The short answer is I don't know yet. But I don't think our frontcourt will be good enough to keep an elite shooter on the bench for a ton. That would be an insane luxury to have. It's the offseason, so everyone looks amazing and every team has 10 dudes that will come at you in waves. The reality is that probably isn't true.Do you see them as playing together with Tyson as a small stretch 4 for a good chunk of that time? I think if Cadeau improves as most hope/expect, and earns big minutes, well RJ ain't sitting much, where does Ian's minutes come from? With Seth/Drake in the mix on top of that, not playing Ian substantial minutes might be seen as coaching malpractice as well if he is ready, especially to future recruits with NBA aspirations.
First off, I think Jackson would take Seth's minutes as the first guard off the bench. Everyone here loves Seth and loves his loyalty. But over time, if Jackson is a 3-level scorer, he's going to play over a developing but limited offensive player in Seth. This isn't like last year when Seth's only bench competition was Wojcik. Seth has real competition now. And if he continues to be a 0 shooter, or someone unwilling to take open 3s, then it looks like there are frankly better options than him off the bench. As things stand right now, it wouldn't surprise me if Seth's role is limited. There are several 2-way potential players with Jackson and Powell. If that's the case, Seth can't be a one-way player that he mainly has been for 2 seasons. If he is, it's Seth's role that will get reduced.
Tyson's shooting makes him too valuable. If you have to guard him out to 30 feet, he makes everyone around him better. We don't have that presence aside from him. Everyone else offensively needs the ball in their hands to make the team better offensively. Cadeau is a 0 off the ball. RJ has some credibility off the ball, he's a ball-in-his-hands player. Jackson looks like a ball-dominant guard to me too. And I don't think Trimble is really a threat without the ball but he can provide some spark on the offensive glass. You need a guy who can play without the ball and stretch the defense. Can't afford to put that on the bench for large stretches.
On paper, without Tyson, I don't think this is all that good of a 3PT shooting team. They certainly don't project to shoot enough 3s IMO.
It was coaching malpractice. It isn't a great comp because there's really nothing that DJ Wagner did better than Reed Sheppard other than his athleticism. But the point remains the same. If you have a 45% 3PT shooter, he needs to be on the floor. It isn't comparable to Cormac because Tyson is a far better shooter on paper.The DJ Wagner/Reed Sheppard comp is a bit different in my opinion. Both were plus athletes who can create for theirself or others. Just curious, do you see Tyson as being either a solid to plus defender similar to Cormac's role last year, or having the ability to create similar to Sheppard/Ian on top of his 3 ball talent? If so I agree big minutes, has to be in, as knock down shooter is a huge need for this roster, if not, and he is just the keep them honest dead eye threat skill alone, then I think he plays that role in spurts.
And honestly, this team's upside is pretty linked to if Tyson is that elite shooter that he was at Belmont. If he drops off to like 37-38%, even though that's still high quality, it isn't quite the same. Then you'll need to bank on Cadeau and Jackson being non-zero shooters. But I think that limits this team's upside if Tyson is a merely good shooter.
Also (and I know this isn't the point of this thread) RJ was a 41% 3PT shooter last year if you eliminate the Alabama game. That's a significant increase from his career. So it wouldn't surprise me if he were closer to 36-37% this season. Maybe he shoots it at 45% and continues a pretty substantial improvement. But I'm just saying a 36% 3PT shooting season is in play for him IMO.
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