Starting 5 question

[Xuperman]

Just curious to hear if y'all think Coach will settle on a consistent starting 5? In most seasons that has been pretty much in stone at this point. Granted, C19 prevents any normal decision but the 3 seniors + Z seem to be a given. Will the 5th starter become more predictable?

I personally think Kunk has made a strong case, although CoJo makes it razor thin. Both guys are multi-tooled and highly effective scorers. Either way X has a very strong unit from the jump, to go along with, arguably, the strongest bench in conference.

When the calendar turns to February, the rotation typically gets condensed to maximize chemistry for the stretch run but it looks like team 99 will continue to have 9/10 guys getting productive minutes.

[GIMMFD]

Good question, definitely think Nate, Scruggs, Carter and Freemantle are pencil'd in, and that 5th spot is rotating, I don't personally think we're going to see a consistent starting 5, I think Steele may play it by match-ups with Dwon, Kunk, Colby all fighting for it. I think in games where Steele wants Scruggs off the ball, Dwon will get it, and others could see Colby/Kunk get it, I like Colby a bit more just because of his smoothness, just a sense of calm when he's with the ball, but Kunk really has made a helluva case as of late. I definitely agree we're going to have a deep bench in February and March, which is good as we'll be able to have some fresh legs, plus the bench packs a good scoring punch too.

[drudy23]

I honestly don't think it matters who starts. Maybe for the psyche of the players, but I don't think it impacts results much.

In-game adjustments and who makes plays down the stretch is much more important.

[Xuperman]

With so many questioning Coach Steele's ability with rotation/player minutes, I am guessing a popular starting 5 on this board would be Scruggs, Tandy, Jones, Odom, Freemantle. It's a very young line up but I think it would be effective vs Marquette....BUT guarding Garcia will be a major problem. Go with this as long as possible if we can match them offensively. Keep in mind Justin Lewis is healthy and back to being very productive...he's another tough guy to guard.

You could sub in Kunk and/or CJ if anyone struggles and I would love to see Griffin come up big of tge bench, frontcourt. Hopefully Carter will not be forced into alot of minutes because no one can guard Garcia.

What do you guys think?

[xudash]

With so many questioning Coach Steele's ability with rotation/player minutes, I am guessing a popular starting 5 on this board would be Scruggs, Tandy, Jones, Odom, Freemantle. It's a very young line up but I think it would be effective vs Marquette....BUT guarding Garcia will be a major problem. Go with this as long as possible if we can match them offensively. Keep in mind Justin Lewis is healthy and back to being very productive...he's another tough guy to guard.

You could sub in Kunk and/or CJ if anyone struggles and I would love to see Griffin come up big of tge bench, frontcourt. Hopefully Carter will not be forced into alot of minutes because no one can guard Garcia.

What do you guys think?

I think I like the way you think:

1. Scruggs, Tandy, Jones, Odom, Freemantle.

2. Griffin as a response to the down low competition.

3. < Carter.

4. Game intensity that = the Creighton game.

[paulxu]

4. Game intensity that = the Creighton game.

This.

[xavierj]

Just curious to hear if y'all think Coach will settle on a consistent starting 5? In most seasons that has been pretty much in stone at this point. Granted, C19 prevents any normal decision but the 3 seniors + Z seem to be a given. Will the 5th starter become more predictable?

I personally think Kunk has made a strong case, although CoJo makes it razor thin. Both guys are multi-tooled and highly effective scorers. Either way X has a very strong unit from the jump, to go along with, arguably, the strongest bench in conference.

When the calendar turns to February, the rotation typically gets condensed to maximize chemistry for the stretch run but it looks like team 99 will continue to have 9/10 guys getting productive minutes.

Just curious why you think Kunkel has made a strong case. He has had a couple of good games but very inconsistent. He is shooting like 27% from three on a lot of attempts. In addition he struggles with stronger bigger guards on defense and was actually being pulled last game when they went offense/defense late. I think Kunkel is going to help a lot next year but not sure he should be starting or playing starter minutes. Needs to get stronger and more consistent. I would probably go with Odom, Scruggs, Jones, Witcher and Free and then bring Kyky in for Odom to get another shooter in the game.

[Xuperman]

Just curious why you think Kunkel has made a strong case. He has had a couple of good games but very inconsistent. He is shooting like 27% from three on a lot of attempts. In addition he struggles with stronger bigger guards on defense and was actually being pulled last game when they went offense/defense late. I think Kunkel is going to help a lot next year but not sure he should be starting or playing starter minutes. Needs to get stronger and more consistent. I would probably go with Odom, Scruggs, Jones, Witcher and Free and then bring Kyky in for Odom to get another shooter in the game.

You are responding to my original post on this thread. That was the end of January and Kunk has cooled off some unfortunately, but I love how he plays with passion. Hard to see him as a liability regardless of his 3%....give me an 110% effort guy any day!

[bleedXblue]

I don't care who starts. Play fuc*&^G better!

[D-West & PO-Z]

Mt starting lineup would be:

Odom
Scruggs
Kunkel
Jones
Free

Kyky first off then bench, then Griffin then Carter.

While I think Carter deserves less playing time, I think he still deserves 10-15 mins/game depending on the opponent and how the game is going. Currently he gets 27-28 mins a game.