Time to tighten it up? Who are our best 5? Best 8?

[nicname]

You gotta have your best guys out there as much as possible (without winding them) to win a lot of games.  Will we see Frank tighten up to a solid 8-man rotation?  Should he?  Who would they be? I haven't gone back and looked but to see if Frank has shortened up the rotation in the latter half of the season in years past. Has he?

Who is our top 5, 8?

I would like to see something like this.

Starters
Angel
Will
Rod
Jamar
JO

Bench
Tay
Shane
Gip

Tay is good change up pace from either Will or Angel.  With Angels usual hot starts and inevitable face, lapses he has been and will be put in pretty regularly.  Shane is similar and could easily be put in for a cold shooting will.  Shane is a better passer, defender, and if Will isn't shooting well we might as well have Shane playing his role.  Rod already eats up minutes but I think he can handle more, 35 mpg or so. 

With the bigs it is mostly to do with foul trouble.  Jamar is a given and should stay on the floor as much as possible, though his foul trouble will usually keep him out more than we want.  I think it is better to start with JO than Gip because I think Gip would be better used as a change of pace.  He goes hard but can only do so for a limited amount of time.  Having him come in when opponents might already be a little winded would give him a nice advantage until his gas runs out and then you can get him back out for JO.

In a tight 8-m there is little room for VIC or Diaz except for logging minutes when others are in foul trouble, though I might be selling Diaz a little short.

I dunno?

[steve dave]

Diaz will need some time because of foul trouble with our bigs and Gip's lack of endurance. 

[Gooch]

Not Will crap my pants scared Spradling

[8manpick]

I agree with your 8 nic, and I think we would be well served by shortening the bench to that except for foul trouble.  Doubt it will happen though.

[JKEYS]

Diaz will need some time because of foul trouble with our bigs and Gip's lack of endurance. 

Would be comfortable with both JO and Diaz on the floor at the same time against KU/Baylor/etc.  Will need their length.  Also may save Jamar from foul trouble, since he still has spurts of "mental lapse" fouls.

[detch23]

Switch Will and Shane/Tay at this point. The guards are definitely the biggest puzzle to solve but I agree that Diaz is going to be a contributor.

His mobility on defense is better than JO but his offense is not there yet IMO.

[JKEYS]

Switch Will and Shane/Tay at this point. The guards are definitely the biggest puzzle to solve but I agree that Diaz is going to be a contributor.

His mobility on defense is better than JO but his offense is not there yet IMO.

Do you consider JO's offense to be "there"?

[Trim]

Other than Rod and Angel on the good side and walk-ons on the bad side, I don't see a big difference between anyone on the team that would put them clearly in a group of 8 that plays vs. the group of 8 that doesn't.

[nicname]

The reason I think it is better to have Will starting is because he can easily come out if he isn't shooting well (which has been more often than not).  If he comes out cold then yank him and put in his replacement. I get the other side though, as you can bring him in off the bench and maybe he can come in and if he is hitting can be added offense off the bench.  I guess what I'm saying is that when Will is shooting well he is clearly a better player than Shane.  When he isn't he is marginally worse than Shane, who never shoots well but does other things marginally better than Will.  

I really like Tay coming off the bench.  Not only does he come in a clamp down as a defender, he is often a jolt to the offense with his driving ability and pull up 15 footers.  

What we dont need is a bunch of guys out there together that can't score.  

[nicname]

Other than Rod and Angel on the good side and walk-ons on the bad side, I don't see a big difference between anyone on the team that would put them clearly in a group of 8 that plays vs. the group of 8 that doesn't.

It is true and I ran into trouble cutting guys out of the 3-man bench for this reason.  Jamar needs to play as he is clearly one of our best players.  Also, Angel shows flashes but really makes big mistakes and stupid decisions a lot that cost us and cost him PT. 

[bigwillie20]

 Jamar needs to play as he is clearly one of our best players.

