Annual Starting 5 Debate

[n.ogdencat]

Personally, I feel that after last nights Purple and What intra-squad scrimmage, that the starting 5 will be:

1. Senglin
2. Gittens
3. Baker
4. Bolomboy
5. Braxton

First off the bench:
1. Hill
2. Cannon
3. Richardson
4. Jefferson/John
5. Kiko

Williams, Dallas will red shirt.

 

[thescout]

Hill a proven blue collar worker retains his starting gig

 

[oldrunner]

1) Senglin, Cannon, John
2) Richardson, Jefferson, John
3) Gittens, Baker, Jefferson
4) Bolomboy, Hill, Stavrev, Baker
5) Braxton, Bolomboy, Hill

Probable Red Shirts: Williams, Dallas

Just a WAG, based on what I have seen in a few practices and the PW scrimmage. I am, sure as heck, not an expert, and I don't have any inside knowledge on this subject. It's just my WAG. :ugeek:

 

[Webergrad02]

Hill a proven blue collar worker retains his starting gig

At what position? Joel is going to play 4. Starting Hill at 3 is not the best option. You can tell he has worked hard in the offseason and I was surprised at how good he looked in the scrimmage, but proven blue collar worker is not the wording I would use.

 

[oldrunner]

My opinion is that Hill is primarily a 4 and will be the backup for Bolomboy. There are some circumstances where he may play at the 5 spot, but it would be sparingly. I think that they will try to keep either Joel or Zack on the floor at all times, unless the other team is beating us with 4 guards or they both get into foul trouble. There could be rare times when you see Hill and Stavrev on the floor at the same time, but very, very rarely. The one thing that concerns me is that Braxton seems to be prone to foul. Hill may be getting a lot of minutes if Zack can't stay out of foul trouble. Joel, being a senior, will likely get a little respect from the officials. At least I can hope.

I don't worry about Kiko's ability to score or rebound, but I do worry about his ability to defend. :yikes:

 

[n.ogdencat]

I heard that Hill will be playing a lot at the 5 this year. I don't know what to think of that.

 

[WSUProf]

I heard that Hill will be playing a lot at the 5 this year. I don't know what to think of that.

That suggests to me that Hill may be starting over Braxton.

 

[oldrunner]

That is the farthest fetched, thing I have heard in a long while. If by 'a lot' you mean every great once in a while, I will buy it. Otherwise, I don't believe that at all. Hill will not start over Braxton or Bolomboy. If he subs in for Braxton, Bolomboy will switch over to guard whomever, Braxton was guarding. If he subs in for Bolomboy, no change. Offensively, Hill may be kept closer to the basket when he is on the floor with Bolomboy. Bolomboy is a better outside shooter. When he is on the floor with Braxton, Hill will roam the floor a bit more. To me, the best distinction between the two scenarios is who they are guarding.

I think what was heard is that Hill will be playing in the post a lot this year. That much I can go with. He will be playing a lot, and almost never on the wing. He is much more effective closer in. Bolomboy can spread the floor a little more, be a little more unpredictable. I think that I have said this before, the line between a 4 and a 5 in our attack is a little blurry.

At this point, I'm not quite sure how Stavrev fits into this, other than being the 4th option for a post player. He is less capable of playing at 5 than Hill, but maybe a little better equipped to play at the 4 spot. It still, all comes down to who and how they can defend. I think all four of our available post players can rebound well.

 

[n.ogdencat]

I can get behind what you've said Olds. I'm just passing on a message I got from a source close to the program. But, you have done a great job of defining bigs in Rahe's program. 4 and 5's are virtually interchangeable. It really does depend on whom is guarding who. I'm really glad to see Hill closer to the basket. It was good that he got a chance to play at the wing, but it just didn't pan out. He never looked comfortable. However, the skill set was acquired. Playing in the post, he has, because of the wing experiment, should have better ball-handling skills and should also be a lot quicker. From the P&W it looked as if he had really worked on his post skills. As for Stavrev he is just that...the 4th option. I like his ability to really spread the floor. He will be Lord Byronesque for the team.

 

[sacstateman]

Just when you started to get me excited about Braxton possibly being surpassed by Hill, then you crush my hopes by explaining the "play alot in the post" quote.....I was hoping for Sac St's sake that Braxton wasn't working out for you guys but I guess he's doing fine.....LETS GET THIS SEASON ROLLING!!!!!!

 

[oldrunner]

Just when you started to get me excited about Braxton possibly being surpassed by Hill, then you crush my hopes by explaining the "play alot in the post" quote.....I was hoping for Sac St's sake that Braxton wasn't working out for you guys but I guess he's doing fine.....LETS GET THIS SEASON ROLLING!!!!!!

Braxton is doing better than fine. He will be our starting center as a freshman. He does some thing very well. He has a good ability to score around the basket and a nice shooting touch to about 15 feet. He also passes out of the post better than anyone we have had in the past several years. He will be a better rebounder than Tresnak was. I'm not ready to comment on what his D might look like. I need to see a little more of him against other 5s. He is not a real flashy guy, just a solid center. Something we have lacked recently. He has really improved his strength and conditioning. I hope that he finds a way to stay out of foul trouble. In the scrimmages I have watched, he gets called on holding the arm bar a little too long and body positioning fouls. It's a matter of foot work and timing, and the coaches are working on it constantly. I'm sure that it will improve as the season goes on.

