Time to trim the lineup, focus on driving

[UChusky916]

I have heard all pre-season and early season how great this team's depth is... and it showed early against bad competition. But when we're up against good opponents like Syracuse and Gonzaga, we need our best players out there.

I'm going to criticize KO a bit here... I think he's tinkered with the lineup's depth to the point where we're having trouble forming cohesiveness on the offensive end (and even defensively on switches). It's time to trim the lineup so that we can get the chemistry going with our best players.

When we stuck with a shortened 7-man line-up (Adams, Purv, D-Ham, Facey, Miller, Brimah, Enoch) we were at our best. I think Gibbs has had back-to-back bad games, but he should be in that shortened line-up going forward.

Call me crazy, but I'm somewhat sick of hearing how raw Enoch is. I haven't seen ANYTHING from him in the games to show that he's raw outside of that dumb goaltending. I think he should be our first big in the line-up over Nolan. We know Nolan's ceiling, but we could be exponentially better if Enoch can become the player he's capable of being... get him some more run and if he makes a mistake, pull him. But get him more minutes. If he can learn some defensive fundamentals, combined with his strength and athleticism, he could be a FORCE.

Clearly, Adams needs to be the first guard off the bench. We saw Omar and Cassell in there before him today. Omar/Cassell should only be in there if we have foul issues. I love Omar and Cassell, but if they're not hitting their 3=pt shots, they don't provide much else on the offensive end.

Inefficient volume shooters is not what this offense needs. And when you factor in the new 'freedom of movement' rules, we need our offense taking less 3-pt attempts and instead more driving to the hoop. That means Gibbs, Purvis, Adams, and D-Ham should be DRIVING and not settling for 3-pt shots. Once we started driving vs Gonzaga and getting to the line, the game changed completely. I'm not sure how well Omar/Cassell can handle/drive the basketball.

I don't want to overreact, but I think these 2 games have been great experience for the team and VERY telling of the direction we need to go in terms of minutes player's minutes and lineups going forward.

 

[KingOPancakes]

Agree with almost all of your analysis, but I'd like to see Adams start at PG. Let Purvis and Gibbs split time at SG.

Unfortunately it's time for PN, Omar, and Sam to get comfy on the bench.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I'd keep Adams coming off the bench, but he's gotta be the first guy off the bench. None of this screwing around with Cassell or Omar. Hopefully this is part of the "learning about his team" that Ollie was talking about.

 

[UConnfan8]

I agree with this completely. Nolan, Omar and Cassell should not see a MINUTE of action besides really bad foul trouble fixes. Facey and Enoch should and will come in over Nolan. Yeah this team has "depth" but to a point. We cannot keep sitting important players (Gibbs, Purvis-even DHam) in favor of a pro-NBA style offense and substitution strategy. These kids are early 20's. They can play all game. Kemba did it- Napier did it. Boat did it. Play these kids as much as they can play. 30++++ a game. No more Cassell and Omar for 5 or more minutes.

 

[jibsey]

Our looks from 3 were well guarded yesterday. While I like the idea of driving, a lot of those efforts ( think Rodney) were wasted. These guys need to drive and be able to kick back for some better open 3's. They did that against lesser competition but not against the Zags. If we shoot 3's like that we can't win in today's CBB game. KO has enough talent this year, it's his job to get them to perform and I think he will. We've seen numerous games against big time programs where AB and Nolan could not get it done so I'd like to give Enoch 5 games of a lot of PT to see what he can do. Even against Maryland? Yeah, why not?

 

[Chin Diesel]

I don't think it's a surprise to any of us that the rotation is going to be shortened.

The core seven of Brimah, Hamilton, Miller, Gibbs, Purvis, Adams and Facey are going to get consistent minutes.

Cassell Jr and Calhoun are going to combine for 15 minutes or so. How those minutes will be divided isgame to game based on matchups and who has the hot hand. They have both improved their shooting.

Same with Phil and Enoch. About 15 minutes is available for those two to split. Phil is still a good position defender but Enoch needs to get some run.

Injuries will be a variable. We don't know who and when.

The 8-11 players on this team- Casaell Jr, Calhoun, Nolan and Enoch are the best 8-11 UConn's had in a while.