Depth / reserves

[michaelpittman32]

What's going on with our reserves? ... does JTIII really have no faith in Guibunda / Amadou / Dizdarevic as to get them ANY playing time, even just to spell Green for a few minutes? I saw AKD get ready to go in vs. St. John's, only to be called back by JTIII.

If Dizdarevic finishes this season with no minutes, is he going to get antsy? I'd hate to have a scholarship taken up by someone we can't trust to go in for 3 minutes to give a star a breather.

Tyler Crawford? Is he coming along?

[SFHoya99]

III is playing his best players. Most of our Big East games have been remarkably close -- so even a few minutes of an inferior player (in the sense of inferior to our starters) could have cost us a game. III wants to win now.

I think we're so ingrained with Esherick's 13 man rotation (or even JTII) that we don't consider an eight man rotation normal. But it is. And since we're running a seven man rotation, we're not that off.

Tyler has gotten some late game minutes as a defensive sub. The Irish-African Assassin has gotten some time b/c of foul trouble or rebounding woes. Cornelio and Sead obviously aren't ready or equipped to be players in the BE, like Omari Faulkner, for example.

Whether or no Sead is content is really based on his outlook. He seems to be a key member of the bench, always energetic, always happy, always cheering on. My guess is that he is enjoying GU, wants his education and is content to be a practice player.

Tyler and Cornelio are freshman, and may get more time if they stay and progress. And AKD is a walk-on, so i'm not sure he ever expected big minutes.

[HoyaSox04]

I'm still baffled by Guibunda not getting any run whatsoever. A big man like him, with obvious athletic talent (not exactly sure of his basketball talent), you would think he would be in there spelling Jeff and Roy from time to time, given his size. But its obvious JT3 sees something in him that leads him to think he cannot help the team on the court... its disappointing - we could really use some more depth up front.

As for the others, DJ, Ramell, Tyler and Ray have all played well when they've been in the game at most points. Sure, they've struggled at some points (just like everyone else), but they should all be seeing some more minutes than they are. Well, except DJ, as he does get a lot of PT, but the other three have proven to not hurt the team when they're in the game.

Even AKD has played with surprising passion and talent in the last few games he's been in. He plays well on the defensive end, even if he struggles offensively. If we're up in a game, he could come in against a smaller lineup and spell our starters for some valuable time.

All in all, there is some real talent on the bench. Now, I'm not trying to say JT3 is misusing it, I'm just saying what I see. I think he has gotten better, esp since the Pitt game, where we only had a 6 man rotation. I'm just worried that later in the year, when our starters are getting tired, our bench's lack of experience could hurt us.

[Simian Prime]

I agree that it is "normal" to have an 8 man rotation. I imagine that as the yaers progress, and we are able to fill the bench with really quality players that are familiar with the offense, we may see a deeper rotation base.

Who knows...

Whatever JT3 does, is good enough for me.

GO HOYAS...GO GEORGETOWN...GO TEAM!

[YB]

Well, reports on Guibunda were that he was raw offensively coming in.... he likely needed a year of skill development, I am betting. I just hope that he does not become discouraged and transfer. I think he can be a very productive player eventually, same with Sead and Tyler. I hope they keep working and seriously crack the rotation next year.

[the_way]

We are not going to get tired. That is one thing that has been a constant at Georgetown since JT2 started here. Players will be in shape and ready to run for 40 minutes. I don't think fatigue is really an issue. However, I'm just like everyone else here on this board. I'd like to see more time for Crawford and especially Guibunda out of curiosity and hope that they can sucessfully contribute. Nonetheless, its quite obvious that our W-L record in the Big East and overall record and our play reflects that JTIII knows what he is doing. He is playing the players who have earned the right to play.

[SFHoya99]

YB said:

Well, reports on Guibunda were that he was raw offensively coming in.... he likely needed a year of skill development, I am betting. I just hope that he does not become discouraged and transfer. I think he can be a very productive player eventually, same with Sead and Tyler. I hope they keep working and seriously crack the rotation next year.

Actually, word on Guibunda is that he was fairly skilled coming in. Nice jumper, pretty smooth. However, he played in a very weak league in Connecticut and didn't get the ball much in AAU thanks to former Hoya commit Robert McKiver.

I think he may need a bit of bulking up and banging to get used to the BE.

[the_way]

SFHoya99 said:

Actually, word on Guibunda is that he was fairly skilled coming in. Nice jumper, pretty smooth. However, he played in a very weak league in Connecticut and didn't get the ball much in AAU thanks to former Hoya commit Robert McKiver.

I think he may need a bit of bulking up and banging to get used to the BE.

What do you mean about Robert McKiver? What is the skinny on that?

[SaxaCD]

I think he just means he was a ballhog.

[SFHoya99]

SaxaCD85 said:

I think he just means he was a ballhog.

Exactly. Esh wanted McKiver to become a PG, and that didn't happen. I think that started much of the rift. He ended up on CG's AAU team once he transferred to a Connecticut Prep School and continued his gunning ways on the Connecticut Flame.

[the_way]

Thanks for the info.

[hoyadrummer]

The princeton offense isn't the easiest in the world to learn to play, especially if you need to learn to play it well enough to play in the BE. I think the short rotation might be in part due to some players not being as comfortable with the offense as JTIII would like.

I think as the years go by anf upperclassmen know the system better and they can help JTIII teach it to new recruits instead of him having to teach it to them, we will see an 8-9 man rotation, especially if we get the quality of recruits that we seem to be getting.

[EasyEd]

This may be a sore subject and get erased from the board but the following is interesting relative to our depth.

www.ngcsu.edu/athletics/mbb/2004-2005/Causey_NAIA_POW_01_25.shtml

[TBird41]

Causey really wouldn't help our depth that much, b/c our problem isn't w/ the guards. Our problem is w/ big man depth-we've only got the 2 roys- hibbs and green

[IceHoya]

TBird41 said:

Causey really wouldn't help our depth that much, b/c our problem isn't w/ the guards. Our problem is w/ big man depth-we've only got the 2 roys- hibbs and green

Haha 2 Roys I love it TBird.

You guys left out of this discussion the main reason why Cornelio needs to get some minutes -- he was FIRED UP during the Rutgers game after the flagrant foul. He was ready to come flying off the bench and bust some heads before one of the asst. coaches pulled him back. Can't believe you didn't mention that HoyaSox, I thought that was your favorite play of the season!

[the_way]

TBird41 said:

Causey really wouldn't help our depth that much, b/c our problem isn't w/ the guards. Our problem is w/ big man depth-we've only got the 2 roys- hibbs and green

Causey wouldn't help at all. He is where he belongs.