OrangeZeus
Walk On
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- Dec 24, 2013
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What position will Taurean Thompson play on defense for the 2017-18 season?
Ideally Thompson could be like Tyler Lydon next season and be able to bounce back and forth between the two positions. But Lydon had a great zone IQ and knew his slides and positioning for both positions. On the other hand, Thompson looked lost at both positions, so I'd almost rather see him focus his entire effort on learning one position rather than split his time and focus between learning both positions.
If Thompson plays the middle of the zone, that forces Chukwu and Sidibe to the bench as his backups. Sidibe might be able to play some on the wing, but I think he's most valuable to us as a center in the long-run. Also, if Thompson is in the middle, that leaves us thin at the forward positions with only Brissett and Moyer committed so far (hopefully Jordan Tucker adds to the depth, but three freshman for the two forward positions is a little unnerving to me at least).
If Thompson commits completely to the wing on defense, that improves our wing depth, but then we go into the season with just Chukwu and Sidibe in the middle. I guess that can't be any worse that what we had at the position last season. They are both in the neighborhood of 225 pounds so hopefully they can bulk up a bit before the start of the season.
Now I've pretty much just talked about where Thompson is better off relative to the other players we have on our team so far. What position he is actually better off playing is a whole different story. I guess you could say he was slightly better in the middle of the zone than the wing last year, but I'm not sure if anyone knows where he'll be most valuable to us on defense moving forward.
So what are your thoughts on his defensive position next season and does anyone have any indication what the staff's plans might be (even though it's really early in the offseason)?
Ideally Thompson could be like Tyler Lydon next season and be able to bounce back and forth between the two positions. But Lydon had a great zone IQ and knew his slides and positioning for both positions. On the other hand, Thompson looked lost at both positions, so I'd almost rather see him focus his entire effort on learning one position rather than split his time and focus between learning both positions.
If Thompson plays the middle of the zone, that forces Chukwu and Sidibe to the bench as his backups. Sidibe might be able to play some on the wing, but I think he's most valuable to us as a center in the long-run. Also, if Thompson is in the middle, that leaves us thin at the forward positions with only Brissett and Moyer committed so far (hopefully Jordan Tucker adds to the depth, but three freshman for the two forward positions is a little unnerving to me at least).
If Thompson commits completely to the wing on defense, that improves our wing depth, but then we go into the season with just Chukwu and Sidibe in the middle. I guess that can't be any worse that what we had at the position last season. They are both in the neighborhood of 225 pounds so hopefully they can bulk up a bit before the start of the season.
Now I've pretty much just talked about where Thompson is better off relative to the other players we have on our team so far. What position he is actually better off playing is a whole different story. I guess you could say he was slightly better in the middle of the zone than the wing last year, but I'm not sure if anyone knows where he'll be most valuable to us on defense moving forward.
So what are your thoughts on his defensive position next season and does anyone have any indication what the staff's plans might be (even though it's really early in the offseason)?