Eight-Man Rotation?

[RedbirdSoxFan]

Dan likes an 8-Man rotation. What does that look like right now? And who would be the next two off the bench when necessary?

Starters:
Keyshawn
Zach
Milik
Boogie
Phil

5-8 ?

 

[Manchester Matt]

This isn’t easy!

I’ll say by league play it looks a little something like this:

Key
Copeland
Milik
Abdou
Phil

Boogie
Jefferson
Rey

I honestly don’t know how he limits it to 8 with the talent in the building.

Elijah
Taylor

If Elijah’s offseason work and competition with the Swedish national team pays off, the sky’s the limit. I wouldn’t be opposed to going small and starting him with Key at the 2.

I hear people rave about Chastain. If he’s as good as advertised after the year off...

So many possible combinations with this group of players. What a difference a year makes.

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

This isn’t easy!

I’ll say by league play it looks a little something like this:

Key
Copeland
Milik
Abdou
Phil

Boogie
Jefferson
Rey

I honestly don’t know how he limits it to 8 with the talent in the building.

Elijah
Taylor

If Elijah’s offseason work and competition with the Swedish national team pays off, the sky’s the limit. I wouldn’t be opposed to going small and starting him with Key at the 2.

I hear people rave about Chastain. If he’s as good as advertised after the year off...

So many possible combinations with this group of players. What a difference a year makes.

Would love to see a Shaka Smart VCU, or (for us older guys) John Thompson Georgetown smothering defense. I think we could go 10-deep and wear the other team down.

 

[WSpringsBird]

This isn’t easy!

I’ll say by league play it looks a little something like this:

Key
Copeland
Milik
Abdou
Phil

Boogie
Jefferson
Rey

I honestly don’t know how he limits it to 8 with the talent in the building.

Elijah
Taylor

If Elijah’s offseason work and competition with the Swedish national team pays off, the sky’s the limit. I wouldn’t be opposed to going small and starting him with Key at the 2.

I hear people rave about Chastain. If he’s as good as advertised after the year off...

So many possible combinations with this group of players. What a difference a year makes.

Would love to see a Shaka Smart VCU, or (for us older guys) John Thompson Georgetown smothering defense. I think we could go 10-deep and wear the other team down.

I suspect this is what Dan will try. In the past he has mentioned wanting to press more but not being deep enough to do so.

This could also create some easy baskets for us, which is a plus given that halfcourt offensive sets are not Dan's strong suit (in my opinion).

 

[ekeyfanclub]

I don't think Rey or Abdou start. At least to start the year. I think Boogie starts and Milik plays the "four." At the end of the season Muller had Milik guarding Krutwig and Pippen by fronting them in the post even when Fayne was in the game. I thought for the most part Milik did a pretty good job. It also helps that Fayne is athletic enough to guard the perimeter.

I think besides Copeland and Chastain (since they were with the team last year), the returning players will get the most playing time at the beginning of the year. I think we will ease the freshman in. I think we forget the big jumps players make after their first year in the program. Look at Keyshawn and Madison recently. They barely played as freshman, but were solid contributors their second year. Even Boogie took most of his first year before he took off as a key player. I am very excited about the talent we brought in this year, but it is going to be the returning players that are going to drive the success of this team. I think Bruninga is going to take that next step this year and play a huge role off the bench. Clarence is hard to tell just since last season was kind of a lost season with his injuries, but Keyshawn had a similar freshman year as well.

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[Brick]

I personally think Dan liked the 8 man rotation because in the past that’s all he had. From the press conference I think he indicated that he wants to press more and that requires a deeper bench. Which he now thinks he has.

 

[Adunk33]

Muller mentioned barring injury, this team's depth will allow him to press like he always wanted to. It'll be tough to limit this team to 8. Chastain and Elijah will be two of them for sure. We could take a page from Jacobsen's sweet 16 year and platoon. I'm just hoping everyone stays happy after this season, there will be a TON of minutes up for grabs after the seniors are gone.

 

[TIMMY]

There a a lot of new guys that we know are good, only we don't know because they haven't played here yet.

