Who plays and in what position?

[Goat]

KO has talent spread unevenly across the 5 positions.

Playing talent first, I think you start Napier, Boatwright, Calhoun, and Daniels with a committee at 5. The Sixth man for the 4 perimeter spots is Giffey or Kromah.

Maybe TO as a senior starts at 5 in the early games and, then, the big who is hot or practiced well gets the start. The rest of the rotation is based on situation and performance. There will be times when UCONN goes small and Kromah or Giffey join the starting perimeter players.

That said, do any of the bigs get a chance to play 4 with another big at 5? TO is a soft 4 who played 5 last season because the team needed it. I think Facey is a 4, as well. Unfortunately for them, I can't imagine any bigs getting too much of a chance at 4, with Giffey sitting while DD gets a break. Daniels and Giffey may be 3s, but on a small team they will play 4.

 

[Kemballin']

I would start

Napier, Boatright, Daniels, Giffey, and then Nolan/Facey at the five, it's hard to keep Calhoun out of the starting lineup though.

 

[Deleted member 3149]

KO already said that 1-4 will be Napier, Boatright, Calhoun, Daniels. (Assuming all are healthy)

My guess is that Tyler will start at the 5, and based on how well he plays, he will continue to start or will lose his role to Phil. To my understanding, Kentan will be a role player.

And while I like the idea of Giffey starting, he's our most valuable X-Factor off the bench.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I don't know about the cupcake games, but this is what I expect to be the rotation during conference and Tournament play.

PG - Bazz (30 minutes), Samuel (10 minutes)
Combo G - Boat (35 minutes), Bazz (5 minutes)
Wing - OC (30 minutes), Giffey (5 minutes), Kromah (5 minutes)
Forward - Daniels (30 minutes), Giffey (10 minutes)
Center - Olander (15 minutes), Nolan (10 minutes), Facey (10 minutes), Giffey (5 minutes)

Boat, Bazz, OC, and DD play 30+ minutes a game (Bazz and Boat close to all 40 on many nights), Giffey is first off the bench with 20 minutes a game, center position is spread evenly unless someone really emerges as a stud, Samuel gives some time to relieve Bazz at the point, Kromah a few token minutes. Tolks and Brimah don't get off the bench in meaningful games until the final minute of a blowout.

 

[caw]

The starting five should be: Napier, Boatright, Calhoun, Daniels, Nolan/Olander.

The bench is interesting. Theoretically Napier/Boat/Daniels shoudl eat up 32-38 minutes each. I would love if they could be held to a 32 minute averages to keep them healthy and fresh. Calhoun probably will get 28-30 minimum also. That only leaves 36 minutes remaining at the 1-4.

PG: Napier 32, Boatright 8
SG: Boatright 24, Calhoun 8, Kromah/Giffey/Samuel 8
SF: Calhoun 20, Giffey/Kromah 20
PF: Daniels 32, Giffey/Facey/Tolksdorf 8
C: Nolan 20, Olander/Brimah/Facey 20

I'm sure when Boat/Napier are on the floor together Napier will play some two, but just making it a bit easier. I also put Samuel at the SG spot, but he may be the lead next to Napier/Boatright. I doubt he will play much without one of them next to him.

Theoretically Giffey could cover all bench minutes 2-4, if other options unavailable. Not ideal but possible. I think Samuel/Kromah will play some 2-3 and Facey at the four.

The five is the big question mark.

Injuries could still be problematic, esp if they happen to our PGs.

 

[seanmc94]

Playing DD extended minutes would create matchup nightmares; but I think having Calhoun out there will open up the floor more.

 

[caw]

Playing DD extended minutes would create matchup nightmares; but I think having Calhoun out there will open up the floor more.

Huh? Are you talking about at the three? DD won't play much if any time at the three.

 

[Hugo]

I don't know about the cupcake games, but this is what I expect to be the rotation during conference and Tournament play.

PG - Bazz (30 minutes), Samuel (10 minutes)
Combo G - Boat (35 minutes), Bazz (5 minutes)
Wing - OC (30 minutes), Giffey (5 minutes), Kromah (5 minutes)
Forward - Daniels (30 minutes), Giffey (10 minutes)
Center - Olander (15 minutes), Nolan (10 minutes), Facey (10 minutes), Giffey (5 minutes)

I think Kromah will definitely get more than 5 minutes a game and I don't think Bazz and Boat will regularly get 35 minutes a game. Kromah will be on the floor to give Bazz and Boar regular breathers.

