Lineup Adjustment

[pdxmuskie]

Generally I agree with those that say the starting line-up isn't that important. Minutes played is the bigger issue. I disagree when it comes to bigs as they are more inclined to need incremental rest to avoid foul trouble and injury. Additionally, when a team begins to consistently struggle early in games, it is time for an adjustment.

Scruggs continues to struggle with ball security and decision making. He is scoring but his turnovers are completely unacceptable.

Odom on the other hand is taking care of the ball, scoring efficiently and finding teammates. He also plays good defense. Time to start Odom at Point.

Johnson's shot is off and his shot selection is bad. Kunkel is inconsistent and more off than on. Scruggs starts at SG. This may result in fewer turnovers for Scruggs but it wouldn't be shocking if he continued to give the ball away at a high clip.

Jones is obviously the SF.

PF should be dependent on matchups. Go with Zach if a less athletic player and Hunter if the opposing 4 is long and athletic. Could consider Miles here if extremely long 4 & 5.

Nunge at 5. Against long, athletic teams, Miles needs minutes early in the game but Nunge gets the start.

Defensive lapses should result in quickly getting benched. Careless turnovers, forced shots and lack of effort should also all result in getting pulled to the bench. Communicate the issue to the player, give him another chance after a quick rest and pull him out longer if the issue persists.

Thoughts?

[AirJordan]

Generally I agree with those that say the starting line-up isn't that important. Minutes played is the bigger issue. I disagree when it comes to bigs as they are more inclined to need incremental rest to avoid foul trouble and injury. Additionally, when a team begins to consistently struggle early in games, it is time for an adjustment.

Scruggs continues to struggle with ball security and decision making. He is scoring but his turnovers are completely unacceptable.

Odom on the other hand is taking care of the ball, scoring efficiently and finding teammates. He also plays good defense. Time to start Odom at Point.

Johnson's shot is off and his shot selection is bad. Kunkel is inconsistent and more off than on. Scruggs starts at SG. This may result in fewer turnovers for Scruggs but it wouldn't be shocking if he continued to give the ball away at a high clip.

Jones is obviously the SF.

PF should be dependent on matchups. Go with Zach if a less athletic player and Hunter if the opposing 4 is long and athletic. Could consider Miles here if extremely long 4 & 5.

Nunge at 5. Against long, athletic teams, Miles needs minutes early in the game but Nunge gets the start.

Defensive lapses should result in quickly getting benched. Careless turnovers, forced shots and lack of effort should also all result in getting pulled to the bench. Communicate the issue to the player, give him another chance after a quick rest and pull him out longer if the issue persists.

Thoughts?

We need Odom on the floor. He is the only real option at point and since we seem to have little movement off the ball, we need him to make something happen on offense. I also like his mentality. He started some games last year and I think we play better when he is in the mix. I observe the same in Nate that you do. Forced shots, poor shot selection. It seems clear he has lost confidence so bringing him off the bench, having him observe the flow of the game initially from the sidelines, maybe that's the tonic to slow him down a little and get his head in the game. The rest of the guys are what they are. I don't believe we have great talent on this team but I think we have decent talent and should be more competitive than we have been. Nate isn't the only one doubting himself. As a team, we've lost confidence and it shows on the court. And, you know what? As fans we too have lost confidence I think I saw that in the crowd last Saturday. We really need a couple of wins.

[pdxmuskie]

Did we lose confidence? I'm not sure we did. An insecure team would not make a run after half time. They would battle early and fade the rest of the game. I think the team is just lost. They have no leadership. Travis is a disaster. I honestly don't know how he could have so little understanding of basketball.

Nate needs a therapist. He is gone as an offensive weapon until that is resolved. Not all coaches are qualified to handle this but given that Travis can't handle substitutions or coaching, I would hope this would be his specialty. Apparently not.

I was pleasantly surprised by Caesar. Is he another glaring Travis mistake or was SH an aberration? I doubt we will ever see him again this year without foul trouble or injury. Travis loves him some Zach.

[lionelchalmers0]

Agree with most points, I’d change the following:

1. Odom playing point 35 min a game. He has way more vision and creativity than anyone and moves the ball way better than paul/Nate/Colby.

2. Make Colby and off the bench/momentum guy. Love his Swiss Army knife abilities (reminds me of a young Justin cage). But he’s sloppy with the ball, can’t shoot, and is definitely a player that as of now is great against undermanned teams but I do think disappears a bit in big East play against bigger/faster/stronger opponents. He seems to be a great kid but I think right now you can’t keep having his 3-7 shooting, 2 rebound games in 35 minute games.

3. Reign Zach in- right now he’s shooting till he’s hot as if he’s all big East like last year and he’s just not. Plus he has done some dumb-$&@ stuff on the court like last night that costs the team. Let jack play down low, don’t force them together, and maybe use zach and Colby more for momentum and rotational minutes.

4. Make kunkel/Nate shoot— it sounds stupid but if slash and kick is your game (and how the game is now everywhere) we can’t keep having games like the last two where Nate and kunkel log 35-40 combined minutes and go 1-4 from deep. Yes they’re both cold. They’re also both shooters, draw up stuff to free them up to shoot!! You just can’t win with them not shooting and making shots. Ain’t gonna happen. So I say ef it and have a game or two where you draw up stuff for them 10-15 times in a game. Have them take the threes (not Zach or Colby or paul) and live or die by that rather than guys that aren’t shooters putting up stupid shots.

[pdxmuskie]

I can't get on board with getting more shots for players struggling. X should have designed plays for Nate and it would benefit him to get easy open looks but designing an offense for more deep shots when the best shooters are struggling is crazy.

Teams do not need to make 3s to win. If they shoot a lot of 3s, then they have to make them or they will certainly lose but teams should play to their strengths. Nunge is a huge strength for X. Attacking the rim and pulling up before getting deep in traffic can be strengths. Some players get too deep and make poor decisions but the capability is there. If the team focuses on getting the ball to Jack and looks for lanes and finds guys cutting they can take fewer 3s and increase the odds of winning. This will certainly open up opportunities for Nate and Kunkel as well as Nunge for wide open 3s. Defenders naturally collapse when players drive to the rim. Kickout opportunities are frequently available. Rotate after the initial kick if needed but someone will generally either get an open shot or have a driving opportunity open up because of defenders being out of position.

[edgecliff hall]

I get a kick watching Mr. Odom. First he makes life awful for whoever he's guarding. Then, on offense he does not dribble, he passes and his passes are usually good ideas. And he often finds a guy with Xavier on his shirt who is in a good position to score.
Tonight our dynamic Mr. Jack rejected three Uconn shot attempts in three seconds. That was pretty neat.

[Anti-Homer]

I get a kick watching Mr. Odom. First he makes life awful for whoever he's guarding. Then, on offense he does not dribble, he passes and his passes are usually good ideas. And he often finds a guy with Xavier on his shirt who is in a good position to score.
Tonight our dynamic Mr. Jack rejected three Uconn shot attempts in three seconds. That was pretty neat.

Very accurate, succinct post from edgecilff, as usual. Makes me proud to moderate the Board.