2022-23 Men's Roster Line Up Projections

[ellitor]

45 minutes ago, HAPvsOA said:

Flanigan was the best player on the team for multiple games a couple years ago, played multiple different positions, impacted the game even when he wasn't scoring, and had some draft buzz. He seemed like an Okoro-lite at that point.

Disagree with the Okoro-lite part since he was averaging nearly 3.3 TOs a game.

54 minutes ago, HAPvsOA said:

It's hard to know how much of success and subsequent drop-off was due to having a lot of usage on a bad team vs. loss of strength, confidence & mobility due to the injury.

Per Hoke that wasn't his issue. Supposedly had lost his offensive rhythm & identity due to our offense running through Bari Kess & other players & lost overall confidence due to that.

[ellitor]

38 minutes ago, Randman5000 said:

I'm not a fan of the smaller guards on the floor together because they seem to be liability defensively.

Zep was one of the best guards on D regardless of height or what other guards he is paired with on the floor.

40 minutes ago, Randman5000 said:

I think Jaylin is quick enough to keep up with some small forwards

Maybe but will he go AWOL like he did sometimes while playing last year? When a player does that it usually shows on D.

[HAPvsOA]

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

Disagree with the Okoro-lite part since he was averaging nearly 3.3 TOs a game.

Per Hoke that wasn't his issue. Supposedly had lost his offensive rhythm & identity due to our offense running through Bari Kess & other players & lost overall confidence due to that.

Agree to disagree on the Okoro-lite. I'm not sure how many TOs Okoro had, but I don't think Flanigan would have been getting some fringe 2nd round draft buzz if he didn't show some skill and grit in other areas (e.g., defense & rebounding), although I agree that 3.3 TOs is bad. Flan was also playing point or point forward at times, which can increase TOs and obviously he didn't look anything like an Okoro-lite last year and still had the TOs which is worrisome. 

And thanks for the intel from Hoke. If it's mainly about identity & rhythm, then perhaps starting out on the bench and playing with the 2nd group will help him find his rhythm & confidence again with less pressure to live up to that past fringe draft hype.

[AUinMS9528]

Ok, so now that Phillips isn’t an option, our lineup could look something like this?   Thoughts…..

PG: Green, Zep, maybe some Westry?, Donaldson (RS)
SG: Westry, Zep, KD
SF: Flan, Moore, and maybe some Westry, 
PF: Traore, JWill (just like last year, I love our 4s!!!)
C : Broome, Cardwell, and Stretch with a few minutes at times.   (the 5 should be a strength for us again!)

I think the addition of Westry, and another year of experience for Green, KD, and Zep will elevate our Guard game from last year.   I am really hoping Flan is better next year!   Bottom line: Better shooting has to come from somewhere!!!!   Westry and/or better and more consistent shooting from Green, KD, Zep, or Flan.   
Jabari is irreplaceable, period!   But, if the 4 and 5 can just be similar to last year, and I think they will be, we’ll be in good shape there!

[casatiger]

2 hours ago, AUinMS9528 said:

Ok, so now that Phillips isn’t an option, our lineup could look something like this?   Thoughts…..

PG: Green, Zep, maybe some Westry?, Donaldson (RS)
SG: Westry, Zep, KD
SF: Flan, Moore, and maybe some Westry, 
PF: Traore, JWill (just like last year, I love our 4s!!!)
C : Broome, Cardwell, and Stretch with a few minutes at times.   (the 5 should be a strength for us again!)

I think the addition of Westry, and another year of experience for Green, KD, and Zep will elevate our Guard game from last year.   I am really hoping Flan is better next year!   Bottom line: Better shooting has to come from somewhere!!!!   Westry and/or better and more consistent shooting from Green, KD, Zep, or Flan.   
Jabari is irreplaceable, period!   But, if the 4 and 5 can just be similar to last year, and I think they will be, we’ll be in good shape there!

Cannot imagine KD being 3rd team, but everything else looks about right assuming no more roster adds.

[ellitor]

4 hours ago, AUinMS9528 said:

Ok, so now that Phillips isn’t an option, our lineup could look something like this?   Thoughts…..

PG: Green, Zep, maybe some Westry?, Donaldson (RS)
SG: Westry, Zep, KD
SF: Flan, Moore, and maybe some Westry, 
PF: Traore, JWill (just like last year, I love our 4s!!!)
C : Broome, Cardwell, and Stretch with a few minutes at times.   (the 5 should be a strength for us again!)

I think the addition of Westry, and another year of experience for Green, KD, and Zep will elevate our Guard game from last year.   I am really hoping Flan is better next year!   Bottom line: Better shooting has to come from somewhere!!!!   Westry and/or better and more consistent shooting from Green, KD, Zep, or Flan.   
Jabari is irreplaceable, period!   But, if the 4 and 5 can just be similar to last year, and I think they will be, we’ll be in good shape there!

KD & Williams are expected to start at 2G & PF respectively. At least early in the season.

[AUinMS9528]

55 minutes ago, ellitor said:

KD & Williams are expected to start at 2G & PF respectively. At least early in the season.

Thanks E.
IMHO, I like KD better as a spark off the bench.   I really hope we can do a little better at the 1, 2, and 3 this year.  
I really like Jaylin.  I think you’re right, and even when Traore comes on they’ll be a 1a-1b situation.    

