Odd men out

rehobie

Well-known member
2023 $upporter 2022 $upporter
With this stacked roster it will be difficult to see whose minutes are going to take a hit. We have multiple guards, lots of choices for both forward positions and even three players who may log time at center.
To me, the three players whose minutes will take a hit are Roberts, Caraher and Wusu.
Wusu because of how deep the guard position is with Dunn, Williams And Cole possibly getting time as a two guard.
Caraher again because of the choices at forward with Cole, LJ, Earlington, Champ and Moore seeing time at both forward and center.
Roberts will battle to get his minutes, but I don’t see it. He runs the floor well, blocks shots but unless he gets stronger and develops some offense it will be difficult. The same might be said of Moore but he has an offensive game. Any who averages a double-double (rounded) has merit.
I think the three with reduced time wil get loyalty minutes for being good teammates and still will be an asset.
 
[quote="Rehobie" post=387306]With this stacked roster it will be difficult to see whose minutes are going to take a hit. We have multiple guards, lots of choices for both forward positions and even three players who may log time at center.
To me, the three players whose minutes will take a hit are Roberts, Caraher and Wusu.
Wusu because of how deep the guard position is with Dunn, Williams And Cole possibly getting time as a two guard.
Caraher again because of the choices at forward with Cole, LJ, Earlington, Champ and Moore seeing time at both forward and center.
Roberts will battle to get his minutes, but I don’t see it. He runs the floor well, blocks shots but unless he gets stronger and develops some offense it will be difficult. The same might be said of Moore but he has an offensive game. Any who averages a double-double (rounded) has merit.
I think the three with reduced time wil get loyalty minutes for being good teammates and still will be an asset.[/quote]

I agree on alot of these points. I dont not believe wusu will really have time to shine until his junior year. Cole is going to be a monster and will get the big minutes at shooting guard for the next 2 years.

Moore is a better offensive player then roberts and i agree, he will play over him. Roberts minutes were getting cut as last season went on.

Caraher started to play better at the end of the year. He developed a nice 2 point jumper that he started to knock down consistantly. But he cant shoot from 3 and isnt a great defensive player. That will hurt him in regards to getting minutes next year.
 
We're not as 'stacked' as we are 'deep.' CMA plays most of his roster. I think Wusu, Roberts, and Caraher will all see some time but fewer minutes for Wusu and Caraher than last year, for sure.
 
These things always work themselves out. When was the last time we went through the season without any injuries? Although we hate when they happen, they're almost inevitable and the depth will be needed. I suspect, even the last few players on the bench will get their opportunities, especially since CMA likes to go 9-10 deep.
 
[quote="Moose" post=387312]This is where someone mentions redshirting Wusu[/quote]

could be the whole team has to redshirt. ;)
 
I also question how much burn McGriff will get next year
But it's a nice problem to have for sure
We have no real stars but a roster full of guys who can and will contribute
Next year's motto - Depth will prevail
 
[quote="Rehobie" post=387306]With this stacked roster it will be difficult to see whose minutes are going to take a hit. We have multiple guards, lots of choices for both forward positions and even three players who may log time at center.
To me, the three players whose minutes will take a hit are Roberts, Caraher and Wusu.
Wusu because of how deep the guard position is with Dunn, Williams And Cole possibly getting time as a two guard.
Caraher again because of the choices at forward with Cole, LJ, Earlington, Champ and Moore seeing time at both forward and center.
Roberts will battle to get his minutes, but I don’t see it. He runs the floor well, blocks shots but unless he gets stronger and develops some offense it will be difficult. The same might be said of Moore but he has an offensive game. Any who averages a double-double (rounded) has merit.
I think the three with reduced time wil get loyalty minutes for being good teammates and still will be an asset.[/quote]

It's all guess work now anyway but I wouldn't write off Wusu or Roberts just yet. First, the jump Roberts made from year 1 to year 2 was inspiring. If he makes similar progress this year (on FT % and with his offense) then he's going to be hard to sit. He's already our best defensive big and this staff LOVES defense. If he gets his FT% near 65% and develops a short game on offense, he's going to get more PT than he can stand.

As for Wusu, Its going to come down to his shooting. He's already physically ready for the BE and from all I've heard, his teammates are going to have to work extremely hard to outwork him in practice. If he can knock down the open 3 at a solid % and hit FT's then he's going to be a part of the rotation.

Candidly, I think they guys numbers who take a hit are Dunn's. I expect he'll average closer to 20 min a game than the nearly 30min he played last year. Alexander should get the bulk of the minutes at the point with Dunn filling in there. If he continues to shoot sub 30% from deep he's going to have a hard time beating out other options for major time at the 2g or sf spots.
 
[quote="SJUFAN2" post=387326][quote="Rehobie" post=387306]With this stacked roster it will be difficult to see whose minutes are going to take a hit. We have multiple guards, lots of choices for both forward positions and even three players who may log time at center.
To me, the three players whose minutes will take a hit are Roberts, Caraher and Wusu.
Wusu because of how deep the guard position is with Dunn, Williams And Cole possibly getting time as a two guard.
Caraher again because of the choices at forward with Cole, LJ, Earlington, Champ and Moore seeing time at both forward and center.
Roberts will battle to get his minutes, but I don’t see it. He runs the floor well, blocks shots but unless he gets stronger and develops some offense it will be difficult. The same might be said of Moore but he has an offensive game. Any who averages a double-double (rounded) has merit.
I think the three with reduced time wil get loyalty minutes for being good teammates and still will be an asset.[/quote]

It's all guess work now anyway but I wouldn't write off Wusu or Roberts just yet. First, the jump Roberts made from year 1 to year 2 was inspiring. If he makes similar progress this year (on FT % and with his offense) then he's going to be hard to sit. He's already our best defensive big and this staff LOVES defense. If he gets his FT% near 65% and develops a short game on offense, he's going to get more PT than he can stand.

