starting five

[Billikenbooster]

A friend asked me this morning who I thought the starters were going to be and thought I would just throw that out for this holiday weekend.

Understanding that no one has seen them play together other than pick ups at Simon, but here goes

KM, WR, KC, CE and BC. RM likes experience and loves KC, he is the glue of the team and rarely makes a mistake. BC has experience, tenacious rebounder, tough as nails. CE is thinner, stronger, probably the weakest of the picks to start, depending on match ups with the opposition. KM, WR no brainers.

mhg

[b.hayes]

CE is ... probably the weakest of the picks to start

What do you mean by this? If you mean Cody is the most questionable starter of the five you listed, you must have gone on a real bender to start your holiday weekend. He is a guaranteed starter. Much more so than Kyle or Brian, even though I agree Kyle is a lock.

As always, I'll preface this with one of Majerus' favorite sentiments. "Starting is for high school."

1 - KM: 100% Lock.

2/3/4 - KC: 100% Lock.

2/3/4 - CE: 100% Lock.

2/3/4 - Depending on who plays alongside Cody & Kyle, Cody either plays the 3 or 4 and Kyle either plays the 2 or 3. I could see Christian starting as a third guard, I could see Conklin or Cory starting alongside Willie. I can't see DE starting at the 3. Not yet. I can't see MIKE MCCALL being immediately contributing to the point where we play KM, MM, KC, CE, WR.

5 - WR: 100% Lock.

[NH]

What do you mean by this? If you mean Cody is the most questionable starter of the five you listed, you must have gone on a real bender to start your holiday weekend. He is a guaranteed starter. Much more so than Kyle or Brian, even though I agree Kyle is a lock.

As always, I'll preface this with one of Majerus' favorite sentiments. "Starting is for high school."

1 - KM: 100% Lock.

2/3/4 - KC: 100% Lock.

2/3/4 - CE: 100% Lock.

2/3/4 - Depending on who plays alongside Cody & Kyle, Cody either plays the 3 or 4 and Kyle either plays the 2 or 3. I could see Christian starting as a third guard, I could see Conklin or Cory starting alongside Willie. I can't see DE starting at the 3. Not yet. I can't see MIKE MCCALL being immediately contributing to the point where we play KM, MM, KC, CE, WR.

5 - WR: 100% Lock.

I think the questions is out of the following guys, who do we start:

CS

CR

RL

BC

MM

DE

Only one of them will start and any of them could start. I say (in this order) I would start: RL, CR, MM, CS, DE, BC.

-Conklin should definitely NOT start. We need him coming off of the bench.

-If RL can handle it, It would be great to start him and really stretch the floor.

-CE is a below average defender. Willie not an outstanding defender. When you think about that it might make sense to start CR

-If CS found his shooting stroke, he should start. If not, then he shouldnt.

-MM could provide some offense.

-I think DE is the dark horse.

[For-DaLove]

IMO, in order for us to be the team we all want us to be this year, we need Cody to play the 3. He won't be able to rebound at a high enough rate to justify playing the 4 against good teams.

[MB73]

KM, WR, CE, RL, if Majerus feels comfortable with CE at the "3".

Then there will be a battle for last spot: KC will start opening game, but MM and CS will challenge.

Winner plays RM defense but also hits the three pointer and contributes to the offense.

Sleeper is CS IMO, we shall see.

[brianstl]

I feel the starting five at the begining of the year will be KC, KM, CE, WR, and whoever Rickma likes that day. I would be shocked if the the 5th guys is the same for more than two games in a row before conference play.

[thetorch]

Have to agree KM, WR, and CE are locks. KC looks like a near lock.

I think it will depend on Majerus' mood. While he says he wants to play CE at the 3 I think early on we may see him at the 4. CS will probably start to begin the season. If CE can play the 3 than CR or RL will step in depending on who plays better. Or MM has a chance to replace CS later on. I'm hoping that Loe can give us a CE like impact and get starters minutes a couple games into his career.

[DeSmetBilliken]

I think that the starting 5 we'll see at the beginning of the season could be different than the one we'll be using by conference season. As some of the more recent posts have suggested, I think at the beginning we will see KM, KC, CE, WR, and a fifth player chosen by Majerus. It could be anyone, ranging from returners like CS and CR to newcomers like RL, MM, and DE.

I think that our ideal starting 5 would consist of KM, KC, CE, RL, and WR. This assumes that CE is able to get into the shape to play the 3 like Majerus wants, and that RL is able to adjust to the NCAA game relatively quickly. I just think that the height and offensive versatility that CE and RL could bring at their respective positions would really make things difficult for our opponents.

