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Let's go inside the mind of a Shabazz Napier.
Starting lineup for Arkansas game
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Let's go inside the mind of a Shabazz Napier.
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First of all, its UConn (ie University of Conn), not all caps. Second of all i still dont understand how you can say he doesnt have speed or athleticism. Have you watched any of the games this year? He continually starts from the perimeter and gets to the rim (speed), then makes a layup, oftentimes twisting around a much taller defender (athleticism). There is no way Shabazz hurts UConn, sorry.
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No Matt, you are wrong. Huskymania has a point. Because bazz is so unathletic we need him primarily at the 4. However, I don't think he should get many mintues at all really - he'll hurt UConn in the long run.
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MidTown, you got your terms wrong. 1-PG, 2-SG, 3-SF, 4-PF & 5-C.
If you look back at how JC has handled PG-Combos in the past when he's had 2 good ones, is he uses them interchangeably depending on match-ups, line-ups and foul trouble.
My guess is JC will be careful about how much he plays SN and RB together in the first half so that he can have both, or at least one of them, late in the game not in any serious foul trouble. Worst case scenario, would be both with 2 fouls early in the first half and with 3 early in the 2nd half. I would not be surprised to see him start both, though I'm not sure that will happen, and see if they can both play aggressively without getting into early foul trouble. If they show they can do that, I would not be shocked to see a lot of 3-G Sets (SN, RB & JL) throughout the game since that's the line-up that I think is the most dangerous offensively.
Until we get to see a larger body of work, I don't know what type, if any, liability this team will be defensively with SN and RB on the floor together. Many thought that KW and SN would be a liability on defensive. During one stretch they struggled against quick, strong & athletic backcourts, but over time the team D came together and it was not even an issue. So until we get to see how UConn's 5-man unit that includes these two smallish guards play a bunch of games, it's hard to predict.
If JC takes a page from last years play book where he brought Bazz & Chuck off the bench, I would not be surprised if he does the same with RB even if the 3-G set turns out to be UConn's best line-up. The reason for doing so would be to reduce the odds of both RB and SN both picking up early fouls. Chuck seemed to pick up a foul just walking onto the floor. SN was an aggressive defender and JC wanted to let the refs get those quick "set the tone" whistles out of their system before bringing in those two players. I thought JC would be doing the same with AD, who like most young bigs tends to pick up silly fouls, but Alex has played so poorly so far this season, and AD seems to be a tad more careful, that he's decided to throw cation to the wind and start AD.
Also, don't forget that JC sometimes rewards players for their efforts in practice, though over the past few years it's been more talk that action. He'll say player-x had a great week of practice and then still doesn't give that player more PT. More a motivation for the player(s) who didn't put out a great effort in practice.
With all this said, I think he starts the same line-up we've been seeing recently:
1-SN, 2-JL, 3-DD, 4-TO & 5-AD
...but after the first whistle or two quickly goes to the line-up he likes most:
1/2-RB, 2/1-SN, 3-JL, 4-* & 5-AD (I think we'll see RB at the 1 a little more often than SN when they're on the floor together since it looks like he's a little better at getting by his man than Bazz and that's JC's preferred type of offensive attack - Generate good scoring opportunities, by getting the D to breakdown by forcing the opponent to over commit with help-D. I think both SN and RB are equally effective off the ball. Both can catch and shoot the 3 or catch, drive and hit the midrange or dish of the dribble. They are quite interchangeable though RB is a little better at taking his man off the dribble than Bazz, making him a slightly better option at the 1 than Bazz. If Ryan loses the trust of JC by making some bad decisions, that could change.)
(* TO was our best 4 early on, but had a bad game against FSU. I'm sure JC wants Alex & Roscoe to get back on track, but for the Arkansas game and however many that will follow, TO, AO & RS will all be battling for the PT that is not taken up by AD. I think TO will continue to be solid, but AO and RS are capable of monster games if they can turn things around. Our best chances to repeat as NCs is for AO and RS picking up where they left off last season and go beyond that. I think it's going to take time but they'll come around.)
If you look back at how JC has handled PG-Combos in the past when he's had 2 good ones, is he uses them interchangeably depending on match-ups, line-ups and foul trouble.
My guess is JC will be careful about how much he plays SN and RB together in the first half so that he can have both, or at least one of them, late in the game not in any serious foul trouble. Worst case scenario, would be both with 2 fouls early in the first half and with 3 early in the 2nd half. I would not be surprised to see him start both, though I'm not sure that will happen, and see if they can both play aggressively without getting into early foul trouble. If they show they can do that, I would not be shocked to see a lot of 3-G Sets (SN, RB & JL) throughout the game since that's the line-up that I think is the most dangerous offensively.
Until we get to see a larger body of work, I don't know what type, if any, liability this team will be defensively with SN and RB on the floor together. Many thought that KW and SN would be a liability on defensive. During one stretch they struggled against quick, strong & athletic backcourts, but over time the team D came together and it was not even an issue. So until we get to see how UConn's 5-man unit that includes these two smallish guards play a bunch of games, it's hard to predict.
If JC takes a page from last years play book where he brought Bazz & Chuck off the bench, I would not be surprised if he does the same with RB even if the 3-G set turns out to be UConn's best line-up. The reason for doing so would be to reduce the odds of both RB and SN both picking up early fouls. Chuck seemed to pick up a foul just walking onto the floor. SN was an aggressive defender and JC wanted to let the refs get those quick "set the tone" whistles out of their system before bringing in those two players. I thought JC would be doing the same with AD, who like most young bigs tends to pick up silly fouls, but Alex has played so poorly so far this season, and AD seems to be a tad more careful, that he's decided to throw cation to the wind and start AD.
Also, don't forget that JC sometimes rewards players for their efforts in practice, though over the past few years it's been more talk that action. He'll say player-x had a great week of practice and then still doesn't give that player more PT. More a motivation for the player(s) who didn't put out a great effort in practice.
With all this said, I think he starts the same line-up we've been seeing recently:
1-SN, 2-JL, 3-DD, 4-TO & 5-AD
...but after the first whistle or two quickly goes to the line-up he likes most:
1/2-RB, 2/1-SN, 3-JL, 4-* & 5-AD (I think we'll see RB at the 1 a little more often than SN when they're on the floor together since it looks like he's a little better at getting by his man than Bazz and that's JC's preferred type of offensive attack - Generate good scoring opportunities, by getting the D to breakdown by forcing the opponent to over commit with help-D. I think both SN and RB are equally effective off the ball. Both can catch and shoot the 3 or catch, drive and hit the midrange or dish of the dribble. They are quite interchangeable though RB is a little better at taking his man off the dribble than Bazz, making him a slightly better option at the 1 than Bazz. If Ryan loses the trust of JC by making some bad decisions, that could change.)
(* TO was our best 4 early on, but had a bad game against FSU. I'm sure JC wants Alex & Roscoe to get back on track, but for the Arkansas game and however many that will follow, TO, AO & RS will all be battling for the PT that is not taken up by AD. I think TO will continue to be solid, but AO and RS are capable of monster games if they can turn things around. Our best chances to repeat as NCs is for AO and RS picking up where they left off last season and go beyond that. I think it's going to take time but they'll come around.)
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i love all your initials.
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DogMania, are you and HuskyMania brothers? BTW, I obviously was being sarcastic about the numbers of the positions - I was making fun of your distant cousin for suggesting Bazz play the 2 because he's so unathletic and a liability
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DM uses initials in order to keep his posts short and sweet...
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