Lineup for next game

[Palatine]

It doesn't matter who starts.

It matters who finishes.

 

[Kitaman]

Line-up should be settled by now but it isn't. Only option is to change it.

I wonder if its the lineup and/or the head scratching subbing patterns.

 

[James]

Don't see the sense in Enoch at the 4 when uconn can't score as it is; they need to downsize more and spread the floor as much as possible. My favorite line up is

Adams Gibbs Calhoun Hamilton brimah

ball handling shooting and rim protection, three major skill sets are covered here. Crunch time should be set up so Adams is given the best floor spacing to attack on his pnr... You'd have to be blind at this point to not notice he's the only guy who can really engineer offense and paint touches

 

[7774]

Not this coaching staff.

It will be nice when we start winning again and you disappear as always.

Watching a grown man act like a little baby who had his favorite toy taken away is just embarrassing.

 

[intlzncster]

Yep to me that's one of those lineups I see and go "KO what are you thinking" - one passer and ball handler.

Problem is, we really don't have more than 1.5 ball handlers. I give Hamilton a .5 at this stage because, while I don't ever worry with the ball in his hands from a passing/TO perspective, his decision making hasn't been the best this year.

The ball handling situation feels a lot like 2006 in a way, although with much less talent up and down the roster.

 

[intlzncster]

Don't see the sense in Enoch at the 4 when uconn can't score as it is; they need to downsize more and spread the floor as much as possible. My favorite line up is

Adams Gibbs Calhoun Hamilton brimah

ball handling shooting and rim protection, three major skill sets are covered here. Crunch time should be set up so Adams is given the best floor spacing to attack on his pnr... You'd have to be blind at this point to not notice he's the only guy who can really engineer offense and paint touches

Agree with most of this, but throughout the game, I'd prefer Purvis for Gibbs. More versatility, more D. But in crunch time, be sure to have Gibbs in there ahead of Purv.

 

[tykurez]

If Gibbs is concerned more about starting than what's best for the team in biggest game since SMU eliminated us last year that's pretty sad.

Gibbs would you rather start or help us try to beat SMU off the bench....do you want the final game of your college career in the NIT?

There has been absolutely zero indication that Gibbs is more concerned about starting so I'm not even sure what warrants this kind of comment.

 

[Matt1010]

Agree with most of this, but throughout the game, I'd prefer Purvis for Gibbs. More versatility, more D. But in crunch time, be sure to have Gibbs in there ahead of Purv.

So bench our best defender and likely best player in Miller?

 

[James]

So bench our best defender and likely best player in Miller?

It's not an easy answer, but which two move the needle more on both sides ; Hamilton , Miller, or brimah ? End games with those two plus Adams Gibbs and Calhoun. In the grand scheme of things , this isn't really a crucial question because Miller has been fouling @ an epic rate... Therefore that lineup with Hamilton at the four should be used a bunch more ( KO fancies playing facey and Nolan together abunch instead).

 

[intlzncster]

So bench our best defender and likely best player in Miller?

It's not an easy answer, but which two move the needle more on both sides ; Hamilton , Miller, or brimah ? End games with those two plus Adams Gibbs and Calhoun. In the grand scheme of things , this isn't really a crucial question because Miller has been fouling @ an epic rate... Therefore that lineup with Hamilton at the four should be used a bunch more ( KO fancies playing facey and Nolan together abunch instead).

In the previous comment, I was speaking more to a Purvis for Gibbs switch. At crunch time, I don't like Purvis's lack of getting to the line, and the fact that when he does, it's a crap shoot. A decent compromise is an offensive/defensive switch for Purv/Gibbs.

RE Miller/Hamilton, it is a tough call. But in crunch time, you have to score no matter what. I like Hamilton's ability to stretch the posts more than Miller. I think that opens things up for our guards, who need a bit of help getting to the tin.

And Hamilton provides enough rebounding to make up for some obvious dropoff from Miller's D. jmo

 

[Matt1010]

It's not an easy answer, but which two move the needle more on both sides ; Hamilton , Miller, or brimah ? End games with those two plus Adams Gibbs and Calhoun. In the grand scheme of things , this isn't really a crucial question because Miller has been fouling @ an epic rate... Therefore that lineup with Hamilton at the four should be used a bunch more ( KO fancies playing facey and Nolan together abunch instead).

In the previous comment, I was speaking more to a Purvis for Gibbs switch. At crunch time, I don't like Purvis's lack of getting to the line, and the fact that when he does, it's a crap shoot. A decent compromise is an offensive/defensive switch for Purv/Gibbs.

RE Miller/Hamilton, it is a tough call. But in crunch time, you have to score no matter what. I like Hamilton's ability to stretch the posts more than Miller. I think that opens things up for our guards, who need a bit of help getting to the tin.

And Hamilton provides enough rebounding to make up for some obvious dropoff from Miller's D. jmo

I agree with both of you. What I'm saying is that IMO Miller has to be in the game and should be over Omar. Not sure what I'd do with Purvis/Gibbs but probably stick with Gibbs for ball handling reasons.

