Quite simply TB and WE will play most of the minutes between the 4/5 position. There will be around 30 minutes a game for MK, JP and AT to fight for. Again I'm not counting on a Freshman to do too much. I'm also hoping MK can play some D, JP steps up and I really hope AT surprises the bejesus out of me. We'll need all three to contribute throughout the season if we want to challenge for the league title.
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Floor Time for Braves (Guards)
- Thread starter LittleBrave
- Start date
3 of us get it as I have said that coach seems to have forgotten that our sweet 16 success was do to the fact we had a true center that could score, defend and block shots , you have to have a quality big man(center) in order to compete against the top teams in your league and the NCAA tour, hope coach Platt has taught our bigs how to play better defense, how to rebound and the need to be aggressive.My ManI constantly try to convey this, but no one seems to get it.:lol: Now there is two of us
and let 5 or 6 players, 6'8 + sit and do nothing other than pick splenders out of each others butt then DB will be right:!: Fans will be pissed and JL will be looking for a new gig:-o
Who is our true center???
You have to have a true center to play one. We don't have one. There is a reason JL plays with 3 guards. Given our players, playing 3 guards gives us the best chance to win. We played 3 guards during the sweet 16 run. As a matter of fact, most MVC teams play 3 guards. We are not a Big Ten team with several above average big men. I wish it were different, but it's just not. Take a step back and actually look at our talent. IMO JP is the only big man who has a shot to even be considered for All-anything and I've only seen him play in high-school.
You just made our point about not having a true center, playing 3 guards is not a problem , who"s fault is it that we have no true center? You don"t have to be a big ten team to get a center , we have several 6-8 and above height players that could fill that role if developed properly.
Do you have your own predictions or just going to nitpick mine?
I think DSE is a better player than Dodie right now. As a result, he should play more minutes. I would say my guesses or more on what I WANT to see happen, as opposed to maybe what will.
If Jake plays more minutes that means less for the guys ahead of him. Who in your mind plays less as Jake plays more?
Maybe the MVC Tourney? Homecoimg fall '11?
I think you'll see DD, DSE, and JE play the '3' and by that I mean they'll be on the court with one another. SM will play both the 1 and 2. SM killed AW in mpg last year and I don't see the guards being that much different, except Dodie being more pg-oriented than CRob, but thats countered by the DSE emerging, IMO.
LittleBrave
Active member
Do you have your own predictions or just going to nitpick mine?
I think DSE is a better player than Dodie right now. As a result, he should play more minutes. I would say my guesses or more on what I WANT to see happen, as opposed to maybe what will.
If Jake plays more minutes that means less for the guys ahead of him. Who in your mind plays less as Jake plays more?
Toddgak, you are correct - this is what YOU want to see happen - sometimes the threads are not read correctly or perhaps misinterpreted. Have no shame man!
Most posters started out giving their responses to the actual question, but then others strayed, talking about what they think Coach Les will decide. I was putting everybody in the shoes of a head coach role.
Once again, you have to work within what you have. I have said it dozens of times, but it is next to impossible to get true centers to play in the MVC. With a huge lack of quality big men extending all the way up the NBA and the fact the MVC calls fouls for everything it's not going to happen. Hence why there are NUMEROUS MVC guards playing in the league, and why there are next to no big men playing. The MVC is a guards league. JL is playing the hand he's dealt. The quicker fans figure that out, the happier they'll be.
AE Braves Fan
New member
SM - 32
AW - 30
DD - 26
DSE - 26
JE - 6 mins at the 3, 6 mins at the 4 when TB is out.
WL - 0+
Unless they get hurt or we blow out teams, I see no way SM/AW play less than 30 minutes a game. And that's how it should be, IMO.
AW - 30
DD - 26
DSE - 26
JE - 6 mins at the 3, 6 mins at the 4 when TB is out.
WL - 0+
Unless they get hurt or we blow out teams, I see no way SM/AW play less than 30 minutes a game. And that's how it should be, IMO.
LittleBrave
Active member
Maybe Andrew Davis will be the center the Braves need in a couple years. He seems pretty long and with 20-30 more lbs., you never know. I'm not sure how athletic he is. From what I've read, I think we picked up a good big for the future if he can pick up the rebounding slack.
LittleBrave
Active member
Unless AW get tough on defense, I don't want to see him play 30 minutes. I think Coach Les said that whichever guys play the most solid D, they will get the minutes. We'll see if he sticks to this. You had to question A-Dubb's shot selection last year too.
mrcoachdude
New member
SM - 30
AW - 28
DD - 22
DSE - 22
JE - 14
WL - 4 + whatever minutes can be used if someone is not well, injured or game situations...
