RE: Now the Fun begins...Way Early Starting 5
I think that Forbes will do what he did last year: play 11 or 12 guys early. Then he’ll make up his mind as the season goes on. He clearly does that and adjusts. Lester got scant minutes early, much more from the Tennessee game forward. Same with Desonta as his game improved. Same with Peter Jurkin. Bennie Lufile and Nigel Holley got minutes early, but late in the season were not used.
I agree that Hanner and Walters will likely get big minutes early. Hanner should be the terror of the SoCon. You don’t want to jinx Walters, but when you see him on video gliding through traffic, making the smart pass and burying the 3 – it’s hard not to think back to the great days of Mr. Jennings.
I agree that A.J. and Desonta will be a big part of things early, as their hustle, athleticism and defense is invaluable.
I am curious to see how David Burrell and Tevin Glass work out on the floor. We really need help in the gap between 6’2” guards and 6’9” post. I hope that they can provide it. Both are highly rated athletes, 3 stars in some web sites. Burrell especially looks nasty on video and posted strong JUCO numbers. Isaac Banks outcompeted Lufile and Holley last year, to the surprise of many of us. He will try to do the same with Glass and Burrell.
I think that Peter Jurkin will be good for around 20 minutes of improved play and will change the game whenever he’s on the floor.
At guard, we played 4 guys a lot last year: Cromer, Ge’lawn, Petey and Desonta. Call it 4 again this year: probably Walters, Cromer, Desonta and Payne. As has been noted before, Desonta is the most athletically gifted of the crew. He is just starting to find out how to use it. Remember how valuable it was in the golden days to have Major Geer and Alvin West come in firing off the bench??? We should have that kind of depth this year.
Shemar could make a niche for himself as a 6’6” slasher (a la Mike Smith and Adam Sollazzo) and a defensive answer for big guards/wings. He may need some patience till he gets his turn. Jermaine Long looks a bit bigger physically than some of the other guards and carried a big load for his team last year. Jason Williams, the Motor City freshman stud, needs to be a little patient and realize that time is on his side in this mix.
We have: shooting; guard skills; length; quickness.
We are short of: front court muscle. Strong, athletic 6’5” types. Team experience.
This will take till after the first of the year to really come together.
Some fun possibilities:
You could go All Big:
7’0” Jurkin
6’9” Mosquera-Perea
6’8” Tevin Glass
6’6” Shemar Johnson
6’4” Desonta Bradford
Not much heft, but miles of length. How successful this would be would depend on how much Jurkin improves, and how much offense Hanner and Tevin can provide. Also how well bigs can defend smaller guys.
You could play “high post-low post” with this. Jurkin on the baseline and Hanner or Glass at the elbow.
Or you could play Jurkin up near the foul line where he has a nice shooting touch and nobody is blocking his shot. Let Hanner terrorize them from underneath.
Sub in 6’6” jumping jack Burrell for Glass and you’d have 2 excellent 3 point shooters as well as exceptional size (Burrell 42%, Desonta 44.7%).
Or surround the 2 post players (Jurkin and Hanner) with 3 great 3 point shooters: Walters (118 makes on 50%), Payne (71 makes on 38.6%), T.J. Cromer (102 makes on 36.5%), for the kind of inside-outside game that Bob Hoffman likes to set up when he can.
Go All Small, as Forbes often did last year: with
5’11” Walters
6’3” Cromer
6’4” Desonta or 6’2” Devontavius
6’2” A.J.
6’6” Burrell or 6’6” Banks.
All Scoring: (this may require extra basketballs!)
Walters 18.9 points
Devontavius 21.6 points
Jermaine Long 20.4 points
Burrell 15.1 points
Cromer 14.9 points
That's a total of 90 points, before you even look at the bench.
TRADITIONAL
C – 7’0” Jurkin
PF – 6’9” Hanner (Banks)
SF – 6’6” Burrell (Glass)
SG – 6’3” Cromer (Payne, Long)
PG – 5’11” Walters (Desonta)
WINGS:
C – 6’9” Hanner
W – 6’2” A.J. (6’6” Shemar)
W – 6’6” Burrell (6’8” Glass)
G – 5’11” Walters
G – 6’3” Cromer
So many possibilities with this talent. The problem is deciding who to leave out.
(This post was last modified: 05-10-2016 07:04 PM by swvabucsfan.)
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