One way I look at how good the team might be is through "starters bumped." In terms of minutes played last season, the starters would be DeVonte, Josh, Ben, James, and Gus. And, actually, that would not be a bad lineup. However, there is little likelihood that those four will have the five most minutes. So, if any presumptive starters do not start, that is a good thing, because it means the talent is better.

And there are several reasons those won't be the five. J. T.'s minutes will come out of somewhere. Which also means that Josh won't be getting as many minutes (if any) at point. Which means if Josh does get the same minutes, the minutes he got last year at point will have to come out of someone else's minutes at the 2. Mareik will almost certainly get more minutes, as will Maurice, and those minutes have to come from somewhere. So forth and so on.

Might be some tough competition for playing time. Might be some pretty fair players not getting much playing time.

(09-13-2014 05:27 PM)MICHAELSPAPPY Wrote:  One way I look at how good the team might be is through "starters bumped." In terms of minutes played last season, the starters would be DeVonte, Josh, Ben, James, and Gus. And, actually, that would not be a bad lineup. However, there is little likelihood that those four will have the five most minutes. So, if any presumptive starters do not start, that is a good thing, because it means the talent is better.

And there are several reasons those won't be the five. J. T.'s minutes will come out of somewhere. Which also means that Josh won't be getting as many minutes (if any) at point. Which means if Josh does get the same minutes, the minutes he got last year at point will have to come out of someone else's minutes at the 2. Mareik will almost certainly get more minutes, as will Maurice, and those minutes have to come from somewhere. So forth and so on.

Might be some tough competition for playing time. Might be some pretty fair players not getting much playing time.

No idea what the starting line-up will be and that may not be that important. My early guess is

JT, Josh, Roger, Mareik, and James White. I could see Gus starting depending on match-ups. But with his tendency to get in foul trouble, it might be best to have coming off the bench.

I don't see how you can put J.T. ahead of Devonte. Sure, he was the starter before he was injured, but Devonte came on to be among the best point guards we've had, and has a year of solid experience in league play. I can't argue with the rest of your selections, although you've seen Roger Woods and I haven't, so I'll take your word that he could be the real deal for us. I hope so. But it can't hurt to have two really good point guards, so I'm happy about that.

Devonte, do not create easy shots for his team like Josh, he will have a low turn over rate when you don't put pressure on the defense. Question: how many times have Devonte attacked the basket than hit an open man for a shot.(Never) He drop his head and go for a layup. Point guards get the rest of his team easy shots and Devonte does not do that. He is a good backup at best. Don't get me wrong he plays hard. But a true point guard he is not.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this point. Devonte has been the starting point guard on every team he's played for, and his teams have won championships at every level, and he has played nearly the entire games. I think Josh is a star, but not at the point. He's a two guard, IMO, who can play the point. I can't really make an evaluation of J.T. What little I saw of him was not nearly as impressive to me as Devonte. With all that said, what I think makes very little difference. It's what Steve thinks, so I'll just observe and see how it all plays out. You might be absolutely right in your assessment. I just liked the way Devonte ran the team. It is good to have plenty of folks who can play the point. Devonte, J.T., Josh and even Ossie have all had some experience there, so we should be in good shape at that position this season.

Our talent/experience combination at the two guard spots is as good as I have ever seen it.