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The Starting Five


Old Titan

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I think the likely starting five will be McBride, Abmas, Thompson, Juergens, and Lufile (4 guards) with Vanover coming off the bench.  We shall see.

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35 minutes ago, Keenan Henderson said:

Had some more time to think about the starting five and here are some random observations:

Max at the point guard position.  Not much to say but looking forward to seeing his senior year!

Carlos at the shooting guard: just do not shoot the three!  He is much more effective driving to the basket.

DJ at the wing position: played this role as a freshman and was much more effective than the last couple of seasons.

Connor at the four: only problem will be on defense but is definitely a stretch four.  Max can work on his passing skills and throw him a few lobs!

Lufile at center: a big key to next year.  Showed that he could be a beast inside at the end of the season.  Need to see that on a consistent basis.

This lineup has a little bit of everything: size, length, defense, rebounding, and still, plenty of three-point shooting.

The bench would consist of: McBride, Patrick, Thompson, Williams, and Herron.   A lot of guys off the bench who bring athleticism and versality. 

 

Kareem started ALL of the 31 games he played in last season, and I don't see anything that would push him to the bench.

On the other side of the equation, Eli only started three games last season, and with his propensity for ticky-tack fouls (and the addition of Vanover), I question whether he will crack the starting lineup.  Even coming off the bench, Eli will get a significant amount of playing time - and play a critical role on this team.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Williams takes one of the starting roles, if his defensive prowess is as good as advertised.  Everyone knows that defense was a weakness of last year's team - and Williams could be a key puzzle piece for 22-23.

And, I can see McBride shifting between starter and sixth man, based upon the opponent.  

Finally, your bench list doesn't include Trey Phipps, the third leading scorer from last year.  He will likely (again) be an early substitution into the game.

So, my hypothetical starting five:

Max

Carlos 

Kareem

Williams/DJ

Vanover

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That is right Trueblue 82, forgot about Phipps.  He does not always get a lot of love on the board, but hall of fame coach Lon Krueger thought enough of Mr. Trey to sign him at OU!  He reminds me of one of the guys in the Hoosier movie.  Does not look like much on paper but gives basketball his best shot.  It is hard not to root for guys like that, the underdog, who probably reminds Coach of himself at that age.

So, at the end of the day ORU may have as many as 11 guys who could realistically start (only Clover and Cam have really no shot of ever starting, unless there are a few injuries).  

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The coaches have a huge job in figuring out the playing rotations this year. I don’t think that starting lineups will be more important than total playing time. 

We return five seniors and three juniors along with a sophomore from last year - seven of whom made major contributions last year. We added four new players (a senior, junior, sophomore and freshman). That is a lot of experience.

A strong case can be made that Herron should/will see more minutes on the court this year given his apparent talent. And the four new players also seem to have compelling reasons to expect playing time… (Vanover started at Cal as well as Arkansas - which indicates he can start at ORU; Mwamba started/starred at TX-Arlington for three years; Williams is a highly regarded and athletic 6’6” wing transferring from AZ State and Amboree is a very talented point guard (multiple awards) who is higher rated than Max was coming out of high school).

So, who does the coaching staff decide to put on the court? Besides Max, I’m not sure anyone has a clue. Practices this summer and Fall will determine who gets on the court - and the competition should be fierce.  

 

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Do we have enough depth and length that we could actually play all 84' of court and press the entire game?  Substitute often with fresh legs and clear minds. Pressure the other team until they drop in the second half.  We have historically been great at getting our guys in great condition to play all 40 minutes.

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11 hours ago, Bogus Smith said:

Do we have enough depth and length that we could actually play all 84' of court and press the entire game?  Substitute often with fresh legs and clear minds. Pressure the other team until they drop in the second half.  We have historically been great at getting our guys in great condition to play all 40 minutes.

...and how about the way Texas Tech continuosly subs, maximizing time on the floor for each players' strengths.  At every dead ball, timeout or stoppage, their coach makes sure he has the right 5 guys in the game for whatever the current situation is...At first it was annoying and I didn't think I would like it as a player (not being able to get into the flow of the game), but lots of action, good chemistry generated from having so many contributors and WINNING, just might outweigh any negatives of the constant subbing...It was very effective and perhaps we have that kind of depth this season too.  And yes, I love the IDEA of pressing until a team proves they can consistently beat it...

Rob

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11 hours ago, Bogus Smith said:

Do we have enough depth and length that we could actually play all 84' of court and press the entire game?  Substitute often with fresh legs and clear minds. Pressure the other team until they drop in the second half.  We have historically been great at getting our guys in great condition to play all 40 minutes.

It would be very difficult for this team to press for long stretches of games and impossible for 40 minutes. We have the length and athleticism but the type of players best suited for a pressing team hasn't played a lot of minutes in the past, Herron on the front of the press is the perfect fit, he has not played much! I think we have a group that would be a great pressing team, Williams, Herron, Patrick, Carlos and Kareem and also DJ & McBride would be good in a pressing group as well.

The problem is we a few players who would really struggle pressing defensively, and they play a lot of minutes, particularly Max and Trey. Both are good shooters, but not great man to man defenders (to put it kindly) who could be exploited at the front of the press and then trailing the play allowing consistent 4 on 3 and 3 on 2 advantages for our opponents. Conner and Eli would also probably struggle as well as in the back of the press, as yes they would be rim protectors but the back guy of a zone press often has to be able to go corner to corner like the back man in a 1-3-1 half court zone and neither would be effective in a man to man press.

Also, with the amount of minutes Max plays pressing for long stretches would really be difficult and taxing as the season wears on. Based on coaches system and past player rotations, I think we would be much better off working to improve our basic half court defense.     

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7 hours ago, OKC Eagle said:

Chemistry will be the key.

Count me out. I almost didn't graduate becasue of chemistry. 😆

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18 hours ago, OKC Eagle said:

Chemistry will be the key.

Coupled with defense…

 

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Sounds like TRUST is the Key......and TheEagleman TRUSTS pretty much all of you guys on this board.....well.....most of you.....😎:shield-logo:😜

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19 hours ago, OKC Eagle said:

Chemistry will be the key.

How about Physics?

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You will notice in that clip that Mills is discussing/teaching defense….

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2 hours ago, ORUTerry said:

You will notice in that clip that Mills is discussing/teaching defense….

I logged on simply to say that which you beat me to:

"LOOK, LOOK!!  THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT DEFENSE - THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT DEFENSE!!"

Happy Jonah Hill GIF

 

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Coach Mills may be talking.....but the big question is.....are the players paying attention?.....a reminder that we can't see them in the video.....😬:hc_mills:😮

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Growing up, our parents tell us, "Don't act so defensive! No one's attacking you!" Then you join a basketball team ............. 

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Couple of things I really liked in that video, couple of things made me cringe and shake my head...

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8 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

Couple of things I really liked in that video, couple of things made me cringe and shake my head...

Always like seeing a rookie working on his D, help and close out very basic drill but important.

But the ease with the back cut in the scrimmage for the dunk with no weak side help is not good and the ease of the rookie to get into the lane past the defender who left his feet on the eyebrow up fake and then score easily in the lane against our new 7'3" "rim protector" looked a lot like last years defensive effort.

Glad to see coach talking about the need for trust on D, but the weak side guys in the scrimmage didn't earn a whole lot.

Keep working hard Eagles, there are a lot of good-looking athletes out there- Williams and Herron look ready to play!! and very good shooters as well, D needs to improve but the effort looks good!!

 

 

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