Bench play this season
- Thread starter smooth as butter
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not a lot of facts to support, but just seems like the potential to have an awesome bench is there. I would like to see us have a couple of our recruits turn out to be JACKPOTS.
Stronger, wow, IDK because I felt our bench played really well this past season but my gut says yeah it could be stronger because I see more minutes going to our bench at the 2 and I think Tony will get 25-30 mins in our front court and what we do should give him ample ops to produce. Can Tony be Isiah effective off the bench and even better not find the instant foul trouble Isiah did last season? I see if anything more of us going to our small ball with JJ and Theo on the floor so one of those guys IMO would be coming off the bench.
For me the real answer is how productive our 2 guards are as a position. Last season it was Marcus more so than a collective and as we all know, marcus struggled during the regular season. I am thinking that replacing Marcus will be a collective effort, unless someone absolutely emerges clearly above the rest, so I am thinking most of our 2 guard production will come from our bench where last season our 2 guard production was majority marcus. While Marcus is gone now, as great as marcus was in his career, we may have the deepest and most talented collection of combo guards in the nation by a wide margin. When I think in terms of kenny, 7th, BRob, Nate, maybe Chaz Surrat, and maybe even Theo at times, what we have at the 2 is kinda amazing.
25-30 minutes? Whoa. I'm not sure about that. Tony, for as polished as he is for a high schooler, will still be a freshman. I'm not sure we can expect for him to log those kind of minutes. I know we're depleted a little in the front court compared to last year, but I still don't see 25-30 for him. I see maybe 18 or so minutes per game for Bradley. Maybe by March he'll be giving us 25 minutes but that's a best case scenario. He's going to have to get in better shape than he is now. He's never run like he will in our system. Because of us being thin up front, I imagine we'll go small more this coming year with Theo and JJ covering the 3 and 4 spots.
Deepest? Possibly. Most talented? I don't see it that way. For as much as we want Kenny to be a marksman, he hasn't shown any ability to be that yet. I know, I know,...players progress most between freshman and sophomore years. Kenny had a long way to go. I'm sure Roy will give us the ol' "he makes them all in practice" line. But if he ain't making them in the games, who cares that he makes them in practice? Seventh is talented, but he's a freshman. And he's small for a 2. BRob is another freshman. And although I might be higher on him than some, he's still a freshman. And Kenny was supposedly a great shooter in high school - just like BRob. It's totally conceivable that BRob runs into struggles similar to Kenny's this past year where he just can't hit the broad side of a barn. And Nate is Nate - a career back up. A good back up. But a back up nonetheless. That's a lot of bodies and some good talent. Best talent in the country? C'mon now. Not a single one of those guys that we could plug in at the 2 spot were ranked in the top 50 coming out of high school. I'm not one that believes rankings mean everything. But it means something.
Just talking opinion, bit we really didn't see enough from Kenny to get A book on him. But I do recall the last time Roy talked about a freshman that was hitting everything in practice but not hitting them in games, that guy was Marcus Paige and in time we saw what Roy was talking about. With Marcus at the 2 there just was not going to be a lot of time for Kenny and we did see that. I honestly believe but we can't know for sure until the season begins, that kenny will either start at the 2 or be our defacto 2 with him getting starter minutes.
7th, yeah, could produce as a frosh, I am way more hesitant to expect him to but the kid has some special in him, just don't know how much of that we will see next season, as a soph I am expecting a lot. BRob, didn't really blow away a lot of folks when he committed to us but went on to have an outstanding senior season where he shot well over 40% from beyond the arch. Granted those treys will be defended harder in college, as a spot up shooter that shot nearly 50% from the trey last season then he can at least hit a solid % as a kick out spot up sniper.
Nate, I am not as high on him as many but as a senior I am expecting a solid season from him, give us that timely jump shot every now & then and keep working on the defense and handles and he will find his spots to help us. As for Surrat, not sure how much he can help because he wil have to finish football season before he has much time to work with the bball team but that kid was a serious player before he got hurt.
When I see Kenny, BRob, 7th, Nate, throw in Theo at times thou I personally don't see him at the 2 much, I do not see a better depth of position at the 2 anywhere else or even close.
Who is right, heck, I don't know, no one can but we will see...
7th, yeah, could produce as a frosh, I am way more hesitant to expect him to but the kid has some special in him, just don't know how much of that we will see next season, as a soph I am expecting a lot. BRob, didn't really blow away a lot of folks when he committed to us but went on to have an outstanding senior season where he shot well over 40% from beyond the arch. Granted those treys will be defended harder in college, as a spot up shooter that shot nearly 50% from the trey last season then he can at least hit a solid % as a kick out spot up sniper.
