The Rotation (Bigs)

[ACE]

I expect us to primarily play 4 bigs again next year, which means there will usually be one odd man out of the rotation. I expect RL and GG to start again, plus JM to be the 3rd big. So who does everybody expect to be the 4th big? RA may be more ready physically, but Lancona's game is better suited to fill the role Cody provided off the bench. There is another less likely scenario where RA and TL are so outstanding and ready to contribute, that it leaves JM as the odd man out.

[moytoy12]

I expect us to primarily play 4 bigs again next year, which means there will usually be one odd man out of the rotation. I expect RL and GG to start again, plus JM to be the 3rd big. So who does everybody expect to be the 4th big? RA may be more ready physically, but Lancona's game is better suited to fill the role Cody provided off the bench. There is another less likely scenario where RA and TL are so outstanding and ready to contribute, that it leaves JM as the odd man out.

If RA and TL are outstanding, I'd expect GG to be the one to take the back seat.

[b.hayes]

Does this mean we settled the debate on DE being a big?

[billiken_roy]

i really dont get glaze. beyond this super energy wild stallion effort he gives, his lack of knowledge of the surrounding action seems more negative than positive. while his strength, athleticism and enthusiasm would be great harnessed, he has yet to show he really should be on the floor. assuming grandy doesnt suddenly understand how to play basketball, if reggie and lancona dont play ahead of him i dont take that as a good thing.

personally i would go four guards and let dwight/dwayne guard the second opposing big and serve the other spot in the lane when we decide to play such.

[MB73]

You start Loe for sure with Evans, a hybrid # 3 - # 4, then you can play them with three guards or a true # 3.

Then there will be competition for the rotation, and sight unseen, I think one or both the freshmen will be strong factors for playing minutes.

Glaze and Manning will have a battle on their hands (broy is spot-on about Glaze, broy is correct every once in awhile) and Manning is still an unknown factor IMO; hopefully he will step up this year and "bring it on".

But I predict Lancona and Reggie will get a lot of time in the rotation, though again we obviously do not know their true capabilities at this point.

If someone emerges you start them with Loe and DE is more of a # 3, then go with two guards.

The GOOD thing is our depth is back, we might have plenty of good options, the two freshman are exactly what we needed.

[wgstl]

I would not be surprised if RA has a solid freshmen year. I do think JM is the odd man out, but comes back strong for the second half of the year.

[NextYearBill]

My dream scenario is Loe-Manning twin towers

[NH]

I expect big years from Manning and Agbeko.

Lancona will have moments where he struggles, IMO. But I'm confident he will still show promise. But skills (lancona) tend to take a little longer to carry over to the next level for big men than strength, rebounding and athleticism (Agbeko) do.

Like others of you, NO idea what to make of Glaze.

And finally, I expect a huge year out of Loe. In conference play last year, he scored 8.8 points per game and got 4.3 rebounds. He also shot 43 percent from three and better than that from the floor. Let's hope he added a few pounds, maybe a post move or two and some confidence in the offseason.

[Quality Is Job 1]

You start Loe for sure with Evans, a hybrid # 3 - # 4, then you can play them with three guards or a true # 3.

Then there will be competition for the rotation, and sight unseen, I think one or both the freshmen will be strong factors for playing minutes.

Glaze and Manning will have a battle on their hands (broy is spot-on about Glaze, broy is correct every once in awhile) and Manning is still an unknown factor IMO; hopefully he will step up this year and "bring it on".

But I predict Lancona and Reggie will get a lot of time in the rotation, though again we obviously do not know their true capabilities at this point.

If someone emerges you start them with Loe and DE is more of a # 3, then go with two guards.

The GOOD thing is our depth is back, we might have plenty of good options, the two freshman are exactly what we needed.

I question whether the Bills have enough guard depth to play three guards most of the time.

My dream scenario is Loe-Manning twin towers

I suspect that would not work in the Bills' favor on defense.

[slufanskip]

Why would the Bills want to play Evans as the 4 along with 3 guards? Evans will not be as effective inside being guarded by a taller more athletic big.

We have JM, RL, and GG and just signed 2 freshman bigs. That's 5 players to effectively fill 80 minutes. If we can't do that we are in trouble

[bauman]

If RA and TL are outstanding, I'd expect GG to be the one to take the back seat.

If RA and TL are just close to what they appear to be, then I agree GG becomes the odd man out with JM not far behind, BUT this also assumes that GG and JM do not improve significantly over the off-season. I can see a rotation with RL/RA and TL getting the bulk of the minutes at the 4/5 positions. I see DE getting 33-35 minutes at the 3 (no matter what we decide that position is-small forward or 3rd guard) every game that he can stay out of foul trouble in with either MC or JB getting the rest. I have some hope for GG, but not much. I didn't see him contribute anything to the team last year except high energy and I don't know of any Billiken.com posters who have said much different. JM also gave us very little last year and I know all about the concussion arguments, to which I say, if he was being held back by head injury issues then he shouldn't have been playing. I just remember the GW game where the coaches tried to give him some minutes since he was playing in his hometown. He was so bad that they had to pull him-he couldn't even hold on to the ball. Having said that about his past performances, I am hopeful that he is working hard this off-season to improve as RM thought he could.