 

[KemBuckets21]

Scoring the most does not make you the best player, that is a terrible way to view performance, unless you think guys like Carmelo and Harden are better than Lebron.

With that being said, I do not disagree with starting Purvis, but it is March, at this point they should have their lineup cemented.

Lebron is averaging more points than Melo this season, fyi. But point taken.

 

[GuttyWolf]

Shonn Miller is the best player on this team and I am not sure it is all that close. Apparently there are more people than our head coach who have yet to realize this.

 

[intlzncster]

Shonn Miller is the best player on this team and I am not sure it is all that close. Apparently there are more people than our head coach who have yet to realize this.

If your best player can't stay on the floor because he fouls at a ridiculous rate, you can't rely on him. If Ollie keeps him on the floor all the time, he's got 5 by the 15min mark of the second half.

 

[GuttyWolf]

If your best player can't stay on the floor because he fouls at a ridiculous rate, you can't rely on him. If Ollie keeps him on the floor all the time, he's got 5 by the 15min mark of the second half.

Fill me in who our best player is if it is not Shonn? Enlighten me. Take me to Church.

I'm not going to argue he doesn't not have the propensity to foul. It also doesn't help that Ollie has no faith in playing Shonn when he picks up a couple. Every time he got pulled against Houston, they made a run. Spoiler Alert, that's what happens when your best player isn't the game.

Oh and he leads the AAC in PER and is top 5 in any efficiency category and practically every traditional stat the league has. Take a look for yourself if you don't believe me.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/aac/2016-leaders.html

 

[2north]

Fill me in who our best player is if it is not Shonn? Enlighten me. Take me to Church.

I'm not going to argue he doesn't not have the propensity to foul. It also doesn't help that Ollie has no faith in playing Shonn when he picks up a couple. Every time he got pulled against Houston, they made a run. Spoiler Alert, that's what happens when your best player isn't the game.

Oh and he leads the AAC in PER and is top 5 in any efficiency category and practically every traditional stat the league has. Take a look for yourself if you don't believe me.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/aac/2016-leaders.html

Miller picked up his 3rd foul a minute into the 2nd half, what other choice is there? Even if he is our best player, constantly being in foul trouble isn't helping.

 

[Jaker]

Because you people are done with
gibbs, i am expecting Foxen to start.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I'm not going to argue he doesn't not have the propensity to foul. It also doesn't help that Ollie has no faith in playing Shonn when he picks up a couple.

With the caveat that your use of the triple negative makes the point of your first sentence entirely unclear, are you really saying that it doesn't help Miller's propensity to foul that Ollie won't play him after he picks up a couple fouls? Because it seems like taking him out of the game is the one thing that is guaranteed to mitigate his propensity to foul.

You can cite all the positive statistics you want. No one would dispute that Miller is one of, if not the most important players on the team. But if he can't stay on the court his statistics don't really matter. If your argument is that it's better for the team to let Miller play through his fouls and foul out in the first half, well, that's an argument, I suppose. But not a very good one.

 

[8893]

Love the triple negative.

 

[joober jones]

Because you people are done with
gibbs, i am expecting Foxen to start.

That's insane. Everyone knows it'll be Noyes.

 

[GuttyWolf]

With the caveat that your use of the triple negative makes the point of your first sentence entirely unclear, are you really saying that it doesn't help Miller's propensity to foul that Ollie won't play him after he picks up a couple fouls? Because it seems like taking him out of the game is the one thing that is guaranteed to mitigate his propensity to foul.

You can cite all the positive statistics you want. No one would dispute that Miller is one of, if not the most important players on the team. But if he can't stay on the court his statistics don't really matter. If your argument is that it's better for the team to let Miller play through his fouls and foul out in the first half, well, that's an argument, I suppose. But not a very good one.

My apologies for the triple negative, I guess I haven't put my Bachelor's degree from CLAS to much use post college.

I won't argue the hook with 2 fouls in the first half (JC staple) My biggest gripe was with the quick hook in the second half after the 3rd foul. We finally ran a set for him to open the half and he could not have scored any easier. That's what happens when you get #32 the ball. Show a little sense of urgency KO and have some faith in a 5th year Senior who is (and say it with me this time) the best player on the team. Miller ended the game with 3 fouls in case you missed it, so that might not have been the worst idea.

Bottom line, without Miller this team has 15 wins tops... He is the only consistent body we have, the misuse of him all year has been nauseating. He can get his shot on anyone at any time and does so while shooting 60% from the floor. I only wish our head coach knew what to do with him.

 

[Storrssouth]

My apologies for the triple negative, I guess I haven't put my Bachelor's degree from CLAS to much use post college.

