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Message: [QUOTE="RF2044, post: 1987204, member: 40"] Good post, Jake. This has been a really strange season so far. Between the hot start, the unusual non-contributions from a couple of guys expected to produce more, the humbling losses, the incredibly poor half court offensive execution, the defensive lapses, and the eventual lineup changes, it is hard not to feel like this team is starting at square one. We can only wonder how much further the team might be along on both sides of the ball if this was the lineup we'd gone with out of the gate. A couple of quick observations to add to yours: [LIST] [*]It will be interesting to see if the perimeter defense improves now that we have a guy [Battle] with the attributes to be a shut down defender playing there instead of White [*]Battle being on the court will also give the offense an infusion of much-needed diversification and versatility. We were far too one-dimensional before the lineup change. Having two guys in the lineup who can create off of the bounce for themselves and others will help White / Lydon get more open looks [*]I can't ever remember a senior getting benched like Roberson has. Certainly hasn't happened to a multi-year starter before [*]Chuckwu and Roberson are treading in dangerous waters. Of the two, Roberson has obviously proven that he can help the team. But if neither of them are going to produce, then we have the depth to overcome that and more on to players who will [*]Coleman seems to have quietly figured things out offensively. He's got the green light from the coaches to take that mid range jumper, and he's now finishing inside. His best "move" seems to be catching the ball with his back to the basket about 7 feet out, and then making a move on his man. For some reason, he finishes better this way than he does when he gets the ball down low [oddly enough] [*]Gillon needs to get his head out of his a$$. We need a third guy in the backcourt, and another ball handler. Similar to Roberson / Chukwu above in that if he doesn't find a way to start contributing, its going to be a long season for him [*]Thompson started out great, but has struggled of late. Needs to find his way without forcing. I wonder if he injured himself more than the coaching staff let on in that game prior to SC [*]It will be interesting to see what happens in these next couple of games, in terms of execution on both sides of the ball, now that the lineup has started to round into form [*]Tonight feels like a really important game [/LIST] [/QUOTE]

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