The Starting Five

[ORUJason]

Likely Starting Five:

McBride

Max

Thompson

Jurgens

Lufile

 

My Preferred Starting Five:

McBride

Max

Thompson

Lufile

Vanover

[GoldenEagleFan]

[Dr. Cornelius]

17 hours ago, dave said:

Curious, Dr. Why not start Big Maple?

That's a good question. There are several guys who could start. I think Lufile and Vanover will probably be played based on match ups.

[ORU40]

17 hours ago, dave said:

Curious, Dr. Why not start Big Maple?

One of the things Lufile has to do to get more minutes this year is stay out of foul trouble. One of the bad habits Eli (and the entire team as well) had that got him in trouble last year was trying to block shots. When he was guarding a post-up player he would almost always, as did most of our guys, leave his feet on the up fake.  When your guys posts you up, weather you're a center, forward or guard the most import thing you can do is stay between him and the basket. Man-me-basket is defense 101, do not jump and try to block the shot. 

The first reason, and we saw this way too much last year, is the player will give the up fake, we leave our feet and the offensive guy makes an easy basket on the up and under (offense pivots to square up- from having his back to the basket to facing the basket- while faking the shot, D jumps to block the shot and O steps across D who's up in the air for a lay-up). Example- the very average player for SDSU Appel scored 40+ in the Mabee with basically only that move, we didn't send weak side help and kept jumping on the little mediocre fake and made him look like Hevin McHale and gave up over 100 points and lost on our home court!

You also avoid foul trouble by staying on your feet, just keep your hands straight up don't go into the body and hold your position, you are still between the offensive player and the basket, so you are in position to box out and get the defensive rebound.  Most shots aren't blocked by the guy guarding the shooter, its weak side help coming over and blocking the shot. DJ got most of his blocks last year not against the player he was guarding but by coming over to help and blocking the shot of a driver or posting up someone else, usually Lacis as he did not try to block a lot of shots.

We gave up so many points in the paint last year, hopefully this year we play good tough fundamental D, stay on our feet, help from the weak side, stay out of foul trouble, box out and rebound.  If we want to make some noise this year, it has to start on the defensive end of the court!!

[ORU82]

Well stated ORU40, I love reading your take on things.

[ORUTerry]

More important than who is starting is who will be in the game at crunch time with 5 minutes to go…

[ORUJason]

Starting Vanover in order to win the opening tip seems like a fairly obvious move to make.  I feel like we have rarely won the opening tip over the last few years.

[dave]

“ If we want to make some noise this year, it has to start on the defensive end of the court!!“

So true ORU40. Basic defense that, up to now has not been taught well enough for the players to implement it on a consistent basis. 

[Eaglefan 21]

After listening to Mills talk with the reaching the summit podcast yesterday, I’m throwing in my lineup.

Abmas -PG

Thompson- SG

Mwamba- SF

Eli/weaver-PF

Vannover - C

next 5 off the bench

Mcbride

Jurgens/phipps

williams

Herron

eli/weaver/clover

 

im struggling to see Eli and Connor sharing the court much together. Part of me loves it but the reasonable side of me things they won’t coexist well. I see Mwamba and weaver having similar skill sets. Patrick sounds like he can guard the perimeter very well and Weaver can block shots. Both shoot the 3 ball along with Connor.

the next five off the bench is maybe more difficult then the starters. McBride could start on half the rosters in college basketball. Jurgens was a starter on our sweet 16 run, Williams looks like a monster in the making and I’ve been a huge fan of Herron since he walked on the court, he needs minutes so he can shine, otherwise the grass may start looking greener somewhere else. Phipps has a role but it needs to be smaller then last year. If we develop a strong post game and teams have to double consistently, then he might carve out a role. Not sure where Amboree fits but he may be a redshirt candidate 

 

 

 

 

 

[GoldenEagleFan]

2 hours ago, Eaglefan 21 said:

After listening to Mills talk with the reaching the summit podcast yesterday, I’m throwing in my lineup.

