Canada Trip

[SlyShock]

Z-Bro needs to take a big step up this year.. Saw way too many unorganized and hasty drives by him last year. For a starting forward, he leaves much to be desired.

[another shocker]

Z-Bro needs to take a big step up this year.. Saw way too many unorganized and hasty drives by him last year. For a starting forward, he leaves much to be desired.

he's also a little timid, for some reason. talented, but he should let the game come to him, nice and easy.

[Aargh]

1 - Shamet
2 - Frankamp
3 - McDuffie
4 - Willis
5 - Morris

Frankamp was behind Simon on the PG depth chart last year. If there was any thought that he'd be the PG this year, you would think Marshall would have given him some floor time there last year. There were plenty of blowout games where he could have gotten some experience at the position.

Heiar says he's making progress. Last summer all the reports were that he was "doing great" at the position.

Shamet has the look of a player who can make things happen. Frankamp has the look of a player who was a great shooter against HS competition. If Allen has the lateral quickness to guard SG's, Frankamp may not be in the starting lineup, but I don't think Allen has that ability.

[pie n eye]

My guess is Frankamp at point with Landry and Daishon getting the first cracks after that.

I don't remember 100% of every game so I could be wrong but I don't believe that it's accurate to say JRS was ahead of Frankamp at the point. Fred was the starter, we know CF wasn't going to play ahead of him. Ron was the backup, same thing there, nobody was going to play ahead of him there. I can't remember many times, if any, when one of those two guys wasn't on the floor with the game still in question.

You give JRS the mop up minutes because he's a junior who practices hard and deserves to get some run.

I remember Marshall said once (I'm paraphrasing) "we already know what Conner is capable of with the ball. We need him to develop off the ball."

Again, I don't really know what to expect. My guess is Frankamp. I think Landry would make a great PG as well. I'm excited to see how the rotations shake out this year.

[shockmonster]

1 - Shamet
2 - Frankamp
3 - McDuffie
4 - Willis
5 - Morris

Frankamp was behind Simon on the PG depth chart last year. If there was any thought that he'd be the PG this year, you would think Marshall would have given him some floor time there last year. There were plenty of blowout games where he could have gotten some experience at the position.

Heiar says he's making progress. Last summer all the reports were that he was "doing great" at the position.

Shamet has the look of a player who can make things happen. Frankamp has the look of a player who was a great shooter against HS competition. If Allen has the lateral quickness to guard SG's, Frankamp may not be in the starting lineup, but I don't think Allen has that ability.

Who begins in the starting lineup will be interesting. I agree with you that Shamet and Frankamp will begin leading the team. However, I don't have a read on who will be the 1 and who the 2. I do not agree with Willis. The first game will be returners and a combo of either Kelly, Duff, or Brown at the 3 or 4. Gregg may use the time in Canada to play with different lineups so that may change after Game 1.

[ShockdaWorld]

Not on the point guard line, but I think Z-Bro (stole that from Sly because I like it) is going to have a break out year offensively. We all know what he can do defensively.

[pie n eye]

Not on the point guard line, but I think Z-Bro (stole that from Sly because I like it) is going to have a break out year offensively. We all know what he can do defensively.

Would be really nice for him to shoot better/more consistently this year. Same goes for Rashard. Both of those guys do everything else so well, when their shots start to fall consistently other teams need to look out.

[shockmonster]

Not on the point guard line, but I think Z-Bro (stole that from Sly because I like it) is going to have a break out year offensively. We all know what he can do defensively.

First of all, Zac is a good basketball player and he may get better but I'm not completely sold. If you watch his game, his ball handling has been suspect, when playing at top speed. Therefore, he is not consistent on the break, and he cannot attack the basket consistently and effectively in the half court. He does have other skills that are good such as his 3 point shooting, his defense, his athletic ability is second to none, and his rebounding is good too. I was on board for last year to be his break out year to deal with his weaknesses but it didn't happen. But he isn't the only former starter with weaknesses. Kelly has his weaknesses too (although different than ZB). I have McDuffie's ceiling much higher than either ZB or RK because all he seems to need is strength. I think that this year will be his break out year. That is why I have him as a starter at one of the 3 or 4. ZB, and RK may also fight out minutes with Payton Allen (at the 3) and/or Willis or Hamilton (at the 4).

