Class of 2016 SG/SF Andrew White (VA; Grad Transfer from Nebraska)

[AlaskaSU]

First post on this thread, since I've generally abstained while trying to contain my abject excitement at the prospect of bringing in a player of AW's caliber to add to our current squad.

As long as we're all feeling confident that this kid is coming, I'm operating off the following assumptions:

(1) This is a prototypical "win now" team. You have a roster full of seniors, grad transfers and early entries. You don't screw around with "feelings" with this kind of team. You put the players out there that can get you dubs. Period.

(2) It's a great roster. Deep at every position. Experienced. Supremely talented. That said, you can only run out 5 at a time. There will be a numbers crunch and playing time for guys that may be used to/expect minutes will be affected.

(3) I have to believe AW and Gillon were promised starting roles from jump street. They were in-demand grad transfers with consolidated recruiting periods. There wasn't a lot of time to convince these players that Cuse was the right landing spot and we needed to be forceful and aggressive in our pitch. Starting and playing big minutes had to be a huge selling point.

With those concepts in mind, I think JB rolls out Gillon, Battle, Lydon, White, and DC as his starters.

Gillon is the experienced ball handler. Safe, steady, move to have him run point on a FF contender.
Battle may be the most talented kid on the roster with the most dynamic all-around game. He ain't riding pine for Frankie, no matter how much he showed last year as a freshman.
Lydon is a lottery pick. I cannot envision any scenario where he does not start and play 30+ minutes a game.
AW ain't coming here to sub in. He starts and is featured in our offense -- just as Mali would have been -- from day one.
DC is the only question mark here. He is the least impressive of the starters and, I think, will be pushed for time from PC from day 1. If I was a betting man, Chuwku will outplay him minutes wise 2-1.

Roberson is going to get his 25 minutes a game filling in at the 4 for Lydon when he is either resting or moving to the 5.3 (btw - Lydon's versatility cannot be understated ... he truly makes this team multi-dimensional).

Frankie will be the primary/only backup guard with AW filling in occasionally at the 2.

Moyer and TT will play during the out of conference schedule but see limited time in conference unless there is a serious foul problem with one of the top 8 guys.

Sick team, fellas. Sick, sick team. Can't wait for the season to start.

Not starting but still getting big minutes are not exclusive concepts. Lydon can play multiple positions. No need for him to start. Roberson and DC3 start. They are seniors and will be team captains.

 

[Dave85]

AW3 Countdown:

Registration for new graduate students Monday, August 1

22 days left to AW3 watch 2016.

 

[Dave85]

Not starting but still getting big minutes are not exclusive concepts. Lydon can play multiple positions. No need for him to start. Roberson and DC3 start. They are seniors and will be team captains.

This is from another thread. It's pure speculation. But I tried to give each senior player 25 minutes. This is really hard to do if you try it.

PG: Gillon 25, Howard 15
SG: Battle 25, White 15
SF: Lydon 25, White 10, Moyer 5
PF: Roberson 25, Moyer 5, Thompson 5
C: Coleman 15, Chukwu 20, Thompson 5

 

[jdubs30]

This is from another thread. It's pure speculation. But I tried to give each senior player 25 minutes. This is really hard to do if you try it.

PG: Gillon 25, Howard 15
SG: Battle 25, White 15
SF: Lydon 25, White 10, Moyer 5
PF: Roberson 25, Moyer 5, Thompson 5
C: Coleman 15, Chukwu 20, Thompson 5

Take away TT's 5 from C and give to Lydon
Take away 5min from Howard and give it to Battle at SG
Take away 5 min from Moyer at PF and give to Roberson

 

[jdubs30]

Each position gets 40 minutes

PG: Gillon: 25, Howard 10, Battle 5
SG: Battle 27, White 13
SF: White 22, Lydon 18
PF: Roberson 28, Lydon 12
C: DC 18, PC 22, Lydon 4

Player minutes:
Gillon: 25
Howard: 10
Battle: 32
White: 35
Lydon: 34
Roberson: 28
DC: 18
PC: 18

