Next year's lineup
I'm not quite ready to put this season behind us, because we really accomplished a lot this year. Heck, I may go home sometime this week and watch the UNC @ dook game again just for a reminder of how much fun that was.
Still, I think we have a bright future. If everyone comes back, here's what we have in the arsenal:
Guards
Pure point guards: Tywon Lawson, Quentin Thomas
Combo guards: Bobby Frasor, Wes Miller
Pure two-guards: Wayne Ellington
Wings
2/3 combos: Marcus Ginyard, Danny Green
Small forwards: Reyshawn Terry, William Graves
Post players
Power forwards: Brandon Wright, Mike Copeland
Centers: Tyler Hansbrough, Deon Thompson, Alex Stepheson
I only catagorize them this way because - as I see it - we need to have at least one player from each of these catagories on the floor at any given time. So, that's how I broke it down.
I think the initial starting lineup looks like this:
PG: Bobby Frasor
SG: Wes Miller
SF: Reyshawn Terry
PF: Brandon Wright
C: Tyler Hansbrough
If Wright is as good as advertised, he should be starting from day one. He'll have to fulfill as much of Noel's duties as possible.
Now, Frasor and Miller could be overtaken early in the process. From what I've heard of Lawson, I expect him to be starting before too long. A lot of people pencil Ellington into the starting lineup too, but I'm not as quick to do that. He may be a big-time scorer, but Roy will limit his PT if he doesn't play defense. Like most freshmen, I suspect his offense will be ahead of his defense early next year. If he becomes a good enough defensive player, then he'll surely get plenty of PT.
I was encouraged by QT's play late this season - especially the game at Cameron. I hope he doesn't get squeezed out of the lineup altogether next year, because he could be a really good backup point for us. Also, we need to make sure we get plenty of PT for Frasor and Ginyard, too. Ginyard has a lot to work on, but he'll be invaluable because of his defense. We'll need Frasor for his outside shot and ability to run the team - especially for times when Lawson is in foul trouble.
As for the wings, I expect Terry to start from Day 1 unless his attitude gets in the way. I was really proud of the way he came on late in the season, but he seemed to revert to his old self in the NCAA tourney. I hope that was an aberration, because he can be a beast when he sets his mind to it.
Green should back up Terry at the 3 spot, but there may be times when neither of them are on the floor (maybe when we slide Wright down to the three or have a three-guard lineup of Lawson, Frasor, and Ginyard or something similar). I really don't expect Green to ever start at UNC, mainly because I don't think his defense is good enough for that. But, he can provide much-needed scoring off the bench.
I would really love to see Graves redshirt this year. Honestly, he looks to be a four (or more) year player anyway, and he won't see much of the floor next year. We might be able to use him better later on.
Down low, I expect to see multiple lineups with Hansbrough on the floor - assuming he's back next year. We'll probably see a lot of him at the 5 and Wright at the 4, but I think we'll also see some with Thompson or Stepheson at the 5 and Hansbrough at the 4. We have a lot of flexibility with so many post threats next year, but I don't think we want to keep Tyler out of the lineup too much. Even with other scoring options, he should be our primary option on offense.
I think the main thing is that we should be able to run, run, run all night long with this team. We'll have more depth than even last year, so we should take advantage of it by always pushing the tempo. We should have the horses to replace anyone if they get tired.
The only downside or worry as I see it is the chemistry issue. We have so many guys that played well this year who will undoubtedly see reduced time next year. How will they handle that? If the answer to that is a good one, then we could be holding up a trophy at the end of next year.
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