Start Kyky, bring Scruggs off the bench

[xuwin]

Scruggs has been fine this year. He isn't a natural ball handler though. In the first three games I liked his leadership and what he brought to the team quite a bit- just a bad game. Relax

Scruggs is just out of place playing the point guard position. Good point guards don't pick up their dribble at the first sign of pressure.

[xu82]

Tandy can start over Scruggs only if he can jump over him.................three times.

.....off of how many feet?

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

Is this the place where we should mention Tandy is one of the worst defenders on the team or is this just a Scruggs-bashing thread?

Now would be a good time to make that point.

[boozehound]

Now would be a good time to make that point.

I believe that lack of interest in playing defense is the biggest thing limiting his playing time. Not sure he would start over Scruggs even if his defense was better, but he might start over Odom or something.

[Masterofreality]

Start Griffin. Move Free to the 4 and have Carter be the 6th man glue guy.
Free is a prototypical Stretch 4.
Miles subs in for Griffin, Carter for Free.
All this changes if Stanley and Kunkel are eligible.

Scruggs is fine. Odom will keep developing. Johnson is great. KyKy is our microwave off the bench.

[markchal]

Start Griffin. Move Free to the 4 and have Carter be the 6th man glue guy.
Free is a prototypical Stretch 4.
Miles subs in for Griffin, Carter for Free.
All this changes if Stanley and Kunkel are eligible.

Scruggs is fine. Odom will keep developing. Johnson is great. KyKy is our microwave off the bench.

I gotta think Miles is not part of the rotation once we're in BE play. He's looked lost on D and gets moved around by much smaller mid-major bigs.

I also don't think we start Griffin. Carter switches better on D, and Freemantle isn't exactly a prototypical stretch 4 (like a Kaiser Gates or Justin Doellman). Free does a lot of scoring with his back to the basket and with his footwork.

Rebounding and defending the post will probably be ongoing problems in conference play

[Jumpin_Jamal_Forever]

Start Griffin. Move Free to the 4 and have Carter be the 6th man glue guy.
Free is a prototypical Stretch 4.
Miles subs in for Griffin, Carter for Free.
All this changes if Stanley and Kunkel are eligible.

Scruggs is fine. Odom will keep developing. Johnson is great. KyKy is our microwave off the bench.

I disagree with this and here's why.

We are getting a lot out of Carter, much of it besides his scoring. In another thread, XU80 reminded us that we on this board tend to judge players based on their individual scoring. Its easy to see why----scoring is so easy to assess. So, we see Carter miss a couple of layups or we watch a Tandy (and hopefully soon a Jones + Wilcher) come off the bunch, hit a few quick shots and, because Carter cannot do that, we send him to the bench.

I like Carter's game. He clearly isn't the most athletic but he seems to play both ends of the floor hard, he rebounds, he dives for the loose balls, he hits his free throws. The only aspect of his game I do not like is when he falls in love with the three ball. But, we've got a bevy of three point shooters-----can't believe I'm saying that after last year. The three ball is not Carter's strength. I also think (and this is just my gut feel) that he is more confident in the starting line-up than coming off the bench. He seems to be a guy (unlike Tandy) who is a little prone to go into his shell if he misses a couple of shots. So, I think he plays better and more confidently when he is given multiple, recurring opportunities to contribute.

Plus, I'm not yet convinced that ZFree is the prototypical stretch "4". He can step outside and hit the three---there is no question about that. But, I haven't seen him do what Carter does. It doesn't mean Free cannot but I wonder if getting him away from the basket will expose his defense and cause him to more easily land in foul trouble. He's been there already the last couple of games. Free is a very effective post player and that doesn't mean he will play as effectively away from the basket.

I concur our guards are in really good shape.

Stanley's eligibility is settled, right? He's done this year? Seems, to me, if Kunkel were going to get a waiver, we'd have heard already. But, we've got Jones and Wilcher and both guys can (I assume) play away from the basket. I'm looking forward to seeing them although they will, I assume, see modest minutes until they get themselves in playing shape.

And, no disrespect intended, but I do not object if certain phrases are banned from this board for the balance of the season---I'd start with "basketball IQ" and "glue guy". They are used most often, it seems, by idiot announcers whose vocabulary and understanding of the game is so limited that they have to keep feeding the rest of us those nauseating and meaningless phrases over and over as if they have some specific meaning. Personally, i don't know what the hell they mean.

[XUBison]

...Stanley's eligibility is settled, right? He's done this year? Seems, to me, if Kunkel were going to get a waiver, we'd have heard already...

Jeff Goodman and others reported yesterday that the NCAA oversight committee is recommending that the NCAA make all transfers immediately eligible, a move that would include Stanley and Kunkel. Apparently the NCAA has a meeting scheduled for December 16, but the vote on this issue could actually happen even sooner.

[JTG]

No one's eligibility is cut and dried, because the NCAA is voting Dec 16 to let everyone become eligible, per Goodman's report yesterday.

[Xuperman]

No one's eligibility is cut and dried, because the NCAA is voting Dec 16 to let everyone become eligible, per Goodman's report yesterday.

So everyone plays after that?