Abmas -PG

Thompson- SG

Mwamba- SF

Eli/weaver-PF

Vannover - C

next 5 off the bench

Mcbride

Jurgens/phipps

williams

Herron

eli/weaver/clover

 

im struggling to see Eli and Connor sharing the court much together. Part of me loves it but the reasonable side of me things they won’t coexist well. I see Mwamba and weaver having similar skill sets. Patrick sounds like he can guard the perimeter very well and Weaver can block shots. Both shoot the 3 ball along with Connor.

the next five off the bench is maybe more difficult then the starters. McBride could start on half the rosters in college basketball. Jurgens was a starter on our sweet 16 run, Williams looks like a monster in the making and I’ve been a huge fan of Herron since he walked on the court, he needs minutes so he can shine, otherwise the grass may start looking greener somewhere else. Phipps has a role but it needs to be smaller then last year. If we develop a strong post game and teams have to double consistently, then he might carve out a role. Not sure where Amboree fits but he may be a redshirt candidate 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t see Mwamba being a 3 as much as I see him as a 4. Here is my 9-man rotation as I see it on September 8th:

Starters:
Max
McBride
Jurgens
Vanover
Lufile

Bench:
Phipps
Thompson
Mwamba
Weaver

Limited/Redshirt/Play if Injury:
Amboree
Williams
Herron
Clover

It’s really difficult to play much more than 8-9 players, especially when 2-3 of them are going to average over 30 mins per game. 

[Old Titan]

This just got simpler:

1.  Max

2. Kareem

3. Carlos

4. DJ or Patrick

5. Conner

Significant Minutes:  Issac, whoever didn't start at the "4", Trey, Demari

And if/when Conner gets in foul trouble/tired/etc. with Elijah not available?  Nate and Sir Issac become pivotal in every since of the word...

[Keenan Henderson]

Does anyone ever watch the ORU Chapel services on YouTube?   Recently they had a speaker say: Forget the Sweet 16, it is time to go to the Final Four!  He was talking about dreaming big.  Very inspirational.  

[oruvoice]

12 minutes ago, Keenan Henderson said:

Does anyone ever watch the ORU Chapel services on YouTube?   Recently they had a speaker say: Forget the Sweet 16, it is time to go to the Final Four!  He was talking about dreaming big.  Very inspirational.  

Nah. I don't subscribe to the prosperity preaching. Not my cup of tea. 

[eagle88]

I like the sound of going to the final four! I heard Coach Mills speak the other night and that is his expectation. There is a huge difference between false prosperity teaching and dreaming big which is a God given thing. False prosperity teaching requires little effort from us and is basically something for nothing. The current coaching staff at ORU is teaching our players to  work hard, be diligent, get better each day and expect to win at a high level. They are being taught that reaching the final 4 will come at a great price. Coach Mills is in no way a proponent of the prosperity message. There is much scripture to support dreaming big but putting forth maximum work and effort to reach your goal. 4 teams will make the final 4 , why not us!

[Old Titan]

If NCAA history teaches us anything, it's that ANY team in the country can make the Final Four with the proper mix of talent, coaching, smarts, and the proper draw.

That's what makes the NCAA tournament so great:  there's a George Mason or a Loyola of Chicago lurking out there every March, simply needing the right draw and a little luck/divine intervention.

[Keenan Henderson]

With Lufile out for however long, would expect ORU go back to leading the country in three-point shots (at least top five).  Connor will probably be a pick and pop center and even Herron looks like he can hit threes.  When Plastic Man was at Arkansas, if he hit an early three then that usually helped his confidence and ability to score around the rim.  

Will be interesting to see if Coach Mills will use Connor in the post more often than Arkansas did.  Stretchable does fine guarding slower bigger post men but has trouble when smaller bigs take him at the top key and shoot threes or drive.  Look for teams to draw Connor away from the post and thus take away his shot blocking capabilities.

[OKC Eagle]

On 6/5/2022 at 10:36 AM, theeagleman5 said:

If Vanover starts any game in November then TheEagleman is prepared to spend the Holidays drinking nothing but Iced Tea and Cherry Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar...also nary a wager will be placed....and if Vanover becomes a regular staple in the starting lineup then i will continue all of that for the entire season...as Vito Corleone said in The Godfather...I promise on the souls of my grandchildren....

I know the new people must be curious so I just had to bring this back up. 

[ron]

4 minutes ago, OKC Eagle said:

I know the new people must be curious so I just had to bring this back up. 

What a lovely pubic service announcement!