W/o seeing the incoming Frosh and therefore based on their scouting reports and w/o getting real improvement from GG or JM, I see the 200 minutes of game time broken up along the following lines: (after 1/1/14)

RL 27

RA 23

TL18

JM 7

GG 5

DE 34

MC 6

MM 26

JJ 26

AM 18

JB 10

[GOSLU68]

Unless Manning is ready to play in conference we are not going to be better than last year. GG may be a good 5 minute guy to rattle the opposition but he has no basketball skills other than flailing his arms

[RiseAndGrind]

i really dont get glaze. beyond this super energy wild stallion effort he gives, his lack of knowledge of the surrounding action seems more negative than positive. while his strength, athleticism and enthusiasm would be great harnessed, he has yet to show he really should be on the floor. assuming grandy doesnt suddenly understand how to play basketball, if reggie and lancona dont play ahead of him i dont take that as a good thing.

personally i would go four guards and let dwight/dwayne guard the second opposing big and serve the other spot in the lane when we decide to play such.

That's almost as ridiculous as expecting a late Spring Recruit to be more impactful than JB.

[Taj79]

Surely we all haven't forgotten Rick already, have we? "Starting is for high school." Finishing is what matters and I think we will matchup to whatever gives us our best perceived advantage to win and/or maintain the lead.

Starting lineup seems locked --- four of the five "starters" are back in Loe, Glaze, Evans and McCall. That means either Jett or McBroom is the fifth starter. Some have called for a move that keeps Jett on the bench and doing what he did last year vis-a-vis starting him. I guess that depends on McBroom. Lancona seems like he can be the new Ellis -- but that's unproven as well. Agbeko remains an unknown. I personally remain unmoved on both the Glaze and Manning fronts. I just don't know ---- there is no body of evidence that presents itself that either is ever going to do anything.

The stats: Glaze played 301 minutes in 25 games. An average of 12 per game. Face it --- if he got four minutes at the start of each half, making it to the first TV timeout, that leaves two minutes per each half after that. That's not a lot of time and I'd question if he ever finished a game that was on the line at crunch time. Shooting 25% at the line makes him a liability on the court at the end. Amazingly he averages the same amount of assists, turnovers and steals per game -- about .5 each. I don't recall him making a shot outside six feet. All in all, the body of work is mediocre. Count me in the group not expecting much there. Count me in the group that is disappointed if Agebko doesn't get more than that. I will be most shocked if Grandy goes to any lengths and exceeds these numbers. I have no projections here. Plus think about this --- if Glaze is in the game, he will occupy lane space on the offensive end, thereby bringing an automatic double team to arguably our best post player in Evans. Not good.

Manning is even worse. Same 25 games, about 6 minutes a game. No need to expound on it. If we get anything from either of these two guys, it will be unprecedented in my book. Yes -- a nice surprise. But still unprecedented. Most recently, I kept waiting along these similiar lines for Husak. Husak was a heck of a lot more physically solid than Manning and actually wasn't too bad from the three point line but still, not much in terms of a servicable A10 player. Ever. Nice kid and all but a five-year disappointment (counting frosh redshirt). And Manning also occupies the space Evans used to operate in the lane late second half this year when he went into "beast" mode. I like beast mode.

Matchups will dictate. No way Glaze or Manning is on the court at crunch time against an opponent like VCU. We've talked at great length in the past about recruiting over a guy or even the proverbial changing of the guard when it comes to seniors. I see the possibility of that being the case with both these guys. It may or may not happen and I wouldn't be too quick to make a judgment in the OOC season. Lots of stuff happens there that gets canned down the end of the bench once the conference season starts. I still hope I'm wrong but based on the work to date, I doubt it.

Last off season, I felt we had to find a suitable replacement for Conklin moving forward. This year, we need to develop our replacement parts. If McBroom is good, we have our four guard rotation back counting Barnett. Lancona will never replace Ellis. So does Loe get better and replace Ellis on the perimter while we develop Lancona? Possible. In that scenario can Manning give us what Remekun did (altho it should have been more)? Or is that Agbeko? Glaze?

This year starts the development of the sustainability item any program needs for consistency.

I think the twin towers are doable on a limited basis -- provided Loe is the shooting four and Manning parks in the paint. These would be complimentary talents, not conflicting/duplicative ones. Will likely provide other issues on the defensive end.

