby hook/floater, Kyle can score in the pivot a few times plus lobs and multiple guards can get to the rim off good screening with a couple individually as well (Kingz and JJ). Not to mention having multiple good passers. Thus the components are there.

With the injuries plus having to navigate 4 top 15 defenses there was a break in getting the chance to put all that together but we enter a perfect stretch to get that going and then not look back. Let’s hope for a change things break our way. I think we’re freaking due…

 

[NineOneSeven]

I’ll keep saying this…

Donnie Freeman is our best basketball player.

 

[tbonezone]

One thing about the 3 pt shooting is we aren’t missing by much.

what ? have you not been watching all the air ball assists inside ?

 

[Cuse_NYC]

I agree that it looks like this is the serious rotation (that pushes to 8.5 when Freeman plays), but that we'll see some of the fringe guards like Zephir and Fennel a little more against the less challenging part of the OOC schedule.

Wouldn’t mind a few min here and there for Luke. Zephir, not so much.

 

[Orangezoo]

what ? have you not been watching all the air ball assists inside ?

I’ve seen them. There is one of those for every 5 close misses. That doesn’t fit your typical narrative but the math matters.

 

[Niastri]

Donnie needs to play. He is by far our best guy at getting to the FT line and making FTs. He was at 9 FTA/game and making 78% of them. For the year, our team is 153rd in FTA and 365th in FT%. He's also our second best rebounder. He's also efficient. If he continues on his current pace, he would be the first guy over 25 PER since Jesse.

The other area where we can make a jump is with 3PT%. We are 209th in 3PA and 320th in 3PT%. Even incremental improvements, like in FTs, will equal wins.

Betsey is taking 6 threes a game and making one third. Not good enough.
Kingz is taking 5 threes a game and making a quarter. Not good enough.
Kiyan is taking a hair under 4 a game and making less than a quarter of them. Not good enough.
George is taking slightly more than 3.5 a game and making 31% of them. Not good enough.

If two of these guys uptick just a bit, we will be cooking with gas.

We are so so so close to being a top 25 team. I truly believe that. We just need some guys to settle in, get Donnie back, have George be a lead guard and Kingz remember he is an assassin from three, we will be ok.

I absolutely agree that having Freeman at the top of the rotation would be great. He does so many things well, and had so much more upside, that a healthy Freeman really increases the ceiling of the team.

I think this team, as it currently stands, could come away with single digit regular season losses with a high seed in the ACC tournament.

With a healthy, developing Freeman, I could see a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Remember, Donnie hasn't yet played 20 college games. The potential for huge improvement from his already high-level play is really exciting.

I hope he makes it back quickly.

 

[Orangezoo]

I absolutely agree that having Freeman at the top of the rotation would be great. He does so many things well, and had so much more upside, that a healthy Freeman really increases the ceiling of the team.

I think this team, as it currently stands, could come away with single digit regular season losses with a high seed in the ACC tournament.

With a healthy, developing Freeman, I could see a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Ferment, Donnie hasn't yet played 20 college games. The potential for huge improvement from already high-level is really exciting. Almost as exciting as the prospect of him not making it back this year is disappointing.

Donnie could play 20 mpg for a bit and work his way up as well. Given the team as a whole is battle tested without him, we don’t have to lean on him with huge minutes as soon as he gets back either.

 

[MikeSU02]

I absolutely agree that having Freeman at the top of the rotation would be great. He does so many things well, and had so much more upside, that a healthy Freeman really increases the ceiling of the team.

I think this team, as it currently stands, could come away with single digit regular season losses with a high seed in the ACC tournament.

With a healthy, developing Freeman, I could see a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Remember, Donnie hasn't yet played 20 college games. The potential for huge improvement from his already high-level play is really exciting.

I hope he makes it back quickly.

I *legitimately* think our upside is a 4 seed. I know that is wild to say, but I believe it.

 

[baggerbob]

Wouldn’t mind a few min here and there for Luke. Zephir, not so much.

Luke is probably our best free throw and 3 point shooter. Would like to see him get time in the soft part of the schedule. That way we can give George some rest if Red can get Luke up to speed.

 

[RF2044]

One quick note about: Souare as the .5 in the 7.5 player rotation at 8 minutes per game.


8 minutes is 20% of the game. Seems like more than a .5

 

[upperdeck]

Donnie needs to play. He is by far our best guy at getting to the FT line and making FTs. He was at 9 FTA/game and making 78% of them. For the year, our team is 153rd in FTA and 365th in FT%. He's also our second best rebounder. He's also efficient. If he continues on his current pace, he would be the first guy over 25 PER since Jesse.

The other area where we can make a jump is with 3PT%. We are 209th in 3PA and 320th in 3PT%. Even incremental improvements, like in FTs, will equal wins.

Betsey is taking 6 threes a game and making one third. Not good enough.
Kingz is taking 5 threes a game and making a quarter. Not good enough.
Kiyan is taking a hair under 4 a game and making less than a quarter of them. Not good enough.
George is taking slightly more than 3.5 a game and making 31% of them. Not good enough.

If two of these guys uptick just a bit, we will be cooking with gas.

We are so so so close to being a top 25 team. I truly believe that. We just need some guys to settle in, get Donnie back, have George be a lead guard and Kingz remember he is an assassin from three, we will be ok.

yes and the small size on 3s as well says its not hard to correct.

Betsy though shot 32% at Cincy so that might be his number. 33% from is 99 pts in 100 shots so thats like shooting 50%. If our whole team did that we would be scoring 10+ more a game.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I *legitimately* think our upside is a 4 seed. I know that is wild to say, but I believe it.

We romp through the rest of OOC and then the ACC for the most part, you can see a 4 seed.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I’ll keep saying this…

Donnie Freeman is our best basketball player.

For the last two years: by a lot

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Luke is probably our best free throw and 3 point shooter. Would like to see him get time in the soft part of the schedule. That way we can give George some rest if Red can get Luke up to speed.

Agreed. Luke needs 15-20mpg over the soft portion of our schedule this month.

 

[Niastri]

Agreed. Luke needs 15-20mpg over the soft portion of our schedule this month.

It would be nice if Fennell was able to get up to speed enough where he could beat out Zephir for spot minutes and give Red a viable option besides George at point guard.

 

[sugrad68]

I agree with everyone who says Donnie is easily our best player. But when is he returning to the court? Any updates?

 

[Niastri]

I agree with everyone who says Donnie is easily our best player. But when is he returning to the court? Any updates?

Every game you should check the starting lineup... When he's in it, he is back.