New starting line-up

[ph]

I think tonight would be an ideal situation for JL to completely shake up the starting lineup the way he should have done a couple weeks ago. No pressure from the home crowd, not expected to win this game, and it NEEDS to be done!

I would love to see the following lineup at the start of the game and see what they can do.

Maniscalco
Crouch
Wilson
Austin
Collins

I agree that there needs to be a shakeup, but am not sure if there can be an effective offense with both Salley and Austin. Unless your plan is to cheuck up shots and have Austin and Salley cleanup the garbage.. Actually that would of been effective last game.

[shaunguth]

I agree that there needs to be a shakeup, but am not sure if there can be an effective offense with both Salley and Austin. Unless your plan is to cheuck up shots and have Austin and Salley cleanup the garbage.. Actually that would of been effective last game.

I don't want Salley in the starting lineup period, no matter who else is in there!

[squirrel]

Some people don't want Singh to play. Some people don't want Collins to play. Some people don't want Salley to play. Some people don't want Austin to play. Some people don't want Egolf to play. Even somebody doesn't want Maniscalco to start.

Seems we have more arguments to keep players out of the lineup and very few arguments to put/keep them in.

Just an observation. . .

[shaunguth]

I just don't think Salley will be able to handle Richards at center on either end of the floor. Collins would give us an inside presence (hopefully) and Wilson/Austin could match up with Lamberth/Mitchell. That's how I would like to see the game start anyways. Right now, I just think we need to bring Warren and Salley/Singh off the bench and see what happens. What do we have to lose?

[ER3]

Some people don't want Singh to play. Some people don't want Collins to play. Some people don't want Salley to play. Some people don't want Austin to play. Some people don't want Egolf to play. Even somebody doesn't want Maniscalco to start.

Seems we have more arguments to keep players out of the lineup and very few arguments to put/keep them in.

Just an observation. . .

Unfortunately, this is what you get when you have a team where 80% of the roster appears to be regressing at this point in the season rather than progressing.

It seems like there is a whole lot of "the grass must be greener on the other end of the bench" discussions on this board after every game...It just seems whatever big guy gets no time in the most recent game MUST be the best option to start/get big minutes in the next game...because "he HAS to be able to be more effective than (insert ineffective BU big man from previous game here) was"...

[shaunguth]

Unfortunately, this is what you get when you have a team where 80% of the roster appears to be regressing at this point in the season rather than progressing.

It seems like there is a whole lot of "the grass must be greener on the other end of the bench" discussions on this board after every game...It just seems whatever big guy gets no time in the most recent game MUST be the best option to start/get big minutes in the next game...because "he HAS to be able to be more effective than (insert ineffective BU big man from previous game here) was"...

I'm not saying the starting lineup should be shaken up from game to game, but Collins has only averaged 5 min/game over the last three and Austin has averaged less than 2 min/game for the season. I just think the time is now to shake things up and I would personally like to see these two on the court at the same time to start the game.

[squirrel]

I'm personally a fan of our size. There's a psychological advantage to having size on the floor, as not many teams have it. I would like to see Collins or Singh at center with Salley at the 4. . .I think his production numbers would go up dramatically.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Crouch or Warren come of the bench. . .not because they don't deserve to start, but rather to provide continuity, production, and hopefully some energy off the bench.

At times this season I feel the bench has done well in the 1st half, but the production disappears in the 2nd half, many times because it remains on the bench.

[ER3]

I'm not saying the starting lineup should be shaken up from game to game, but Collins has only averaged 5 min/game over the last three and Austin has averaged less than 2 min/game for the season. I just think the time is now to shake things up and I would personally like to see these two on the court at the same time to start the game.

I agree...I'm certainly in the camp right now that wants to see Austin get more minutes to see what he can do...I'm just afraid that if he gets 15-20 minutes a game, it will be very easy to see why he hasn't been able to jump in front of Egolf, Collins, Salley, or Singh so far in our mess of a big man rotation...
Collins had a good stretch of games earlier in the year and looked like he was progressing, but he has simply looked horrible and lost in the time he has seen over the last few games. I still think he is the only big man we have on our roster that is capable of catching the ball in the post and executing anything remotely resembling an effective post move, so I think you have to figure out a way to get him minutes...but he has needs to get some toughness and make huge strides on the defensive end before you can afford to play him for extensive stretches of time.

[real fan]

Unfortunately the paper has us starting the same 5 players that could only score 9 points in the 1st half at home; Crouch, Wilson and Maniscalco deserve to start where as the other 2 do not as they have not played up to their potential; I would have replaced them with Singh and Collins or Austin; at least we would have some bigger bodies with this lineup; can only hope that we do not see the same problems with scoring and rebounding as we did saturday.

[ER3]

Unfortunately the paper has us starting the same 5 players that could only score 9 points in the 1st half at home; Crouch, Wilson and Maniscalco deserve to start where as the other 2 do not as they have not played up to their potential; I would have replaced them with Singh and Collins or Austin; at least we would have some bigger bodies with this lineup; can only hope that we do not see the same problems with scoring and rebounding as we did saturday.

I don't know...I guess I really don't agree with this recent groundswell of support for starting and/or giving extensive minutes to Singh...He's a big body, yes...but he simply isn't athletic enough to provide much else at this point. I think the Butler game gave us a perfect illustration as to why Singh can only be used sparingly. Every single time Les put Singh into the game, Butler would simply spread the floor and then isolate Howard on Singh and Sam simply couldn't move his feet well enough to play any kind of post defense...
I liked that Singh came into the Mich State game and showed them that we had one big man that wasn't a complete marshmallow...and he did do a nice job early in the year on some screen and rolls...but it seems that teams have found a way to take that away from us lately...
To me, Singh is a 5 to 7 minute a night type of guy at the most...Any more time than that and I think his physcal limitations can be exposed...of course, getting any decent minutes out of these big guys lately has been hard to do, so there just aren't a ton of good options out there for Les to call upon...

[Braves4Life]

I agree that Singh is not a starter but should definately be used ALOT against a very big, bulky, and physical Missouri State team.

[chitown fanatic]

Matt Salley starting is a guaranteed disaster and Les's deficiencies as a coach who can recognize talent are beginning to surface. Collins is soft because he's in fear of being pulled the first mistake he makes. Let him make some mistakes now and show him the floor until he fouls out. Salley gives you nothing...NOTHING!!! at least earlier this year, Collins showed some moves...give him some time and he might develop a spine as well! We need to find someone to initiate the high-low instead of the overused weave.

[houstonbrave]

OK, I have to respond on one issue:

chitown fanatic wrote:

Les's deficiencies as a coach who can recognize talent are beginning to surface

C'mon guys. He recruited Ruffin, Crouch, POB, Boogie, Zack,.... He did not all of a sudden lose his ability to evaluate talent. Not everyone pans out but he has an admirable record of finding talented players who have become much better than anyone ever thought they would.

[ph]

I took chitown fanatic to mean Les can get talent, but cannot coach up the talent...