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I’m looking for complementary combinations, but these vary depending on matchups.  I can recall last year, opposing players would start going off, and buzzzz, here comes McRoberts to snuff him out.  Anywhere, here are a couple of combinations I find interesting. 

Green

Langford

McRoberts 

Morgan

Smith

or 

Durham

Langford

Hunter

Morgan

Fitzner 

or even

Durham

Green

Langford

Morgan

Race/Forrester

As another point, we have 14 players.  I’d like at least one, maybe even two, to redshirt.  That would still leave you with 13.  I do wish basketball would adopt a similar rule that football just instituted where a freshman can play a certain number of games and still redshirt.  I’m pretty sure Clifton Moore would have benefitted from that.  

Who would I redshirt?  Hard for me to judge because it’s sight unseen.  I’d be intrigued about Davis in this regard.  He’s coming off a bad injury, where athleticism is at risk.  I don’t know where his weight is.  Wouldn’t it make sense to spend a year getting his athleticism back and working on his skill set?  The flip side is you have a competitive team this year and there could be times where Davis’ low post scoring would be useful.  Another candidate would be Anderson or Forrester.  Both look promising but imagine what they could be as fifth year seniors.  

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Many years ago i asked Coach Knight in class how does a coach go about picking a starting line up. I was 20 years old and wanted to become a coach one day. His reply was i thought you were much smarter than that,that is one of the dumbest possible questions.  I will answer it anyway. He said you start the 5 sons a bitches that give u the best chance to win the game.

I dont know CAM but i guess he will start guys that give us the best chance at a win

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24 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

Many years ago i asked Coach Knight in class how does a coach go about picking a starting line up. I was 20 years old and wanted to become a coach one day. His reply was i thought you were much smarter than that,that is one of the dumbest possible questions.  I will answer it anyway. He said you start the 5 sons a bitches that give u the best chance to win the game.

I dont know CAM but i guess he will start guys that give us the best chance at a win

I remember Knight saying something similar on his TV show.

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3 hours ago, FKIM01 said:

 

I like McBob but if this team is going to reach it's potential, a senior captain who is starting needs to average at least close to 6 ppg.  Otherwise, I'd bring him off the bench in spots you need extra defense.

Respectfully, why?

Logically speaking, we have two very good high usage offensive studs that will need help on defense. Why does it make more sense to bring defense off the bench when you have a defensive minded coach and studs on offense than it does to bring in offense if those studs need help (they often won't need it)?

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2 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

Respectfully, why?

Logically speaking, we have two very good high usage offensive studs that will need help on defense. Why does it make more sense to bring defense off the bench when you have a defensive minded coach and studs on offense than it does to bring in offense if those studs need help (they often won't need it)?

I guess I'm in a wait & see mode as to how poorly some of these kids play defense.  Archie has a delicate balancing act here.  Last year, we saw a team that got a lot better on defense in the B1G but still couldn't generate enough offense to beat the better teams.  This is year two in the defensive scheme and other than Romeo, I'm not sure we'll see any freshman starting.  Fitzner may be another first year starter in this system but at least he's got four years of maturity on our freshmen, so if he AND Romeo start, you may have to put McBob into the starting lineup to shore things up until everyone gets up to speed.  OTOH, I could see Archie bringing McBob in when he puts two freshmen on the floor together to shore up that lineup defensively.  I see enough talent and competition for minutes that if you're not reasonably proficient on BOTH ends of the court, your playing time may be limited.  I don't think McBob needs to average double figures or anything like that, but if he passes up open shots and allows defenses to sag off him and double Romeo or Juwan, I can see a quick hook and a lecture to "shoot the !^%#!%$# ball!!!"

I know we say this every year, but this team looks deep...really deep.  Not necessarily experienced deep, but very talented deep.  There's going to be much more competition for minutes and while McBob is a year older, he's playing on a significantly better team, which is why I've said if he can average a couple of made 3's a game (or at least close), he'll make a strong case to stay in the starting lineup the whole season.  If he plays mostly like he did last year, I very much suspect someone will pass him on the depth chart and be starting before the season is over.  That's not a terrible thing as a McBob off the bench could be a real sparkplug to shut down runs and get IU rolling again if the offense stagnates.

