I know there has been a lot of speculation of who will be starting this year. if i had to guess right now i would have to say.... C-Andrew Smith PF-Khyle Marshall SF- Roosevelt Jones SG- Chase Stigall PG-Ron Nored does anyone have any ideas of who will actually be starting.Maybe Aldridge? Hopkins?
Everyone will just be guessing right now. You won't get any sort of indication until well into individual workouts and maybe not until then. I don't know if it'll start this way, but I hope it doesn't tale to long to get to. 1. Chrishawn Hopkins - He is simply the most talented player wearing a Butler uniform. He is as talented as the best players Butler has ever had. He does have the misfortune of just not having a good deal, in comparative terms, organized basketball experience. He's the kind of player that you pay your assistant coaches for. It's on them to make him what he is meant to be. 2. SKIP 3. Jones - He's just so physically imposing at the position, he's not getting held off. People compare him to Willie. There are portions of his game that that is reasonable but he's a far more advanced ballhandler. You could honestly sneak some possessions with him at the point like they would with Hayward. Similarly, the mismatch that creates below the free throw line is nice for BU. Marshall - Clearly the best offensive rebounder on the team and given his Team USA experience I'd imagine his confidence level is pretty high right now. Physically, he should develop into a plus defender and he'll out-athlete any conference 4 right now. He still needs offensive refinement, but it's alot easier to get a race horde to canter than a plow horse to race. Smith - Against Horizon League competition his liabilities aren't really a problem (he just doesn't have the same kind of motor Howard possessed that allowed him to produce against similarly sized, more athletic high major 5s. Vs HL centers he gets good angles because of superior size or simply poor coaching (Detroit) --- On the 2 position. I think you let Stigall see what he can do. It's not perfect, but he showed enough to get the first look. He needs to be able to shoot >40% from 3 and manageably handle the ball on breaks, though. If his ball handling and/or shooting, you maybe look to one of the three kids (Jones as a power-2nix you don't pick Aldridge )
I feel like Hopkins has to get a lot of time. I just don't see who is going to make plays on the perimeter when he isn't in. I think Stigall is going to have a good year but he is ideally used off the ball. I really like Jones but he will do most of his damage from inside 15 feet. Aldridge is the only other one who I think is capable of fulfilling that role, but I don't expect him to be more ready than Hopkins from the start. I feel like Stigall, Marshall, and Smith are pretty much locks to start on day 1. I'll predict Jones and Hopkins filling out the remaining spots. I could see the lineup Specks proposed though, even though I don't like it offensively. I could also see a starting backcourt of Nored/Hopkins/Stigall. Aldridge could surely compete for the starting spot. As title says, its all just guessing right now. Getting a little off topic but still regarding the lineup, at some point I want to see a big lineup of Hopkins/Jones/Marshall/Fromm/Smith, just out of sheer curiosity at the results (I'm not really expecting this). No one is truly playing out of position and it just screams matchup problems all over the place.
"I want to see a big lineup of Hopkins/Jones/Marshall/Fromm/Smith" yea, i have thought of the same thing. Coach stevens is always preaching about how he wants butler to run its offense through the big man. this potential lineup could be very interesting
People will call me crazy, but I think the starting lineup is this: 1. Nored 2. Stigall 3. Marshall 4. Butcher 5. Smith You go with this until at least the first timeout, or when Butcher collapses (whichever happens first). It is a very experienced lineup from a team of mostly inexperienced players.
1. Nored 2. Stigall 3. Jones 4. Marshall 5. Smith I see Hopkins moving into Nored's starting role at some point before the new year. I'm just worried about who is going to produce off the bench. Dark horse is Fromm. I could see him pulling a Lightfoot in that his minutes and scoring dramatically improve this year.
