This is a deep, solid group with 3 star recruits sprinkled in. Who starts, and who gets major minutes off the bench?
Domask, Jones, Newton are locks. Johnson, Rupert as other starters ?
D'Amico, Brown, Banks, Muila off the bench?
Wonders, Ebube, Ferguson, Hornecker all bring credentials and/or physical strength.
Most teams have 8 or 9 players in the rotation. Mullins could probably play 10 this season.
ignore poll. I tried to delete it and WP won't let me.
The starters in November will be different than the starters in January or February. I wouldn't even venture a guess without seeing the new guys play. I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict Domask and Jones will be starters in November and January if not injured. 😎
It would be quite surprising if Johnson didn't start at PG, along with Jones, Newton and Domask. To me the only real lineup question is at the 5, where you could probably make a decent case for any of Rupert, Ebube or Muila (though I'm hoping one of the underclassmen brings enough to the table to push Muila to a reserve role).
It would be fabulous if Wonders brought enough (needed!) scoring punch that you could start him and bring Newton off the bench as the 6th man, but that's probably quite unlikely, especially early on.
And yes, if everyone is healthy, the overall rotation will be very interesting. If I had to guess, I'd say Hornecker, Ferguson and whichever of the three aforementioned bigs is lowest on the depth chart have the most uphill battles to crack the rotation. Hard to play more than 9-10 guys consistently.
Domask, Jones, TBD.
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Beginning of the season...Johnson, Jones, Newton, Domask, Muila.
Beginning of the season...Johnson, Jones, Newton, Domask, Muila.
That is a TINY lineup...Newton is only 6'3" and your other two guards are both 6'1". Domask is already a little undersized for the 4 and Muila is listed as a generous 6'8", looks closer to 6'7" to me. I know Newton plays bigger than he's listed, but I really think we would struggle mightily on the glass with this lineup.
Johnson, Jones, and Domask seem like pretty sure bets to me. I really want someone to step up, either D'Amico or Wonders to play the 3 for some additional height (Ferguson feels like he's going to be at least a year or two from being a major contributor). The 5 seems like a crap shoot. I'd say experience wins out at the beginning of the season, so Muila for now, but could easily see Rupert or Ebube getting the nod (I fully expect one of those two to be starting by Jan/Feb).
Beginning of the season...Johnson, Jones, Newton, Domask, Muila.
That is a TINY lineup...Newton is only 6'3" and your other two guards are both 6'1". Domask is already a little undersized for the 4 and Muila is listed as a generous 6'8", looks closer to 6'7" to me. I know Newton plays bigger than he's listed, but I really think we would struggle mightily on the glass with this lineup.
Johnson, Jones, and Domask seem like pretty sure bets to me. I really want someone to step up, either D'Amico or Wonders to play the 3 for some additional height (Ferguson feels like he's going to be at least a year or two from being a major contributor). The 5 seems like a crap shoot. I'd say experience wins out at the beginning of the season, so Muila for now, but could easily see Rupert or Ebube getting the nod (I fully expect one of those two to be starting by Jan/Feb).
That would be a pretty small lineup, but I actually think that group of guards is quick/rugged enough to rebound OK, and Domask and Muila are both pretty solid rebounders. My bigger concern/question is around scoring. Let's not forget how offensively deficient this team was on several occasions last year ... limiting those 50-some point outings has to be priority #1 for improving the team regardless of the lineup combos.
Like others have said I firmly believe 1-4 are locked with Johnson, Lance, Newton, and Marcus, since we tended to default to a smaller, four-guard lineup, but I'm excited to see who surfaces out of the 5 position. With our depth down low I also expect (and hope) we experiment with some bigger lineups, like maybe:
Johnson, Lance, Marcus, Clarence, and Ebube
Starters:
Johnson
Jones
Domask
Rupert
Ebube
2nd Five
Newton
Brown
Wonders
D'Amico
Hornecker
Mullins has a lot options and none of them are bad. I strongly believe that Jones concentrating on shooting guard and Domask at the 3, these guys are going to excel. Both have played out of position for the first 3 years of their time here. Rebounding is going to be our strength. Depth off of the bench is a close second. Going to be a very good year. Go Dawgs!
Beginning of the season...Johnson, Jones, Newton, Domask, Muila.
That is a TINY lineup...Newton is only 6'3" and your other two guards are both 6'1". Domask is already a little undersized for the 4 and Muila is listed as a generous 6'8", looks closer to 6'7" to me. I know Newton plays bigger than he's listed, but I really think we would struggle mightily on the glass with this lineup.
Johnson, Jones, and Domask seem like pretty sure bets to me. I really want someone to step up, either D'Amico or Wonders to play the 3 for some additional height (Ferguson feels like he's going to be at least a year or two from being a major contributor). The 5 seems like a crap shoot. I'd say experience wins out at the beginning of the season, so Muila for now, but could easily see Rupert or Ebube getting the nod (I fully expect one of those two to be starting by Jan/Feb).
This isn’t the lineup I would like to see, but the one I think we will see.
It has always been my belief it is not who starts but who finishes
It has always been my belief it is not who starts but who finishes
I agree, if you are a good team, and you are playing 10 deep, who starts isn't important. Not to the product anyway, it may be important as a reward to the players for things they do in practice more than anything.
One thing for sure, JD won’t be in at the end of a close game.