Nate, I am not as high on him as many but as a senior I am expecting a solid season from him, give us that timely jump shot every now & then and keep working on the defense and handles and he will find his spots to help us. As for Surrat, not sure how much he can help because he wil have to finish football season before he has much time to work with the bball team but that kid was a serious player before he got hurt.
When I see Kenny, BRob, 7th, Nate, throw in Theo at times thou I personally don't see him at the 2 much, I do not see a better depth of position at the 2 anywhere else or even close.
Who is right, heck, I don't know, no one can but we will see...
Tony Bradley may not average 25-30 mins. a game but he might have to play that many in some games if the foul pattern doesn't change.
BTW if pedigree means anything at all don't sleep on Rush. Hes got some size and game. Kinda under the radar also. I like that.
I'll add that Kenny showed that he can be one of our best defenders. I think he played better than what you would expect from a freshman. I know we like to talk about offense, but we can't forget how important defense is.
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Robinson will be the guy most needed because of his ability to shoot outside which no other bench player excels at..
I think the bench will be a bit of a question mark - less experience but lots of depth.
Nate: If coming off the bench will be Mr Glue
Theo: See above if Nate starts
TBrad: Very important for the front court, could end up with a heap of minutes depending on Isaiah's fouls and Kennedy's health
Luke: Will be Mr Glue for the front court - does anything asked of him at 110%
K-Will: could be very good if the shots fall
B Robb: see above
7th: big question marks but great athleticism and huge upside
Stillman: Very steady back-up to the back-up PG (whomever that'll be)
SRush: Limited minutes, great pedigree
Blue Steel: Very limited minutes unless there's a 6-8, 250lb walk on who can provide front court depth..... anyone from the football team?
Nate: If coming off the bench will be Mr Glue
Theo: See above if Nate starts
TBrad: Very important for the front court, could end up with a heap of minutes depending on Isaiah's fouls and Kennedy's health
Luke: Will be Mr Glue for the front court - does anything asked of him at 110%
K-Will: could be very good if the shots fall
B Robb: see above
7th: big question marks but great athleticism and huge upside
Stillman: Very steady back-up to the back-up PG (whomever that'll be)
SRush: Limited minutes, great pedigree
Blue Steel: Very limited minutes unless there's a 6-8, 250lb walk on who can provide front court depth..... anyone from the football team?
B Rob will surprise some people this season.I dont see Bradley gettinh 25 to 30 minutes early but maybe by conference play he will.
With Tony, reason I am thinking he gets 25-30mins starts off with I really think he can handle those kind of minutes. But I have more specific reasons for saying this:
1) For the last 2 yrs we have seen Meeks fade sometime in december and not come back to the level of play he begins the season at. I have to expect that a 3rd season in a row is at least a possiblility if not some what expected.
2) Hicks fouls and even if I do believe he will reduce them, they are not going to disappear as a major concern. One of the things we saw Roy do last season with Brice, to combat Brice's foul problems was to be very cautious of letting him play much in the first half when he picked up an early 1st half foul. I am expecting that same tactic to be used with Isiah.
3) No Joel James
4) Other than Tony as a front court guy it is Luke or we go small. I think we will go small with Theo at the 4 a good bit more than last season because that worked so well last season but coaches will figure that out and game plan more for it so it may not be as effective. Luke is a smart kid, works hard, can shoot some but he really struggles to score inside, just don't see a lot of minutes for him, maybe Joel James minutes at most.
I would love to think Tony could give us solid starter minutes off the bench. But realistically (in an historical sense) our frosh rarely deliver like that. Of course he may have to play that much because we don't have many bigs, so I hope he can handle it. But we do have other options. Even if you don't expect a lot from Luke, we can always go small - with Justin (and some would add Theo) sliding to the 4.
The real question mark is what happens at the 2. It's a wide-open contest - and we are blessed with plenty of options. If Theo turns the corner, it could be his for the asking. If not Nate can certainly handle it - albeit with a height deficit. Kenny could be that guy. BRob could be that guy.