[Dave Stalwart]

No way.

It was a joke. I would think JRS won't even see the floor. The purpose of a trip like this is for finding the team and getting early experience together, not giving a walk on minutes for fun. Maybe there will be moments for that here and here but I threw his name out there as a joke.

He will get about zero minutes in Canada, but I do think he will play a helpful role at times during the season for sure. Especially if we have injuries or if we have guys who need to get benched a lot for not knowing the system.

[pinstripers]

First of all, Zac is a good basketball player and he may get better but I'm not completely sold. If you watch his game, his ball handling has been suspect, when playing at top speed. Therefore, he is not consistent on the break, and he cannot attack the basket consistently and effectively in the half court. He does have other skills that are good such as his 3 point shooting, his defense, his athletic ability is second to none, and his rebounding is good too. I was on board for last year to be his break out year to deal with his weaknesses but it didn't happen. But he isn't the only former starter with weaknesses. Kelly has his weaknesses too (although different than ZB). I have McDuffie's ceiling much higher than either ZB or RK because all he seems to need is strength. I think that this year will be his break out year. That is why I have him as a starter at one of the 3 or 4. ZB, and RK may also fight out minutes with Payton Allen (at the 3) and/or Willis or Hamilton (at the 4).

His ball handling has been bad and he panics when pressured.

[ShockingButTrue]

His ball handling has been bad and he panics when pressured.

That's both of 'em (ZB & RK).

If either one of them could develop into an E. Wessel type talent it could enhance the teams overall effectiveness.

[Ricardo del Rio]

I suspect we will see a lot of Smith and Shamet.

Both of these guys can break down defenses, score and draw fouls. A lot to like.

I think some are being a little harsh on Zach. When he does drive to the basket, it is a powerful force that is headed to the rim. He can cut through traffic and score. Without checking the stats, he probably scored better in his freshman year than his sophomore year.

[ShockdaWorld]

I think several guys will be better this year than they have been previously. I agree that McDuff has the highest ceiling of any of the returning players, but that doesn't make me feel like some of the others don't also have a much higher ceiling than they've shown up to this point. As for developing into an E. Wessel type talent, I think both ZB and RK are already better "talent"-wise than EW was. The question is do they have the heart to put in the effort that he always put in.

[Dan]

Zach fills the Tekele Cotton role. Play great defense, get in the passing lanes, shut down top scorers, make enough 3 pointers to keep the defense honest and rebound. As you recall, Tekele had his own struggles his sophomore year and he really broke out his last 2 years. I expect Zach to just be a solid guy with a chance to have some really big games.

[shockmonster]

Zach fills the Tekele Cotton role. Play great defense, get in the passing lanes, shut down top scorers, make enough 3 pointers to keep the defense honest and rebound. As you recall, Tekele had his own struggles his sophomore year and he really broke out his last 2 years. I expect Zach to just be a solid guy with a chance to have some really big games.

I think that we are all pretty close to agreement when it comes to ZB. He is a good player and will probably get better. IF he becomes a Cotton player (as when Cotton was in the Final 4/Junior/Senior), he will be a very good player. Cotton had ball handling skills, top shelf defensive skills, a nice 3 point shot, and could drive to the basket to score when Kelly Oubre tried to crowd him in the Tournament. The light just seemed to come on in the Final 4 and he was consistently dynamic after that.

The only negative for ZB is that we now have more talent than we did when we had Cotton. Gregg didn't have any alternatives and he waited for Cotton to get better (he didn't take him out very often when he struggled). I think that our other players are getting better. Zac will always get minutes because he has too many skills to not play but he may not get the 25-30 minutes (that Cotton did when he struggled) anyway. This is a nice problem for our basketball program and coaches to have.