Could Pastner be mortgaging our future with these four guards? I think King would be helping us by now if he'd been getting regular minutes and opportunities to work through mistakes.

Essentially, Josh looks like he's rolling the dice that these four guards can get us to a Sweet 16, which will keep most satisfied for another year or two as we transition back to a younger group and expectations lower.

On the other hand, if this team draws a bad matchup in the NCAA's and can't get those two wins, Josh won't be getting a free pass next year with that younger group. What happens then?

Just seems to me Josh is rolling the dice here and hoping it works out for the best. I'd be giving, at the very least, King minutes EVERY game. He's capable right now of helping us.

Josh knows this. This is why he got all defensive when asked from a reporter during the post-game: "Why dont you play Nick King or Kuran Iverson more?"

I am hoping he makes adjustments.

CJP isn't changing. It's midseason and he has done nothing to get our highly ranked newbees prepared for the remainder of the season.

It should now be clear to all the path this team is on.

Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

(01-17-2014 09:10 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

Do you disagree that could be a MAJOR mistake?

(01-17-2014 09:11 AM)Tampa Bay Tiger Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:10 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

Do you disagree that could be a MAJOR mistake?

Absolutely not. I think playing the players NOW that give us the best chance to win NOW is the best course of action. Those guys are freshman, their time will come.

Woodson was pretty good in the Louisville game, but what else have we saw from those three that tells us they should garner time in our close games against top 25 competition?

(01-17-2014 09:10 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

Strangely; Lemoyne Owen will now become a high pressure audition for all 4, with little upside. Excel in this game and it will come off as insignificant because of the competition. Heaven forbid Iverson, King, Woodson and Wilson show rust and don't play well. We might barely see them again.

(01-17-2014 09:13 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:11 AM)Tampa Bay Tiger Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:10 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

Do you disagree that could be a MAJOR mistake?

Absolutely not. I think playing the players NOW that give us the best chance to win NOW is the best course of action. Those guys are freshman, their time will come.

Woodson was pretty good in the Louisville game, but what else have we saw from those three that tells us they should garner time in our close games against top 25 competition?

Nick king scoring 24 points in 15 minutes against OSU?

I agree that winning now is most important, but I'd argue that King would be helping us now and even more so in March had he been getting regular minutes since the season started.

Fact is there is no guarantee we are a sweet 16 team this year. Matchup will mean everything to us. That being said, if we don't win two games in the NCAA tournament this year what will that mean for Josh next year with that younger group?

(01-17-2014 09:17 AM)jgardne Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:13 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:11 AM)Tampa Bay Tiger Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:10 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

Do you disagree that could be a MAJOR mistake?

Absolutely not. I think playing the players NOW that give us the best chance to win NOW is the best course of action. Those guys are freshman, their time will come.

Woodson was pretty good in the Louisville game, but what else have we saw from those three that tells us they should garner time in our close games against top 25 competition?

Nick king scoring 24 points in 15 minutes against OSU?

Do you remember which portion of the game that was? Garbage time, when we were down 35 points. That's not indicative of how he would perform in a single possession game against the same opposition, as we've clearly seen.

(01-17-2014 09:16 AM)Stammers Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:10 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

Strangely; Lemoyne Owen will now become a high pressure audition for all 4, with little upside. Excel in this game and it will come off as insignificant because of the competition. Heaven forbid Iverson, King, Woodson and Wilson show rust and don't play well. We might barely see them again.

I don't really care if they excel, I just want to see them get floor time. They can be rusty as all get-out as long as they're showing effort and getting in game experience.

(01-17-2014 09:21 AM)Tampa Bay Tiger Wrote:  I agree that winning now is most important, but I'd argue that King would be helping us now and even more so in March had he been getting regular minutes since the season started.

Fact is there is no guarantee we are a sweet 16 team this year. Matchup will mean everything to us. That being said, if we don't win two games in the NCAA tournament this year what will that mean for Josh next year with that younger group?

I think that's just speculation. It behooves us to have a deep bench that we can rely upon, but we've started our conference slate and the stakes are high. IMO it's not the time to be breaking in new blood against UConn, Cincy or any conference opponent on the road.

(01-17-2014 09:10 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

IMHO that theory is seriously flawed.

(01-17-2014 09:27 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:21 AM)Tampa Bay Tiger Wrote:  I agree that winning now is most important, but I'd argue that King would be helping us now and even more so in March had he been getting regular minutes since the season started.

Fact is there is no guarantee we are a sweet 16 team this year. Matchup will mean everything to us. That being said, if we don't win two games in the NCAA tournament this year what will that mean for Josh next year with that younger group?

