For those who still think this team has a chance to be very good what are you interested in against North Florida? What things will you be looking for from the players and staff? My oldest is finally getting into watching sports with me and has been watching SU this year. I think its given me a much better perspective that usual when we are winning or losing. She asks a lot of questions pertaining to basketball itself and why teams seem to play so differently. So for me the things that I'm looking for have been forming since game one as I've been forced to analyse what I'm watching more than usual.
Here are mine:
Will the staff effectively end the White as a guard experiment? They could do this two ways. Either they change the starting line up by inserting another guard or they use the first whistle to bring the guard in while leaving Howard out there. Either way they must be aware that the starting lineup is not ideal and that White as a guard limits the number of guys we have on the floor that can make a play with the ball. I think its leading to stagnant offense that often ends in a late 1on1 play or deep jumper that is not in the flow.
This sort of has to do with point one. Will the staff solidify the guard rotation and get them all regular minutes in regular shifts rather than pulling them when they screw up. Howard is a sophomore trying to run the show, he's going to make mistakes. Battle is a freshman finding his way and Gillon is new to the system. I don't think for a minute they will stop coaching these three hard and pointing out their mistakes but I do think its time to let them play for a good span of minutes and have more of a set rotation. They need to learn on the job and play through things at this point IMO. Moving White to the forward spot would go a long way in the aspect of freeing up more minutes at the guard spot while also always having a second guard out there to help whoever is running the point. This also would let White concentrate on one position defensively.
Will the staff experiment with Thompson in the middle. The wing of the 2-3 is notoriously hard for freshman to grasp especially the bigger guys like Thompson. Is it a better option defensively to bring Thompson in at center when you sit Coleman (I'll talk Chukwu later). Thompson is a far superior offensive talent than Roberson or Chukwu. I think long term this season getting him more minutes is going to help more than getting Roberson and Chukwu more minutes. Chukwu simply does not look ready this year IMO. Roberson is what he is at this point. He will be great in some games and non existent in others. His lack of being a threat on offense makes him a liability when he is not driving teams crazy on the glass.
Will Frank take ownership of this team? Will he learn to manage his emotions and move to the next play? He has the ability to be a fine PG this season but in two straight games we have seen what happens when things aren't going well and its not working and hurts the team when he is supposed to be running it. Frank is the key to this team IMO.
Will Battle find his grove? He needs to figure out his role within the offense. He just doesn't seem to understand what he should be doing and when he should be doing it. I'd personally love to see him start and play the first 6-8 minutes of each half along with Howard. Then coach him up on what went on.
Will the team as a whole really get after it on defense and the glass? I don't expect to see the defense magically get good after 4 days of practice but I think we need to see the energy as a team. We need 5 guys hustling and being disruptive.