Still think MCW can play the 3 at times

[Cuse4]

he's long enough, a good enough defender and rebounder to play the position ... this would also open some minutes for cooney

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

he's long enough, a good enough defender and rebounder to play the position ... this would also open some minutes for cooney

Really think it depends on Fair's development. MCW will be awesome, but obviously he'd only be in to push K-Jo to the 4 to give us maximum range and athleticism. So if Fair does mix increased strength with a sweeter stroke, even if just consistent to 18 feet, then you might as well go with the extra size and experience. I've been pushing the 3-guard lineup too, but CJ really looked good during MM and now I just don't really see the need now... unless CJ ends up struggling. I also doubt the move would be to free up shots for Cooney, and more about keeping at least two of the three experienced guards on the court when giving MCW his time.

 

[SkanSU]

Hopefully before the BE we will see JB use allkinds of combinations - JB has a lot of talent to work with. When he needs speed and shooting from outside maybe he will try the 3 guard. I think, too, you will see a lot of rotation under the basket early on to test the various Bigs combinations. Before the BE I think the kids will get their pt.

 

[SkanSU]

Just for grins I took a look at who we have in the front court and who we are recruiting. My oh my ... very big indeed if we can land a few of these.
Fab 7'0"
BMK 6'10"
Rak 6' 9"
Fair 6'7"
KJo 6'7"
Grant 6'6" - 6'7"

Recruiting
Noel 6'10"
Okonoboh 6'9"
Anya 6'8"
Coleman 6'8"
Jefferson 6'8"
and our guards aren't much shorter (maybe except for Scoop and Dion)...

 

[jordoo]

I don't see why MCW couldn't play the 3 like Andy did as a junior. I don't think we will need him to d othat this season nor to I think we will see that in any meaningful game unless its at the very end situationally for the handle/Freethrow team.

A front line of Baye, Kris and CJ is very quick compared to most and still gives us 4 guys on the floor that can handle while going 6-10, 6-7, 6-8

 

[Dick_in_MI]

he's long enough, a good enough defender and rebounder to play the position ... this would also open some minutes for cooney

Doubt we'll see it this season. KJ will likely get 30+ minutes at the 3 with the rest going to CJ

 

[OttoinGrotto]

he's long enough, a good enough defender and rebounder to play the position ... this would also open some minutes for cooney

I just have no idea why this is needed. Between Joseph, Fair and Southerland we have an excellent collection of small forwards. Why on earth would we want to put an undersized guy at that spot?

 

[Knicks411]

Yeah, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me unless MCW absolutely blows up and becomes incredible, but even if that happens, then you'd probably just end up sitting Brandon or Dion or something.

 

[EastCoast2]

I just have no idea why this is needed. Between Joseph, Fair and Southerland we have an excellent collection of small forwards. Why on earth would we want to put an undersized guy at that spot?

Agreed. We all know JB likes to put the biggest guys out there, all else equal. Why put a 6'4-6'5 guy there when we have a 6'7 guy

 

[BostonOrange]

Agreed. We all know JB likes to put the biggest guys out there, all else equal. Why put a 6'4-6'5 guy there when we have a 6'7 guy

When all else isn't equal

 

[EastCoast2]

It's just hard to see a frosh guard taking minutes at the 3 away from a sophomore or junior forward

 

[OttoinGrotto]

When all else isn't equal

I think MCW is a good player, but to play him out of position where he'd be short and even slighter than he would at guard, when we have really good other options... I don't know, I think all else isn't equal, but probably not the way you do.

 

[SkanSU]

Why would JB put him at the 3 unless he wants to play a 3 guard game ... only then would MCW go in at the 3. We are pretty well set a the 3 with KJo, CJ, and Dirty ... coming off the bench in that order.

 

[RF2044]

My opinion only, but I hate playing a three-guard lineup and playing exclusively zone, as that puts us at a huge disadvantage on the defensive boards. I am squarely behind the idea of playing your best players, but it would be a different story if we played man or pressured to offset the size differential, and sitting back in zone and watching us get beat up on the backboards with guys routinely going over our "3" for long rebounds.

Even when we had a guy who was a damn good reb0under [Harris] playing on the back line, he still couldn't prevent that from happening due to his size. Ditto Pace, Rautins, etc.

Not a knock on MCW, who I think is going to be a fantastic player for us, but historically playing undersized guys on the back end of the zone isn't a successful formula against top flight teams.

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

Why would JB put him at the 3 unless he wants to play a 3 guard game ... only then would MCW go in at the 3. We are pretty well set a the 3 with KJo, CJ, and Dirty ... coming off the bench in that order.

I don't think this move would actually be about the 3, but instead freeing up K-Jo to slide to the four in order to get the most explosive offensive lineup possible out there. Which could certainly be an option if Dirty doesn't improve and CJ has an unexpected soph slump... but unless that happens, the difference in range and speed of the 3-guard lineup doesn't outweigh the size and experience of just running CJ/Dirty at the 4 for 1/3 to 1/2 of the game.