[slu72]

It's all about matchups. KC, KM, WR, and CE will be starters. The fifth depends on what our opponenet has on the floor. A big front line team, maybe you get RL, BC, or CR in the first 5. Smaller quicker team CE moves to the 4 and CS, MM, or DE starts. Whoever fills that 5th position will have to play tenacious D first and foremost. Would guess CS has the edge right now based on experience only. Of the 4 starters KC is the most likely to change as the season moves forward. He'll be challenged by CS and MM, and if JJett really plays well we might see KM move to the 2 which would cut KC's time even more. But right now RM loves the way KC defends, protects the ball, and passes the rock. However, KC will need to become more of a scoring threat, which he has shown the ability to do, to become stone cold dead lock starter throughout the season.

[b.hayes]

It's all about matchups. KC, KM, WR, and CE will be starters. The fifth depends on what our opponenet has on the floor. A big front line team, maybe you get RL, BC, or CR in the first 5. Smaller quicker team CE moves to the 4 and CS, MM, or DE starts. Whoever fills that 5th position will have to play tenacious D first and foremost. Would guess CS has the edge right now based on experience only. Of the 4 starters KC is the most likely to change as the season moves forward. He'll be challenged by CS and MM, and if JJett really plays well we might see KM move to the 2 which would cut KC's time even more. But right now RM loves the way KC defends, protects the ball, and passes the rock. However, KC will need to become more of a scoring threat, which he has shown the ability to do, to become stone cold dead lock starter throughout the season.

I hate the sentiment that we have to adjust our lineup based on how other teams play. I know it is part of the game in some respects, but if our comfortable lineup puts CE at the 4 and we are playing against a "big" team, why should we change how we play? Their 6'9 basher isn't going to be able to stick Cody 21' from the rim. Let him rain threes. We had a small squad last year and we generally were very tough defensively. Xavier was bigger and gave us fits I guess, but it's not like we had no chance against them.

[Taj79]

Doesn't matter. Discussion is foolish. With age, I suspect it will be the same as last year --- Reed, Ellis, Cassity and mitchell with the fourth being situational or whatever is working.

More important as to who finishes.

[Pistol]

"Starting is for high school."

-Rick Majerus

[billiken_roy]

"Starting is for high school."

-Rick Majerus

anyone that has ever played organized sports at any level knows that is b.s. starting means a great deal to the players concerned and is a huge motivational factor that all coaches use accordingly both from a negative and postive angle.

[GOSLU68]

Doesn't matter. Discussion is foolish. With age, I suspect it will be the same as last year --- Reed, Ellis, Cassity and mitchell with the fourth being situational or whatever is working.

More important as to who finishes.

I don't think Reed and Ellis can do more than combined 50 minutes a game; that give Rob Loe and Conklin minutes and same can be said for Mitchell and Cassity, although they would

and have gone 40+ minutes each we would be better off if MM and DE take some time to give them a breath. We were played out at the end of too many games and the end of the

season we were ragged. Although I am not a Tony La Russa fan I have to say his spacing could be copied a little, here.

[bsheldon]

I'll bite.

While I agree that the first 5 guys on the floor doesn't really mean that much, this discussion has brought up some interesting points about what the squad may or may not ultimately be this coming year.

The biggest thing I have gotten from this discussion is the depth that RM has brought. Can you think of any season in the last 15 that we could possibly have had so many different legit combinations of starters and all of them being strong?

If I learned anythng from RM last season it is one of two things: Don't leave a laptop within arm's reach during a game and that his line-ups are sure to change. He seems to love to switch things around and have dozens of different line-ups on the floor. I am not sure how he coordinates all of this as he seems to stay out on the sideline and the assistants send people in and out. Again, I am sure he mandates how that happens.

I would bet that we will see many different combinations of starters--just like last season. But things will be different this year in that last year he was searching for players to step up and he looking for lineups that were productive. This year he is going to have many solid options with the differences being tweaks and match-up challenges for opponents, not just trying to find "gamers" or just doing the best with what we had. Now RM will have the freedom to mandate match-ups, control game style even more than before, and have the ability to really stretch the opponents' line-ups and coaches.

As for who starts: KM and WR are the only 100% every game for sure. I would put CE as 99% with KC being 99% early in the year. CS will probably get some starts early as well. My hope is that MM (or even JJ) realy steps up and their play demands minutes. I would love to see KM at the 2 spot and not having to bring the ball up the floor 95% of the time he is in. His outside shot got better and better as the season progressed.

