Time for a lineup shake up

[br801]

Red will lose the fanbase if he doesn’t start this lineup. These guys need to play 30+.Hope he realizes this.

Bell off the bench could be the best thing for him and Cuffe Taylor can spot the guards some rest. Hima and Carey gave us productive minutes nothing great but I’m pretty sure 21-0 happened with neither on the court.

Lose the fanbase? Stop with the melodrama.

 

[br801]

Hey, Carey can be the .5. He had a couple of nice dunks tonight .

Last night was a huge step in his journey to Springfield.

 

[Orangefan1]

It’s time for a starting lineup change if Red wants to save the season:

Starting PG - Q
Guard 2 - Judah
Guard 3 - JJ
Forward 1 - Maliq
Forward 2 - Benny

Bell and Cuffe off the bench. The rest stay on the bus.

It is time for a shake up and it’s of the roster we have and some of the players we brought back that aren’t ACC players. When Red inherited this team he brought back too many of these guys he thought were better than they actually are. Then we brought in McCloud and Cuffe who I questioned. We got a few players in the works but we need a lot more to be contenders in this league. Idk why people are happy with where we are. Looks like a double digit loss team even with man to man defense

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I love Q not starting. His versatility allows him to go in for four different players to change things up.

Problem is that two of those starteRS are beyond limited. IMO, start Benny and put Taylor back on the bench.

I agree all around. Q can bring energy when we start sagging.

 

[tptcuse]

I agree all around. Q can bring energy when we start sagging.

And Benny is actually a 4

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Hey, Carey can be the .5. He had a couple of nice dunks tonight .

What happened on that airball? Wonder if he got bumped from under. Thought his arm got hit, but was half watching on a small screen while i was watching a lecture on the bigger screen.

 

[DoctahLexus]

JJ and Judah’s defense is really disappointing. Both have the athleticism to really get after it and be lockdown defenders, but the focus just isn’t there.

Mintz does play good defense pretty often but has lapses. JJ I have literally never seen it. He is useless on D. Just completely and totally lost on help defense. Will just let his man go by him. Does not care at all if they are a threat from range. No matter where the shot is, he is horrible at contesting it. He is also 9 times out of 10 the guy who gives up a three point shot when we go into zone. Granted we should just stop doing that anyways, but still.

 

[CuseTG2003]

Mintz does play good defense pretty often but has lapses. JJ I have literally never seen it. He is useless on D. Just completely and totally lost on help defense. Will just let his man go by him. Does not care at all if they are a threat from range. No matter where the shot is, he is horrible at contesting it. He is also 9 times out of 10 the guy who gives up a three point shot when we go into zone. Granted we should just stop doing that anyways, but still.

Agree 100%. There's no excuse for either. They're both more than capable of being above average defenders.

My gripe w/ Judah is he lets bad possessions on the other end impact his D. Inexcusable. He's constantly hunting fouls and if he doesn't get a call, he'd rather complain to the ref than get back on D and help his team defend.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Q has to play. The two man game with Brown was opening tons of space for Judah and JJ. Then we just had to play Bell I guess? Not sure why

makes you appreciate why JB would never sub if we were cooking. Of course he would never sub even if we weren’t… but still.

 

[Cusefan0307]

What happened on that airball? Wonder if he got bumped from under. Thought his arm got hit, but was half watching on a small screen while i was watching a lecture on the bigger screen.

He was fouled. They didn't call it. Refs lot a let go last night and Judah especially was getting frustrated by it.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

He was fouled. They didn't call it. Refs lot a let go last night and Judah especially was getting frustrated by it.

Yeah, I think it's fair to say he took some bumps on his drives last night that in most of our games have been sure whistles.

 

[TinyManInside]

I don’t understand why Taylor plays more than zero minutes a game.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I don’t understand why Taylor plays more than zero minutes a game.

Made sense early in the season, but at this point I think Red's thinking is it'll completely bury his confidence and if he has any chance at productive minutes he's got to keep him in it mentally and those minutes need to come early.

 

[br801]

Made sense early in the season, but at this point I think Red's thinking is it'll completely bury his confidence and if he has any chance at productive minutes he's got to keep him in it mentally and those minutes need to come early.

Starter or not, Taylor will have to play more than token minutes for this team. There just aren't enough bodies to get through a game otherwise. He has certainly regressed from last season, and he is pretty unproductive by most advanced statististical measures (as is Cuffe) but there don't seem to be viable alternatives. Williams has been fairly productive in a reserve role, thanks to solid rebounding and defensive numbers, but all bets are off if you ask more of him than that, or if he starts believing he should be operating like Carmelo Anthony within this offense.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Mintz does play good defense pretty often but has lapses. JJ I have literally never seen it. He is useless on D. Just completely and totally lost on help defense. Will just let his man go by him. Does not care at all if they are a threat from range. No matter where the shot is, he is horrible at contesting it. He is also 9 times out of 10 the guy who gives up a three point shot when we go into zone. Granted we should just stop doing that anyways, but still.

