Marshall "effing" Wood and Kwan "effing" Fore
- Thread starter SpiderRick
- Start date
Is it a coincidence that the three conference games we have won have been with Wood starting and/or playing major minutes? Is it a coincidence that we continue to have slow starts with our starting lineup that includes Trey and DT(I know Fordham was a slow start also)? There was an article about Mooney addressing our slow starts earlier in the week, apparently changing the starting lineup isnt an option. Is it a coincidence that once Wood and Fore come into the game our offense starts to play well and we close the gap? Is it a coincidence that when Mooney switches back to his trusted starting lineup and pulls the air out of the ball with under ten minutes we start to lose the lead we typically have at that point in the game? I mean how hard is this to see?
Fore is an electric player and needs more minutes. Marshall may not be the best on ball defender but in addition to his offense he is the only guy that consistently boxes out on every possession. He again had a few big boards last night. We need these two guys in the game at crunch time to try to extend the lead. Enough of this slow down offense, playing our "defensive" lineup in the last ten minutes. It does not work.
Fore is an electric player and needs more minutes. Marshall may not be the best on ball defender but in addition to his offense he is the only guy that consistently boxes out on every possession. He again had a few big boards last night. We need these two guys in the game at crunch time to try to extend the lead. Enough of this slow down offense, playing our "defensive" lineup in the last ten minutes. It does not work.
why doesn't it matter who starts? KA0 didn't start for most of first 2 years and became one of our all time leading scorers.
up until the second half of the Davidson game, Fore has been a non factor for most of the A-10 season. His upside his off the charts, but I do remember him been a non-factor in the URI, Fordham, LaSalle and VCU games (total of 4 points)
Do I think he is a great player? Yes Does he need more seasoning? Yes. Does he have off the charts upside? UNlimited.
up until the second half of the Davidson game, Fore has been a non factor for most of the A-10 season. His upside his off the charts, but I do remember him been a non-factor in the URI, Fordham, LaSalle and VCU games (total of 4 points)
Do I think he is a great player? Yes Does he need more seasoning? Yes. Does he have off the charts upside? UNlimited.
I did like Taylor starting just to get the tip off.. I do not remember a single game this season where he has failed to win the tip off.... Wood came in very shortly after... a bonus.
Fore is coming on strong. His confidence is rising and his game is showing it. And, certainly no coincidence that the Spiders win when Wood shoots well.
If Fore has bee a "non factor" in some a-10 conference games, than what is your description for Trey. Absolutely invisible maybe. Khwan is markedly better on both end of the court.
I would describe him as steady, glue guy, but I don't want him to be the first scoring option ever. People tend to forget that we've been a top 30 offensive scoring efficiency team all season, so its not like we're struggling.
His A-10 highlights, so I would not call him invisible.
11 assists vs. Fordham-ZERO Turnovers
16 and 9 vs. VCU
7 and 3 vs. Stl Joes.
There is no question that Fore has more talent. But That talent has been all over the place. Still making some freshman mistakes. Less now than before. tremendous, tremendous upside, probably more than anyone else on the roster, or that I have seen in a while.
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His A-10 highlights, so I would not call him invisible.
11 assists vs. Fordham-ZERO Turnovers
16 and 9 vs. VCU
7 and 3 vs. Stl Joes.
There is no question that Fore has more talent. But That talent has been all over the place. Still making some freshman mistakes. Less now than before. tremendous, tremendous upside, probably more than anyone else on the roster, or that I have seen in a while.
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Marshall and Trey should start with Khwan and Deion off the bench. That would reduce the amount of time Deion and Trey spent on the floor together, but also keep us from going too small too often (even though I think Khwan plays defense as well as Trey and rebounds fairly well despite his height because of his quickness and that vertical).
DT does tip off very well. If he had to use both hands and rebound it, we would be screwed.
Hopefully this result shows CM one of them should be in the starting 5 for sure. Make it KF if not MW. Might work out better since MW can be the guy with instant offense off the bench. Just can't have the 2 seniors on the court together.
Have said it before & will say it again - the usual starting lineup will be the same line up rest of the year. Would be absolutely shocked if CM sits TD or DT.
If we want to win and win now mooney needs to accept that his comfort zone lineup is not the best we can put on the court. TA Sdj TJ MW KF is our best lineup with TD DT and others filling in.
Deion winning all three tip offs last night made me go back and look. In games he played, we won 13 tips and lost 7, and I assume he took all of those tips for us. (We went 1-1 on tips when he was out.)
That makes a decent case for starting him, but get Marshall in there quickly.
That makes a decent case for starting him, but get Marshall in there quickly.
A couple he lost were hit the correct way, but fumbled by our guys.. I remember a couple of them.