Moyer and TT will sporadically see minutes, but JB will not consistently go 10

 

[Cuse'91]

Each position gets 40 minutes

PG: Gillon: 25, Howard 10, Battle 5
SG: Battle 27, White 13
SF: White 22, Lydon 18
PF: Roberson 28, Lydon 12
C: DC 18, PC 22

Player minutes:
Gillon: 25
Howard: 10
Battle: 32
White: 35
Lydon: 30
Roberson: 28
DC: 18
PC: 22

Moyer and TT will sporadically see minutes, but JB will not consistently go 10

God I hope you're right, but JB has shown very little in terms of coaching flexibility lately, in fact more crotchety/dogmatic...
He doesn't like substitutions during games, let alone flexible 10 man rotation combos in game. I pray we don't fall into a 6 or 7 man lineup that plays all the worthwhile minutes no matter what the situation; and hope he doesn't decide this rotation even before fall practice begins...

 

[cuseinseattle]

Battle
White
Lydon
Robe
Pc

This is how I see it only maybe with DC in the middle

 

[RF2044]

This is how I see it only maybe with DC in the middle

White will not play regular minutes at the 2. He's poorly suited for it.

 

[jdubs30]

White will not play regular minutes at the 2. He's poorly suited for it.

Agreed. The more I think about it, the more I think Gillon will be the "super sub". Battle play a decent amount of PG I think .. more than people think. But Gillon will get the lions share of the minutes at PG with Battle at the 2 and AW3 at the 3.

I do think starting Battle/AW3 at the top of the zone to start the game will give us an edge; nothing like staring a game and having the other team see a 6'6 and 6'7 athletic freak at the top of the zone.

 

[normaliswear]

White will not play regular minutes at the 2. He's poorly suited for it.

AW3 himself seems to disagree with the notion he isn't a guard and it's unlikely he would commit to any place that didn't plan to use him in the manor that gives him the best shot at the NBA. He will play mostly the 2 with only occasional sliding down to the 3 when more shooting is required.

 

[Shark58]

get it?

 

[Dave85]

It's not really about playing time. It's having the substitutions occur in a sequence which each player gets their PT. It's really hard to do. It's not like you are going to swap out 3 at a time. It's not like CYO.

 

[Dave85]

get it?

And on this fine note. Good night! My 12 year old has a lacrosse tournament tomorrow and I have to get up at 5:30 to make it to Princeton by 7:30.

 

[Shark58]

And on this fine note. Good night! My 12 year old has a lacrosse tournament tomorrow and I have to get up at 5:30 to make it to Princeton by 7:30.

Good luck and Good luck

 

[RF2044]

View attachment 68939 AW3 himself seems to disagree with the notion he isn't a guard and it's unlikely he would commit to any place that didn't plan to use him in the manor that gives him the best shot at the NBA. He will play mostly the 2 with only occasional sliding down to the 3 when more shooting is required.

Oh please. JB doesn't remotely give a crap about NBA prep. He's going to be a 3.

Honestly, sometimes I think that some posters are completely unaware about player capabilities. That lack of handle and 0.6 apg just scream guard...

He'll barely play any minutes at 2 next year.

 

[normaliswear]

Oh please. JB doesn't remotely give a crap about NBA prep. He's going to be a 3.

Honestly, sometimes I think that some posters are completely unaware about player capabilities. That lack of handle and 0.6 apg just scream guard...

He'll barely play any minutes at 2 next year.

And some posters don't grasp ya have to have teammates able to finish a pass off to get an assist... something nebraska lacked. He will play some at the 3 but he's primarily coming to play guard. And if JB doesn't care at all about the player's wishes he won't have said player on the team. AW3 already said the coaches had a good handle on his role and he wants to play guard since at 6'7 it's his best shot at being drafted. It's a good problem to have. But if he was told he'd play at 3 he'd already be on another visit.