When 1 of your best players is some mental midget that can't make a rough ridin' layup you are in trouble

[kso_FAN]

The reason I think it is better to have Will starting is because he can easily come out if he isn't shooting well (which has been more often than not).  If he comes out cold then yank him and put in his replacement. I get the other side though, as you can bring him in off the bench and maybe he can come in and if he is hitting can be added offense off the bench.  I guess what I'm saying is that when Will is shooting well he is clearly a better player than Shane.  When he isn't he is marginally worse than Shane, who never shoots well but does other things marginally better than Will. 

I really like Tay coming off the bench.  Not only does he come in a clamp down as a defender, he is often a jolt to the offense with his driving ability and pull up 15 footers. 

What we dont need is a bunch of guys out there together that can't score. 

I agree with all this. I'm willing to be patient with Will another couple games but I admit my patience is running thin. However, I think we have to be patient, I don't see anyone else being able to provide the shooting he is capable of so I think at this point you sink or swim with him. IMHO we are going to need solid contributions more often than not from he AND Angel down the stretch to be a tornament team.

And I like the idea of tightening to 10, but Frank and his Frankhouse will find away to extend it to 10 (or so) with Diaz and Jones likely fitting in the mix in addition to your 8.

[Trim]

Other than Rod and Angel on the good side and walk-ons on the bad side, I don't see a big difference between anyone on the team that would put them clearly in a group of 8 that plays vs. the group of 8 that doesn't.

It is true and I ran into trouble cutting guys out of the 3-man bench for this reason.  Jamar needs to play as he is clearly one of our best players.  Also, Angel shows flashes but really makes big mistakes and stupid decisions a lot that cost us and cost him PT.  

I think it was just my Puerto Rican pride that made me exclude all but Angel and Rod.  Jam would never be out of a top 8.

But I think given the interchangeability of the heart of the roster, it doesn't make much sense to try to cap the rotation at 8.

[Skipper44]

Would be interesting to see how Will would respond to a reduced roll, he has averaged over 30 minutes a game in conf play, maybe it is too many minutes for him physically and is part of the reason his shot has gone?

[bigwillie20]

Would be interesting to see how Will would respond to a reduced roll

I will take some of these over to him and see if it improves his shooting any

[FHSU92]

Diaz will need some time because of foul trouble with our bigs and Gip's lack of endurance.  

He was sick vs OU (or received an i.v. at halftime for some other reason), no excuse though

edit - not sure if there is another explanation for the elbow wrap that was applied during halftime.

[mcmwcat]

The reason I think it is better to have Will starting is because he can easily come out if he isn't shooting well (which has been more often than not).  If he comes out cold then yank him and put in his replacement. I get the other side though, as you can bring him in off the bench and maybe he can come in and if he is hitting can be added offense off the bench.  I guess what I'm saying is that when Will is shooting well he is clearly a better player than Shane.  When he isn't he is marginally worse than Shane, who never shoots well but does other things marginally better than Will. 

I really like Tay coming off the bench.  Not only does he come in a clamp down as a defender, he is often a jolt to the offense with his driving ability and pull up 15 footers. 

What we dont need is a bunch of guys out there together that can't score. 

I agree with all this. I'm willing to be patient with Will another couple games but I admit my patience is running thin. However, I think we have to be patient, I don't see anyone else being able to provide the shooting he is capable of so I think at this point you sink or swim with him. IMHO we are going to need solid contributions more often than not from he AND Angel down the stretch to be a tornament team.

And I like the idea of tightening to 10, but Frank and his Frankhouse will find away to extend it to 10 (or so) with Diaz and Jones likely fitting in the mix in addition to your 8.

it doesn't hurt to hold him out of the starting lineup.  does it really matter who starts or who comes off the bench in this system?  maybe taking Sprads out of the starting 5 will loosen him up a little.

[nicname]

The reason I think it is better to have Will starting is because he can easily come out if he isn't shooting well (which has been more often than not).  If he comes out cold then yank him and put in his replacement. I get the other side though, as you can bring him in off the bench and maybe he can come in and if he is hitting can be added offense off the bench.  I guess what I'm saying is that when Will is shooting well he is clearly a better player than Shane.  When he isn't he is marginally worse than Shane, who never shoots well but does other things marginally better than Will. 

