Your Rotation

[Kat Kid]

Would like to hear some thoughts from the board on the individuals and their positional minutes.  What would you change?  Why?  I lay out some of the relevant info, our early season predicts and my limited "grand scheme" thoughts below.

Current Minutes(avg. of last 3 games)
                                                                LOY     ALC    WSU           
Combo GP- Starter Doc Spradler      23*      23*     23
Backups-  Jake                                                                *

Combo GS-  Starter Jake               39*      28*     35
Backups-  Tay                                         22        16       11
               Russ                                        8          2        11*
                 
Wing          Starter Grudes             25*      19*      26*
Backups-   Tay
                OJ=Energy Drink                     10        18        13

Big             Starter CK                   28*       20*      31*         
Backup-                  Jam Sam                   12         25       20

Big             Starter Freddy              18*       14*      16*                           
Backups-                    CK
                                  JO                          15        12        9
                                  Pots                                    2

* denotes start
  denotes much love

Peggy Po's-

Combo- I started writing a Peggy Po 3 times only to find that they were all nancy neg's in disguise.  I will just say that I really love Jake and people who don't should gtfooh.  It is very positive that we have found time for Jake off the ball.  It needs to get better, but it is a very important development.

Wing-  Grudes is easily the most loveable player on the team.  He can be the Junkiest of the Cats (McBoards!) but also has the spot-up chops of the finest downtown Freddy Brown replacement one could ask for.  I would like to see him inch towards 40% 3pt.  Vic is much better than our last Energy.  Tay has shown that he can also be "the guy in the corner."  Which gets me all Nancy'd up.  MOVING ON!

Bigs-  Kelly has solidified himself as a serious force as he is now a "Go-to" in the post.  Already feel the Nancy Neg building up in me as an explanation for this, but let's just agree that he has submitted a similar performance, but with greater consequence considering the support from other bigs thus far.  Jam Sam looks like he is ready to go after a tough start.  I think he ends up with better numbers than last year, but people will continue to convince themselves that he is some sort of frustrating enigma.  Which he kind of is.  Freddy is an upgrade from Colon.  Simple.  Wally's foul rate is down enough that this should not be an issue.  Time for the Nancy, this was as long as I could make it.

Nancy Neg's

Combo-
Sprads is key to the season.  If he can hold down the point for these minutes then Jake will be at his best.  If Jake has to take over because Doc is melting down we are in for it.  Tay could be huge here.  I would like to see that.  Pullen has only begun to figure out his role without denis doing so much of the hard work.  95?  Maddening.

Wing- 
McGruder needs to be more explosive with the ball.  Right now his post feeds suck, he can't create a shot and he is loathe to drive.  Tay needs to get some guidance from Frank on what his role is.  My biggest complaint with Frank's revolving door rotation is the toll it has taken on Tay.  I think Frank feels like he's redundant because it puts Jake back at point and he's too small to play major minutes at the 3.  I feel like we are losing something here, but I probably have not thought about this as much as Frank.

Bigs-
Wally.  Figure it out.  Please.  Be happy.  Don't get so frustrated.  It shows on your face.  I don't know what it is.  You look over eager, you look uncomfortable you look nothing like the explosion of talent that came out at the end of last year.  Don't make me hate you.  I don't want to and it is hard for the anger to even form.  Right now it is just sadness.  You are like a homeless man's Marcus Dupree.  It is so painful.

Hope for Change

Early Season predicts:  http://goEMAW.com/forum/index.php?topic=5731.msg165830#msg165830
Notes:  Helpful to remember that no one that crap of Doc Spradler.  He has not been a disappointment considering the expectations.  If people want to be pissed they should be pissed at Tay/Frank for not playing Tay or some combination of McGruder/Jamar/Frank for not finding more minutes at a slot up from where they are playing.  McGruder probably the best surprise in terms of consensus pleasant contributions when paired with incoming expectations, he's not crushing expectations, but he has solidly achieved them with a little extra.  The Asprilla/Colon thing is becoming depressingly accurate.  I would say disappointments from Southwell/95/Nino according to most.  Hard to even comprehend the level of disappointment about Wally.

[Immaculate1]

I am tired so this post is going to be lacking much effort.

I want to start Wally one game and not take him out the whole time.  Preferably the next time we play some crap ass school. I just want to dedicate a game to getting wally his confidence. It seems like it would pay massive dividends later this year. If we have time to play around with rotations and not blow teams out....we definitely have to get our McDs on track.

[06wildcat]

At one point yesterday we had Pullen, Irving, McGruder, JamSam and Kelly on the floor. I like that lineup a lot. Too bad it was  yesterday.

[sys]

meh, i'd change it every game to keep things fresh.

[wetwillie]

At one point yesterday we had Pullen, Irving, McGruder, JamSam and Kelly on the floor. I like that lineup a lot. Too bad it was  yesterday.