I could go on forever with what-ifs and possible lineups. That, I think is the point. The Billikens now have many options and all of them very good. I can't wait to see how it plays out.

[Billikenbooster]

I definitely see him saying whoever plays best in practice next week gets to start, and make it actually happen. By sitting CE once or WR a few times, it will get their attention.

mhg

[Clock_Tower]

I'll bite.

While I agree that the first 5 guys on the floor doesn't really mean that much, this discussion has brought up some interesting points about what the squad may or may not ultimately be this coming year.

The biggest thing I have gotten from this discussion is the depth that RM has brought. Can you think of any season in the last 15 that we could possibly have had so many different legit combinations of starters and all of them being strong?

If I learned anythng from RM last season it is one of two things: Don't leave a laptop within arm's reach during a game and that his line-ups are sure to change. He seems to love to switch things around and have dozens of different line-ups on the floor. I am not sure how he coordinates all of this as he seems to stay out on the sideline and the assistants send people in and out. Again, I am sure he mandates how that happens.

I would bet that we will see many different combinations of starters--just like last season. But things will be different this year in that last year he was searching for players to step up and he looking for lineups that were productive. This year he is going to have many solid options with the differences being tweaks and match-up challenges for opponents, not just trying to find "gamers" or just doing the best with what we had. Now RM will have the freedom to mandate match-ups, control game style even more than before, and have the ability to really stretch the opponents' line-ups and coaches.

As for who starts: KM and WR are the only 100% every game for sure. I would put CE as 99% with KC being 99% early in the year. CS will probably get some starts early as well. My hope is that MM (or even JJ) realy steps up and their play demands minutes. I would love to see KM at the 2 spot and not having to bring the ball up the floor 95% of the time he is in. His outside shot got better and better as the season progressed.

I could go on forever with what-ifs and possible lineups. That, I think is the point. The Billikens now have many options and all of them very good. I can't wait to see how it plays out.

+1

But just to add, last year was last year. It's over. Last year, KC was a "lock" because he was "an RM player", he was another point guard on the floor even when not playing point guard, and b/c he did some really nice things -- though he did not look to shoot enough and, when he did shoot, the results were not as good as the team needed. Also, KC was not really pushed by JJ, JS and CS. We lacked true depth and experience. This year, JJ is gone this year - so that's different -- but his lack of height and decisions with the ball were immature -- not surprising or unusual for a Freshman pg. CS, also was a Freshman, and his shooting/confidence were not at the level we needed for an NCAA Tourney team. CS came in -- 1/2 way thru the season -- and made an immediate impact and lifted our whole team; however, he did not take pressure off WR and others inside with fewer interior post-up moves and rebounds for a kid his size. BC was injured for half the season and likewise did not play to his potential.

This year, playing time will be tougher to get. IMO, WR, CE and KM are safe choices to start. This year, KC may be a lock to be the opening day starter but if his offensive production does not improve, he will sit the bench and we will see what MM, the new JJ, DE and CS can do. As mentioned, due to seniority, KC will be a starter at the beginning of the year but I doubt he will be a starter when the conference season starts. Also, if WR is tired or starts to pace himself, he will get pulled right away. Same with CE and KM.

[b.hayes]

If these guys pass up Kyle on the depth chart, we are going to be good. Aside from Kwamain, Kyle was our best shooter (meaning I ignored the FG% of Willie, Conklin, Jon Smith who don't actually shoot the ball per se), percentage wise. Better than CS, CE, and the departed JJ. Now, none of them put up impressive FG%, but I don't know what would make anyone think that CS is magically going to jump from 33% to 45% but Kyle can't go from 39% to 45%. Kyle's role on the team from his Freshmen to Sophomore year changed as dramatically as any of our incoming freshmen's roles did from their previous teams. Kyle is a good perimeter defender which is very important in our defensive scheme, he has good passing skills, averaged almost as many rebounds as BC, and knows our offense in and out. I think it would be really tough for any of the freshmen to come in and be good enough on both sides of the ball to knock Kyle out of the rotation.

