I like to see Britt start at the sg with Pinson coming in off the bench as a sparkplug type of player.
I like Pinson off the bench.....
- Thread starter smooth as butter
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You will be in the minority there. Will Britt see some time at the 2? Absolutely, but I see Britt being Berry's primary backup with Woods and Williams being the primary 2 guard. Pinson off the bench needs to play primarily the 3 and 4.
I really like the idea of Theo starting.
For arguments sake, I'm cool with him starting at 2 then playing a variety of positions during each game.
I really like Nate but as I said in a game thread last season, he's more Robin than Batman... So he should get the bulk of his minutes backing up Joel.
The good thing is, Roy has a bunch of very talented underclassman wings and plenty of time to work it out.
For arguments sake, I'm cool with him starting at 2 then playing a variety of positions during each game.
I really like Nate but as I said in a game thread last season, he's more Robin than Batman... So he should get the bulk of his minutes backing up Joel.
The good thing is, Roy has a bunch of very talented underclassman wings and plenty of time to work it out.
The key is the term, wings. JJ and TP will start as interchangeable wings. (who cares which is the 2 or the 3?) I like having the best 5 on the court to start the game. Peeps like Nate and KW will get plenty of burn in the back court, but I don't see TP going back to the bench. He paid his dues and Roy will reward him, I bet. If the team needs him for punch or stability, I could see TP thriving coming off the bench even though I bet he will start.
Then reckon I am in the minority with smoothy, I think Nate will begin the year starting at the 2 and Theo coming off the bench to back up JJ and Hicks. Now mind you, what I think will happen and what I may prefer to happen are 2 different things, not as it applies to Theo but more as it applies to Nate.
As of late I have looked at this a little different than I had initially, I was thinking in terms of Nate being better fitted to be Joel's back up at the point but the truth is Nate didn't really play much PG for us last season, he played more a 2 guard role, even when Marcus was out early last season, Nate had to back up Joel then but still most of his time was at the 2 even then. That should tell us all how comfortable Roy feels with Nate at the point.
Gary has shared that he has heard some nice developments about 7th Woods game, specifically PG related play and thou I think it is a given that Nate will back up Joel early, would not surprise me at all to see that duty go to 7th by conference play.
Nate starting at the 2 is not what I prefer but Roy loves him some experienced players and Nate is actually the most experienced guy we have. My concern with Nate as our 2 is that Nate is just a little fella, he is a decent catch and shoot guy when he has room, he can drive and hit the floater to finish, but I am just not comfortable with a 2 guard that is smaller than your PG. I do think Nate will struggle to hold on to his role at the 2, have stated many times I think kenny will take that role as the season gets hotter and don't discount BRob or 7th for that either. There is more heat on Nate to play well this season than in any of his other seasons with us because there is serious talent nipping at his heels! But I do think to begin the season Nate will start at the 2 as the freshmen and kenny earn their time early.
Guys, there are to many really highly talented kids working their butts off right now to claim any and all PT at the 2 for us they can snag for Roy to move the less than great jump shooting wing to the 2 spot. It is basic math folks, you have 4 guys in the battle for the 2 spot and at the wing you have JJ & Theo and Theo has shown that he handles the 4 really well in our small ball look. The choice is move Theo to be part of that long list of names looking for 2 guard PT or move Brob over to back up JJ and still have Theo playing out of position at the 2 and 3 other guys working to snag his PT? Way to much risk for me, I just don't think we can do that, there is plenty of PT for Theo at the 3 and 4 and we already know he can handle those 2 positions at a high level. Lets please not turn him in to another JP...
I'm thinking it might not quite be the minority opinion... since I'm in the same crowd as both of you! Will Nate be the best 2 guard on the team? No - Woods, KW, BRob, maybe even Pinson (even though his game is more suited to the 3-4) will be all be better 2 guards on the team IMO. But we all know Roy. He's going to start Nate in the beginning of the year. We're going to lose games that we "should" have won. People on here will get pissed at these losses because Roy is too stubborn to start someone else at the 2 (I'll probably be in this crowd cuz I just can't help myself sometimes). Come ACC play Roy will probably finally start getting whoever emerges out of Woods, KW, BRob the majority of the minutes at the 2. We'll finish the season strong, and if the handful of head scratching early season losses didn't completely bounce us from the rankings - we'll get a #1 or #2 seed and be fine, probably making a long run in the dance. If the early season losses when Nate was starting force us into a #4 or #5 seed, our run will probably be a little shorter.
Pinson has a lot to prove in a lot of facets of his game. We all see the athleticism and the potential. But he'll be a junior. Time to actually earn his place on the team.