I think that's just speculation. It behooves us to have a deep bench that we can rely upon, but we've started our conference slate and the stakes are high. IMO it's not the time to be breaking in new blood against UConn, Cincy or any conference opponent on the road.

I guess what I'm saying is Pastner better hopes this works out. I just don't see fans being okay with anything less than a Sweet 16 in the next two years.

The time to get them game experience is gone, with on the exception of maybe 2 or 3 games the rest of the season. The time was early in the season when we were playing cupcake teams. Of course, even then we were not blowing teams out enough to get guys like Iverson significant minutes. I do not expect our high ranking freshman to come in and be world beaters, but there is absolutely no reason they should not be able to contribute at this point in the season, and especially in March. Unfortunately, our guys do not get to see the court, and when they do they are not allowed to make any freshman mistakes without getting immediately pulled. It is obvious, by JP's actions and words, he is riding the 4 guards the entire season.

(01-17-2014 09:27 AM)BealeStreetTiger Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:10 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

IMHO that theory is seriously flawed.

I don't agree with that at all, but we've all got our opinions.

(01-17-2014 09:36 AM)Tygrys Wrote:  The time to get them game experience is gone, with on the exception of maybe 2 or 3 games the rest of the season. The time was early in the season when we were playing cupcake teams. Of course, even then we were not blowing teams out enough to get guys like Iverson significant minutes. I do not expect our high ranking freshman to come in and be world beaters, but there is absolutely no reason they should not be able to contribute at this point in the season, and especially in March. Unfortunately, our guys do not get to see the court, and when they do they are not allowed to make any freshman mistakes without getting immediately pulled. It is obvious, by JP's actions and words, he is riding the 4 guards the entire season.

Those three got pretty significant time against the cupcakes in our schedule earlier in the year, didn't they? People seem to be complaining that they're not getting much PT in our conference games, all of one of which have been losses or close wins. King got good minutes against USF.

Nick King has seen double digit minutes about 5 or so times this season against cupcakes. I'd put Iverson's double digit games at about 3 or 4. This is off the top of my head.

(01-17-2014 09:10 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Playing the seniors gives us a better chance to win this year. That's the theory.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen, and hopefully we stomp Houston and USF as well and they see some burn in a conference game.

I'm sure those guys will get some burn against Lemoyne Owen

Some burn? It's Lemoyne Owen....Let'em Start....

(01-17-2014 08:57 AM)Tampa Bay Tiger Wrote:  Could Pastner be mortgaging our future with these four guards? I think King would be helping us by now if he'd been getting regular minutes and opportunities to work through mistakes.

Essentially, Josh looks like he's rolling the dice that these four guards can get us to a Sweet 16, which will keep most satisfied for another year or two as we transition back to a younger group and expectations lower.

On the other hand, if this team draws a bad matchup in the NCAA's and can't get those two wins, Josh won't be getting a free pass next year with that younger group. What happens then?

Just seems to me Josh is rolling the dice here and hoping it works out for the best. I'd be giving, at the very least, King minutes EVERY game. He's capable right now of helping us.

Of those mentioned the only one that I have been impressed with is King. It seems like he should get some minutes. Some coaches like to go 8 deep, some like 7.

But Dom and Iverson continue to look lost out there and must in practice. If they were brining it in practice they would be getting into games, especially like last night when we were in foul trouble.

Iverson's length might have been good against their 6-9 guy who kept burying threes, but CJP and staff must not be comfortable with him and that responsibility.

I have also been puzzled that Wilson got minutes last year and isn't this year.

(01-17-2014 09:27 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-17-2014 09:21 AM)Tampa Bay Tiger Wrote:  I agree that winning now is most important, but I'd argue that King would be helping us now and even more so in March had he been getting regular minutes since the season started.

Fact is there is no guarantee we are a sweet 16 team this year. Matchup will mean everything to us. That being said, if we don't win two games in the NCAA tournament this year what will that mean for Josh next year with that younger group?

I think that's just speculation. It behooves us to have a deep bench that we can rely upon, but we've started our conference slate and the stakes are high. IMO it's not the time to be breaking in new blood against UConn, Cincy or any conference opponent on the road.

With Adonis at the 3 we usually played 2 guards last season. This season we spent the bulk of the early OOC schedule working on the 3-4 guard lineup and did not allow the bench to get proper PT.

The season is now in full bloom and there isn’t enough garbage time for our new players to achieve. Win lose or draw the pressure is on our guards to take us where we want to go and I don’t see it happening. If we can’t/don’t field a team of players who matchup with our opponents then we’ll always be at a disadvantage.

Just saying.