Giffey and Wolf should start.

[gibhunter]

We would play 3 guards, small forward and a center but at least all four on the floor can shoot and it would give the two guys a boost of confidence. Olander and Daniels are both not up to the task.

Daniels especially needs to stop hanging out on the perimeter, he's killing us. Olander is OK as a supporting cast at power forward, but as a center he is too small and too slow.

Ollie has got nothing to lose. Changes to the starting lineup should be made unless he's satisfied with the status quo.

 

[mcs333]

Giffey did nothing to earn a starting roll last night. He had a horrible game.

 

[SaeHusky]

Disagree - he played excellent defense on Leslie. Leslie scored most of his points when Daniels was guarding him

 

[Kitaman]

Daniels especially needs to stop hanging out on the perimeter, he's killing us.

This frustrated me last night. Its like he's waiting to hoist a 3, or penetrate. That is not a role of the '4'. He's well out of position for an offensive rebound and when you watch the game its Tyler or Wolf down low by themselves. Can't run a kick in/out offense when you four is facing the basket 15 feet away. I conclude he just is not suited for the power forward, and we are trying to but a square peg in a round hole. Ollie has to find a solution here because having only rebounder near the basket will continue to kill us on the boards.

Daniels could try to tire his opponent out by running around crazy (he has the build) as a 3 on offense. But his opponent gets to rest on defense when guarding him, able to take a breather since he's away from the boards.

Its just frustrating and sad to see him struggling, almost clueless.

 

[Inyatkin]

I'm starting to wonder if there's anything Giffey could do that wouldn't lead to this board calling for more playing time. Shoot 0-10 from the floor? Commit 10 turnovers?
He's a nice player. I'm glad we have him. But given what he can do, he plays plenty.

 

[CTBasketball]

Daniels is a lost soul out there. Just floating around waiting for an isolation, so he can dribble the ball off his knee.

Giffey gives them more of a defensive advantage.

 

[Puertorock43]

I agree giffey gives more than DD so give him those minutes

 

[nomar]

I'm starting to wonder if there's anything Giffey could do that wouldn't lead to this board calling for more playing time. Shoot 0-10 from the floor? Commit 10 turnovers?
He's a nice player. I'm glad we have him. But given what he can do, he plays plenty.

Maybe it's what he doesn't do: dribble the ball off his foot, travel, or plow over a defender every other time he touches the ball.

Daniels needs to stop doing things he doesn't do well.

Giffey plays within himself. He made some mistakes last night but they weren't back-breakers, and he did play solid D.

Pretty naive on your part that you think this board wouldn't throw Giffey under the bus if he truly had a bad game.

 

[jorge34]

starting Wolf fine, but let Daniels play his way into a breakout.

Giffey is a nice role player off the bench, but that is his upside.

 

[ChrisSmithsPart]

Yep, I'm looking at you DD....

 

[Tenspro2002]

Holy those are some monstrous hand-weights. The ones on the end of that row have to be what, over a hundred pounds?

 

[ChrisSmithsPart]

Holy those are some monstrous hand-weights. The ones on the end of that row have to be what, over a hundred pounds?

Beautiful ain't it. They likely go up to 125 lbs....

DD I'm still looking at you man! Those weights ARE NOT going to lift themselves dude.

 

[RichZ]

What is the fascination with Giffey on this board? 2nd game in a row, he stunk the joint up, and now people are calling for him to start. DD played about as poorly as he could last night, but still contributed more than Giffey.

 

[gibhunter]

2-6 from the field and 4 turnovers? I'll give you the 7 points and get back the 8 possessions he cost us.

 

[CTBasketball]

DeAndre Daniels needs to get his head out of his ass. He's playing horrid. Horrid. He's trying to be a Kevin Durant-type player, but his skill level isn't of that nature, yet. Or maybe never? I'm really lost as to what he does when he's on the court.

 

[RichZ]

2-6 from the field and 4 turnovers? I'll give you the 7 points and get back the 8 possessions he cost us.

