Depth Chart for Next Year

[aussiehoya]

Ok I realize this is a little premature, but bear with me coz I'm excited. I was very proud of our boys last night and boy is Ray Reed emerging as a defensive stopper and a serviceable guy?

Here is a quick mockup of what our depth chart MAY look like for next year. I've assumed that ramell and kenny izzo are not playing on the squad next year.

PG - Wallace, Reed
SG - Cook, Owens, Thornton, Crawford, Sapp
SF - Bowman, Guibunda, Spann, Sead
PF - Green, Egerson
C - Hibbert, Amadou

obviously this depth chart is subject to a LOT of change, the SF / PF postion is essentially interchangeable in our offense..

I think one of our big questions is Guibunda. What is his story? Will he be ready to compete next year? He has the height at 6'9. Also another of our questions is our giant logjam at the shooting guard position. I guess since we run the princeton offense we don't necessarily desperately need a pure point (was that a totally ignorant statement?). But JT3 will really have some sorting to do to work out who has the handle and vision to run the point and who should get more minutes at shooting guard.

I'm very very interested to see how successful our incoming freshmen can be...

although I think one thing we can be certain of - we will hopefully start to exhibit signs of (gasp) DEPTH!

[hoyalove4ever]

I will consider paying whomever can tell me the real story on Guibunda. With our lack of frontcourt depth it is amazing that he NEVER played.

This is not an offer. (I guess that I am learning something is Contracts).

[hoyahoyasaxa]

Well, here's my dream depth chart (if all the recruits are "as advertised").

G- Sapp, Wallace
G- Cook, Thornton, Reed, Sead
G- Bowman, Crawford
F- Green, Egerson
F- Hibbert, Kilkenny-Diaw

[SFHoya99]

Guard Rotation

Starting: Jessie Sapp, Ashanti Cook
Defensive Stopper: Ray Reed, Tyler Crawford (for David Hawkins like guards)
DJ Owens/Microwave Role: Josh Thornton, Jon Wallace

Small Forward Rotation

Starting: Brandon Bowman
DJ Owens/Microwave Role: DJ Owens (if returning)
All Purpose Reserve: Octavious Spann
Defensive Stopper/Rebounder: Tyler Crawford, Marc Egerson

Power Forward Rotation

Starting: Jeff Green
Small Lineup: Brandon Bowman
All-Purpose Reserve: Octavious Spann

Center Rotation

Starting: Roy Hibbert
Small Lineup: Jeff Green
Reserve: Kilkenny-Diaw

It will be interesting to see the battle between Spann, Egerson, Owens and Hibbert to see who gets the froncourt nod. As well as the battle for backcourt time.

This rotation is probably heavy about two people.

[][-][ 0 `/ /-\ 5]

Assuming owens comes back:

CHEERLEADER- sead
Small:
pg- wallace, sapp, reed
sg- cook, thornton, crawford
sf- bowman, owens, egerson
pf-spann, bowman
c- green, amadou, cornelio

Big:
pg- wallace, sapp, reed
sg- cook, thornton, crawford
sf- bowman, owens, egerson
pf- green, spann
c-hibbs(bustout year), amadou, cornelio

[hoyalove4ever]

Bowman and Green are certain starters, and Cook is 90% at least. I would bet on Roy at center (he can only develop with PT) and then probably a freshman somewhere else. I know Brandon is not a true two guard but we could go with him and another three type along with Green and Hibbert.

[jerseyhoya34]

There are a few recruiting possibilities that could turn all of this on its head. Nonetheless, major improvements in our depth for 2005-2006. I am hoping that we can see more out of Crawford in the NIT, as the NIT should be about competing hard and getting a look at what we have for next season, which is what we pretty much have this season.

[ahoya3]

Guibunda is obviously not a Div I player or we would have seen him.

[SFHoya99]

ahoya3 said:

Guibunda is obviously not a Div I player or we would have seen him.

There are 330 Division I teams. I guarantee you that Cornelio could play for most of them, and I bet start for a good half.

Cornelio has the athleticism and skills to play at a BE level, according to everyone who's seen him play. He was ranked, and Carlos over at HR.com seconded his talent.

But he played in a weak HS league. And that's a big jump to the BE. Sometimes someone isn't ready, and gets better as time goes on. Sometimes they don't have the mentality to play physical at this level, and never get it..

[RBHoya]

My guess is that Ashanti and Jessie Sapp start in the backcourt, with Brandon, Jeff and Roy up front.

Its gonna be a huge battle for minutes in the backcourt this offseason though. As a senior and a proven solid big east player, Cook has to start and get 30 minutes a game give or take. After that, the battle for backcourt minutes ought to be fierce this summer and in the preseason. Youve got Wallace, Reed, Sapp, Thornton, and Tyler all competing to split up about 50 or so minutes per game. Theyre up for grabs, and the best player will play, no matter who it is. Im eager to see how it shakes out, and I wont even try to predict how those minutes will get split. Ashantis a good shooter, but Id like his primary backcourt mate to be a) a good defender b) a good ballhandler capable of breaking the press when needed c) a good passer (key in the princeton) and d) a good outside shooter, also key in the Princeton.

In the frontcourt, you have to imagine that Bowman and Jeff both have starting spots locked up, and will both play between 30 and 40 minutes a night. That leaves 50-60 minutes a night. Pencil in Roy for about 20 to 25, and assume the rest will be played with another SF and with Jeff at Center. In short, its about 30 or 35 minutes to be split between Owens (assuming hes back), Spann, and Egerson. My guess is that Owens gets a decent amount of those minutes if hes back, but Spann will become a high energy/scrappy forward off the bench, almost a JYD type energy player. I dont know enough about Egerson to say. Amadou may or may not get a couple of minutes at PF... I dont expect him to be a part of the regular rotation though.

For me, there are two big question marks. One is Guibunda... will he play? In the preseason this year, around midnight madness time, people were predicting that he would START for us instead of Roy. He was ranked pretty highly out of high school... maybe even higher than Jeff? He just never got on the floor and I dont know why. Maybe coach wanted to preserve his eligibility, or just thought he wasnt ready... I dont know. If he can contribute next year and play up front with Jeff and Brandon thatd be great, but Im not banking on it. We could really use another big man though, so fingers crossed.

The other major question mark is Egerson. Supposedly hes got a body thats ready for Big East level competition, but I really dont know enough about him, and I dont think many others do either. Can he outplay Owens, Tyler, and Spann?

Should be a very interesting offseason. I think the potential for depth is there, especially in the backcourt... the problem is, will our starters and primary options be enough to hang with the best in the big east? Having 6 competent guards is great, but unless 1 or 2 of them is among the best in the league, it wont mean all that much, you know?

[HOYAPLAYA]

I just want everyone to remember that as good as BB is now, he struggled a lot his freshman year (especially once BE season started). Out of the 4 freshman, the odds are that only 1 of them will be close to a JG level, 1 will have a freshman season like BB, 1 will have a freshman season like Hibbs and 1 will be a no show on the court like Guibunda.

We need our existing players to get better and our freshman to have moments in order to make the necessary improvements next year. If we are relying on these incoming freshman, then we will be hearing the same line about how inexperienced the team is and the number of freshman and sophomores that are in the rotation. I like the incoming group because I think it will bring more competition in practice and improve our current group of players come gameday.

[jackdog74]

I'm willing to cut the coaching staff some slack with Guibunda. The guy may just need some additional time to develop, no big deal. If you recall, Don Reid did not become a starter until his junior year and was a great contributor and great NBA role player. Remember Weber State?