[Taj79]

Something else about Manning ---- I sat right behind the bench at Temple. I also noticed it in a few games later on. Crews had a pretty quick hook with John. I recall his relatives saying at Temple "... I guess John won't see the light of the floor now ...." during halftime because Crews yanked him first half. I guess I am questioning Crews' patience on this front, that's all.

Kid needs time, teaching and patience to develop. Do we have it?

[ARon]

Starting

McCall Jr

Jett

Evans

Glaze

Loe

End of game (when it really matters per RM)

McCall Jr

Jett

Evans

???

Loe

All the other scenarios are fun to talk about but there is no evidence to suggest there is any chance they will happen. The only real question is who plays the 4 at crunch time. I think Glaze will get the first shot but either freshmen will have a chance if they prove they can play team defense.

McCall, Jett, Barnett, Evans, Loe may work against some smaller or weaker opponents. But if we have to play that in big games we are in trouble.

[wgstl]

Starting

McCall Jr

Jett

Evans

Glaze

Loe

End of game (when it really matters per RM)

McCall Jr

Jett

Evans

???

Loe

All the other scenarios are fun to talk about but there is no evidence to suggest there is any chance they will happen. The only real question is who plays the 4 at crunch time. I think Glaze will get the first shot but either freshmen will have a chance if they prove they can play team defense.

McCall, Jett, Barnett, Evans, Loe may work against some smaller or weaker opponents. But if we have to play that in big games we are in trouble.

glaze

[bauman]

Starting

McCall Jr

Jett

Evans

Glaze

Loe

End of game (when it really matters per RM)

McCall Jr

Jett

Evans

???

Loe

All the other scenarios are fun to talk about but there is no evidence to suggest there is any chance they will happen. The only real question is who plays the 4 at crunch time. I think Glaze will get the first shot but either freshmen will have a chance if they prove they can play team defense.

McCall, Jett, Barnett, Evans, Loe may work against some smaller or weaker opponents. But if we have to play that in big games we are in trouble.

glaze

Surely, you and Aron jest! The thought of Glaze playing important minutes at the end of a game is NEVER going to happen. Either one of you, please let me know what you have seen in any game GG has played that would support your opinion that he is capable of contributing anything to this team other than as a cheerleader. Have you seen him shoot? Have you seen him shoot FTs? Have you seen him defend. control the boards....? What in the name of Billiken basketball have you ever seen him do that could possibily make you think he will be a contributor to this team other than when a couple of bigs are in early foul trouble?

[Littlebill]

glaze

This is a joke right?

[Littlebill]

That's almost as ridiculous as expecting a late Spring Recruit to be more impactful than JB.

Is it? Glaze is by far our least talented player. These two are talented bigs and bring a lot to the table(besides running around like a maniac)

[Littlebill]

Surely, you and Aron jest! The thought of Glaze playing important minutes at the end of a game is NEVER going to happen. Either one of you, please let me know what you have seen in any game GG has played that would support your opinion that he is capable of contributing anything to this team other than as a cheerleader. Have you seen him shoot? Have you seen him shoot FTs? Have you seen him defend. control the boards....? What in the name of Billiken basketball have you ever seen him do that could possibily make you think he will be a contributor to this team other than when a couple of bigs are in early foul trouble?

+1

[wgstl]

you dont like the fact he can only score within 2 feet?

[cgeldmacher]

I liked what Taj said. Rather than look at who might be starting, I prefer to look at who can replace or improve on what we had. If we assume our returning guys all improve their games even slightly, which is a reasonable expectation each year in the college game, then we should be better if we can simply replace what we lost. If we improve on what we lost, we could be that much better.

Loss #1 - CR - I am confident that RA, or extra minutes from an improved GG or JM, will cover what CR gave us. This replacement has the greatest chance of actually being an improvement to the team.

Loss #2 - CE - This is much tougher. I loved CE's game, but when his shot wasn't there, his presence on the court was almost a detriment rather than a positive on the offensive end. On defense, he was an average defender whose ability to put himself in position and flop properly helped us grab a lot of charge calls. The best case scenario is that TL can give us some of what CE gave us. I just wouldn't count on the occasional game where CE would go off from behind the 3. Plus, keep in mind that CE's minutes can be effectively replaced by someone who doesn't have his exact game. This is where RA, GG, & JM can help. Basically, the best case is that two of the four (JM, GG, RA, TL) step up and give us what we need to replace CR & CE, or give us better.

Loss #3 - KM - IMO, KM gave us less last year than he had previously. Still, his minutes will be hard to replace. If we can get close to that caliber of play from a combination of AM and MC, along with improvements from MM, JJ, and JB, we'll be back to even from our guard play.

All in all, the great thing about the guys we have coming in is that the coaching staff has depth to choose from to find replacement minutes this season. We don't have to rely on one particular guy stepping up. At each position, we have at least two guys to look to come in and play well and we could be better than last year. Thank you coaches.