[Rednilla]

15 hours ago, AUinMS9528 said:

Ok, so now that Phillips isn’t an option, our lineup could look something like this?   Thoughts…..

PG: Green, Zep, maybe some Westry?, Donaldson (RS)
SG: Westry, Zep, KD
SF: Flan, Moore, and maybe some Westry, 
PF: Traore, JWill (just like last year, I love our 4s!!!)
C : Broome, Cardwell, and Stretch with a few minutes at times.   (the 5 should be a strength for us again!)

I think the addition of Westry, and another year of experience for Green, KD, and Zep will elevate our Guard game from last year.   I am really hoping Flan is better next year!   Bottom line: Better shooting has to come from somewhere!!!!   Westry and/or better and more consistent shooting from Green, KD, Zep, or Flan.   
Jabari is irreplaceable, period!   But, if the 4 and 5 can just be similar to last year, and I think they will be, we’ll be in good shape there!

Westry will be the backup PG to start the season, possibly taking the starting position away from Wendell at some point. He's probably still the biggest prize we could have gotten in this year's recruiting class, regardless of the ranking of Traore and Phillips.

[AUinMS9528]

8 hours ago, Rednilla said:

He's probably still the biggest prize we could have gotten in this year's recruiting class

I believe getting a good shooter was priority number one, so yeah, I agree, he fills that need.   

[Rednilla]

2 hours ago, AUinMS9528 said:

I believe getting a good shooter was priority number one, so yeah, I agree, he fills that need.   

It's more than just his shooting ability, it's his ability to get to the basket and create for his teammates at his size. We had basically nowhere to go but down with the starting frontcourt, but we didn't step down too far, and we added a big guard, which was the Achilles heel of last year's team. If we can now add a sharpshooting wing to the two deep, we'll be in good shape.

[Cardin Drake]

I realize I'm getting ahead of myself, but I think Westry will be our best option at 1, 2, or 3 next year.  Without Phillips, he is going to have to play 3 at least some of the time. Flanagan's return to form is going to be huge now.  It's going to be interesting to see how this team gels. Lots of options.

[ellitor]

14 hours ago, Cardin Drake said:

Without Phillips, he is going to have to play 3 at least some of the time.

Not necessarily. We are still going to look to add a transfer wing.

[HAPvsOA]

8 hours ago, ellitor said:

Not necessarily. We are still going to look to add a transfer wing.

Maybe C Moore will finally have a breakout year. I heard alot about his defense prior to him joining, but it seems like he has never been able to break into the rotation. 

[ellitor]

3 hours ago, HAPvsOA said:

Maybe C Moore will finally have a breakout year. I heard alot about his defense prior to him joining, but it seems like he has never been able to break into the rotation. 

Don't forget he's coming off an injury & surgery for that injury. I wouldn't expect much from him for a while.

[Dual-Threat Rigby]

I think I did mine without including Phillips but I’ll do another one after

Green/Zip

KD/Chance

Flanigan/Chance/Moore

Traore/Jaylin

Broome/Dylan

 

I could be missing someone but I think of this as a game 1 lineup. I think you want to maximize defense around Wendell starting and Chance could still be green at that end, so that’s why I start KD. But you will definitely need shooting between our 4 and 5 (esp early, when Traore is still adjusting to the college 3 point line), so shooting will be a dealbreaker amongst the wings IMO. 

Westry also seems so dynamic with the ball in the hand, so it makes sense to me to match him with the point guard that doesn’t ball handle much. Zep should complement him well, I’d think 

[HAPvsOA]

13 hours ago, ellitor said:

Don't forget he's coming off an injury & surgery for that injury. I wouldn't expect much from him for a while.

good point. just hoping he gets closer to reaching his potential at some point this year. 

[toddc]

17 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Zep should complement him well, I’d think 

And Zep started making better shots at the end of last year when CBP gave him a green light. I hope it’s something that evolves more for him this season and not having to handle the ball could help even more.

Edited Tuesday at 09:40 PM by toddc

[AUDevil]

On 5/4/2022 at 4:21 PM, ellitor said:

Per Hoke that wasn't his issue. Supposedly had lost his offensive rhythm & identity due to our offense running through Bari Kess & other players & lost overall confidence due to that.

I missed this tidbit…that makes so much sense.  Hope he can get his confidence back and establish himself as a leader this summer as all the new talent gets acclimated.  He was so far inside his own head last year…needs to be more in the moment.  If he does well in these G League tryouts and gets some public praise it should jumpstart a great year.

[Rednilla]

On 5/17/2022 at 6:01 PM, AUDevil said:

I missed this tidbit…that makes so much sense.  Hope he can get his confidence back and establish himself as a leader this summer as all the new talent gets acclimated.  He was so far inside his own head last year…needs to be more in the moment.  If he does well in these G League tryouts and gets some public praise it should jumpstart a great year.

Well, I realize it was just a couple of 5-10 second clips, but he looked to be regaining his confidence playing in the Combine (or whatever they're calling the workouts). If he can shoot 35-40% from 3 and keep giving the defense that he's known for, he'll fit perfectly into what we need out of him next year, not to mention diminishing the need for a high quality wing, since that version of Flanigan could play 25-30 minutes a game without being an offensive hindrance.