OK.... it is just 15 days before we open up against the Zags in Okinawa and we have Dixon's comments after the B/G game (getting us some insight into what is happening in practice) as well as various this and that and so... we can at least make a stab into what we are looking at re rotation and how good this team might (or might not) be.
So.... lets discount Rafael Maia at C... just for now. He has not gotten many practices in so we will have to see about Maia.
And thus lets say at C we have ANO spelled by Young... and Young starting at PF spelled by Jeter... and Artis starting at SF but playing most of his minutes with Jeter so they can swap positions O and D. Young would essentially split his minutes between C and PF opening up starter minutes off the bench at PF for Jeter.
Hmmmm... this is essentially the team we had last year except I expect ANO (or Maia) to be MUCH better than what we had there last year with Uchebo and Randall. With this we won't be having the 'undersized inside problem' we had last year starting Young at C and Artis at PF... and shouldn't be having problems getting worn down.
But, even after getting moved to PF it took Artis a while to get his game going. When he did he was awesome offensively but... sure didn't have it in the B/G game. Also, Jeter was terrible covering the 3 point line last year and if he has to cover Wiltjer of the Zags... he will have to cover Wiltjer all over the floor. So, we are just gonna have to see how this group works out.
On the perimeter... Slim Johnson has a lot of potential but IMO still has to earn his stripes... so, again just for now, lets discount Slim. And lets also discount Milligan in the belief that Dixon will only play one defensive liability (Wilson) in the guard slots.
So, we got Robinson at PG spelled by Wilson, Sterling Smith starting at SG, and Chris Jones spelling both Smith and Artis.
Again, not that much different from last year except Smith should be a HUGE improvement over Cam Wright as far as 3balls are concerned... which should open things up inside more. Also, I would not be surprised if James had a great senior year.. scoring 12-15 PPG. Chris Jones, may also show considerable improvement.
So, an 8 man rotation with Maia, Slim and Milligan as depth and significant possibilities down the road.. and IMO all three have significant possibilities down the road.
This leaves Luther (Nix will get RSed for sure), who has looked good in practice but looked good in practice for us last year and had one good game then nothing the rest of the year... so I say RS him anyways because we simply have no place to play him this year.
With the increase in depth... SHOULD be a better team this year... maybe MUCH better. We will just have to see how things develop.
No?
So.... lets discount Rafael Maia at C... just for now. He has not gotten many practices in so we will have to see about Maia.
And thus lets say at C we have ANO spelled by Young... and Young starting at PF spelled by Jeter... and Artis starting at SF but playing most of his minutes with Jeter so they can swap positions O and D. Young would essentially split his minutes between C and PF opening up starter minutes off the bench at PF for Jeter.
Hmmmm... this is essentially the team we had last year except I expect ANO (or Maia) to be MUCH better than what we had there last year with Uchebo and Randall. With this we won't be having the 'undersized inside problem' we had last year starting Young at C and Artis at PF... and shouldn't be having problems getting worn down.
But, even after getting moved to PF it took Artis a while to get his game going. When he did he was awesome offensively but... sure didn't have it in the B/G game. Also, Jeter was terrible covering the 3 point line last year and if he has to cover Wiltjer of the Zags... he will have to cover Wiltjer all over the floor. So, we are just gonna have to see how this group works out.
On the perimeter... Slim Johnson has a lot of potential but IMO still has to earn his stripes... so, again just for now, lets discount Slim. And lets also discount Milligan in the belief that Dixon will only play one defensive liability (Wilson) in the guard slots.
So, we got Robinson at PG spelled by Wilson, Sterling Smith starting at SG, and Chris Jones spelling both Smith and Artis.
Again, not that much different from last year except Smith should be a HUGE improvement over Cam Wright as far as 3balls are concerned... which should open things up inside more. Also, I would not be surprised if James had a great senior year.. scoring 12-15 PPG. Chris Jones, may also show considerable improvement.
So, an 8 man rotation with Maia, Slim and Milligan as depth and significant possibilities down the road.. and IMO all three have significant possibilities down the road.
This leaves Luther (Nix will get RSed for sure), who has looked good in practice but looked good in practice for us last year and had one good game then nothing the rest of the year... so I say RS him anyways because we simply have no place to play him this year.
With the increase in depth... SHOULD be a better team this year... maybe MUCH better. We will just have to see how things develop.
No?