AW - 28
DD - 22
DSE - 22
JE - 14
WL - 4 + whatever minutes can be used if someone is not well, injured or game situations...
Thinking quite similarly...
SM -- 30 mpg
AW -- 29 mpg
DD -- 23 mpg
DSE -- 21 mpg
JE -- 12 mpg
WL -- 5 mpg
AZ BU Fan
New member
How do BU's bigs compare to WSU, Creighton, UNI, Drake or the other teams in the Valley? I won't argue that the MVC is/isn't a guards league, but if our bigs aren't as good as the other Valley teams' bigs, BU will be in for another long year. I don't consider TB a big BTW...
Without defensive stoppers in the middle, all the opposition guards that seem to blow by BU's perimeter defenders with relative ease, will continue to torment the Braves...either resulting in easy interior baskets, fouls on BU interior players, or switching/rotating by BU defenders to cover up for the BU perimeter defenders' lapses (which leads to missed defensive assignments, kick outs for open shots, or ball reversals for open 3's).
To play tougher perimeter defense and get better rebounding by perimeter players, I suspect BU guards' minutes will have to drop to keep them physically fresh/able to play the defense and provide the rebounding needed.
I also hate to say this, but we BU fans sometimes tend to overrate the quality of BU players vs other Valley players. It will be interesting to see what the preseason picks are for Valley players as to how outsiders see the quality of the BU line up. I know they are not always right, but it would be more encouraging if SM, DD, DSE (and TB/WE) are picked in the preseason for potential/recognition.
Without defensive stoppers in the middle, all the opposition guards that seem to blow by BU's perimeter defenders with relative ease, will continue to torment the Braves...either resulting in easy interior baskets, fouls on BU interior players, or switching/rotating by BU defenders to cover up for the BU perimeter defenders' lapses (which leads to missed defensive assignments, kick outs for open shots, or ball reversals for open 3's).
To play tougher perimeter defense and get better rebounding by perimeter players, I suspect BU guards' minutes will have to drop to keep them physically fresh/able to play the defense and provide the rebounding needed.
I also hate to say this, but we BU fans sometimes tend to overrate the quality of BU players vs other Valley players. It will be interesting to see what the preseason picks are for Valley players as to how outsiders see the quality of the BU line up. I know they are not always right, but it would be more encouraging if SM, DD, DSE (and TB/WE) are picked in the preseason for potential/recognition.
Out of Balance
New member
You can classify TB however you want, but in the MVC, he's a big. The dude's 6'6"(only one inch shorter than both MS's) with a wingspan a little over 7'. That's a big.
And unfortunately it's nto as simple as comparing. Just because someone else has better bigs, doesn't mean we're going to be worse. And vice versa. In the MVC the bigs impact can be minimized by good passing and ball distribution, and this is what our Sweet 16 team did (despite convenient memories, we started 3 guards... DRuff, Tony, and JJ). While taking advantage of mismatches when we had them. We're actually in a better scenario now where AW is a legitimate 6'6" as well, which will easily allow him to come most any 3 in the valley.
I'm not saying big is bad, but its not a luxury we have. I hope JP, AT, WE develop, but at this moment I don't think there is anyway TB can start at the 3 with other people filling the roles of 4/5.
Now, Next year is an entirely different Story....
WL, DSE, TB, JP, WE
I agree with you on all points here amckillip. Next year could very will be the year we go big, and I think we can do it for small stretches this year, but for the most part our guards are our strength so let's go with them. I don't see with all our talent at guard, how we cannot play 3 at a time to get them all time this year. Talent is more important than height, which is often confused with talent by some it seems. When can play two bigs at times when needed, but I think we will be most successful playing 3 guards and TB the majority of the time. Plus guys like AW and JE are tall enough to play the 3 well.
I see the minutes for spots 1-3 (120 minutes) as
SM-30
AW-30
DD-25
DSE-20
JE-10
WL-5
I see spots 4-5 (80 minutes) as
TB-30
WE-25
JP-10
AT-8-I'm hoping after all the strength he has supposedly added he gives us something this year
MK-7
AD-very few if any minutes this year, good future, but big men usually don't contribute right away
I see 11 guys playing well and contributing for us this year. Everyone on the roster is talented, and I think this is going to be a great year!
That's pretty close to what I was thinking....
28 - SM
28 - AW
25 - DD
22 - DSE
14 - JE
7 - WL
28 - TB
22 - WE
12 - JP
8 - MK
6 - AT