Class balance...Or lack thereof

[Boz]

Personally, I hope JC never loses his starting spot the whole season

Chances are, that'd be more of an indication of trying to correct something that's not working more than it would be a case of someone just too good not to start over him.

That said, I think daytona's lineup is great and I'm willing to bet we see it a fair amount over the course of the season.

Just probably not at the opening tip.

[KirbyKeger]

As of right now, Jason is the best player on our team and he is the senior leader. Hollis may breakout and supplant him as our top option. However, I really don't see Jason ever being pulled from the starting lineup. I'd much prefer to see Clark, Hollis, Otto, Nate, Henry. Clarks handle is obviously shaky but if we're going with our best 5 players, then that's the lineup. My real point is, Clark needs to be on the floor. We're a young team and we need him to be the leader and anchor. He'll start every game.

[daytonahoya31]

DRD I can see that lineup as well, mainly because I think Otto's ballhandling is good enough where he can help out.

[KirbyKeger]

Yeah I was pretty intrigued when I saw that Otto was helping to break the press in China right before the brawl broke out.

[hoyainspirit]

Oct 21, 2011 12:30:50 GMT -5 KirbyKeger said:

As of right now, Jason is the best player on our team and he is the senior leader. Hollis may breakout and supplant him as our top option. However, I really don't see Jason ever being pulled from the starting lineup. I'd much prefer to see Clark, Hollis, Otto, Nate, Henry. Clarks handle is obviously shaky but if we're going with our best 5 players, then that's the lineup. My real point is, Clark needs to be on the floor. We're a young team and we need him to be the leader and anchor. He'll start every game.

As well, chances are great that at least one of Hollis/Clark will be on the floor at all times, barring injury, fouls, or a rout.

I'd like to see Markel prove his doubters wrong.

[idhoya]

If Clark is in that lineup then he has to handle the ball too much. Handles are still somewhat shaky. I'd rather see Markel be given a chance to run the point full time.

[KirbyKeger]

Personally, I'm fine with our current lineup. I think it makes sense. I do like all of the different ideas being kicked around on here though. I think the main driver of the differing lineups is Otto. Everyone wants to see him start, and count me in, but there just isn't a spot right now. He'll still get around 25 minutes I think, but he'll probably have to wait his turn to hear his name in the starting lineup.

[mapei]

What's intriguing about this year is that we have no stars and no bums - it's all various degrees of in-between. We also have a lot of options at the 2-3-4 positions. We're probably weakest at the 1 and 5 (especially on defense), where we also lack depth. But all the others can mix and match, possibly in ways that could confuse opponents.

We don't have anybody who can just flat-out dominate a game, unless Hollis completely blows up as a scorer. We'll have to do it with balance.

[crashdavis]

Oct 21, 2011 13:23:52 GMT -5 KirbyKeger said:

Yeah I was pretty intrigued when I saw that Otto was helping to break the press in China right before the brawl broke out.

I have a feeling that you will see a lot of that when he is on the floor. He's very comfortable handling the ball in the open floor, but that is really just the bonus. The real benefit is his court vision and ability to see over the top of the press. Having a guy like that can sink a press quickly because it gives you the ability to not only get through it, but actually attack it by throwing over the top to create 4 on 3 or 3 on 2 situations.

It seems some people are worrying a little about the team's overall ball handling. However, one thing to keep in mind is that there is always more than one way to skin a cat. While there may not be any one-man press breakers on this team, there is almost always going to be two 6'7-6'9" wings who can see over pressure, find the open man, and shoot the gap looking for a return pass or an open lane to the hoop.

[chep3]

The only issue is that we haven't broken the press with the pass that frequently the last 3 years--we've just relied on the fact that people couldn't take the ball away from Chris. This is obviously a generalization (I think I remember us shredding Nova during Snowmaggedon), but I still hope we're working on pass-based press breaks.

[hoyainspirit]

Chris was awesome against a press. Just give him the ball and get out of the way. C'mon, Markel. Show your stuff!

[mapei]

We're going to miss Chris especially as a leader, I think. He really had that quality and you could see it every time he was on the court during his last two years. Jason was in his, Austin's and to some extent even Julian's and Ryan's shadows. A key question is whether he is ready to step into that role. I'm thinking yes but we'll have to find out.

I also see leadership potential in Nate.

[capcenterhoya]

After watching the open practice, one "lineup" that I did notice working together was Clark, Jabril, Hollis, Otto, and Henry. Read into this as much or as little as you like, but JTIII was pretty clear at the Q&A that starting positions would be earned, and that he does not like putting a number next to a guy's position. I think the not so subtle take away from his comments was that Otto is a guy he is going to get in the lineup. It should also be interesting to see Jabril and Markel compete for minutes as Jabril has some pretty clear physical advantages.

[gtowndynasty]

Oct 24, 2011 14:34:23 GMT -5 capcenterhoya said:

After watching the open practice, one "lineup" that I did notice working together was Clark, Jabril, Hollis, Otto, and Henry. Read into this as much or as little as you like, but JTIII was pretty clear at the Q&A that starting positions would be earned, and that he does not like putting a number next to a guy's position. I think the not so subtle take away from his comments was that Otto is a guy he is going to get in the lineup. It should also be interesting to see Jabril and Markel compete for minutes as Jabril has some pretty clear physical advantages.

Did they scrimmage at all? Or was the group you cite just going through offense together? Who was running the point with the squad, Jabril or Jason? I too think this is probably the lineup we can put forward in terms of talent, but I still dont know about Otto or Hollis being effective having to guard opposing 4s, well at least those 4s that are on the rosters of the upper echelon teams.

[capcenterhoya]

Oct 24, 2011 15:14:42 GMT -5 gtowndynasty said:

Did they scrimmage at all? Or was the group you cite just going through offense together? Who was running the point with the squad, Jabril or Jason? I too think this is probably the lineup we can put forward in terms of talent, but I still dont know about Otto or Hollis being effective having to guard opposing 4s, well at least those 4s that are on the rosters of the upper echelon teams.

It was for a drill where they were running through the offense unguarded. It looked like Jason brought the ball up. As I said, I would not read too much into this, but it was interesting to see this group working together. Seems to jive with the general tone of JTIII's comments.

[KennaHoya]

There were a number of different groupings in a number of different drills - including Big Roy in some (and the only thing I will guarantee about this year is that Roy will not play in a game on our schedule). They ran full court in controlled scrimmages and drills. Believe me now or believe me later, more than any other year, who starts will matter less than ever, and more guys will get meaningful run than ever - it may change from game to game. And unlike when Chris and sometimes Austin dominated the ball handling (for good reasons on those squads), the load will be shared. I think coach practically said as much during Q&A.

[gtowndynasty]

Sweet. That is good to know. Thanks for those recaps.

[lichoya68]

lots of talent lots of heart let the games beign wowowoooo they will overperform imo yupoverperform and surprise we will see go hoyas