I like this lineup, maybe just not at the start, but it puts 4 shooters on the floor and one action packed freshman... and 4 good FT shooters. I do think Mooney managed the roster better last night.
we must have 1,000 posts on the starting line. I don't see it as such a concern.
we play 7 guys right now which nobody is all that happy about. but if we only play 7, they're all going to play a lot.
Khwan's minutes have been up and down, but after his play the last two maybe that changes.
we play 7 guys right now which nobody is all that happy about. but if we only play 7, they're all going to play a lot.
Khwan's minutes have been up and down, but after his play the last two maybe that changes.
If you like starts like Davidsons 17-4 deficit than sure who cares who starts. Lets continue to start a lineup that cant score and dig ourselves a nice hole. Then bring in wood and fore and hope they can perform a miracle.
re: If you like starts like Davidsons 17-4 deficit than sure who cares who starts. Lets continue to start a lineup that cant score and dig ourselves a nice hole. Then bring in wood and fore and hope they can perform a miracle.
I know you don't like facts get in the way your anger, but Wood has started 2 games.
One of them we were down 17-4 and 32-17.
The other we were down 12-4.
I know you don't like facts get in the way your anger, but Wood has started 2 games.
One of them we were down 17-4 and 32-17.
The other we were down 12-4.
Because it doesn't fit the narrative, that's why. Deion Taylor could score 2000 points in his next game and SpiderK would still find a way to make a snide comment about his rebounding.
Ok u made ur point. I still think wood should start. So there!
You may not buy it, but I believe it's an acknowledgement thing that the best 5 players should start. It's also an affirmation thing.
And lets get beyond this whole "role player thing" & "intangibles".
You don't think that MW or KF would love to start? It just seems when those 2 are on the floor with TA, TJ, & SDJ, we play best. Why not reward those two with the jobs they have earned due to their value added and what they have proven.
Why should the best 5 players start? This isn't meant to be antagonistic, just a basketball philosophy question. Do you think the acknowledgement of starting has an impact on our chances of winning? Of our main 7 guys, Wood, Fore and Deion have the highest fouls committed per 40 minutes rate. Perhaps having Fore and Wood not start is a way to keep them out of foul trouble and have them available for important stretches of the game. Wood is most effective when he can get open, perhaps Mooney wants to wear our opponents down a little before bringing in Wood so he can get open easier? Wood has the lowest assist rate on the team, maybe Mooney wants Trey and Deion in since they dish out a decent amount of assists and could get SDJ/TA/TJC going earlier in the game?
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I can see both sides of this argument. Philosophically, I think we should mix starters up as a means to disrupt getting in a rut. There's no rule that we have to start the same guys every game. It would deemphasize the importance of starting and make opponents less sure how to gameplan for us at the outset of the game.
It's so crazy it just might work.
It's so crazy it just might work.
Silly point.
Thats a stretch. Dont start them so they dont get in foul trouble early but risk getting way behind early because we dont have our best lineup on the court? Stretch me sideways.
Yes, but would you bet someone a hundred dollars that Mooney will deviate from his standard starting lineup? You'd do better by donating to a good charity.
I don't necessarily think these are good reasons to not start somebody, I am just saying there are a lot of things to consider as a coach that we as fans don't really think about. We can criticize Mooney's choices, but at the end of the day we never truly know his reasoning.
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I don't know his reasoning; however, I have agonized over the number of times that we have gone into the locker room at the half losing by 9 to 13 points - over the LAST FOUR YEARS. It is particularly agonizing, since we usually lose by 1 to 5 points. Do I think this is going to change anytime soon? I keep hoping - but it probably won't. Coach has a granite skull (one step above hard-headed). Hoping for a miracle.
No Kneepads, it's a snide comment about his LACK of rebounding and ability to score. Just to get the record straight.
To re-state the obvious: I think that Wood and Fore are contributing more towards wins than are our two starting seniors. However, we need minutes from all of them to win games, obviously. DT is also nice to start, because we often get an extra possession when he wins the tip. However, playing DT and TD TOGETHER just does not seem to work well at all. Someone can surely run the stats on how we do with one of them vs. both on the floor... And, the real key time to have MW and KF on the floor will be at the end of a tight game, when we need to shoot FTs! I don't mind having DT or TD play some minutes when fouls are not leading to FTs. When they are leading to FTs we really need to have DT and TD out of the games. Unfortunately, foul trouble for other guys has made this strategy impossible in a few games, like the end of the GW game. However, the timing of when MW and KF play may be far more important than simply minutes played. Let's try to be strategic about when they are in the games...
Agreed but there is some validity to the concept of over thinking situations. Its not brain surgery. Play your most productive players as much as possible.
