At least yesterday, we went with a 10 team rotation, at times subbing multiple players at once. There will be times when we will go BIG with Castleton and Jitoboh together or go FAST with Bonham and Kugel together, but if we have the game in hand or nobody in serious foul trouble, this is what we may see most games: 1 Lofton 32 Jones 7 2 Bonham 26 Kugel 15 3 Richard 32 Reeves 8 4 Felder 15 Fudge 25 5 Castleton 28 Jitoboh 12
10 team rotation! On a serious note, it's been great to see Bonham's emergence. We scored 81 against a team that just held Duke in the 40s.
With the exception of Castleton, our starters aren't significantly better than our backups. I would love to see this team run opponents into the floor the way we did in 2000. Just keep running, maximum effort for four minutes and sit for a few.
Yeah but Golden doesn't appear to like going up tempo much. Considering our solid depth and defensive struggles, I hope her considers stretching the floor defensively however. Maybe we'll become more cohesive on that side of the ball as we get more familiar with new scheme and teammates.
If Kugel continues to play under control I believe we may play a smaller lineup at times with Kugel at the 3 and Richard at the 4. It was talked about during the off-season and now we can see why. We’ve got to get our best scorers on the court and if we don’t get much more out of our current power forward rotation we may need to experiment with the smaller lineup. Amazing the jolt that Bonham has added to the lineup. I believe Kugel may eventually do the same.
I would like to see Alex come in few minutes at a time and have him launch his three ball all Net shot. That would give opposing teams something to talk about.
It’s sometimes difficult to get a cohesiveness on offense when you play a deep bench but it’s also difficult to play tough defense if you only play 6 or 7 players. Players get tired and will rest on the defensive side of the floor. I think it is better overall to play a deep bench and rotate players as needed to keep fresh legs. More players getting playing time means players are engaged, happy, and it also helps in recruiting. Less players looking to transfer to get a bigger roles on other teams if everyone is playing and contributing. The trick is to get everyone playing together as a team and not just looking to selfishly get their stats. That’s an issue that is being addressed right now.
Precisely. Studies on this have shown that 7-8 are optimal on offense because it promotes chemistry and confidence (knowing you won’t get pulled for a mistake), but 9-10 is better defensively because it keeps legs fresh and gives you more matchup options. I suspect we end up around 9 when all is said and done.
One thing thing that has surprised me is how reluctant Golden is to go small, and I think a lot of it has to do with defensive rebounding. He won’t play Felder at the five, but will play CC and JK together. Likewise, I don’t recall Richard, Reeves, or any other wings playing the four. And he has said expressly that he doesn’t want to go small unless necessary, and even that he wouldn’t mind playing Fudge at the three if he could. That said, I completely agree that Kugel has to get on the court more. He is too explosive and dynamic on a team that lacks aggressive shot creators offensively.
I don't really believe it's ideal to give him just 8 minutes. Too much raw athleticism to not use. This was a teaching moment.
I know CTG has said that he doesn't much care for the platoon system, even when he's got a lot of depth. Starting 5 comes out at the same time, 2nd 5 goes in at the same time. But it might make for an interesting experiment, and would provide that continuity on offense of all 5 that are on the court being on the same page. And keeping the legs fresh on defense. We certainly have 10 guys that can play at a high D1 level. I dunno, maybe the first 5 goes the first 8 minutes, the 2nd 5 comes in for 7, then the starting 5 gets the last 5 minutes of the half. Obviously, there would be exceptions for the circumstances, such as foul trouble.
Hopefully some learning will follow the teaching. If Reeves plays up to his potential, this is a really good team.
Whatever happened to Niels Lane? Thought he was our best player defensively, particularly at guarding the 3 point line. Injured? Offense limits his playing time?
I just don’t think you see that much of it for a reason. I don’t even recall Donovan doing it outside of 1999-2000, really. You are putting a lot of faith in that second five not wetting the bed, as well risk pulling guys early when they are playing well and breaking their rhythm. Most coaches prefer a set rotation that balances out starters they trust with complementary reserves. I sure as heck don’t want Jitoboh or Jones getting comparable minutes to CC or Lofton. More of a reasonable argument at the 2-4 spots, IMO, which is effectively what we are doing now.
For all of the talk in the off-season about using multiple lines and having a deep bench ( including the wing position) , just haven’t seen anything yet, that says that’s the way we’re gonna play. We look more like a 7-8 starter-bench rotation right now. There’s just not enough talent in that group to be comfortable that they’ll be successful on a night-to-night basis. Hope that improves