[RiseAndGrind]

If these guys pass up Kyle on the depth chart, we are going to be good. Aside from Kwamain, Kyle was our best shooter (meaning I ignored the FG% of Willie, Conklin, Jon Smith who don't actually shoot the ball per se), percentage wise. Better than CS, CE, and the departed JJ. Now, none of them put up impressive FG%, but I don't know what would make anyone think that CS is magically going to jump from 33% to 45% but Kyle can't go from 39% to 45%. Kyle's role on the team from his Freshmen to Sophomore year changed as dramatically as any of our incoming freshmen's roles did from their previous teams. Kyle is a good perimeter defender which is very important in our defensive scheme, he has good passing skills, averaged almost as many rebounds as BC, and knows our offense in and out. I think it would be really tough for any of the freshmen to come in and be good enough on both sides of the ball to knock Kyle out of the rotation.

Agreence

[Clock_Tower]

If these guys pass up Kyle on the depth chart, we are going to be good. Aside from Kwamain, Kyle was our best shooter (meaning I ignored the FG% of Willie, Conklin, Jon Smith who don't actually shoot the ball per se), percentage wise. Better than CS, CE, and the departed JJ. Now, none of them put up impressive FG%, but I don't know what would make anyone think that CS is magically going to jump from 33% to 45% but Kyle can't go from 39% to 45%. Kyle's role on the team from his Freshmen to Sophomore year changed as dramatically as any of our incoming freshmen's roles did from their previous teams. Kyle is a good perimeter defender which is very important in our defensive scheme, he has good passing skills, averaged almost as many rebounds as BC, and knows our offense in and out. I think it would be really tough for any of the freshmen to come in and be good enough on both sides of the ball to knock Kyle out of the rotation.

You're right. KC is good. I'm hoping for great. His shooting last year was good but not great. Not going to argue with the statistics in that they are what they are. I could be way off base, and if so, let me know, but it just seemed like KC had some good shooting games which made up for his horrible shooting games. Also, it just seemed to me that CS and JJ were more likely to take the shot than KC when the shot clock is running down, at key moments of the game, etc. I vividly recall JJ making a HUGE 3 pointer on the road at UD last year which really sealed the game for us as well as situations where KC passed the ball instead of shooting it. JJ was fearless. Two years ago (yes, it was his Frosh year), I also vividly recall KC shooting an airball, at home, against a good conference team and RM putting him on the bench for the rest of the game (6 minutes or so).

Don't get me wrong. KC will probably start, he knows the offense and does many things well on the floor, and if he gets replaced as a starter, he will still be a major contributor and play significant minutes. With depth on the bench this year, though, all players who lack a key component of the game (outside shooting, rebounding, FT shooting, etc.) will sit the bench for longer stretches of time than they are used to. That's simply what depth means.

As to shooting percentages, both KC and CS suffered from the same thing -- each other. By that, I simply mean that both were inexperienced and both had difficulty hitting the outside shot last year. Had either of them played with an experienced/good outside shooter (Kevin Lisch comes to mind), the pressure would have been taken off, they each could have been more selective in their outside shooting and they each would probably have ended the year with higher shooting percentages. Also, had CS become more reliable from the outside, the pressure would have been taken off KC and KC's shooting percentage may likely have increased - and vice versa. Instead, when both struggled from the outside, pressure increased and shooting percentages decreased. Without depth, we kept KC on the floor b/c he could do other things well.

This year, even if no one surpasses KC and CS, (and I'm thinking MM, JJ, DE and even CE may do so) then it is reasonable to believe that both could increase their shooting percentages due to the extra year of play, experience, strength, etc.

[bsheldon]

I don't think Kyle will be knocked completely out of any game, but I am hoping he is relagated to a bench role. I don't say that from a Kyle hating perspective at all. Kyle brings a lot to the table, as has been mentioned, he is a good ball handler, one of, if not the best decision maker and passer, a good man-to-man defender, plus he has good length which I feel is often overlooked as a real good attribute to have up high as it really closes passing lanes. The reason I hope he is relagated to the bench is that if that is the case it means someone is stepping up. I really don't think someone is going to replace him--I don't think anyone has the skill sets except perhaps CS. DE won't have the ball skills, MM & JJ are too small. What I do hope happens is either MM or JJ really step up and it allows KM to play the 2. Or CS finds his stroke and continues to improve on every other aspect of his game as we saw throughout last year and he demands the #2 spot in the lineup. If either of those things happen and we have KC coming off the bench to play the #1, 2 or 3 as needed we will be a very strong club and real hard to beat.

