BillySee58

Right, an on-ball specialist who was used in those specific instances rather than consistent minutes carved out of the rotation. Which if that’s how Mccasland used his on-ball specialist last year, I think that’s how he’ll be used again until some material improvements are made to his shot. I don’t know but if we still can’t have sports come November than we have bigger issues to worry about.

The problem I see with Jackson is that his shot has such a far way to come. Larry Wise did not hit enough shots early when he was getting minutes to earn a rotation spot, but his shot isn’t broken. But with Jackson teams gave him zero respect beyond the arc. 0-3 from three in 134 minutes on the season. When you’re that much of a non-threat as a shooter under 6’ tall, that’s why he was only able to come in for small spurts at a time. He was just too much of a non-factor offensively. I just have a hard time penciling him in for more minutes knowing how far away his shot was. Something that I’m going to have to see first.

Last year as we got into our set rotation in conference play, Jahmiah only saw minutes due to foul trouble. I think that’s where he is at best next season. Especially once Robinson and Ousmane get some experience. I think we our starting lineup is Hamlet, McBride, Reese, Bell, and Zach Simmons with Rubin Jones being our first guard off the bench and Lewis being our first big off the bench. Jones can come in for any of our three guards because he is one of our best three-point shooters and one of our best offensive creators, plus he’s 6’3”/6’4”. Lewis, similar to Deng Geu, will probably play the 4 and the 5, although Ousmane could eat some of those minutes at the 5. I think Zach, Bell, and Lewis will probably play about 70 minutes combined at the 4/5 each game, leaving about 10 minutes for Ousmane and Robinson there. I think Robinson is our 8th guy. He will probably play a lot of 4 in his career here but this season I think he’ll play a lot at the 3. I think Robinson will see a lot of his playing time coming when Reese or Bell is off the court. I don’t think Mccasland wants Reese at the 2 and Robinson at the 3 together because that gives you just one offensive creator/ballhandler and Mccasland likes to have 2 on the court at any given time, and if Bell is out Robinson is your only other option for a shooting 4 to help spread out the spacing. Then after those 9 I mentioned I think Jackson and Wise compete for any remaining guard minutes, and Jahmiah and Alcindor probably only play in blowouts. That’s the way I would expect it to play out at this moment but there’s so much time for change and hopefully the last 4 guys I mentioned come back much improved this season.

Maybe so. I just think Mccasland prioritizes skill and spacing on the court over size and I don’t think this pickup is contradictory to that.

In practicality, someone who is going to pull an open three early in the shot clock. I.e. it’s a desired shot for that player to shoot an open three rather than continuing to run the offense looking for a better shot. Thomas Bell and Hamlet were guys who could hit threes but they usually came later in the shot clock, whereas volume shooters like Gibson, Reese, and Draper are pulling an open three even if there are 20+ seconds on the shot clock. But for a more clear definition I would say someone who takes at least 5 threes per 40 minutes. Gibson was at 9.3 3PA/40 minutes, Reese was at 6.8, Draper was at 6.3, and Rose was at 5.8. These guys were volume shooters in that there was little to no hesitation for them. They were going to get their shots and the offense was designed in large part for them to get their shots. After Rose, the next highest guys on the team were Bell at 3.0, Mohamed at 2.8, and Hamlet at 2.6. So it was a pretty clear drop off between the volume guys and these guys who could shoot threes but were much more discretionary in when they took them. Also, for the record, I didn’t give you the eye-roll emoji reaction. I honestly can’t stand grown men giving that reaction.

Geu and Simmons on the court was the only time we had two non-shooters on the court together. But the plan going into the season was for Geu to be a stretch four. But he was not able to hit them even at the rate he did at NDSU. We kept that starting lineup but Bell surpassed Geu in playing time in large part because he could hit from the outside and Geu couldn’t. And Bell was at the 4 in our closing lineups.

I think Lewis will play a lot, and so will Bell and Simmons. You have 80 minutes to fill between the 4 and the 5 spot each game. Simmons played about 24 minutes a game and Bell 24.5. I expect all of them to play plenty while not all sharing the court together. Wouldn’t hate all 3 of them on the court together, especially when Hamlet is not in. But if Hamlet is in you want that middle of the court wide open which is much easier to do when you have 3-4 other shooters on the court instead of multiple guys who operate on the block, whose defender is already in good position for help on a drive to the basket. Make the defense choose between collapsing on him or letting him get to the basket. And if the defense is going to choose to collapse, you want guys who can make him pay from deep like Reese, McBride, and Rubin Jones.

I outlined his rotation tendencies in another thread. I think his roster construction makes a lot of sense and Lewis fits in with what he has done. I agree that you should adjust your rotations to your roster but I think he has done a good job of getting the guys he wants, therefore being able to construct his roster to fit his scheme. From a spacing standpoint I expect to see a lot of the same from the past, of typically four guys in the lineup who can shoot threes and two of those guys being volume guys who are more than just capable three-point shooters. If you look at Mccasland’s rotations since the CBI, he likes to have four guys on the court who can stretch the court from 3, with two of those guys being volume shooters. In 18-19 when we were healthy we had Woolridge and either Mike Miller or Jahmiah Simmons as the guys who could shoot threes (although Simmons wasn’t able to do it effectively), and 2 of Duffy, Smart, and Gibson on the court at each time as our volume shooters. This past season the only times we wouldn’t have 4 shooters and 2 volume shooters on the court was when Geu and Zach Simmons were on the court at the same time, although the plan going into the year was for Geu to stretch the floor from deep. Our rotation was pretty much 8 deep, which featured 6 guys who could shoot threes, with 4 being volume shooters (Gibson, Reese, Draper, and Smart). With the current 12 we have for next year, we only have three players who I see as volume shooters. James Reese, Mardrez McBride, and Rubin Jones. I think we will typically have 2 of those guys on the court most of the time in our rotation, although maybe Hamlet can be more of a volume shooter from deep this year with the way he shot the ball. Hamlet, Mykell Robinson, Larry Wise, and Thomas Bell are the guys on this roster who are three-point threats but not volume guys. Because Mccasland likes to have that type of floor spacing, I don’t envision a lot of Ousmane and Zach Simmons on the floor together. Also, this is why it’s hard for me to see a lot of minutes for Jalen Jackson unless his shooting progresses a decent amount. He’s is not even a threat from deep, and our 5 usually is not a shooter so Jackson being on the court typically means only 3 shooters. That’s why he only got spot minutes this year instead of solid rotation minutes. Would love to see that happen because he is a great defender and a really good passer.

