I'm in the camp of thinking that Milan won't have the foot speed to defend college 3's. However, if Omaha can play the 3 on defense, Milan can play the 4, and they can switch on offense. That's a plausible way to make that lineup work for me.
Projected 10 man rotation for 23-24 season
- Thread starter loyalson4evatru
- Start date
I will have concerns if we have a big who struggles with rebounds, is better at guarding the three than the paint and throws 99 mph fastballs at the glass for his shots in the post starting and getting more than 10 minutes a game.
Yep, Big Rob will eat up some of those early fouls refs like to give the first couple minutes each half. Hopefully he will draw a couple fouls on the other teams big as well. There will be three other scorers on the floor to hide his offense a bit. His job will be to set the tone and bring the energy the first couple minutes of each half and then rotate out. Those that want him to play limited minutes will get it, but I think BRE will be a reminder to the other team of how TJ wants to play physical.
Watching Baylor wilt last year two games in a row was a thing of beauty. I think it bothered Kansas as well when they were at Hilton. Might finally have enough size and dudes to play that way on the road. ISU is just going to keep coming at you in waves.
I love TJ but I'm envisioning him "rewarding" Robert Jones as a starter due to him being the consistent, hard working, daily habits guy we know he is. Even with the early reports of Ward being much improved and more comfortable in the system, I'm having a hard time seeing him being a starter. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter who starts because those guys are all going to play, I just wish it was Ward getting the nod over Rob due to the increased ceiling he brings
I think the talent all around those bigs are going to cover up a ton of the limitations they’ve shown the last two years.
You can't be successful in college bball with 2 players on the court who don't need to be guarded - that's what killed us last year at the season wore on.
So if Lipsey is a threat this season, you can play/start BRE. If Lipsey still struggles to be an outside threat, then pairing him with BRE is going to cause problems because the other team will just pack it in.
Maybe BRE plays with Pav/Gilbert/Jones/Momcilovic?
So if Lipsey is a threat this season, you can play/start BRE. If Lipsey still struggles to be an outside threat, then pairing him with BRE is going to cause problems because the other team will just pack it in.
Maybe BRE plays with Pav/Gilbert/Jones/Momcilovic?
definitely will play lineups like that a lot just not convinced it'll be day 1 starting lineup
i've been wondering if we might see more zone this year from Otz even though defense has been lights out we have more length and size now and if want to go bigger then zone makes more sense to limit dribble drives
the scary consideration for rest of Big 12 is if ISU maintains it's level of defense but improves offense to top half of the league
cause that is a special combination of elite defense and offense....which leads to championships
Whenever Jones comes up, I feel obligated to share his on-off stats. If you use the eye test or look at his individual stats, it's pretty clear that he gets too many minutes. But logic would tell you that the team must play worse when he's on the court as a result, and that just wasn't really the case this past season (although it was in 21/22). Jones actually had the third best on/off net rating difference on the team last season (behind Grill and Kalscheur).
Source: cbbanalytics.com (It has a paywall, but you can see one team's stats for free)
Obviously there are caveats when looking at any single statistic (for instance, Tre King's number is probably bad in part because he didn't get to play in non-conference). However, I do think it points to the idea that Rob Jones does things on the court that don't come through in your basic box score stats. If the newcomers are able to bring some offensive firepower and especially more shooting, then Jones may be a really nice complement, providing some leadership, energy, and defensive quarterbacking.
Source: cbbanalytics.com (It has a paywall, but you can see one team's stats for free)
Obviously there are caveats when looking at any single statistic (for instance, Tre King's number is probably bad in part because he didn't get to play in non-conference). However, I do think it points to the idea that Rob Jones does things on the court that don't come through in your basic box score stats. If the newcomers are able to bring some offensive firepower and especially more shooting, then Jones may be a really nice complement, providing some leadership, energy, and defensive quarterbacking.
We'll have to agree to disagree on the 1-5. I don't think that players need to be slotted into specific positions, but IMO 1-5 is more about who you can guard. Can Momcilivic play the 3 offensively? Hell yes. At the very least, he could sit in the corner and hit 3's and post up teams playing a three guard lineup. Same with playing the 4...he can stretch the floor there and get into the paint off the dribble against slower guys. Defense is a different matter. I really doubt that Momcilivic can stay in front of many 3's in this conference, as there is a lot of small ball/3 guard lineups or at least a lot of slashers playing SF. I do think that he can guard most 4's, which is why the Lipsey/Gilbert/Milan/Omaha/King lineup might work...with Omaha at the 3. You're kind of taking a shooter off the floor at 3 while adding one at 4. That's the benefit of Omaha being so versatile.
Interesting discussion. I just feel like it might take a year for Momcilivic to get his feet under him defensively where he comes in as a sniper at the 4 this season. We get a little more ability off the dribble with Jones being in there and some good 3 point shooting as well. We'll see how it turns out. I could easily see Momcilivic being the first guy off the bench and shuffling guys around accordingly.
I don't mind Rob coming off the bench and annoying guys. @ChrisMWilliams Could you get the scoop on Ward and how he might be used now that he's improving so much? Maybe say during this up coming interview with TJ if it hasn't already happened?
I think Ward is probably one of the most physically gifted athletic kids we have ever had. Last year he was very unskilled and lacked polish. Has the tools to be a gifted defender, shot blocker and rebounder.
McKay ish style? With more defensive versatility?
I like to hope Ward is going to be "good Lard" -- the productivity without the headaches.
I'll be pleasantly surprised if Ward gets close to Lard's offense. But I'll be satisfied with the disruptive defense and a much higher level of maturity.
Seems Otz is intent on 2 PGs on the floor at a time, so likely rotating the three, with two on one off to keep them fresh
TJ rotates so much based on situation, I think minutes is more important. Here's my guess:
Lipsey 32
Gilbert 28
Jones 28
Biliew 20
King 20
Big Rob 20
Ward 20
Milan 12
Watson 12
Pav 8
With CEO, etc having mop up minutes (<5).
I have all the "bigs" at 20 mpg each... probably one of them will emerge and be 24 mpg, adn another will not and be 16 mpg. Whether due to injury, skill, whatever.
Lipsey 32
Gilbert 28
Jones 28
Biliew 20
King 20
Big Rob 20
Ward 20
Milan 12
Watson 12
Pav 8
With CEO, etc having mop up minutes (<5).
I have all the "bigs" at 20 mpg each... probably one of them will emerge and be 24 mpg, adn another will not and be 16 mpg. Whether due to injury, skill, whatever.
If BRE plays as many minutes as Omaha and 75% more than Milan, many on here (including myself) may have a meltdown.
