As of Now, I have our roster like this:
Guards - King, Dji, Roche, Smith,
Forwards - Burton, Bigelow, Noyes, Tanner
Bigs - Quinn, Walz
Assume Burton back at this point. I think we will land one or two more in the portal, but for the moment not seeing a big impact type of player - more of the roster filler variety.
My starting lineup:
King/Dji/Burton/Bigelow/Quinn
I like to start defense first and try to disrupt the other team from getting in a grove offensively. I value that more than having shooters on the floor. King is quick, hoping that translates into being pretty good defensively. Any know a good free site that shows player defensive ratings?
Guys that need to step up:
Dji - need him to come back with an offensive skill that is a threat every time. Maybe driving/finishing, maybe mid range, maybe 3pt shooting (shot good percentage but low attempts). This back court works much better if he can score 8-12 ppg. Stay healthy and protect the ball.
Burton - If he is back, really need a step up year. I know he did a lot last year. But I think the off season injury hindered his ability to really improve. 3pt shooting down. Handle still shaky at times. We need him to step up and be a POY guy next season.
Noyes - as the roster is currently constructed, he is going to need to step in and play some pretty big minutes. Seems to have the skills and athleticism, and we saw some glimpses once Peter gave him some minutes. We need him coming in and impacting the game with a couple threes, a dunk and some defense.
Quinn/Walz - In my defensive mindset, Quinn needs to stay active and bother and block shots. He would pick up fouls. We need Walz to be ready and come in, and use his size/athleticism to do the same, and not foul so much. He doesn't need to be super on offense. He is smart. Just make the plays that are there on offense, but be a bulldog on defense. With the way this roster is now, its time to play and not keep getting ready for the future. Future is now big guy.
I know it is always a reach counting on guys to come back better, but that is what we are up against. We have some talent, we need the guys above to step up and be performers. And we need Boyden to keep the defensive mindset developing.
23, I just don't see nearly enough outside shooting with your starting lineup. Dji starting would IMO make things that much tougher for everyone because if I were on defense, I would just play off of him and cheat toward everyone else. Tougher for King and Bigs to get free, tougher for Tyler to drive to the basket, and tougher for Quinn down low.
On your player breakdowns, this is year 4 for Dji and you are still asking for an offensive skill. I would love it if it were found, but I just kind of think he is who he is, a good defensive player who can maybe give you some good minutes on that end of the floor, but certainly not a starter with starter minutes, and definitely not a guy that will average 8-12 a game.
I agree with your Tyler, Noyes, Quinn, and Walz comments. Since I want Roche to start with King, Bigs, Tyler, and Quinn, I will add we need him to be a consistent threat from 3, shooting often, and making them often, and be that 3rd double digit scorer, along with King and Tyler. And, I think he will be just that, and having his weapon from 3, along with King in the backcourt, will make everyone better. I think King can be a Jacob type player handling the ball a lot, so I am not as worried about a 2nd ball handler in the back court. Tyler often helped bring it up last year, and did fine, so we should be fine there. Also, I wasn't too confident in Dji handling against pressure last year, so I would not play him over Roche just because of ball handling.
With this lineup, I could see Tyler at 20 PPG, King 15, Roche 12, Quinn 10, and Bigs 8, similar to 2020 when our starters averaged 17.7, 13.4, 12.7, 12.7, and 8.9 a game. As a team, we averaged 75.3 that year, our 2nd highest scoring season since 1994, and our 3rd highest since 1981. 3 point shooting opened things up for everyone that year, so let's start Roche and do the same this year.
* If we add a guy like Langford, he could start and we could bring Bigs off the bench.
* If Tyler doesn't come back, we would really need to add a guy like Langford because he and Bigs could both start, making the only difference Langford starting in place of Tyler. If we do not add an impact player, we would need Smith, Tanner, and/or Noyes to be ready from day 1 to not only be part of the rotation, but a key part of the rotation that we could count on for some scoring and defense.
