Just random thoughts here... no rhyme or reason to the order.
Mawien and Sallah have been effective. The two have combined for an average of 28 mpg, 12.5 rpg, and 13.5 ppg. The competition has been atrocious; they should be putting up good numbers. And they are.
Dean and X are the best players on the team. They should be getting the majority of the shots.
In the first half last night, Barry and Kam combined to go 2/12. Dean and X? 5/8. There is no reason Barry and Kam should be getting more shots than Dean and X.
Diarra and Wainright are going to be good glue guys to eat some minutes this year while starters rest. Their overall stats probably wont ever WOW this season. However, they are good team players who will play good defense. Shouldn't be much drop off from the starters during their time on the floor.
Depth... we seem to have it this year. Quality depth, too. It's early, but having the freshmen bigs available for when Mawien, Sallah and Dean are in foul trouble will be so valuable. Stockard has a skill set to score. Shadd is physically ready to play P5 D now; he just needs to get the mental part down (help and rotations). And the guards we have on the bench (Diarra and Wainright) are more than capable and practically interchangeable at the 1-3.
Bruce has talked about guys playing fewer minutes so they can be rested and energized at the end of games throughout the season. He has also talked about really liking his guys. The minutes distribution supports that. Kam, Barry, X, Dean and Cartier are all playing 22-27 mpg. Makol, Mawdo, Amaad, and Brian are playing 11-17 mpg. And it's not like the latter are getting all their minutes at the end in mop up duty; they aren't... They are getting in the games early.
As players get more time in the system, there should be a very, very nice and dependable 8-9 man rotation.
Stokes
Brown
Diarra
Wainright
Wade
Mawien
Sallah
(Stockard/Shadd)
No walkons, no tryhards, just big, athletic scholarship players.
Finally, I heard Bruce mention he can get after this team a little more. He can be hard on them because they are older and more experienced. I hope he was on their ass about last night. Last night was not a pretty game. Effort and focus from the start weren't there. No excuse for those two things... totally within the player's control.
Mawien and Sallah have been effective. The two have combined for an average of 28 mpg, 12.5 rpg, and 13.5 ppg. The competition has been atrocious; they should be putting up good numbers. And they are.
Dean and X are the best players on the team. They should be getting the majority of the shots.
In the first half last night, Barry and Kam combined to go 2/12. Dean and X? 5/8. There is no reason Barry and Kam should be getting more shots than Dean and X.
Diarra and Wainright are going to be good glue guys to eat some minutes this year while starters rest. Their overall stats probably wont ever WOW this season. However, they are good team players who will play good defense. Shouldn't be much drop off from the starters during their time on the floor.
Depth... we seem to have it this year. Quality depth, too. It's early, but having the freshmen bigs available for when Mawien, Sallah and Dean are in foul trouble will be so valuable. Stockard has a skill set to score. Shadd is physically ready to play P5 D now; he just needs to get the mental part down (help and rotations). And the guards we have on the bench (Diarra and Wainright) are more than capable and practically interchangeable at the 1-3.
Bruce has talked about guys playing fewer minutes so they can be rested and energized at the end of games throughout the season. He has also talked about really liking his guys. The minutes distribution supports that. Kam, Barry, X, Dean and Cartier are all playing 22-27 mpg. Makol, Mawdo, Amaad, and Brian are playing 11-17 mpg. And it's not like the latter are getting all their minutes at the end in mop up duty; they aren't... They are getting in the games early.
As players get more time in the system, there should be a very, very nice and dependable 8-9 man rotation.
Stokes
Brown
Diarra
Wainright
Wade
Mawien
Sallah
(Stockard/Shadd)
No walkons, no tryhards, just big, athletic scholarship players.
Finally, I heard Bruce mention he can get after this team a little more. He can be hard on them because they are older and more experienced. I hope he was on their ass about last night. Last night was not a pretty game. Effort and focus from the start weren't there. No excuse for those two things... totally within the player's control.