As for Wusu, Its going to come down to his shooting. He's already physically ready for the BE and from all I've heard, his teammates are going to have to work extremely hard to outwork him in practice. If he can knock down the open 3 at a solid % and hit FT's then he's going to be a part of the rotation.

Candidly, I think they guys numbers who take a hit are Dunn's. I expect he'll average closer to 20 min a game than the nearly 30min he played last year. Alexander should get the bulk of the minutes at the point with Dunn filling in there. If he continues to shoot sub 30% from deep he's going to have a hard time beating out other options for major time at the 2g or sf spots.[/quote]

I agree with the dunn comment. I think mcgriff is a true point and should see the minutes at that spot when posh is off the floor. I think dunn will still get minutes as we are going to run alot of 3 guard sets when figgy comes out. You are going to see lineups like posh, dunn, williams, earlingotn, moore. So dunn will be getting minutes but yes, I think they are down as well.
 
Last edited:
So much is unknown
Was not Earlington disregarded (disrespected ?) pre-season and early in the season?
It's May 2020 and we really do not know who will progress and who will regress; and who is motivated to make the best of his time to work out, build strength, develop skills.
And of course it is up to Coach Anderson - who has given us every reason to believe he and his staff will make the correct decision as to who plays and how much time each plays etc.
all the best
 
We are talking about young people who are still growing, in skill, in size, in character. We don't know who they will be in the coming year when they compete against one another for playing time and against other teams for victories. Is all of Earlington's baby fat now etched muscle? Is Penny an inch taller and 15 pounds of muscle bigger so that he is a dominant four? Will the virus give us a chance to enjoy it? We all have our favorite winners and losers but they are just our favorites, not anointed by our on-line pronouncements. We shall see.
 
I like the idea of our big guards. But it would be hard to directly transition a high school backcourt no matter how good they were, to high major D1. Dunn also plays much bigger than his size so I think he is a nice compliment of maturity to both guard positions to have a good season and to build the future. The shooting is a big question from those three, but I think limiting turnovers will be the maturity barometer and how effective the team will be playing CMA style.
 
[quote="SJUFAN2" post=387322][quote="Moose" post=387312]This is where someone mentions redshirting Wusu[/quote]

could be the whole team has to redshirt. ;)[/quote]

I know that was said partly in jest, but I also see a lot of threads turning into 'well there won't be a season'. I come here for an escape from the real world BS that is on every channel, newspaper etc. Just a two cent plea that we try to not turn every thread into 'well there won't be a season'. Let's cross that bridge when and if it happens.
 
[quote="Moose" post=387332][quote="SJUFAN2" post=387322][quote="Moose" post=387312]This is where someone mentions redshirting Wusu[/quote]

could be the whole team has to redshirt. ;)[/quote]

I know that was said partly in jest, but I also see a lot of threads turning into 'well there won't be a season'. I come here for an escape from the real world BS that is on every channel, newspaper etc. Just a two cent plea that we try to not turn every thread into 'well there won't be a season'. Let's cross that bridge when and if it happens.[/quote]

There will be a season. The media driven fear mongering is diminishing by the day. Well, maybe not diminishing, but the American public arent falling for it anymore.
 
Last edited:
[quote="Long Island Mike" post=387317]These things always work themselves out. When was the last time we went through the season without any injuries? Although we hate when they happen, they're almost inevitable and the depth will be needed. I suspect, even the last few players on the bench will get their opportunities, especially since CMA likes to go 9-10 deep.[/quote]


Yes, brings back memories when Jayson Williams missed a good part of his senior year.
 
With the depth and conditioning that we will have next year, we'll be able to keep fresh troops on the floor at all times and really make the "40 minutes of hell" approach work to it's full potential.

Win or lose, we're going to make life miserable for our opponents!!
 
I think Roberts redshirts, By midseason, Wusu steals most of Caraher's minutes as an undersized SF. Caraher and McGriff end up being odd men out even though Caraher is fundamentally pretty sound.
 
I can see a scenario where the season starts mid December. Students come back for second semester so games can start when first semester ends.
 
[quote="SJUNC" post=387355]I can see a scenario where the season starts mid December. Students come back for second semester so games can start when first semester ends.[/quote]

I actually think it's crazier to push school openings deeper into flu season. It's obviously a logistical nightmare, but it's a shame that there wasn't a national education pandemic plan where schools would start in July to get that first semester completely done with before everyone gets sick again. Just the teacher contracts alone would be a nightmare to sort through.
 
[quote="L J S A" post=387354]I think Roberts redshirts, By midseason, Wusu steals most of Caraher's minutes as an undersized SF. Caraher and McGriff end up being odd men out even though Caraher is fundamentally pretty sound.[/quote] I was thinking the same thing w Roberts, he will be able to put on more weight and will have more time to develop his skills, if he redshirts. It would also be better for scholarship distribution.
 
Back
Top