On the big man front I hope that we are good enough all around that RM has the option to only utilize WR for 20 to 25 minutes a game in the nonconference. He probably can't play 30 minutes a night, and in my opinion shouldn't play near that much. I love to see him play and cringed when he came out last year and wondered why he sat so much, but he was worn down badly at the end of the season last year--obviously so. Our added depth should really help us to keep a fresh WR come conference and post season when the games matter the most. CR came such a long way last year. He improved noticeably every week. I'd wager he has a solid and borderline great year. His prgress last year reminds me of WR the year prior. If CR can have anywhere close as good of a year that WR in his second, we should be real good on the blocks. Of course, we have BC also--he had several games last year where he really came out of his shell and he seemed to be a whole different player--Lets hope those were the games where he was feeling well and he can do that on a regular basis. His size and style of play will be critical as we get deep into conference play. I still haven't mentioned RL--our most prized recruit in some time--at least judging by all the hubub leading up to him committing. If he is even half as good as the hype we could be really sick good in the big man department. I still have CE to talk about. He can be a 3 or 4 and if he is in shape for the duration should be putting up big numbers. DE is hopefully as good as advertised but may be more of 4 player in a 3 body, but I hope he contends for some floor time as well.

It is amazing to think about but each postion has 2 or 3 palyers behind them that can come in and make a real difference, not just bide time for our 2 or 3 stars to take a breather. Again our depth and ability to put 10+ different players into games in dozens of different lineups is truly a wonderful thing and I can't wait to see how it plays out.

[billiken_roy]

DE won't have the ball skills, MM & JJ are too small. What I do hope happens is either MM or JJ really step up and it allows KM to play the 2.

jett and mccall are both listed as only an inch shorter than cassity.

doc b has attested that evans appears to have liddell ball skills.

mitchell played the off guard most of the conference season for us only going out front to get the ball from cassity when the shot clock was run down.

[b.hayes]

You're right. KC is good. I'm hoping for great. His shooting last year was good but not great. Not going to argue with the statistics in that they are what they are. I could be way off base, and if so, let me know, but it just seemed like KC had some good shooting games which made up for his horrible shooting games. Also, it just seemed to me that CS and JJ were more likely to take the shot than KC when the shot clock is running down, at key moments of the game, etc. I vividly recall JJ making a HUGE 3 pointer on the road at UD last year which really sealed the game for us as well as situations where KC passed the ball instead of shooting it. JJ was fearless. Two years ago (yes, it was his Frosh year), I also vividly recall KC shooting an airball, at home, against a good conference team and RM putting him on the bench for the rest of the game (6 minutes or so).

Don't get me wrong. KC will probably start, he knows the offense and does many things well on the floor, and if he gets replaced as a starter, he will still be a major contributor and play significant minutes. With depth on the bench this year, though, all players who lack a key component of the game (outside shooting, rebounding, FT shooting, etc.) will sit the bench for longer stretches of time than they are used to. That's simply what depth means.

As to shooting percentages, both KC and CS suffered from the same thing -- each other. By that, I simply mean that both were inexperienced and both had difficulty hitting the outside shot last year. Had either of them played with an experienced/good outside shooter (Kevin Lisch comes to mind), the pressure would have been taken off, they each could have been more selective in their outside shooting and they each would probably have ended the year with higher shooting percentages. Also, had CS become more reliable from the outside, the pressure would have been taken off KC and KC's shooting percentage may likely have increased - and vice versa. Instead, when both struggled from the outside, pressure increased and shooting percentages decreased. Without depth, we kept KC on the floor b/c he could do other things well.

This year, even if no one surpasses KC and CS, (and I'm thinking MM, JJ, DE and even CE may do so) then it is reasonable to believe that both could increase their shooting percentages due to the extra year of play, experience, strength, etc.

I'd love to see a game by game stat sheet not only to see if Kyle was all or nothing on a game to game basis, but also to see if JJ or CS improved their shots as the season progressed. I have a feeling neither is true. JJ wasn't far behind where Kyle stood in FG%. JJ and CS definitely were more willing to fire it up, but that doesn't mean a lot to me. JJ was impactful late in a few games. At the same time, Kyle pretty much won us the Dayton home game, with some help by an outrageous KM shot. I remember him going to the rack one-on-one strong 2 or 3, if not 4 times in that game, which is the only thing that kept us in it. None of those guys are going to be our first, second, or third options for points, nor should they be. I don't see us as a team with 5 guys averaging double figures. KM, WR, and CE are going to be our first options on offense. That's why any automatic offense from say, MIKE MCCALL, doesn't necessarily mean he should start. In fact, if he sparks our offense, he probably should come off the bench. That's a perfect role for him as a freshmen.