I really like Tay coming off the bench.  Not only does he come in a clamp down as a defender, he is often a jolt to the offense with his driving ability and pull up 15 footers. 

What we dont need is a bunch of guys out there together that can't score. 

I agree with all this. I'm willing to be patient with Will another couple games but I admit my patience is running thin. However, I think we have to be patient, I don't see anyone else being able to provide the shooting he is capable of so I think at this point you sink or swim with him. IMHO we are going to need solid contributions more often than not from he AND Angel down the stretch to be a tornament team.

And I like the idea of tightening to 10, but Frank and his Frankhouse will find away to extend it to 10 (or so) with Diaz and Jones likely fitting in the mix in addition to your 8.

it doesn't hurt to hold him out of the starting lineup.  does it really matter who starts or who comes off the bench in this system?  maybe taking Sprads out of the starting 5 will loosen him up a little.

By putting Will on the bench in favor or Shane or to a lesser extent Tay is basically starting at meh.  If you start with Will you see if he is firing, and if he is keep him in.  If he isn
t you sub him out, give Shane or Tay some minutes, and then give will another shot later. 

Side question:

Shane/Angel
Shane/ Tay
or
Angel/ Tay?

Those are the non Sprads combos, though I guess you could switch Rod/Shane in the example with Shane in them. 

[wetwillie]

1. Angel
2. Tay
3. Rod
4. Jamar
5. JO

6.  Gip
7. Spradling~
8. Jones

9.  Diaz if and only if absolutely necessary
10.  Vic (Each minute over 3 minutes he plays in game should equal 5,000 in fines per minute for Frank)

[bigwillie20]

The reason I think it is better to have Will starting is because he can easily come out if he isn't shooting well (which has been more often than not).  If he comes out cold then yank him and put in his replacement. I get the other side though, as you can bring him in off the bench and maybe he can come in and if he is hitting can be added offense off the bench.  I guess what I'm saying is that when Will is shooting well he is clearly a better player than Shane.  When he isn't he is marginally worse than Shane, who never shoots well but does other things marginally better than Will. 

I really like Tay coming off the bench.  Not only does he come in a clamp down as a defender, he is often a jolt to the offense with his driving ability and pull up 15 footers. 

What we dont need is a bunch of guys out there together that can't score. 

I agree with all this. I'm willing to be patient with Will another couple games but I admit my patience is running thin. However, I think we have to be patient, I don't see anyone else being able to provide the shooting he is capable of so I think at this point you sink or swim with him. IMHO we are going to need solid contributions more often than not from he AND Angel down the stretch to be a tornament team.

And I like the idea of tightening to 10, but Frank and his Frankhouse will find away to extend it to 10 (or so) with Diaz and Jones likely fitting in the mix in addition to your 8.

it doesn't hurt to hold him out of the starting lineup.  does it really matter who starts or who comes off the bench in this system?  maybe taking Sprads out of the starting 5 will loosen him up a little.

Shane
Angel
Gruds
Jamar
DOB

[schreds21]

. Starters Angel Will Rod Jamar JO Bench Tay Shane Gip

Starters
 Rodney
 Rod
 McGruder
 McOrebs
 Gruds
 Bench
 Rodney McGruder

 Six Rodney's is enough

[mcmwcat]

4 best regardless of position
Rodney
Jamar
JO
Angel

next 2
Gipson
Spradling

next 2
Irving
Southwell

  i thought this was supposed to make me lighten up.  our guard play is horrific.

[kso_FAN]

Kitchen talks shooting and Frank talks patience. I agree with Frank on this point.

[kougar24]

Speaking of lacking endurance...Angel, dude, crank up the treadmill or something.

[mcmwcat]

Kitchen talks shooting and Frank talks patience. I agree with Frank on this point.

We’ve got three true freshmen, and two sophomores playing regular minutes,