On paper before the season that lineup looked unfair.  Now that it is official that jake is not nearly as good on the ball as he is off of it that lineup begins to look a lot less intimidating.

[06wildcat]

At one point yesterday we had Pullen, Irving, McGruder, JamSam and Kelly on the floor. I like that lineup a lot. Too bad it was  yesterday.

On paper before the season that lineup looked unfair.  Now that it is official that jake is not nearly as good on the ball as he is off of it that lineup begins to look a lot less intimidating.

I think the loss of Clemente's dribble penetration in the half court hurts more than the overall tempo he provided to games last year. We're not drawing nearly as many fouls and our guards don't get nearly as many wide open shots. 

[BigCat]

I am tired so this post is going to be lacking much effort.

I want to start Wally one game and not take him out the whole time.  Preferably the next time we play some crap ass school. I just want to dedicate a game to getting wally his confidence. It seems like it would pay massive dividends later this year. If we have time to play around with rotations and not blow teams out....we definitely have to get our McDs on track.

That's pretty much what I want to see. He can't gain confidence and get better at his game when he's fuming and depressed on the bench. Get him a ton of minutes against a couple of crappy teams and make him run to Japan and back if he fouls out either time. That'll learn 'im.

[PowercatPat]

I would definitely play Irving and Russell more than Spradling. Spradling has shown sign of being a great player but he is not that great right now imo.

[FP TC etc.]

I wish Irving could play the 1 

[kso_FAN]

Good thread. 

My preseason mpg in italics, actual mpg in bold.

Perimeter:
Pullen 34 29.1 - 10 starts
McGruds 20 27.7 - 10 starts
Irving 18 20.1
OJ 15 9.6
Sprads 12 20.2 - 2 starts
Southwell 10 4.9
Russell 9 10.9 - 8 starts
Ninety-five 8 1.0
Myles <5 6.4

I agree with KK that Sprads is a big key to this season.  Moving Pullen to off-guard will hopefully bring him back to the comfort level he felt last year.  You can tell Pullen is struggling a bit with his new role and probably putting too much pressure on himself, but I think he'll get it figured out.  We don't need Sprads to be Clemente, but we need him to be a better than he has been lately; going 0-11 from 3 the last 5 games won't cut it.  Assist rate needs to go up and TO rate needs to come down.  I really like what Irving brings when he's playing well.  Russell has been solid in his role.  I think we "can" have a solid rotation at combo, but young guys have to continue to grow up.  At the wing, McGruds is another huge key IMHO.  When he's playing well; hitting shots, getting Oboards, we are very good and IMO replaces the loss of Sutton more than adequately.  A little dribble/drive game would be nice.  OJ provides nice minutes off the bench and if he can continue to hit open shots that's bonus.  Definitely and upgrade from Energy.  Main issue to figure out here is the TO% problems, get that down to 17-18% and I can live with it; 20% or more is simply too much, the 22.3% we are at now will cost us.

Posts:
Kelly 23 21.4 - 4 starts
Judge 20 14.6 - 6 starts
Asprilla 20 18.4 - 10 starts
Samuels 20 20.8
JHR 8 12.6

For the bigs; now that Kelly and Samuels are sort of getting things figured out we are approaching where we need to be.  It was disappointing to see Samuels get back to foul problems vs Loyola, but I suppose that's going to happen.  Kelly has plenty of offense, just needs to be more consistent with defense and boarding.  Asprilla despite what many fans say is playing okay for his role.  He replaces Colon more than adequately.  Judge has been discussed enough, I suppose much of the hope of living up to Top 5 rested on him from many in the preseason, and he hasn't brought that. I don't think we need break-out Judge to live up to that, but we need better than what we've seen.  I'd be good with Gonzaga Judge.  JHR is playing better than expected and gives us further depth when he plays with lots of energy.  I'm just hoping for more games with Kelly/Samuels playing well together and Asprilla/JHR giving solid minutes.  Whenever Judge comes back/figures it out will be bonus.

[sys]

for what everyone says they want from kstate's 2010-2011 pg, irving is a lot better than spradler.

[pissclams]

irving is better than spradler.

fyp 

[sys]

irving is better than spradler.

fyp 

i kinda like the more aggressive player.  but i go back and forth.

[puniraptor]

MY ROTATION:
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY
WALLY

[The1BigWillie]

Freddy plays a lot more than I thought he would and is even shittier than I thought he would be.

Jam Sam and Wally are worse than they were last year. 

J.O. is slightly better than suck.

Spradling can't create a shot for himself on O.

Jake enjoys one hand passes that accomplish nothing and two hand passes that sail out of bounds or into the opponents hands.

I'd rather they play Southwell more just because he's so God damn gorgeous. 

Lineup should be...