Our first public exhibition game is on November 7th. It's here baby. :thumb:

 

[baller]

My guess as to who starts, backs up and redshirts...
Starters: Center - Braxton
Power Forward - Bolomboy
Wing - Baker
Shooting Guard - Richardson
Point Guard - Senglin
I think Rahe will play 9 guys this year. Backups...
#1 - Gittens - Wing & Shooting Guard
#2 - Hill - Power Forward & Center
#3 - Cannon - Point Guard
#4 - Jefferson or John - Shooting Guard
The scholarship redshirts:
Jordan Dallas - Center
Juwan Williams - Wing
Walk-on redshirts:
Hayden Hunter - Point Guard
Brendan Morris - Power Forward & Wing
JC Kennedy will play less than 1 minute per game when the game is over and done.
Kiko Stavrev will play 3-5 minutes a game mostly when things don't matter unless there is serious foul trouble with Braxton, Bolomboy and Hill.
JUST MY OPINION!!

 

[n.ogdencat]

My guess as to who starts, backs up and redshirts...
Starters: Center - Braxton
Power Forward - Bolomboy
Wing - Baker
Shooting Guard - Richardson
Point Guard - Senglin
I think Rahe will play 9 guys this year. Backups...
#1 - Gittens - Wing & Shooting Guard
#2 - Hill - Power Forward & Center
#3 - Cannon - Point Guard
#4 - Jefferson or John - Shooting Guard
The scholarship redshirts:
Jordan Dallas - Center
Juwan Williams - Wing
Walk-on redshirts:
Hayden Hunter - Point Guard
Brendan Morris - Power Forward & Wing
JC Kennedy will play less than 1 minute per game when the game is over and done.
Kiko Stavrev will play 3-5 minutes a game mostly when things don't matter unless there is serious foul trouble with Braxton, Bolomboy and Hill.
JUST MY OPINION!!

I like this. It really does depend from game to game and who does end up red shirting,but as for starters I agree. I had heard about Dallas and Williams red shirting, but was a little shocked to see John playing. Granted, by playing in an exhibition, from what I am aware, it doesn't affect a players red shirt eligibility (compliance want to chime in?). If he does end up red shirting, that means that Jefferson will end up getting those mins.

 

[oldrunner]

Looks like Dusty has won the start at 3 because of his passing and ball handling. It's like having a second point guard on the floor. If he is going to hold on to the spot, he will need to rebound better than he did against SVU. His shooting is good. The interesting dynamic there is that Dusty may be the least athletic guy on our team and the guy, Gittens, coming in to replace him is probably the most athletic.

I really like the energy coming off the bench this year. :rockon: :rockon:

I'm not positive, but I think that playing in an exhibition game does not effect a players ability to then red shirt that year. :twocents:

 

[thescout]

finishers and total minutes played are more important than starting

 

[oldrunner]

finishers and total minutes played are more important than starting

:+1:

You are absolutely right. And because Dusty will be one of our better free throw shooters, he will likely finish a lot of games. However, matchups will determine the PT issue. Gittens is going to get a lot of time on the floor, and more when the other team's 3 is athletic and hard for Dusty to guard.

We have a lot of options this year, at all positions, except the 5. It might hurt us a bit if Braxton gets in foul trouble.

 

[sacstateman]

You CAN redshirt even if you play an exhibition...thats the rule....exhibition games DO NOT COUNT for anything except experience....

 

[oldrunner]

BTW, Dusty is the oldest player on our team, but just a sophomore. We are starting a freshman, two sophomores, one junior and one senior. Our first 3 off the bench are two juniors and a freshman. The next two are freshmen, and we have three freshmen red shirts. It looks really good for a strong future. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Webergrad02]

BTW, Dusty is the oldest player on our team, but just a sophomore. We are starting a freshman, two sophomores, one junior and one senior. Our first 3 off the bench are two juniors and a freshman. The next two are freshmen, and we have three freshmen red shirts. It looks really good for a strong future. :thumb: :thumb:

I think we had a similar age balance last season and our chemistry was awful. We can be hopeful for the future, but we all know that things can change after one year and next years line up may look totally different.

 

[oldrunner]

BTW, Dusty is the oldest player on our team, but just a sophomore. We are starting a freshman, two sophomores, one junior and one senior. Our first 3 off the bench are two juniors and a freshman. The next two are freshmen, and we have three freshmen red shirts. It looks really good for a strong future. :thumb: :thumb:

I think we had a similar age balance last season and our chemistry was awful. We can be hopeful for the future, but we all know that things can change after one year and next years line up may look totally different.

Yes, that is true. However, this years team has a decidedly more mature look and feel to it. The chemistry is nothing like last years. A lot of that is one more year on Jeremy, Joel, Rashaud, Kyndal, Ryan, and the addition of the two red shirts and Dusty. Also, one of our contributing freshmen is 20 years old. We are still young, but our experience level is higher. Our players are carrying themselves in a much more mature manor. Are we senior laden? Nope, just one. Three juniors in the mix helps, as well as two underclassmen over 20 years old and two red shirt freshmen. Yes, it could change by next year, but this does not seem like what we have seen in years past. These are all good solid players and young men.