Not from 3. Three guys who operate primarily in the paint offensively on the court together doesn’t jive with the excellent court spacing we have seen under Mccasland. Especially when your PG Hamlet wants to get in the paint himself.

I think Mccasland has shown he wants more shooting on the court than that. Playing Bell, Lewis, and Simmons on the court together seems a lot like playing Bell, Geu, and Simmons together which we never saw this year.

Hinting at committing Monday, April 20th. Has a crystal ball to us from a Horn247 insider. Same school as 2019 signees Jevin Murray and Kealon Jackson. https://247sports.com/Player/Jalen-Emery-46058360/

Lengthy offer list included BYU, Nevada, and UTA among others. http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/terence-lewis-ii

Looks like it is Lewis. He will likely compete with Thomas Bell for that starting 4 spot and. Really impressive job again by the staff of zeroing in and basically getting all of our targets

Commits to UNT

Left-handed, 3-inch taller version of Mo Gibson

His film looks a step above any of the QB commits we have obtained besides Fine and Renfro. Makes throws that we didn’t see on the films of Pearson, Bean, Martin, or Kuehne and the ball pops out of his hand noticeably different than those guys too. A year ago Renfro only had one offer in WKU. This kid could have a similar rise if he really wants to.

Thomas Bell actually played more minutes than Geu. If Bell takes over as the starter, Robinson and Ousmane could tag team to replace Geu’s minutes off the bench. Robinson taking Geu’s minutes at the 4 and Ousmane taking Geu’s minutes at the 5. Also could up Bell and Zach Simmons’ minutes to cover Geu’s minutes as well. None of the guys on the roster currently would be asked to replace Geu and his minutes by themselves.

His size and game resemble the 5s Mccasland has played a lot more than the guys he has played at the 4

Ousmane not sufficient for you in that regard?

We’ll definitely use that spot now that it has opened up. I’m thinking someone who can play the 4 as well.

I think Rubin Jones is the 6th man. If you look at Mccasland’s rotations since the CBI, he likes to have four guys on the court who can stretch the court from 3, with two of those guys being volume shooters. In 18-19 when we were healthy we had Woolridge and either Mike Miller or Jahmiah Simmons as the guys who could shoot threes (although Simmons couldn’t do it effectively), and 2 of Duffy, Smart, and Gibson on the court at each time as our volume shooters. This past season the only times we wouldn’t have 4 shooters and 2 volume shooters on the court was when Geu and Zach Simmons were on the court at the same time, although the plan going into the year was for Geu to stretch the floor from deep. Our rotation was pretty much 8 deep, which featured 6 guys who could shoot threes, with 4 being volume shooters (Gibson, Reese, Draper, and Smart). With the current 12 we have for next year, we only have three players who I see as volume shooters. James Reese, Mardrez McBride, and Rubin Jones. I think we will typically have 2 of those guys on the court most of the time in our rotation, although maybe Hamlet can be more of a volume shooter from deep this year with the way he shot the ball. Hamlet, Mykell Robinson, Larry Wise, and Thomas Bell are the guys on this roster who are three-point threats but not volume guys. Because Mccasland likes to have that type of floor spacing, I don’t envision a lot of Ousmane and Zach Simmons on the floor together. Also, this is why it’s hard for me to see a lot of minutes for Jalen Jackson unless his shooting progresses a decent amount. He’s is not even a threat from deep, and our 5 usually is not a shooter so Jackson being on the court typically means only 3 shooters. That’s why he only got spot minutes this year instead of solid rotation minutes. Would love to see that happen because he is a great defender and a really good passer.

We did not have an internal option to take Gibson’s spot and we only got one in McBride because Gibson left. Didn’t offer him until after Gibson announced he was transferring.

With our current roster, Jones is our best guard off the bench. Definitely our best offensive guard off the bench. Don’t think we can redshirt him with how little shooting we have in our other bench guards. Our starting lineup with the current roster would probably be 1 - Hamlet 2 - McBride 3 - Reese 4 - Bell 5 - Simmons Off the bench I think we’ll Jones as the first guard off the bench, and Mykell Robinson and Abou Ousmane splitting Den Geu’s minutes. Geu’s minutes that he played at the 5 last year would go to Ousmane and the minutes he played at the 4 would go to Mykell Robinson. Then Jackson and Wise would fight for the rest of the bench guard minutes. Last J Simmons and Alcindor would probably only play with foul trouble or blowouts. Jahmiah might play some due to experience if Robinson comes in playing like a freshman and needs some time. But probably this last scholarship spot will go to someone who can play the 4 and some as an undersized 5, like Geu did.

If Gibson, who started every game at the 2 last year, was going to be benched, who was it going to be in favor of?