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tigerbrotha12

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2 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Both of those guys played the 3. I've actually worked with Bradshaw, he's in the nuclear industry. 

He would use Smith to run the point at times.

From Bradshaw's bio:   "A team captain ... Earned starting assignments as a power forward while also serving as a backup point guard in each of Tennessee's 30 games .." 

From Smith's:   "Played primarily at the four spot but also saw time at the three position ...  "

They both played significant minutes as a non-traditional 4 man in CBP's rotation while at UT. 

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6 hours ago, gravejd said:

The Harper, Heron, Purifoy, Spencer, Wiley lineup is the one that I think has the highest ceiling as well. The only question i have is does Spencer have the tools/knowledge to play the 4 in a Bruce Pearl system? Spencer will certainly not bring to the 4 spot what Purifoy does but that does not mean he can't be successful there. I totally disagree with the poster above that he doesn't have the D skills to play the 4. Spencer moves great for his size has a high motor and long arms so I think he would do much better on D playing the 4 versus playing the 5 spot. Now Leron Smith will likely stay at the 5 cause he can't move like Spencer but I see nothing holding Spencer back from a D perspective. Now offense is another story. So far Spencer hasn't really shown much as far as jump shooting skills so I don't know if that will keep him from playing this spot but i don't think it will. I could see Spencer making a nice living on offense crashing the boards for offensive rebounds and doing back door cuts to the basket. But some might say "Spencer can't rebound". I disagree with that as well. I think people look at our poor rebounding and come to that easy conclusion. But if you look deeper at it i think the problem is 2 fold 1. Spencer is rarely in proper rebounding position because he is trying to block shots and 2. he is always matched up against someone bigger than he is so that hurts him as well. 

Outside of Spencer this lineup would also open things up to the rest of the guys as well. It instantly takes us from a height disadvantage to a height advantage at pretty much every spot. This creates opportunities for our team and matchup problems for the other team. Purifoy and Heron will be matched up to smaller guys so they will have better chance to get shots off, easy time driving to the basket, and an easier go of things on the D side as well. When teams went zone you could also plug in Brown and Lang and gets some nice open looks by playing a good inside out game. Really the possibilities that this lineup creates are just limitless. 

Folks just have to keep in mind that it is going to take time for all this to get figured out by our young team and remember that Wiley is 17. So all this awesome stuff I posted above isn't going to happen overnight. I bet by EOS though teams are not going to look forward to playing AU. 

I look at moving Spencer to the 4 position like this: could he duplicate close to the offensive production of the offensive player he bumps from the lineup, and could he defend a guy like Purifoy at that position? IMO the answer to both of those questions is no. If you start him at the 4, he most likely bumps Brown from the lineup, and even as much as Bryce has struggled, I don't want to replace his scoring ability with Horace's pedestrian offensive game. And I don't think Horace has the quickness to guard a player like Purifoy, which is what he would be asked to do if he played the 4. 

I think the better alternative, if your main goal is getting more size and rebounding ability at the 4, is to put McLemore exclusively at the 4 and let Spencer, Wiley, and Smith platoon the 5 spot. I think McLemore is a more capable defender, has played the 4 already in spurts this season, and has about the same offensive game right now.

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A scoring power forward is rare in college, actually in nba as well. You move Purifoy from the 4 just means he scores where he's used to playing his entire life and actually while playing at the 4 here instead of at the 4. You don't lose any scoring at all. And Horace is literally the most athletic guy on our team. Quickness is his strength not a weakness. He's better than mclemore at all phases of the game. Horace would be a 4 at any other school. We are just small

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Agree, Cole. To me Spencer seems like he would be a good matchup for us as a 4. He has quick feet and hands and anticipates well. 

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31 minutes ago, JwgreDeux said:

From Bradshaw's bio:   "A team captain ... Earned starting assignments as a power forward while also serving as a backup point guard in each of Tennessee's 30 games .." 

From Smith's:   "Played primarily at the four spot but also saw time at the three position ...  "

They both played significant minutes as a non-traditional 4 man in CBP's rotation while at UT. 

Bradshaw played some a there his junior year but his freshman and sophomore he played back up and defensive specialist. His junior year Tenn roster was pretty much like ours so he played at 4 some for mostly defense but he wasn't a stretch 4 for system purposes. It wasn't an offensive strategy

With Tyler Smith they played him at point a majority of his time there in the beginning to get Chris Lofton off of the ball. His junior year lofton was gone if I'm not mistaken and that's when they went through Smith offensively. His senior year it didn't work well, because of losses in the roster and being too small if I'm not mistaken

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29 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Bradshaw played some a there his junior year but his freshman and sophomore he played back up and defensive specialist. His junior year Tenn roster was pretty much like ours so he played at 4 some for mostly defense but he wasn't a stretch 4 for system purposes. It wasn't an offensive strategy

With Tyler Smith they played him at point a majority of his time there in the beginning to get Chris Lofton off of the ball. His junior year lofton was gone if I'm not mistaken and that's when they went through Smith offensively. His senior year it didn't work well, because of losses in the roster and being too small if I'm not mistaken

Their words not mine. 

 

I think Spencer could do well at 4, but it would require Wiley to more of a scoring threat than Spencer was at the 5. We haven't seen much at this point. Also since we are deeper at guard than post, I'd expect to still see DP play mostly 4 for now. 

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We'll see but I think we've already seen Wiley is more of a scoring threat...I don't think Horace has ever been a scoring threat. The only reason they wouldn't move Horace to the four is for balance for first team units and second team units, like they do with dunnans. 

And yes I see the words but if you actually read Bradshaw's career you can see it and if you watch Smith's highlights you can see that as well

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