Neither rebounded, but DD's 1 board still beats, NG's zero. DD had 4 TOs. NG didn't have any TOs because he wasn't involved in the game at all. He just kind of drifted around. Took one shot and missed. They each had a steal. In the end it was 3 possessions difference; Can't figure out where the 8 you imagine you saw came from.

 

[James]

Giffey is too scared to do anything jc destroyed him IMO . As far as Daniels I like his jumpshot but everything else is still a serious work in progress. He's also being asked a whole lot , like starting at the 4.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Giffey played great defense on Leslie, making him a non-factor. I too would like to see Giffey contribute more offensively, but he worked very hard last night in denying the ball to Leslie through much of the second half and was very successful. Unfortunately, we weren't able to stop Howell.

I think that Ollie could test what we could get from Giffey by making him be the one getting set up to shoot the ball and being asked to do more ball handling and playmaking. I think that he would do better than either Daniels or Calhoun at this time and it would be an investment in finding out what kind of player he could be this and next year. We also need to try to develop DD and OC, but could do so with somewhat less minutes and with a somewhat dialed back role. If they give it a really good try and he is not up to it, then so be it. I think that we would win more games and I am not convinced at all that either DD or OC are better prospects than "NG Unleashed." Now, now does one (KO) unleash him from himself?

 

[UCONNfan1]

I'd rather see the 3 guards, and Olander plus Wolf - see what they all can do. Olander is more of a "4" than Daniels is. For those who have paid more attention than I, how much time has the quintet of Boat, Napier, Calhoun, Giffey and Wolf spent on the court together in games? Has it been a productive lineup?

 

[joober jones]

Wolf starting- maybe.
Giffey starting - no. He had a few nice hustle plays but in 21 minutes fouled out and scored 0 points and had 0 rebounds. True, he had some not-in-the-boxscore contributions, but if he's starting for us we are in for a LONG season. He's a good guy to bring in off the bench and for the most part plays within himself (his best asset, I wish other team members had this one) but he just flat out doesn't have the ability to be a classic Calhoun-era 3. 15 points against Stony Brook followed by 2pt and 0pt games aren't starting credentials.

 

[ctchamps]

There are strengths and weaknesses with both NG and DD.

DD is a much better rebounder. NG plays better in your face man to man coverage. Combine both together and they almost add up to RS at the four.

Neither has a great handle. NG chooses not to do to much when he gets the ball. This is a double edge sword. On the one hand he doesn't turn the ball over as much as DD. On the other he doesn't look to create for himself very often and this puts more pressure on the guards. Both players have a good stroke from three if they get time. But both are inconsistent. Both need to square up to get the proper rotation and both are frequently unable to get in position to square up.

EW rebounds better than TO. He also is better at getting offensive boards and tipping in missed shots. Both players are equally adept at setting up the offense in a half court set. TO is very inconsistent with the fourteen footer. EW has had two games in which he showed he could make them and one game he showed he couldn't make anything.

If this team had RS then KO would have great flexibility with the post players and he could move DD and NG to their more natural positions. But the lack of depth at the five (unless Nolan learns to understand the game better) necessitates both play the five.

I like splitting the time with NG and DD. I like splitting the time with EW and TO. The argument who should start should consider the personalities of the players. Some players can come off the bench and play with intensity right away. Others can't. Some players have fragile personalities. I think the Germans have it over the Americans when it comes to not being bothered. TO and DD need to start if for no other reason to not mess with their confidence. KO is doing the right thing by starting them and inserting EW and NG as the various situations develop.

 

[joober jones]

If we're going to start Giffey, I'd want him at the 2. He's a great spot-up shooter from deep and he'd create some great mismatches on defense. As I've said before, I'd like to see a lineup of
1- Napier
2- Giffey
3- Daniels
4- Nolan
5- Wolf
even if just for a 3 minute stretch to see how things would go.