[Quality Is Job 1]

Starting lineup seems locked --- four of the five "starters" are back in Loe, Glaze, Evans and McCall. That means either Jett or McBroom is the fifth starter. Some have called for a move that keeps Jett on the bench and doing what he did last year vis-a-vis starting him. I guess that depends on McBroom. Lancona seems like he can be the new Ellis -- but that's unproven as well. Agbeko remains an unknown. I personally remain unmoved on both the Glaze and Manning fronts. I just don't know ---- there is no body of evidence that presents itself that either is ever going to do anything.

The stats: Glaze played 301 minutes in 25 games. An average of 12 per game. Face it --- if he got four minutes at the start of each half, making it to the first TV timeout, that leaves two minutes per each half after that. That's not a lot of time and I'd question if he ever finished a game that was on the line at crunch time. Shooting 25% at the line makes him a liability on the court at the end. Amazingly he averages the same amount of assists, turnovers and steals per game -- about .5 each. I don't recall him making a shot outside six feet. All in all, the body of work is mediocre. Count me in the group not expecting much there. Count me in the group that is disappointed if Agebko doesn't get more than that. I will be most shocked if Grandy goes to any lengths and exceeds these numbers. I have no projections here. Plus think about this --- if Glaze is in the game, he will occupy lane space on the offensive end, thereby bringing an automatic double team to arguably our best post player in Evans. Not good.

Manning is even worse. Same 25 games, about 6 minutes a game. No need to expound on it. If we get anything from either of these two guys, it will be unprecedented in my book. Yes -- a nice surprise. But still unprecedented. Most recently, I kept waiting along these similiar lines for Husak. Husak was a heck of a lot more physically solid than Manning and actually wasn't too bad from the three point line but still, not much in terms of a servicable A10 player. Ever. Nice kid and all but a five-year disappointment (counting frosh redshirt). And Manning also occupies the space Evans used to operate in the lane late second half this year when he went into "beast" mode. I like beast mode.

Matchups will dictate. No way Glaze or Manning is on the court at crunch time against an opponent like VCU. We've talked at great length in the past about recruiting over a guy or even the proverbial changing of the guard when it comes to seniors. I see the possibility of that being the case with both these guys. It may or may not happen and I wouldn't be too quick to make a judgment in the OOC season. Lots of stuff happens there that gets canned down the end of the bench once the conference season starts. I still hope I'm wrong but based on the work to date, I doubt it.

Last off season, I felt we had to find a suitable replacement for Conklin moving forward. This year, we need to develop our replacement parts. If McBroom is good, we have our four guard rotation back counting Barnett. Lancona will never replace Ellis. So does Loe get better and replace Ellis on the perimter while we develop Lancona? Possible. In that scenario can Manning give us what Remekun did (altho it should have been more)? Or is that Agbeko? Glaze?

This year starts the development of the sustainability item any program needs for consistency.

I think the twin towers are doable on a limited basis -- provided Loe is the shooting four and Manning parks in the paint. These would be complimentary talents, not conflicting/duplicative ones. Will likely provide other issues on the defensive end.

By definition you've made a projection -- a pessimistic one. Taj, obviously you think a player can never improve beyond what he does as freshman or sophomore, and if he does, you're "shocked." However, it happens all of the time. Players typically improve from year to year in at least some areas, depending on health. Manning and Glaze will contribute these next two seasons more than they did their first two seasons. They'll demonstrate their abilities. Heretofore they haven't been able to because there was no room in the rotation. It's harder for underclassmen to play when the roster is balanced and they have experienced and talented upperclassmen ahead of them. However, Loe, Evans, McCall, and Jett had much more impressive underclassman numbers because they had to play out of necessity: there wasn't much ahead of them.

[cgeldmacher]

Surely, you and Aron jest! The thought of Glaze playing important minutes at the end of a game is NEVER going to happen. Either one of you, please let me know what you have seen in any game GG has played that would support your opinion that he is capable of contributing anything to this team other than as a cheerleader. Have you seen him shoot? Have you seen him shoot FTs? Have you seen him defend. control the boards....? What in the name of Billiken basketball have you ever seen him do that could possibily make you think he will be a contributor to this team other than when a couple of bigs are in early foul trouble?

I like Glaze, not because he is going to a reliable ton of minutes guy, but because he probably shames the rest of the players into playing harder. I would guess at practice, the coaches say to some of the guys when they are slacking "This is why Grandy is starting and not you," trying to get more effort out of them.

I think that best thing that Grandy could do in the offseason is to shoot free throws until his fingers bleed. If he can get his FT average up to, let's say, 65%, he could be effective as a guy whose hustle draws fouls against valuable players on the other team.