Dear Friends,
Went on the Eastern Athletic site to look if the basketball roster is listed for the coming season.
It is, and besides six newcomers that most of us know about, Glenn Bryant is also listed. I guess that means he has been reinstated as a member of the basketball team. Case closed?

Interesting.

BTW, are we to assume that Strickland is on scholarship this year?

Lyle is not listed. He was a walk-on last season.

Perry is listed as a walk-on.

BTW, I count 13 scholarship players assuming that Glenn Bryant is on scholarship and will return this year.

So what does everyone think the starting line up will be with the 6 new guys.

It's tough to predict. I could see Karrington Ward starting. But I like our team this year. More depth then last year I can see that.

Assuming Bryant is reinstated, my best guess would be...

Talley
Sims
Ward
Bryant
Riley

If Bryant remains suspended or is kicked off the team (I doubt either happens), then I'd start Harrison at the 4. He's a good enough rebounder for us to play "small".

(07-29-2013 04:18 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  Assuming Bryant is reinstated, my best guess would be...

Talley
Sims
Ward
Bryant
Riley

If Bryant remains suspended or is kicked off the team (I doubt either happens), then I'd start Harrison at the 4. He's a good enough rebounder for us to play "small".

That is a strong lineup...

Ward will be key if he shots as well as hoped.

This is really tough because the PG could also be Ross.

Coach Murphy could mix up the line-up depending on who we play.

We haven't seen the freshman/transfers play yet either, so who knows Price ends up being a stud and start. So many questions. But I like this team

(07-29-2013 08:32 PM)EMUEagle17 Wrote:  This is really tough because the PG could also be Ross.

Coach Murphy could mix up the line-up depending on who we play.

We haven't seen the freshman/transfers play yet either, so who knows Price ends up being a stud and start. So many questions. But I like this team

Price has to sit out this year as a transfer.

(07-29-2013 09:41 PM)emu steve Wrote:  

(07-29-2013 08:32 PM)EMUEagle17 Wrote:  This is really tough because the PG could also be Ross.

Coach Murphy could mix up the line-up depending on who we play.

We haven't seen the freshman/transfers play yet either, so who knows Price ends up being a stud and start. So many questions. But I like this team

Price has to sit out this year as a transfer.

Forgot about that. But still should be a good team.

(07-29-2013 08:32 PM)EMUEagle17 Wrote:  This is really tough because the PG could also be Ross.

Coach Murphy could mix up the line-up depending on who we play.

We haven't seen the freshman/transfers play yet either, so who knows Price ends up being a stud and start. So many questions. But I like this team

I'm most curious to see how Murph manages the guard rotation. Talley, Lee, Sims, Ross, Combs...lots of talent back there, but only a finite amount of playing time.

PG: Talley/Lee/Ross
SG: Sims/Stickland/Combs/Perry
SF: Ward/Carnegie/Stickland
PF: Bryant/Harrison
C: Riley/Ajayi

it's so hard for me to predict the rotation right now. i have a million questions about this team.

- we all assume Talley will be starting PG, but is that a given? Ross looks like a guy who is capable of improving and leading a good team.

- Sims (defense) or Lee (offense) at sg? could one of them play the 3 behind Ward?

- Does Harrison get squeezed out of the rotation? i like Sam's point about playing him at the 4 in a smaller lineup, but even then, would you rather have him or Strickland playing backup minutes at the 4? i'm torn.

- Is Ajayi good enough to play, or will Bryant slide over to the 5, allowing Strickland/Harrison/Ward to play the 4? Ajayi might only see 8-10 minutes a game.

- Does Combs get any playing time? he's the most confusing addition of the offseason. i've never seen him play, so this isn't about his skill set, but he's entering a very crowded backcourt. this is based on the assumption that Talley, Ross and Combs will never be on the court at the same time, but maybe i'm wrong about that.

- Is Carnegie going to play many minutes? i have to imagine either him or Combs (or both) will play less than 5 minutes a game.

because i can't resist making predictions, this is how i think the depth chart will look. but, i think the real answer is that Murphy is going to try many, many combination in the first 15 games of the season:

pg: Talley (25 minutes) / Ross (15 min)
sg: Lee (20 min) / Sims (20 min)
wing: Ward (20 min) / Harrison (20 min)
pf: Bryant (25 min) / Ward (10 min) / Strickland (5 min)
c: Riley (25 min) / Bryant (10 min) / Ajayi (5 min)

8 player rotation with 2 extra guys getting ~5 minutes. Combs and Carnegie don't see the floor over the last 10+ games of the season.

Chandler is gone as well.

Whether Bryant is or isn't on the team, this team should contend for the MAC West title and maybe more. I figure Ross had a year on the job and will improve, having Lee back for a full season, Talley at point should steady that position, Ajayi, Ward, Carnegie and Combs all come from solid junior college programs. If I recall right Combs and Ajayi have three years of eligibility at EMU. With Price eligible for next year we could have back to back solid teams.

(07-30-2013 06:51 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Chandler is gone as well.

Whether Bryant is or isn't on the team, this team should contend for the MAC West title and maybe more. I figure Ross had a year on the job and will improve, having Lee back for a full season, Talley at point should steady that position, Ajayi, Ward, Carnegie and Combs all come from solid junior college programs. If I recall right Combs and Ajayi have three years of eligibility at EMU. With Price eligible for next year we could have back to back solid teams.

I don't see any 1st team all-MAC players but I see a talented, deep team as '79 seems to be suggesting.

I look for big improvement from Talley and Ross, Ward, and Riley.

Talley should be solid. Ross might make a big improvement from frosh PG to soph PG. Ward supposedly is an impact player. Some think Lee also could blossom as a soph.

I'm still of the mind that given the right pieces and better ball handling by the other four on the court that Riley will do much better in terms of getting the ball in scoring position.

I'd like to see Riley on a good passing team which is playing say .600 ball. I wonder if he'll really try to become a force on the offensive end and be hungrier.

This team has a fairly high ceiling (for a MAC team).

If Riley can play the same way he did at the end of the season last year, he should be good.

We got 5 seniors, so that should be enough leadership.

Yep, Chandler and Lyle are gone.

Chandler has some upside so I wonder where he went.

Minutes at PG should be hard to come by for those not named Mike or Jalen.

Either of them should be good enough to start for us this season.

I believe Talley will be a good one and Ross should be much improved this season.

Lee could be a big surprise this season.

Remember he was a raw rookie who didn't see much PT before his season ender.

And if I remember correctly he missed a lot of pre-season with an injury.

His first season at EMU was a near total wipe out due to injury.

Very few frosh step in the first few games and play like juniors.

We haven't seen what a frosh season for Lee would be like.