 

[DaveBird10]

Starters

Fayne
Yarbrough
Tinsley
Copeland
Evans

Bench

Rey
Abdou
Bruninga
Chastain
Gassman
Jefferson
Clarance
Hein

What I love is the talent that HCDM has to start the game. Idk if there will be a set a rotation too start the year. The bench has talent but is young and somewhat unproven. What I love about how it's set up is the guys on the bench better push themselves because if they don't there is a player behind him who will push for him for playing time. The bench may change game to game or just situation. Remember last year where Gassman didn't play until 8 minutes left in the game. That's what great is HCDM didn't have this in years past. He does now and it will be interesting to see who of those 8 bench guys will step up and kinda take control of playing time.

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[ChiRedbirdfan]

There a a lot of new guys that we know are good, only we don't know because they haven't played here yet.

:text-+1: Exactly my sentiment.

Eight man rotation makes a lot of sense and possible 9 man if ISU gets out and runs/presses and the 8/9 rotation applies only when the game is on the line...so there will be garbage minutes for others and hopefully that is a result of ISU winning big and not losing big. I am sure there will also be an occasional nagging injury (ie rolled ankle) that makes minutes available for others too. But I doubt Muller even knows who will be the core rotation at this time. Regardless the rotation will evolve over time as some players will rise up or fall out of the rotation on a game by game basis based upon how they perform in practice and in game. There are only 200 minutes to be shared and Fayne/Milik should be out there as much as possible as long as they are physically capable of going 100%. Assume they average 30 minutes each. Will also assume Evans averages 30 minutes. That leaves 110 minutes for the other 5 or 6 players. If ISU goes with 8 players that means the others average at best 22 minutes a game or if isu rotates 9 players that means the rest average around 17. Important to have continuity/chemistry in games and over subbing players can do more harm than good. Muller has a good problem (who to play) to solve this year given APPARENT depth of roster unlike last year when ISU had zero depth.

Beyond the priority of winning games Dan also needs to develop a core group of players for the future and that means prioritize minutes whenever possible for N'Daiye, Reye and Bruninga . Clarence may be a priority too but who knows since he seems to need a lot of skill development and wasting in game minutes at this point in time may not be wise?

 

[Redbird222]

Assuming the guard depth is productive, Evans minutes should be reduced (from 30 to low to mid 20s) for at least 2 reasons

1. He needs to be healthy during the MVC tournament and has shown that is susceptible to nagging injuries
2. We need to continue to feed the pipeline for coming years

I also think he is more productive when rested. His 3 point shooting percentage declined as the season progressed (injuries and perhaps fatigue). His lateral movement on defense was also impacted.

I don't believe he is a natural point guard and am still hoping Clarance or someone can help fill minutes there.

 

[Baltimore Bird]

Muller made a comment that you cannot keep 13 players happy. We will have 13 players on scholarship (still not sure who they are) less 3 players sitting the year, but adding 3 players on the roster without a scholarship puts us back at 13, I think. 12 for sure. He also said he wants more pressure defense and this team had more good players than any he has ever had.

With that being said, I expect to see 9+ players seeing a lot of minutes and it is going to depend on who contributes once they hit the court. The 4 seniors are going to average about 28 minutes a game. That leaves 12 * 4 plus 40 = 88. I am thinking Copeland will get at least 20 of those 88, now at 68 minutes. Rey, Abdou, Jefferson at 15 minutes and we are down to 23 minutes for Bruninga, Chastain, Elijah, Hein, Gassman getting what is left which isn't much. Of course, injuries, etc will change all of this, but it is fun to speculate!

 

[ISU FAN 1]

I don't think Rey or Abdou start. At least to start the year. I think Boogie starts and Milik plays the "four." At the end of the season Muller had Milik guarding Krutwig and Pippen by fronting them in the post even when Fayne was in the game. I thought for the most part Milik did a pretty good job. It also helps that Fayne is athletic enough to guard the perimeter.