Pullen
Russell
Southwell
McGruder
Jam Sam

[CNS]

Jamar is too inconsistent.   If he can somehow fool himself into being happy all the time, he would be an AA.

Freddy has grown a lot.  I don't hate him as much and actually think he belongs on the court now.

Curt should never really leave the court

Jordan is much better than most here give him credit for and will be very good next year(sorry sys).

Jake will be fine if either Irv or Sprad can step up.

Nick is getting right about what he should of PT right now.

I would like to see more Shane.  He is pretty smooth with the ball and isn't afraid at all to take it to the rack.  He just hasn't finished when he does(it will come though).  He needs his mistakes to get lower and his D to get better.  Shane will be really good for us next year.

[sys]

My preseason mpg in italics, actual mpg in bold.

Perimeter:
Pullen 34 29.1 - 10 starts
McGruds 20 27.7 - 10 starts
Irving 18 20.1
OJ 15 9.6
Sprads 12 20.2 - 2 starts
Southwell 10 4.9
Russell 9 10.9 - 8 starts
Ninety-five 8 1.0
Myles <5 6.4
Posts:
Kelly 23 21.4 - 4 starts
Judge 20 14.6 - 6 starts
Asprilla 20 18.4 - 10 starts
Samuels 20 20.8
JHR 8 12.6

these actual mpgs seem wrong.  they look like mpgs for games played.  with no 0 mpg added into the average for a dnp.

[kso_FAN]

these actual mpgs seem wrong.  they look like mpgs for games played.  with no 0 mpg added into the average for a dnp.

Depend how you look at it, I think its valid to look at it without the 0 for dnp games.  It wouldn't make sense to give Kelly or Samuels 0 for the games they didn't play in for example.  I could see that for the lower level guys, but not for guys that were held out.  So you could say its a bit much for Myles or Southwell, but overall I think its a decent look at how much guys play.

[sys]

Depend how you look at it, I think its valid to look at it without the 0 for dnp games.  It wouldn't make sense to give Kelly or Samuels 0 for the games they didn't play in for example.  I could see that for the lower level guys, but not for guys that were held out.  So you could say its a bit much for Myles or Southwell, but overall I think its a decent look at how much guys play.

yeah, which to use would depend on the purpose.  exclude dnps of high minute players for future pt predictions (point of this thread, i guess).  but include dnps for low minute players on those.

include all dnps for looking at who has contributed to performance thus far.

[michigancat]

[kso_FAN]

for what everyone says they want from kstate's 2010-2011 pg, irving is a lot better than spradler.

Irving doesn't seem to play PG much when he's in though.  Usually Pullen slides to PG when Irving is in if I'm remembering things correctly.  Pullen only really slides to SG when Sprads is in.

Jamar is too inconsistent.   If he can somehow fool himself into being happy all the time, he would be an AA.

Overdone point.  He seems inconsistent mainly b/c a really poor game in Chicago.  Otherwise he'd been between 8-16 points and 6-14 rebounds in his last 7 games (played) before that.  That's pretty consistent for Samuels.

Curt should never really leave the court

He has to b/c he can't play more than 25 MPG and be effective.  When he's fresh he plays with great energy and is really tough to stop, but when he's tired he doesn't score and only ticks Frank off.  

I would like to see more Shane.  He is pretty smooth with the ball and isn't afraid at all to take it to the rack.  He just hasn't finished when he does(it will come though).  He needs his mistakes to get lower and his D to get better.  Shane will be really good for us next year.

Sort of a wildcard player for us IMO. He's got potential, but lots of growth to be made.

[sys]

for what everyone says they want from kstate's 2010-2011 pg, irving is a lot better than spradler.

Irving doesn't seem to play PG much when he's in though.  Usually Pullen slides to PG when Irving is in if I'm remembering things correctly.  Pullen only really slides to SG when Sprads is in.

combo & combo.  irving doesn't turn the ball over.  doesn't make mistakes.  doesn't occupy possessions.  doesn't do much of anything, really.  does hit open jumpshots.

that's what people claim they want.

[SwiftCat]

I wish Irving could play the 1 

[Powercat Posse]

Fan's right,   with Pullen/Tay in there,  Jake is usually the one handling the ball.   Tay handles the ball fine but its obvious Frank wants Pullen to direct the O with those 2 on the court.  

Like to see Russel get out of his funk.... but for now the majority of the guard minutes are gonna be jake/sprads/tay.

Doesn't look like Russel is gonna be an option to play any wing mintues either.  Frank clearly like Vic's size and Russel is not a great boarder

One thing i HATE is when Vic is playing the 4.   We have 4 capable bigs (5 when wall is back).    I don't mind him getting minutes a the 3, but not at the 4

[sys]

kenpom player stats updated.  pours fuel on the raging irving-better-than-spradler fire.