My head spins every time I try to figure out which lineup starts, who gets the majority of minutes and most importantly, who we want on the floor with the game on the line.
My guesses are as follows:
Starters
AJ Hoggard - PG (28 mpg)
Jason Edwards - Bucket Getter (28 mpg)
Tyler Nickel - Wing (25 mpg)
Devin McGlockton - Stretch 4 (22 mpg)
Wright - Forward (20 mpg)
Grant Huffman - PG (20 mpg)
Chris Manon - Bucket Getter (20 mpg)
Jalen Carey - Forward (20 mpg)
MJ Collins - Combo Guard (18 mpg)
Alex Hemenway (12 mpg)
JQ Roberts - Forward (5 mpg)
Tyler Tanner - PG (2 mpg)
Karis Bilal - Combo (2 mpg)
If any of you are paying attention at this point, you'll notice that I have a total of 222 mpg, which can't happen mathematically unless we set some records for multiple overtime games. This is what I struggle so much with. We have several guys worthy of 20 or more mpg but a few of them will ultimately have to be more like 15 mpg.
Who plays when it matters?
I struggle with this too. I think we all probably assume we are going to ride or die with AJ Hoggard and Jason Edwards. That is a damn good starting spot to have a backcourt with two guys that can score at all 3 levels and get their own shots. But where do we go from there? I assume matchups will largely answer my questions. Do we use Manon over Nickel? Do we need a 3rd ballhandler and we bring in Huffman for a 3 guard lineup? Is MJ Collins a lockdown defender and if so, are we playing him to put the opposing team's best player on lock?
I tend to think that of the bigs, Devin McGlockton is the one we can trust the most to defend and rebound and give you something offensively.
So I'm at Hoggard, Edwards, and McGlockton in crunch time and then go with matchups from there. Wright if you need more defense and rebounding, Carey if you need more offense. Tyler Nickel vs Chris Manon and or MJ Collins is probably the one I struggle with the most. I really really like Manon's offensive game, anybody know if he can defend?
I do not think Tanner or Bilal get any minutes in the last 10 minutes of games unless we're up by 15 or more. JQ Roberts will have to make major improvements to his game to see any meaningful minutes. The only way I see him playing more than 5 mpg is injuries to a big, or if we need fouls and or depth on a bad matchup for us. I hope he improves though because he does have athletic upside.
Conclusion
I am thinking we have 3 guys that will play big minutes in Hoggard, Edwards and McGlockton. Beyond that, I'd say Nickel, and Manon will be next in mpg followed by Huffman, Carey, Wright, Collins and down from there...
I think Buyington's most difficult task will be managing egos and minutes with this group. I do think his pace and style will give us a lot of blowout wins and also a need to play a lot of guys but when it becomes nutcutting time, we have about 9 guys that probably deserve to be on the floor based on past results. This is a great problem to have as this may very well be the deepest Vanderbilt team of my life, but it's going to take a great leader to make sure it's managed properly.
Any thoughts by the basketball loving VU fans?
@Chris Lee @Joey Dwyer @VUSmackdown @thepeopleschampion13 @VUMatt23 @jfchatiii @VandyFan_23 @DoreFan @Smashville @WestNashDore
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