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

My opinion only, but I hate playing a three-guard lineup and playing exclusively zone, as that puts us at a huge disadvantage on the defensive boards. I am squarely behind the idea of playing your best players, but it would be a different story if we played man or pressured to offset the size differential, and sitting back in zone and watching us get beat up on the backboards with guys routinely going over our "3" for long rebounds.

Even when we had a guy who was a damn good reb0under [Harris] playing on the back line, he still couldn't prevent that from happening due to his size. Ditto Pace, Rautins, etc.

Not a knock on MCW, who I think is going to be a fantastic player for us, but historically playing undersized guys on the back end of the zone isn't a successful formula against top flight teams.

Good point, can't say I disagree, but I do think MCW is has a better combination of height/arm length/explosion than those three options you mention. So I think he will be better at those long rebounds and contesting shots.

 

[RF2044]

Good point, can't say I disagree, but I do think MCW is has a better combination of height/arm length/explosion than those three options you mention. So I think he will be better at those long rebounds and contesting shots.

On the flip side, he seems a lot skinnier [and presumably not as strong] as those three guys, so...

 

[orangefan13]

I see it slightly different.
I think based on isolation alone you can't count MCW out. I have MCW ahead of CJ in isolation at a 8 out of 10 to a 5 out of 10 based on two all star games and Midnight madness only. CJ didn't have the right handed dribbling technique or the crossover last year but he was explosively fast and high jumping. MCW ran circles around people, where CJ outjumped them more at the high school level.

Also CJ was so dependent on Rick for his isolation to work last year. MCW looks like hes dependent on nobody (a true PG). No knock on CJ.

I imagine MCW will join Fair and Keita as one of our three scrappy hustlers. So my guess is having all three on the floor will be a plus.

Thing is our defense at the top of the zone lacked a true extending defensive guard (the real first reason for the 4 game skid).

Other then rebounding I think the other problem is...
A) One of our other guards extends the defense well enough so he could play the three.
B) One of our other guards hasn't excelled from last year to do that yet and MCW becomes the guard who does.

Also you got to consider Kris got alot stronger at the other wing, and MCW was called by his high school coach maybe the best rebounding guard in the country.

Ultimately James alone could also put a end to this thought, and surprise alot of people this year(not me).

JB also tends to like to go to lineups for big minutes and He won't play fill ins this year just guys who can have enough impact to change the scoreboard for the better.

 

[Chibalotte]

Or... we can see how good MCW is before we have a freshman taking time away from our best players. Slow down guys we know nothing about his game yet.

 

[pfister1]

I don't see this happening at all.

But, if you were to play a three guard lineup what you're really talking about is responsibility on defense, because I'm not sure it makes a lot of difference at the offensive end. Wouldn't you be more likely to have Triche play the forward position on defense. He may not be quite as tall as MCW but the kid is heckuva lot stronger and more likely to be able to give you something on the glass from the forward spot and also more likely to be able to hold ground against a BE forward on the inside.

 

[jekelish]

The only way I can ever see MCW getting time at the 3 is if 1) he grows another inch or two and puts on some muscle, or 2) we go small in order to break a press or just to have an extra ball handler on the court, or 3) we have serious foul trouble with Kris, CJ and Southerland.

 

[Cuse4]

well the main reason I brought this up is because I feel that at times it would be nice to have a guy who is a "shooter" out there ... and the possibility of having MCW out there with Cooney and another guard would still give us 2 ball handlers because I'm not sure just how able Cooney will be to handle the ball at this stage in his career

 

[EastCoast2]

Or... we can see how good MCW is before we have a freshman taking time away from our best players. Slow down guys we know nothing about his game yet.

Couldn't have said it better. We're not Villanova. We thrive on putting 6'8 guys on the court

 

[EastCoast2]

well the main reason I brought this up is because I feel that at times it would be nice to have a guy who is a "shooter" out there ... and the possibility of having MCW out there with Cooney and another guard would still give us 2 ball handlers because I'm not sure just how able Cooney will be to handle the ball at this stage in his career

I think Cooney's handle will surprise many. That said, I don't think he'll get much PT at all being the 5/6th guard in the rotation

 

[Dick_in_MI]

well the main reason I brought this up is because I feel that at times it would be nice to have a guy who is a "shooter" out there ... and the possibility of having MCW out there with Cooney and another guard would still give us 2 ball handlers because I'm not sure just how able Cooney will be to handle the ball at this stage in his career

We also don't know how either MCW or Cooney will fare against BE defenses either.

IMHO, MCW will be our 4th option in the backcourt and zero option in the frontcourt this year. IMHO Cooney will be our 5th-6th option in the backcourt and will likely redshirt.