I don't think anyone has any thoughts that Butcher is physically capable of playing anymore than whenever he's able to run. Even if he were one of the best 5 (or 9) players on the team, his game-to-game tenuous availability would keep him from it. Nored is a great leader and contributor and he'll continue to be, but he sort of is what he is, he's not a starting PG. I can't imagine Brad Stevens going back that way, after seeing the team dramatically improve after finally addressing the point guard position last year. After Aldridge (moving Hopkins to the 2), I think you're looking at Smeathers at the 2 or 3 (Jones at the 2 or 3) (more likely) or Woods at the 4 (with Marshall at the 3) (less likely). Its hard to see a scenario for Fromm, because he has to be available at the 5 if Smith gets into foul trouble. --------- This season has a lot of parallels with 2008, most pertinent to this discussion is the talent resides in the freshmen and sophomore classes again. 3 or 4 freshmen and sophomore starters is, similarly, the way your likely to end up. (This isn't to say they wont run out a number of odd lineups like they did last year)
I can't imagine that lineup being functional. Defensively it should be the best we'll have, but at the other end it would be uuuuuuugly. There's only one perimeter threat in that lineup and all he can do is catch and shoot. I don't see how you can have a balanced lineup without at least two perimeter threats. Last year's had 4; 08-10 still had three. Fromm's ability to hit the three will be pretty critical this year. He'll take the Matt Howard role in terms of being a perimeter threat whether he's playing the 4 or 5. At this point, the only two I'd be confident about calling for the starting lineup are Marshall and Smith. Stevens has gone two directions so far; he went with the young talented guys in 08-09, but went with the experienced lineup to start 2010 with Nored/Vanzant/Mack/Butcher/Howard in the Louisville game. Smith & Marshall should clearly be the best two frontcourt players unless Fromm has some sort of epiphany or Woods comes in really exceeds (my?) first year expectations. I think the lineup with the most potential is - CG - Aldridge CG - Hopkins SF - Jones PF - Marshall C - Smith Having two versatile guards in the backcourt should make the team pretty tough to guard (Green/Graves, anyone?). Nored gets paired with Stigall (@2 or 3) instead of Hahn off the bench. Fromm takes either the 4 or the 5 in relief of the starters. There's your top 8. Smeathers could factor in this year just based on his shooting ability. No doubt he can eventually be more than a shooter, but that will be a useful skill with this roster. If Nored is forced into big minutes, he's going to need to be balanced out by someone who can be a real perimeter shooting threat and that probably won't be Jones. Woods is a bit of a wildcard, IMO. He wasn't a huge factor on his high school team, but his potential is off the charts. I haven't seen him play in person, but he looks really, really skilled from what I've seen online. He seemed comfortable shooting beyond the arc and after pulling down a rebound he looked to start the break himself rather than immediately handing it to a guard. Speaks well for his future, IMO. He's probably capable of a being a 3 in college if that's what the way the staff develops him (although they won't, given the roster composition the next few years ). A Woods (3), Marshall (4), and Smith (5) front line would have me giddy, though.
people have a lot of hype for jackson aldridge, saying he should be starting, but until we see him play we won't actually know how he will transition to the american game. he is definitely a wild card. i always pictured him coming off the bench his first year
He probably will be. I just meant that, in terms of his potential and the skills he possesses, he and Hopkins in the backcourt together could be a really potent combination. It just depends on how he develops. I'm just sort of hoping he comes into that role by mid-season. If the lineup to start the first exhibition isn't Nored, Hopkins, Stigall, Marshall, Smith I'd be surprised.
is hopkins really worth starting over rose jones? Jones' hight is a plus and hopkins is limited on the defensive end
Well, Hopkins is a 1/2 and Jones is more of a 3/2 (and possibly even some 4 like Veasley did), so I wouldn't say it would be Hopkins directly over Jones. It could very well be both of them. But to answer your question, I personally like Hopkins better because the team is desperately going to need a perimeter playmaker and Hopkins seems to be the most likely to fulfill that role.
This is a really tough call. I would say I do not envy the decisions Coach Stevens has to make, but then I remember he is one of the smartest coaches in the country and that in all likelihood he will make the right choices. My general thinking on this is that you play your best players. So... PG Hopkins SG Stigall SF Jones PF Marshall C Smith I believe that, as of right now, that is the best lineup. But who knows. Aldridge may be ready to start right away or they may go with experience and start Nored. Whatever happens, I am very excited and intrigued to see what happens this season.
Having Smeathers ready to go right off the bat would be huge, IMO. He's a guy who really fills a need on this roster as someone who can be a verstaile scorer and shoot from anywhere on the court. I've always assumed defensively he would struggle early and kept him out of any imaginary rotations, but especially if Hopkins and Aldridge aren't taking a big chunk of PG minutes, Smeathers should compliment Nored very, very well.