I think besides Copeland and Chastain (since they were with the team last year), the returning players will get the most playing time at the beginning of the year. I think we will ease the freshman in. I think we forget the big jumps players make after their first year in the program. Look at Keyshawn and Madison recently. They barely played as freshman, but were solid contributors their second year. Even Boogie took most of his first year before he took off as a key player. I am very excited about the talent we brought in this year, but it is going to be the returning players that are going to drive the success of this team. I think Bruninga is going to take that next step this year and play a huge role off the bench. Clarence is hard to tell just since last season was kind of a lost season with his injuries, but Keyshawn had a similar freshman year as well.

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If Abdou is top 50 material, he better be starting from day 1.

Of course, the last can’t miss recruit was Clarance, and he couldn’t get by Hein.

 

[DWRedbird]

If Abdou is top 50 material, he better be starting from day 1.

Of course, the last can’t miss recruit was Clarance, and he couldn’t get by Hein.

On the bolded part above, just because a kid is a top 50 recruit doesn't mean they need to start. Just in a brief look at last years top 50 recruits the first two I randomly chose started 1 game between them (MJ Walker of FSU and Paul Scruggs of Xavier). Some times kids need to work on parts of their game, sometimes a kid comes in and a starting lineup is tough to crack. I'm not saying I wouldn't like to see him start, all I'm saying is how about we pump the breaks and let the kid play a year before we anoint him the chosen one or a bust.

As to Clarence, sometimes kids need to develop. There is nothing wrong with that. I know you've got this weirdly obsessive desire to destroy all things Hein, but just because he played more doesn't mean Clarence is a bust. Give the kid some time, he has a high ceiling, but he has things he needs to work on (as all players do), but lets see how he turns out with a full year of playing without injuries under his belt.

 

[JHBird]

I think by the end of the year Copeland will be playing as many minutes as anybody. The coach praised how well he's plays defense during practice., and nobody doubts his scoring ability. Coach said he has 'unlimited range'. He could even end up as our MVP....

 

[TIMMY]

Abdou looks like a kid with a ton of talent, but it's pretty apparent that talent is raw. Let's give him a break and not have unrealistic expectations before his first practice.. Clarence and Bruninga last year. Abdou and Rey this year.
Does anyone remember Key as a freshman? Probably not.

 

[Jsnhbe1Birds]

1. Yarbrough
2. Fayne
3. Evans
4. Copeland
5. Tinsley

6. Jefferson (first guy up for backcourt)
6. Chastain (first guy up for frontcourt. Muller said he will be significant this season)
8. Bruninga (second guy up for frontcourt)
8. Clarence (second guy up for backcourt. Could be and probably will be Hein but I hope he progresses and puts Hein down at the bottom of the list)
10. Idowu (could easily move up fast with that college ready body but I simply can't put a freshman higher because of all the unknowns)
11. Abdou (higher potential than Idowu but doesn't have a college ready body so I put him behind Idowu)
12. Gassman/Hein
13. Hein/Gassman
14. Litwiller (if he's still on the team. He needs to redshirt)

Gassman - I can't figure out why he is still here. Is likely paying his own way again. Will not play much this season unless there are several injuries. Even with four leaving next season he will probably be passed by Boyd, Hillsman, and Fisher. Therefore, he won't be playing much next season either. He should just transfer if he wants playing time. But, lucky to have him for depth. Literally everything I wrote goes for Hein, too

 

[rdt99]

I really hope Abdou can pass the NCAA investigation into his credentials. Keep your fingers crossed he can pass. I also hope Fisher is allowed 3 more years of playing time.

 

[isuquinndog]

I'd say the 8 man rotation will probably change by opponent. If we need more guards, then the rotation will include Elijah, Hein, etc. If we need more bigs then Idowu, Abdou, Bruninga will get more time.

 

[SgtHulka]

I'd say the 8 man rotation will probably change by opponent. If we need more guards, then the rotation will include Elijah, Hein, etc. If we need more bigs then Idowu, Abdou, Bruninga will get more time.

Bada Ding Ding Ding, Bada Boom