He’s so fast, but never in the right position. It’s uncanny

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Starter or not, Taylor will have to play more than token minutes for this team. There just aren't enough bodies to get through a game otherwise. He has certainly regressed from last season, and he is pretty unproductive by most advanced statististical measures (as is Cuffe) but there don't seem to be viable alternatives. Williams has been fairly productive in a reserve role, thanks to solid rebounding and defensive numbers, but all bets are off if you ask more of him than that, or if he starts believing he should be operating like Carmelo Anthony within this offense.

He can’t be the starter. Let’s reward Benny and see if that gets even more out of him. Like defense.

 

[br801]

He can’t be the starter. Let’s reward Benny and see if that gets even more out of him. Like defense.

Benny certainly has earned more minutes, however he gets them. I would have no problem with him starting over Taylor.

 

[NorSyr66]

What you are asking for is the JB 6 man rotation.

...call it anything you like, JUST MAKE SURE Copeland is in the starting five!

 

[newmexicuse]

Our best starting five is pretty clearly - Maliq, Cope, JJ, Judah, and Benny.

Problem with going that route is it leaves NOBODY on the bench to come in and be a spark.

So that being said, I think our starters should be Maliq, JJ, Judah, Benny, and Bell.

My logic is that Cope will get his minutes anyways, and his ability to play multiple positions will allow Red to sub him in for whomever is not playing well out of the gate. He is a terrific mix and match option.

That would leave a bench of Cope, Cuffe, Justin, Carey, and Hima.

Justin has been awful this season. There is no reason to think he should be a D1 caliber rotation player based upon what he has done so far this season, but maybe in a different role he can improve a bit.

Cuffe has shown some flashes, but like so many others on this team you just dont know what you will get from him from game to game.

I like the way Carey is coming on. He has good mobility and he cuts to the hoop. I think he might to adequate for 5 to 8 minutes/game off the bench. However, if Maliq gets in foul trouble as we saw against BC - uh oh !!! Hima, too, might be Ok if he was healthy.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Problem with going that route is it leaves NOBODY on the bench to come in and be a spark.

So you'd rather not start your best 5, just so you can get a spark to climb out of a hole?

We're short on talent, we don't legitimately have a rotation of ACC-level players. So whether we go 6, 7, or 8 deep it doesn't matter. The depth stinks. Start your best 5.

 

[Fly Rodder]

He can’t be the starter. Let’s reward Benny and see if that gets even more out of him. Like defense.

The more I've thought about this as the season as gone on and Taylor is sooooo ineffective, it makes me wonder if part of it is Benny's punishment after the suspension. Like maybe Red told him he wouldn't start a game this season and any minutes would only come off the bench and Red is sticking to it.

Otherwise, I have no idea.

 

[tptcuse]

The more I've thought about this as the season as gone on and Taylor is sooooo ineffective, it makes me wonder if part of it is Benny's punishment after the suspension. Like maybe Red told him he wouldn't start a game this season and any minutes would only come off the bench and Red is sticking to it.

Otherwise, I have no idea.

That's my theory too.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

The more I've thought about this as the season as gone on and Taylor is sooooo ineffective, it makes me wonder if part of it is Benny's punishment after the suspension. Like maybe Red told him he wouldn't start a game this season and any minutes would only come off the bench and Red is sticking to it.

Otherwise, I have no idea.

Could be. Maybe Red's just being too nice.

 

[Goin' Deep]

Alot of "meat on the bone" here...
I start Brown, Benny Bell JJ and Mintz. I watch Benny and Bell and bring in Taylor when one of them is having a bad night OR early foul trouble. Have one of the coaches settle down the removed starter, tell him what's going on, what might work offensively and HIT the friggin' boards!!Also tell Taylor before he goes in where an open 3 might be.
Bring in Carey or Nima for Brown either for a breather or for foul trouble. There is no reason for Brown to be in foul trouble in the first half because we have at least 6 fouls (2 each) for the players to absorb.
And bring in Copeland to give either JJ or Judah a blow. Before Q takes the court, GMAC and he have a discussion about what's going on and what's likely to work. Then you bring in the rested starter for the one who has played since the opening tap a few minutes later.
Four minute timeout...?
You have Carey, Judah, Copeland, Cuffe and Benny on the floor and you press the hell out of the other team after the first CUSE basket.

We go into the locker room with a 16 pt lead. During halftime Coach Autry tells the team," HEY!! You don't play D you'll be sittin' with me!!"

 

[newmexicuse]

So you'd rather not start your best 5, just so you can get a spark to climb out of a hole?

We're short on talent, we don't legitimately have a rotation of ACC-level players. So whether we go 6, 7, or 8 deep it doesn't matter. The depth stinks. Start your best 5.

I am advocating starting Benny over Taylor to change the starting five. Until you do that and see what transpires there is no way to say that that combination would result in us being in a hole or not (relative to competition level).

Red does not have a lot to work with with this group. Got to try and find an effective starting five without leaving the bench barren.