[bsheldon]

jett and mccall are both listed as only an inch shorter than cassity.

doc b has attested that evans appears to have liddell ball skills.

mitchell played the off guard most of the conference season for us only going out front to get the ball from cassity when the shot clock was run down.

I had it in my head that they were both several inches shorter. I had it in my head that since they play the 1 they must be the size of our 1--KM. My mistake. That is good that they are that tall--hopefully they have good defensive range with long arms.

If DE has those ball skills that is awesome and believe me, I hope he does. He just didn't get to use them much in High School as he played down low. Whether those ball skills are D1 quality is yet to be seen. Again, I'm optimistic that they are.

I do remember watching KC bring the ball up and occasionally CS--I always wondered what the opposing coach was thinking by not pressing us in those situations. When teams did press us and KM did not have the ball in his hands it was always an adventure getting into the half court set. It was probably a move by RM to give KM a bit of a break--which was probably needed. Looking forward, I hope that either MM or JJ can take on that role. KM can always come get the ball when needed, but I was thinking it would be nice if he doesn't have to not only bring the ball up the court under pressure and then is still expected to be our leading assist guy and a major if not leading scorer. He usually gets the quickest guy to guard on the opposing team and he is no doubt going to be a large part of our offense this season. Anything to lighten his work load is a good thing--if it is still able to be done effectively.

[bsheldon]

I'd love to see a game by game stat sheet not only to see if Kyle was all or nothing on a game to game basis, but also to see if JJ or CS improved their shots as the season progressed. I have a feeling neither is true. JJ wasn't far behind where Kyle stood in FG%. JJ and CS definitely were more willing to fire it up, but that doesn't mean a lot to me. JJ was impactful late in a few games. At the same time, Kyle pretty much won us the Dayton home game, with some help by an outrageous KM shot. I remember him going to the rack one-on-one strong 2 or 3, if not 4 times in that game, which is the only thing that kept us in it. None of those guys are going to be our first, second, or third options for points, nor should they be. I don't see us as a team with 5 guys averaging double figures. KM, WR, and CE are going to be our first options on offense. That's why any automatic offense from say, MIKE MCCALL, doesn't necessarily mean he should start. In fact, if he sparks our offense, he probably should come off the bench. That's a perfect role for him as a freshmen.

I don't know if I would say KC was all or nothing as a flat out statmenet of fact, but it certainly seemed that way. I think most people's problem with him was his unwillingness to take the wide open jumpers--he passed on many early in the season. He usually got 1 or 2 hustle buckets a game with a rare free throw here and there. I think that if you went back and looked at his points to minutes ratio it was the bottom for the team. Conversely, he had 2 or 3 games where he looked to get to the bucket and took some open shots where he put up double digits. So, it did kind of seem like all or nothing. I beleive it was the Duquesne game on the road last year where he drove to the bucket four or five times. The first time came at a time when we really needed a bucket. It seemed to give him confidence and he repeated it several times that game. During those rare games where he looked to score he also got the free throw line. If that is the KC we got every game instead of only once every 10, we would not be having this conversation. We know he has the skills to put up 8-10 a game, that is probably why he is talked about so much in here, but it was usually 2-4 with an occasional 12-14.

While I wouldn't go as far as to say we will have 5 guys averaging 10+ a game--as there just aren't enough minutes or points available for that, but I definitely feel that we could have/should have had at least one more player that pushed that 10 points a game average. If CS could have continued to shoot the way he did the first couple of games, it would have done so much for our offense as a whole. If we had a 2 guard that could knock down the open 3--which we missed a ton, we could have had another guy around 10 points a game. I don't think it would have been much of a stretch at all for a good shooter in our offense last year. It was there most all of last year. Heck even if CS hits 35% of his 3's it would have pushed him over 7 pts a game. Again, I think it would be asking a lot to have 5 guys average 10 or more, but I don't think it will be too much to have 5 or even 6 averaging 8+. We had 6 over 6 last year and 2 more over 4. I think we will be better as a whole this coming season and hopefully put up a few more points a game--it wouldn't be that hard if just one or two more open 3's had fallen last year. Plus CE should be in shape to keep his stroke for duration--he was on fire his first several games and then noticeably tired. We averaged 63 pts/game last year. I thinking we get get into the 66-68 range this coming season. That might be low-balling a bit as our free throw shooting has to be better than last season. We may acutaly be a 70 points per game team. With RM's offensive pace that would be very impressive.