Best case scenario is that he improves enough to start at SG. Worst case scenario is that he backs up at SF and isn't even 2nd in line at SG. Middle ground - and pretty likely, I'd guess - is that he earns starter minutes backing up at both SG and SF.
We'll be a better team if Theo does make the necessary improvements in his game. So I hope to see him start at SG. But I won't be surprised if he doesn't.
Best case scenario is that he improves enough to start at SG. Worst case scenario is that he backs up at SF and isn't even 2nd in line at SG. Middle ground - and pretty likely, I'd guess - is that he earns starter minutes backing up at both SG and SF.
We'll be a better team if Theo does make the necessary improvements in his game. So I hope to see him start at SG. But I won't be surprised if he doesn't.
How many minutes does he get that way? 10 backing up Justin, and what at PF? Unless we play a lot of small ball, that's not enough for Theo.
I only see this happening if Theo does not get serious enough about improving or has some setback.
Based on Theo's potential, we are a better team if he starts or plays starter minutes. I don't see him getting those minutes backing up at SF and PF. He could get them backing up at SG and SF. Basically he would be splitting the SG position with someone (or several guys).
In general, I'd like to see this breakdown
Theo: 20 @ SG and 10 @ SF
Justin: 30 @ SF
That means SF is covered by Justin for 30 min and Theo the rest of the time.
At SG we have Theo for 20 min and some combination of Nate, 7th, Kenny, BRob splitting the rest.
Nate starts the season with 10 min backing up Berry at PG and at least 10 at SG, but his minutes may shrink depending on how other guys come along.
Of course Roy will find time for the new guys and Kenny early on, so it won't be that straight-forward.
Honestly, I could see 15mins a game going to Theo at the 4. I suspect Roys will have a shorter rope for Meeks and Hicks foul troubles have been well discussed, that kinda leaves us with a un-proven freshman big man and a walk on. Roy saw the success we had with both Justin and Theo on the floor together and how it allowed us to use only 1 of our big men, so the fouls to our bigs could be limited. I expect to see a ton of our version of small ball next season, I think easily 15mins a game of that in most games.
Add 10mins a game backing Justin up at the 3 and 15 at the 4 and that is a solid 25mins a game for Theo and that may be more than any of our starters get outside of Justin & Theo.
Why do we say that our most effective lineup has JJ and TP in at the same time AND not say start the game that way? If anyone is going to the bench, I say it is Meeks. Also, why can't JJ play the 2? He needs to tighten up his handle a bit and find a few more assists, but he has the shooting and the rebounding already. In our system the 2/3 wing position could easily be interchangeable. The first one down handles the 2 guard and the 2nd down goes to the 3 spot on the 2ndary break. Roy has done this with 1/2 interchanges many times. If I were coach, I would go small ball and start: JB, KW, JJ, TP, and Hicks. This would force your opponent to go small or try to guard peeps who are quicker at 2-3 positions. Then bring in Meeks once their bigs go out or wear down and he can bring the pain.
Roy will probably start Nate as some peeps have said and I have no real problem with this as well. I truly believe KW could be our starting 2 by ACC time too! I just don't see how you can tell TP after all his hard work that he has to come off the bench one more time. Maybe he really is one of those guys that prefer to get a feel for the game first OR who will do anything for the betterment of the team, but most peeps would feel they earned the spot. In any case, we need an engaged and joyful TP to go far in the Tourney!
This is why Roy makes the big bucks!
Roy will probably start Nate as some peeps have said and I have no real problem with this as well. I truly believe KW could be our starting 2 by ACC time too! I just don't see how you can tell TP after all his hard work that he has to come off the bench one more time. Maybe he really is one of those guys that prefer to get a feel for the game first OR who will do anything for the betterment of the team, but most peeps would feel they earned the spot. In any case, we need an engaged and joyful TP to go far in the Tourney!
This is why Roy makes the big bucks!
IDK< I kinda like starting out with the more traditional type line up and coming back with the small ball look, it is a real change of pace look where we tend to run a good bit more and the opponents being on tired legs when we amp things up is many times an opportunity to go on a mini run so to speak. It would not upset me to see us start in a small ball look with Hicks in the middle simply because at this point meeks has some things to prove to me before I am a believer. I can't honestly at this point tell you why Meeks started a single game from Jan 1 on last season but he started every game he was available to play in. Clearly Roy knows something I do not or has seen something that I have not so I am not expecting meeks to the bench at the start unless Tony takes the job away from him.
Danny came off the bench as a junior. I think that's actually a fair comparison because both Danny and Theo are great energy guys off the bench, but are/were too inconsistent to start. Bringing them off the bench emphasizes their game-changing impact without exposing their weaknesses as much as would be the case if they started.
Now it's possible that Theo will make the transition as a junior and won't have to wait until his senior year to start. But he needs to prove himself to get there.
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