I won't argue the hook with 2 fouls in the first half (JC staple) My biggest gripe was with the quick hook in the second half after the 3rd foul. We finally ran a set for him to open the half and he could not have scored any easier. That's what happens when you get #32 the ball. Show a little sense of urgency KO and have some faith in a 5th year Senior who is (and say it with me this time) the best player on the team. Miller ended the game with 3 fouls in case you missed it, so that might not have been the worst idea.

Bottom line, without Miller this team has 15 wins tops... He is the only consistent body we have, the misuse of him all year has been nauseating. He can get his shot on anyone at any time and does so while shooting 60% from the floor. I only wish our head coach knew what to do with him.

Don't worry, we hear you loud and clear, CLAS degree or not. Miller is the team's best player. Fair enough. Hard to dispute that. Guy is a much needed post presence on a team that is definitely lacking in that area (right now at least). Just to play devil's advocate, if you were KO, how would you utilize him differently? Would you run the offense through him? Give him 20 shots per game? When we're not shooting the 3 well, I am all for getting Miller more looks. He's the most reliable option when we're in a cold streak and need a bucket. Just wondering what head coach guttywolf would draw up

 

[intlzncster]

Fill me in who our best player is if it is not Shonn? Enlighten me. Take me to Church.

I'm not going to argue he doesn't not have the propensity to foul. It also doesn't help that Ollie has no faith in playing Shonn when he picks up a couple. Every time he got pulled against Houston, they made a run. Spoiler Alert, that's what happens when your best player isn't the game.

Oh and he leads the AAC in PER and is top 5 in any efficiency category and practically every traditional stat the league has. Take a look for yourself if you don't believe me.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/aac/2016-leaders.html

Here's an idea, which isn't much of a newsflash really. We don't have a 'best' player. We have a bunch of guys who are good at certain things, and not so good at others. No lead dog. No elite player. We're hoping we can toss some mix of them together and maybe produce something.

 

[GuttyWolf]

Here's an idea, which isn't a newsflash if you've been paying attention. We don't have a 'best' player. We have a bunch of guys who are good at certain things, and no so good at others. No lead dog. No elite players. We're hoping we can toss some mix of them together and maybe produce something.

Here's a newsflash, every team has a 'best' player. And #32 happens to be ours.

I didn't say he was Shabazz, but he is the best we got. And if we utilized his skill set all year, we might not be sitting squarely on the bubble in the AAC.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Bottom line, without Miller this team has 15 wins tops... He is the only consistent body we have, the misuse of him all year has been nauseating. He can get his shot on anyone at any time and does so while shooting 60% from the floor. I only wish our head coach knew what to do with him.

Unfortunately, the refs in each game seem to know exactly what to do with Miller, which has limited what Ollie or anyone else can do with him.

 

[intlzncster]

Here's a newsflash, every team has a 'best' player.

That's not true, but OK. You might have 3 good players, one who's the best scorer, one who's the best rebounder/defender, and one who is the best all around. Each guy impacts the game differently, but does not separate themselves appreciably on a game by game basis. They are of relatively equal value. This occurs all the time in middle of the pack teams.

I didn't say he was Shabazz, but he is the best we got. And if we utilized his skill set all year, we might not be sitting squarely on the bubble in the AAC.

The most important quality of any player is availability. And if he's consistently on the bench, he's not available; and he's useless at that point. Skills are ultimately irrelevant in this scenario. Your best player does not spend a lot of time on the bench. He has zero impact from there. Negative impact actually.

 

[GuttyWolf]

Unfortunately, the refs in each game seem to know exactly what to do with Miller, which has limited what Ollie or anyone else can do with him.

Does Shonn foul a lot? Yes, he does. Is Ollie clueless on how to utilize him? Yes, to that as well.

He had 3 fouls last game and took 6 shots (1 oh which was a late tip in) Let's not act like he was saddled with 4 the whole second half. Get that man the pill and good things happen.

 

[David 76]

The most important quality of any player is availability. And if he's consistently on the bench, he's not available; and he's useless at that point. Skills are ultimately irrelevant in this scenario. Your best player does not spend a lot of time on the bench. He has zero impact from there. Negative impact actually.

Gotta disagree Int. Best is not available. Miller is our most consistent, productive, best player. DHam is our most talented until/if Jalen passes him.

 

[intlzncster]

Gotta disagree Int. Best is not available. Miller is our most consistent, productive, best player. DHam is our most talented until/if Jalen passes him.

I didn't say most talented. The point is, if he can't get the minutes because of constant foul trouble, what use is being really good? It's actually a negative impact on the team. And he loses 'best player' points, for lack of a better expression.

It's kind of like if a star player is always injured. He can't be your best player, because you can't count on him. I realize it's kind of semantics, but an all around decent player, who is always available, is more useful to a team.

I also realize this is a Bill Belichick maxim, so you won't agree by default.

 

[David 76]

First, Bill Belichick is my Godfather and I love the guy!
I called him and he said being able to count on Miller 100% while he is on the floor is better than being able to have 50% trust in DHam for his 35 minutes.