 

[Goat]

No comment yet about play a big 4 and 5. I would like to see what a Napier, Calhoun, Daniels, Facey/Olander and Noan/Brimah group might do vs. smaller opponents. I suppose that can't happen without injuries.

 

[Huskyforlife]

our best line up would be

pg-bazz
sg-boat
sf-omar
pf-giffey
c-daniels

 

[Scot-e]

DD at center is simply not going to happen. I mean... Really?

 

[Jaybo]

Bazz
Boat
OC
DD
Olander

Giffey 6th man same as last year with Nolan tolk kromah and Samuels picking up decent mins here and there brimah will see mins when other bigs are in foul trouble. Facey who knows at this point.

 

[champs99and04]

I'm guessing the point guard and shooting guard will be interchangeable in our lineup when Boatright and Napier are on the floor at once (which will be 75% of the time). I mean, if you want to call them point guards in the sense that one of them will carry the ball up the floor, fine, but I think in general the necessity of the casual fan to assign a position to a player is overrated. We can argue for days about whether Daniels is a three or a four, Calhoun is a two or three, etc., but at the end of the day it's irrelevant - the best players are going to the majority of the minutes, and on our team next year our four top scorers (Calhoun/DD/Bazz/Boat) are going to have the ball in their hands an awful lot and that's that. Half the battle as a college coach is configuring your lineup in a manner that's going to utilize the skill sets of your players to their fullest potential. Basketball is ultimately a game of exploiting match-ups in your favor and neutralizing match-ups in favor of the opposition - if you have Tyler Olander and Phil Nolan on the floor at the same time you're setting yourself up for failure because Olander doesn't have the offensive game to exploit smaller defenders on one end, and he also does not have the foot speed to guard the perimeter on the other end. And that's what a lot of people here don't understand: if you're pounding the ball inside on us, and you're not Louisville or Kentucky - teams in the upper one percentile of interior play - you're doing us a favor because the least proficient players on your team are shooting less. If we play UMass-Lowell this season, and they have a 6'6 center, that doesn't mean we're going to let Brimah or Nolan work on the block. Sorry to ramble on, I just feel people get too hung up on positions sometimes.

 

[ctchamps]

I'm guessing the point guard and shooting guard will be interchangeable in our lineup when Boatright and Napier are on the floor at once (which will be 75% of the time). I mean, if you want to call them point guards in the sense that one of them will carry the ball up the floor, fine, but I think in general the necessity of the casual fan to assign a position to a player is overrated. We can argue for days about whether Daniels is a three or a four, Calhoun is a two or three, etc., but at the end of the day it's irrelevant - the best players are going to the majority of the minutes, and on our team next year our four top scorers (Calhoun/DD/Bazz/Boat) are going to have the ball in their hands an awful lot and that's that. Half the battle as a college coach is configuring your lineup in a manner that's going to utilize the skill sets of your players to their fullest potential. Basketball is ultimately a game of exploiting match-ups in your favor and neutralizing match-ups in favor of the opposition - if you have Tyler Olander and Phil Nolan on the floor at the same time you're setting yourself up for failure because Olander doesn't have the offensive game to exploit smaller defenders on one end, and he also does not have the foot speed to guard the perimeter on the other end. And that's what a lot of people here don't understand: if you're pounding the ball inside on us, and you're not Louisville or Kentucky - teams in the upper one percentile of interior play - you're doing us a favor because the least proficient players on your team are shooting less. If we play UMass-Lowell this season, and they have a 6'6 center, that doesn't mean we're going to let Brimah or Nolan work on the block. Sorry to ramble on, I just feel people get too hung up on positions sometimes.

You are correct about the problem last season with having a combo of non scoring players at the 4, 5. Whatever was lost with rebounding was gained by a better flow on offense with the smaller lineup.

 

[Waquoit]

KO already said that 1-4 will be Napier, Boatright, Calhoun, Daniels. (Assuming all are healthy)

My guess is that Tyler will start at the 5, and based on how well he plays, he will continue to start or will lose his role to Phil. To my understanding, Kentan will be a role player.

And while I like the idea of Giffey starting, he's our most valuable X-Factor off the bench.

I pretty much agree with this except for one minor quibble. Instead of saying the 5 is TO's to lose, how about we frame it that it's Nolan's to win. Let's have him step up and take the job away if that makes us better..

 

[Huskyforlife]

DD at center is simply not going to happen. I mean... Really?

it's called going small. we did it a lot last year