 

[normaliswear]

And realistically... our need is shooting from the guard spot. We have 4 forwards... anything he gives us as a forward is a bonus not a need.

 

[RF2044]

And some posters don't grasp ya have to have teammates able to finish a pass off to get an assist... something nebraska lacked. He will play some at the 3 but he's primarily coming to play guard. And if JB doesn't care at all about the player's wishes he won't have said player on the team. AW3 already said the coaches had a good handle on his role and he wants to play guard since at 6'7 it's his best shot at being drafted. It's a good problem to have. But if he was told he'd play at 3 he'd already be on another visit.

Battle plays 2. White plays 3.

Except in the magical land where JB plays everybody out of position so that they can quote unquote enhance their NBA draft value over what's best for the team .

White won't see more than token minutes at 2. Book it.

 

[Cuse'91]

Battle plays 2. White plays 3.

Except in the magical land where JB plays everybody out of position so that they can quote unquote enhance their NBA draft value over what's best for the team .

White won't see more than token minutes at 2. Book it.

I haven't seen a second of video on AW3, but if he CAN play the 2, that's where he makes us special. We have, imo, 4 quality bigs, to play 3 of the 4 at the same time would be "special."
Now I imagine AW3 is similar to Southerland, James played the 3 for us, but could have just as easily played up top...

 

[iommi]

Battle plays 2. White plays 3.

Except in the magical land where JB plays everybody out of position so that they can quote unquote enhance their NBA draft value over what's best for the team .

White won't see more than token minutes at 2. Book it.

I agree but it will certainly be nice to have another guy who could play guard if need be. Now we have talent and depth everywhere. If JB HAS to play AW3 at the 2, we know it's not outrageous that we could buy a few situational/ emergency minutes with him there.

Literally the only players on the team who are locked into one position are DC and PC.

Our Trunk Monkey lineup could be huge if JB wants to go that way. Battle will be an absolute beast on the press. I hope JB uses the press as a weapon with Chukwu looming on the back end. With our depth, foul trouble from the press will not be a concern.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I was under the strong impression that Battle chose SU because he was going to be a PG here. At times, JB says there is no such thing and that a G is a G so who knows. I bet he will get a chance as prime ball handler in the early season and if he proves to be better suited off the ball then he would spend most time there the rest of the way. That would push AW to the 3 for certain. Who knows, JB does tinker in November so anything could happen, plus we have no real surety that White will be coming at this moment.

 

[iommi]

I haven't seen a second of video on AW3, but if he CAN play the 2, that's where he makes us special. We have, imo, 4 quality bigs, to play 3 of the 4 at the same time would be "special."
Now I imagine AW3 is similar to Southerland, James played the 3 for us, but could have just as easily played up top...

I doubt Southerland could've played up top at a legit 6'8".

 

[normaliswear]

Battle plays 2. White plays 3.

Except in the magical land where JB plays everybody out of position so that they can quote unquote enhance their NBA draft value over what's best for the team .

White won't see more than token minutes at 2. Book it.

Magical fairy land where a guy who has played mostly guard in his career, considers himself a guard, and transfers to a school known for big guards... plays guard??? In the end it's up to JB... but this attitude that anyone who disagrees on where a transfer who's never once played for this team might play has obviously never watched a basketball game is absurd. You want to make a case for why you believe what you believe great... lose the high horse.

 

[iommi]

I was under the strong impression that Battle chose SU because he was going to be a PG here. At times, JB says there is no such thing and that a G is a G so who knows. I bet he will get a chance as prime ball handler in the early season and if he proves to be better suited off the ball then he would spend most time there the rest of the way. That would push AW to the 3 for certain. Who knows, JB does tinker in November so anything could happen, plus we have no real surety that White will be coming at this moment.

Battle chose SU with the promise that he will be a focal point of the offense and the ball in his hands a lot. He said the staff looks at him as a combo guard. He's not hoping or thinking he will be PG.

 

[Cuse'91]

I doubt Southerland could've played up top at a legit 6'8".

Maybe not in man to man, but zone? Why the hell not?