Tell me this, when was the last time we had a freshman big man and especially a freshman big man rated as highly as Tony is, that we had to depend on playing well and didn't? We have had freshmen that have come in and did not perform great as freshmen, we have had freshmen big men come in and have quiet freshman seasons but they were not as much needed to have great freshman seasons. I would maybe suggest Meeks but Meeks didn't actually have a awful freshman season even being well over 300lbs. We didn't really need Hicks to, we didn't really need or expect Brice to, Henson came in as a wing but when he was full time moved to the 4 he played well there, JMM was not needed that much.
But look at seasons we absolutely needed a highly respected big man come in and play well, Ed Davis did, Marvin did, Brandan Wright did, even the Wears did until they got hurt and Tyler Hansbourgh absolutely came in guns blazing as a freshman? This discussion, at least the question you pose is about our highly respected center so you have to look at other front court guys when we consider if he can come in and produce early. The history for us is actually more that our freshmen big men that we really need and are highly respected have met the challenge more often than not. Even Meeks honestly, produced more even as bad out of shape as he was than I or anyone that had seen him prior to college should have expected.
Meeks is an enigma, I'm simply not expecting much more than we got from him last year. That just may have to suffice. I hope he doesn't start hunting his shot in order to impress pro scouts and stays within the offense. If we get more from him than we did last year, that will be gravy. But last year's production may be all he's capable of and that's fine.
Isaiah is one of the most foul prone players I can remember. I stated in another thread that I think it's caused by a need to move his feet better and reach less on defense. And if beaten, he should let his man go. Like Dave said, I think he will have a short leash in the first half if he picks up a quick foul or two. We need him at crunch time. I'd love to see him capable of playing 28-30 MPG but that's going to hinge on his ability to reduce his propensity to commit silly fouls, especially those 15-18 feet away from the hoop.
For those reasons, I also expect Tony to get a lot of burn. I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the 20+ MPG range. The good news is he has an old fashioned, fundamental type of game. I liken his skill set to someone like Big Brad. I think his game will mesh very well with what Roy likes to do.
As for the SG spot, I believe Kenny or Brandon will be starting by ACC season. I see Nate's primary function as backing up Joel at PG. And while Theo may see a little time at SG, I see him backing up JJ at SG and playing PF when we go small, which we may see a significant amount of next year. One, because it was quite effective last year and two, because of the questions regarding Kennedy and Isaiah.
Kenny demonstrated that he can play the requisite defense to start. But I think scoring from the SG spot is going to be key if we're going to return to the FF. If he can shoot 33+% from long distance, I think the job is his to lose, because of his defense. If he can't, it would not surprise me to see Brandon assume the SG spot.
Isaiah is one of the most foul prone players I can remember. I stated in another thread that I think it's caused by a need to move his feet better and reach less on defense. And if beaten, he should let his man go. Like Dave said, I think he will have a short leash in the first half if he picks up a quick foul or two. We need him at crunch time. I'd love to see him capable of playing 28-30 MPG but that's going to hinge on his ability to reduce his propensity to commit silly fouls, especially those 15-18 feet away from the hoop.
For those reasons, I also expect Tony to get a lot of burn. I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the 20+ MPG range. The good news is he has an old fashioned, fundamental type of game. I liken his skill set to someone like Big Brad. I think his game will mesh very well with what Roy likes to do.
As for the SG spot, I believe Kenny or Brandon will be starting by ACC season. I see Nate's primary function as backing up Joel at PG. And while Theo may see a little time at SG, I see him backing up JJ at SG and playing PF when we go small, which we may see a significant amount of next year. One, because it was quite effective last year and two, because of the questions regarding Kennedy and Isaiah.
Kenny demonstrated that he can play the requisite defense to start. But I think scoring from the SG spot is going to be key if we're going to return to the FF. If he can shoot 33+% from long distance, I think the job is his to lose, because of his defense. If he can't, it would not surprise me to see Brandon assume the SG spot.
Hansbrough was the obvious exception. And I'll certainly give you Marvin and Brandan. But notice what they have in common. They all came on board a decade ago or more. We just haven't seen that much readiness to play since then.
Zeller might have been able to do it, but was injured as a frosh (and again as a soph). Davis was close but partly he looked good because Roy carefully protected him. And it helps when you are playing alongside Hansbrough. Brice couldn't handle it as a frosh. I doubt Hicks could either, but he didn't have to. Henson really only started looking good in post season play as a frosh. You already mentioned McAdoo. And, yes, Meeks had a number of really good games as a frosh, but wasn't reliable.
So I'll stick to my view that in a historical sense the odds are against Tony being great as a frosh. Could be, of course. But the odds are much better that he blossoms as a soph or junior.
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