"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house. That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk."
—Al McGuire
Marquette's Premier Basketball Blog
"Likely starting lineup:
PG: James
SG: McNeal
3G: Matthews
F: Hayward
C: Barro
This is obviously speculation, but from reports of Hayward's ability this summer, it's hard to see anyone else breaking into the starting lineup ahead of him. He's a major league talent.Obviously, Fitz will make a case to start, but he seems like the ideal supersub at a number of positions."
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PG. Dominic James
ReplyDeleteSG. Jerel McNeal
SF. Wes Matthews
PF. Dan Fitzgerald
C. Ousmane Barro
Fitz or Lott coulnd't decide!
I say Fitz is the starter at the beginning of the season and Hayward may grow into the starting role over the course of the season. Of course, Fitz's verstility may well keep him coming off the bench.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE these projections!!!
ReplyDelete(BTW, you should have a countdown clock to Midnight Madness!!!)
Well, I agree with all except for PF and C.
With practices being a huge factor for playing time during Tom Crean's regime, I would like to say:
PF: Fitz
C: Kinsella
Barro is a defensive option until he proves he can score consistently. I'm going out on a limb here and thinking Kinsella is healthy.
I agree with Mr. Anonymous, Jr. who stated Fitz will eventually be shifted to 6th man duty or the 2nd forward on a 3-2 lineup BECAUSE Lazar will be just fantastic!
- Anonymous, III
Kinsella's health and production could be the difference between a round of 32 loss and an elite 8 berth.
ReplyDeletetoo bad kinsz has never consistently been off the DL list! sorry, he's just been very absent the last two years. I say Oooz will have a breakout season unless kinsz gets his act together.
ReplyDeletei love the order! it looks great! I don't really like fitz because he isnt that consistent but he might get a starting spot due to seniority
ReplyDeleteI'll go with:
ReplyDeletePG: Dominic James
G: Jerel McNeal
G: Wesley Matthews
F: Jamil Lott
F: Ousmane Barro
No way after Barro's string of starts and how he came on at the end of the year he will grab bench, especially in favor of Kinsella who hasn't proved anything yet, and if you want to say Barro doesn't start because of offense then obviously Kinsella, who has no offensive dimension, starts over him.
With the way Matthews was playing towards the end of last year, and given the old cliche that your best players are the ones who come up big when it matters most, he may prove to be the best player on the team and no way anyone keeps him out of the lineup this year.
I'll go with Lott as the starter because of Fitzgerald's versatility as a first option off the bench and the rebounding factor. Lott wasn't a bad rebounder when he got playing time last year and given how poorly the rebounding was in the BE and NCAA tournaments I think someone who can pull down boards should get some minutes.
As far as James and McNeal, they started every game last year and are staples to start this year. McNeal has to cut down on his stupid mistakes and improve his shooting, but his defense is too good to bring in against second teamers.
Key subs:
Fitzgerald -can play any position
Hayward -will demand minutes, maybe even crack the rotation and has a lot of talent
Cubillan -may only play about 7 minutes a game, but the team cannot fall apart if he's *the* backup the James.
Does anyone know if Blackledge is going to play at all and how he is talent wise?
ReplyDeleteWow. Seemed to ignore Blackledge! I say he might bump Lott out if he's all the energy and bounce to the boards that they say he is. Kinda reminds me of Odartey Blankson (STUPID IDIOT for leaving!!!).
ReplyDeleteI like the speed and versatility of this team. doesn't feel like the plodding, corn-fed and wisconsin bred teams of the 80s and 90s.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone think of an MU team in recent memory with this much potential depth? Seems like a no-brainer to try to press and push the ball more. If the gameplan used to be about limiting the number of possessions, it's now about getting up and down the floor.
PG Dominic James - top player, with a real back-up this year
SG Jerel McNeal - slash, score, board, hopefully fewer mistakes
SF Wes Matthews - best d, best at getting to line
PF Ousmane Barro - best rebounder, most energetic
C Mike Kinsella - presence inside, hopefully some Js from the short corner and L
Second team
Hopefully some nice chemistry develops between the versatile Fitz and his athletic, smooth-shooting freshmen teammates (Hayward, Cuiban). And they all spread the floor for the only guy on the team with a decent drop step - Lott.
Burke and the Blackledge are wild cards. Truth is that Crean will play the guys who practice the hardest.
I was at the Al Maquire center last Friday to watch my son in the MU bball camp. I watched Coach Crean put the team through 60 minutes of drills right after lunch. Kinsella is not startng this year. Crean is all over him because he cannot hit that short jump shot. Niether Kins nor Crean has any confidence in that
ReplyDeleteThere is no way Blackledge is going to get any significant playing time. He'll play less than Burke did last year.
ReplyDeleteHe's currently behind Barro, Lott, Burke and Kinsella -- and I'm not even counting Hayward, who looks like he'll be playing forward.
Trend may be a talented shot-blocker, but he looks like a guy signed as a practice body.