In the end, it's all a guessing game and fun debate for the pre-season.  One thing I think we can agree on is that the competition for starting spots and minutes is going to be fierce and those who get starts and minutes are really going to earn them this year maybe more so than many seasons in recent memory.

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6 hours ago, Billingsley99 said:

Many years ago i asked Coach Knight in class how does a coach go about picking a starting line up. I was 20 years old and wanted to become a coach one day. His reply was i thought you were much smarter than that,that is one of the dumbest possible questions.  I will answer it anyway. He said you start the 5 sons a bitches that give u the best chance to win the game.

I dont know CAM but i guess he will start guys that give us the best chance at a win

So why was Pat Knight ever in the starting lineup?  :coffee:

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I'm optimistic about this year- but I honestly think this season could drive a coach nuts.  He's gonna have to sit guys that probably think they should play, and the difference between a starter and benchwarmer may not  be that easy to define at practice.  

 

Let's take a consensus starting five ....

Devonte, Romeo, McRoberts, Fitzner, Juwan

Then you have to assume Smith gets 20-25 min a game

So who does Archie give minutes to now?

Durham? probably

Hunter?  likely

Phinisee?  at some point

Thompson?  I think

That's already a 10 man rotation....I haven't mentioned Deron or Demezi.  This is why I think it's kind of crazy some people think Clifton Moore sees the floor.  

I'm not trying to be a doomsdayer, but this wouldn't be an easy situation for a coach.  

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24 minutes ago, btownqb said:

I dont think Davis will play much at all. Too slow and just doesnt fit. We have interior scoring with Morgan, Romeo, and Smith... Davis isnt a versatile defender and you basically cannot play him and Morgan at the same time, offensively. 

Not disagreeing playing devils advocate,  why do you not think you can play those 2 together?. I think JM is going to play more face up and perimeter than in the past. He is going to have to show that game in order to get a look by scouts IMO

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1 hour ago, Billingsley99 said:

Not disagreeing playing devils advocate,  why do you not think you can play those 2 together?. I think JM is going to play more face up and perimeter than in the past. He is going to have to show that game in order to get a look by scouts IMO

With what Morgan has shown so far I don't think they can.. selfishly I don't want JM on the perimeter unless he's shot faking and going to the hoop. I want him around the rim. 

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1 hour ago, Billingsley99 said:

Not disagreeing playing devils advocate,  why do you not think you can play those 2 together?. I think JM is going to play more face up and perimeter than in the past. He is going to have to show that game in order to get a look by scouts IMO

We may see a lineup at some point this season with Morgan and Davis up front, against a team with a big front line, but that would be an outlier.  Morgan has been working on his shot to pull defenders and help further spread the floor while expanding his game, but he's not going to roam the perimeter and that lineup would slow the team down. That's a reverse from where this team is headed.

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1 hour ago, RoadToZion said:

I guess I'm wondering why everyone thinks Fitzner is starting? Because of the scrimmage highlights? He's going to be a good player for us, but I don't see him starting. Not having Smith in the starting lineup is crazy.

Green

Romeo

McRoberts

Smith

Morgan

I'd start Fitzner before McBob.

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1 hour ago, kaustical said:

Durham

Romeo

Hunter

Smith

Morgan

With the defensive disasters the team started the season with last year, I don't see any freshman besides Romeo starting.  That may change later as they get the hang of the pack line, but IU won't start out that way.

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36 minutes ago, RoadToZion said:

So with our defensive disasters, you'd rather start Fitzner over McRoberts? McRoberts is probably our best defender. 

"The defensive side of the ball is where McRoberts earned the chance to start the season’s final 17 games. His steal percentage (4.0) in conference play led the entire Big Ten and his man defense ranked in the 89th percentile nationally, according to Synergy.

McRobert’s defense was so stout that Miller believed he was worthy of first-team All-Big Ten Defensive Team honors, but he missed out. That may not be the case next season if McRoberts continues to earn significant minutes". -InsideTheHall 

 

Fitzner is a senior.  I doubt he'll have the kind of learning curve the team did last year.  It's a delicate balancing act between offense and defense and I'd personally like to see a little more offense out of McBob if he gets starter minutes.  As I said elsewhere, if he can average a couple of made 3's, I'd have no problem with him getting starter minutes, but if he keeps passing up open shots, I'd be in favor of bringing him off the bench when the team needs a defensive boost.

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