Final: Bradley 70 West Virginia Wesleyan 60

[bu fan 9]

Teams will stuff the lane and stop him driving the basket. Then what do we do?

[mrcoachdude]

Teams will stuff the lane and stop him driving the basket. Then what do we do?

Walt will need someone to make a few shots from outside...3's or not ...just some outside shots...He will be able to dish inside as well...hope we have that ability to make those inside shots with contact....

[tornado]

... I hope Walt is in elite shape as it looks like he'll be expected to carry a heavy burden. ....

but isn't this kinda disappointing and a real shock, considering that all we have heard from every source,
and even I thought it would be the case...
was that we were going to be soooo much deeper this year and that Walt wouldn't be carrying such a heavy part of the load?
(...in addition to finding such comments dozens of times recently ..."deeper at every position", and here we are playing the main players 30-35 minutes in an exhibition game!)

[Toyota12]

depth

I think we are deeper than last year already! How many guys did you have in the rotation last year to work with at this time? We have the ability to play ten guys this year. Are they all going to score 10 a game? No! But this squad could be shaped into a ten man rotation with some solid role players when they learn their roles.. A lot of interchangeable parts and they all have different talents some are raw and need to be developed and find their nitch. Let's give Geno and his staff some time to coach and develop all the new players and personalities..

[lefty]

I think we are deeper than last year already! How many guys did you have in the rotation last year to work with at this time? We have the ability to play ten guys this year. Are they all going to score 10 a game? No! But this squad could be shaped into a ten man rotation with some solid role players when they learn their roles.. A lot of interchangeable parts and they all have different talents some are raw and need to be developed and find their nitch. Let's give Geno and his staff some time to coach and develop all the new players and personalities..

That's a lot of common sense there??¦..nice post

[Da Coach]

I think we are deeper than last year already! How many guys did you have in the rotation last year to work with at this time? We have the ability to play ten guys this year. Are they all going to score 10 a game? No! But this squad could be shaped into a ten man rotation with some solid role players when they learn their roles.. A lot of interchangeable parts and they all have different talents some are raw and need to be developed and find their nitch. Let's give Geno and his staff some time to coach and develop all the new players and personalities..

We have heard this before about the greatly improved depth we have this year. Maybe it will emerge more as the season progresses, but so far, we haven't really seen it.
Here are the average playing times after the 2 exhibition games.
Even against a pair of low D2 opponents, the playing time drops off sharply after the top 5, and only 6 players average more than 12 minutes a game.
Last year, we had 7 players who averaged 15 minutes a game or more. In Geno's first season, he had 8 players who averaged more than 12 minutes a game- against D1 opponents.
1) Walt Lemon- 32.5 mpg
2) Omari Grier- 29 mpg
3) Auston Barnes- 27 mpg
4) Tyshon Pickett- 27 mpg
5) Ka'Darryl Bell- 25 mpg
6) Jordan Prosser- 16 mpg
7) Xzavier Taylor 12 mpg
8 ) Chris Blake- 11 mpg
9) Anthony Fields- 9 mpg
10) Stefan Zecevic- 5.5 mpg
11) Jordan Swopshire- 3.5 mpg
12) Nate Wells- 1.5 mpg
13) Mason Alwan- 0.5 mpg
14) Darrion Haris- 0.5 mpg

[tornado]

It seems to me "deeper" means more guys who can play, contribute, and score...and NOT so much reliance on the starters to win games - even against weak DII's.
We have starters playing 25-30+ minutes in preseason exhibition games, while the 7th & 8th guys play only 12 min or less.

I have been looking at the box scores of dozens of other D-I teams in their exhibitions - virtually none of them is playing their guys 30+ minutes...
Most, like when ISU beat Quincy the minutes were a bit more evenly distributed

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ilsu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2013-14/box_score/stats_20131104aaa.pdf

Da Coach has a thread with links to the other MVC exhibition games and it's hard to find other Valley teams relying on only a few players, except the teams with short rosters due to injuries....and we do not have that.

[lefty]

It seems to me "deeper" means more guys who can play, contribute, and score...and NOT so much reliance on the starters to win games - even against weak DII's.
We have starters playing 25-30+ minutes in preseason exhibition games, while the 7th & 8th guys play only 12 min or less.

I have been looking at the box scores of dozens of other D-I teams in their exhibitions - virtually none of them is playing their guys 30+ minutes...
Most, like when ISU beat Quincy the minutes were a bit more evenly distributed

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ilsu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2013-14/box_score/stats_20131104aaa.pdf

Da Coach has a thread with links to the other MVC exhibition games and it's hard to find other Valley teams relying on only a few players, except the teams with short rosters due to injuries....and we do not have that.

So what??¦the only thing that matters is the season??¦..it seems we are deeper this year but we'll see how it goes??¦if we aren't I'm sure some here will let us know

[AZ BU Fan]

Disappointing NW is not able to contribute to BU. Another big for BU that was
given lots of love when recruited, but, apparently will not be able to contribute at this level.

If a guy can't play after 3 years at BU, afraid it ain't gonna happen in yrs 4 & 5....

[mrcoachdude]

To me depth is not just how many players you can play, but what do you lose when you play that depth. I am thinking BU has better players at the 7-10 spots. Makes for better practice and less frustration when they play.

Walt is going to play a ton of minutes because he is head and shoulders above the next guards...

[LongTimeFan]

I worry about the wear and tear Walt will get during the MVC season. Some teams, especially Wichita, will extract a physical toll on him driving the lane. I agree with MCD that practice depth is important in improving the quality of the starters.

There are areas of concern and probably always will for a mid-major team. We can hope that those number of concerns will diminish in the future.

[tornado]

So what…the only thing that matters is the season…...

By all measures & observation thus far, we're a single injury away from a pretty bad season...not exactly the epitome of the depth we've been hearing about.
I hope Walt does stay healthy - but without any help - it won't be long before they double & triple team him.

[mrcoachdude]

By all measures & observation thus far, we're a single injury away from a pretty bad season...not exactly the epitome of the depth we've been hearing about.
I hope Walt does stay healthy - but without any help - it won't be long before they double & triple team him.

They won't be able to double him very much...just my opinion...but we have the tools to make sure they won't be able to do that...they will hedge on him...but someone will step up...