2018-19 Depth Chart

seaofred92 said:
I think the lineup that fits together best is:

Allen

Palmer

Roby

Copeland

Tshimanga

I think the actual starting 5 will be:

Watson

Allen

Palmer

Copeland

Roby

Id also be curious to see how Akenten fits into that starting 5 in place of Jordy when we want to go “small”. We wouldn’t have a traditional big but the smallest guy would be 6’3. Would allow us to defend by switching everything and makes us more versatile IMO
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I know we have already beat this dead horse but why do people think Nana is suddenly going to be a factor this year?

He played in 7 games and averaged 3 minutes. 

While I assume he has grown and got better, I just dont see him suddenly increasing to 10-15 minutes a game.

I know Miles gives Freshman a short leash but find me an example of a guy who played that little of minutes in there freshman year and suddenly played bigger minutes the next year.

 
Minnesota_husker said:
I know we have already beat this dead horse but why do people think Nana is suddenly going to be a factor this year?

He played in 7 games and averaged 3 minutes. 

While I assume he has grown and got better, I just dont see him suddenly increasing to 10-15 minutes a game.

I know Miles gives Freshman a short leash but find me an example of a guy who played that little of minutes in there freshman year and suddenly played bigger minutes the next year.
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Someone has to get the minutes unless you think they are going with a 6 man rotation of Watson, Allen, Palmer, Copeland, Roby & Tshimanga.  The only other returning players are Thor & Nana.  I'm sure Harris & Davis will get a chance to play, but they're freshmen and will have a short leash.  Heiman is likely to redshirt.  That leaves three walk-ons (Costello, Trueblood & Borchardt).

The first 6 will probably combine for 150-170 minutes per game.  That leaves 30-50 for everyone else which probably puts a couple of the others in the 10-15 minute range with the most likely candidates the returning players.

 
ECisGod said:
Someone has to get the minutes unless you think they are going with a 6 man rotation of Watson, Allen, Palmer, Copeland, Roby & Tshimanga.  The only other returning players are Thor & Nana.  I'm sure Harris & Davis will get a chance to play, but they're freshmen and will have a short leash.  Heiman is likely to redshirt.  That leaves three walk-ons (Costello, Trueblood & Borchardt).

The first 6 will probably combine for 150-170 minutes per game.  That leaves 30-50 for everyone else which probably puts a couple of the others in the 10-15 minute range with the most likely candidates the returning players.
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bingo. And what I like most about Akenten is his athleticism/length which is always a major bonus defensively. If you've watched the NBA playoffs at all this offseason you've seen that teams that can switch screens 1-5 are so hard to score on. And when we go to the 1-3-1 his length will cause problems there as well. 

I'm also in the camp that we will see an improvement on the offensive end by Nana. Its difficult when you know your role is 10th man on a team to come in and play well. Knowing he will be a key cog off the bench on this years team should help his confidence. Lastly, I'd love to see him play alongside Watson. It makes up for Watson being undersized and also I think Nana fits will alongside a ball dominant guard that likes to slash. Will be interesting to see how Miles does it because there are a lot of good pieces on this year's team. 

Ideally the last scholarship would be used to add an athletic grad transfer big. 

 
seaofred92 said:
Don't mistake better fit for better player. 

Watson really struggled playing off the ball last year. With Palmer being as ball dominant as he is I think Allen fits better next to him because he's proven he can be a catch and shoot guy or at least be efficient and make good decisions playing off the ball. Watson's played his best basketball as the primary ball handler and I think playing in a lineup either without Palmer in the game or in situations that would allow him to run more sets with the ball in his hands ultimately would be better for him. 
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That's fair.

I think a year of experience should help him in that role, but yeah, we should definitely build the scheme a little bit around the idea of if Palmer is out Watson HAS to be in and can play more to his FR-SO approach, which was a score first at the basket guard.

 
seaofred92 said:
bingo. And what I like most about Akenten is his athleticism/length which is always a major bonus defensively. If you've watched the NBA playoffs at all this offseason you've seen that teams that can switch screens 1-5 are so hard to score on. And when we go to the 1-3-1 his length will cause problems there as well. 

I'm also in the camp that we will see an improvement on the offensive end by Nana. Its difficult when you know your role is 10th man on a team to come in and play well. Knowing he will be a key cog off the bench on this years team should help his confidence. Lastly, I'd love to see him play alongside Watson. It makes up for Watson being undersized and also I think Nana fits will alongside a ball dominant guard that likes to slash. Will be interesting to see how Miles does it because there are a lot of good pieces on this year's team. 

Ideally the last scholarship would be used to add an athletic grad transfer big. 
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Fully get what you are both saying but this is where my biggest concern sits with this team. The depth on the wings. 

Gill and Taylor were not great players but they were at least options off the bench. My concern is that Miles doesnt trust Thor or Nana at all and instead of thrusting them out there, he will just toss more minutes on our starters.

Miles has proven if he doesnt trust you, you wont see the court. And judging by last year, he doesnt trust Thor or Nana in the slightest.

Now maybe his plan all along was to give Nana and Thor basically a redshirt year and then this year give them a chance to prove themselves after a year of practicing and weight room... Dont let there confidence get killed by getting decent minutes and struggling.

Still interested to see if anyone leaves last minute and what we do with the last scholly. We need depth help. Either a big who can rebound or a wing who can shoot the 3.

 
Minnesota_husker said:
Fully get what you are both saying but this is where my biggest concern sits with this team. The depth on the wings. 

Gill and Taylor were not great players but they were at least options off the bench. My concern is that Miles doesnt trust Thor or Nana at all and instead of thrusting them out there, he will just toss more minutes on our starters.

Miles has proven if he doesnt trust you, you wont see the court. And judging by last year, he doesnt trust Thor or Nana in the slightest.

Now maybe his plan all along was to give Nana and Thor basically a redshirt year and then this year give them a chance to prove themselves after a year of practicing and weight room... Dont let there confidence get killed by getting decent minutes and struggling.

Still interested to see if anyone leaves last minute and what we do with the last scholly. We need depth help. Either a big who can rebound or a wing who can shoot the 3.
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I think Nana can be effective off the bench.  I thought he looked good in warm-ups last year.  His jump shot looked good and he can jump out of the arena - his dunks during warm-ups were impressive.  I understand that warm-ups are not the same as games, but the talent is there.  Hopefully he has figured out the defensive end of the floor.  One more thing I liked about him was that for most of warm-ups he acted like he was going to play.

I'm a little more hesitant about Thor getting minutes, but since he's returning I would guess that he will be a chance before the freshmen.  He's not McVeigh slow, but he's not super quick either.  He didn't really warm up like he expected to play so it's hard to know what to expect.

I think that if Watson (30 minutes), Allen (20-25), Palmer (30+), Copeland (30), Roby (30), Tshimanga (20) & Nana (10-15) can give decent minutes then Harris/Davis/Thor can use the few minutes left as defensive stoppers/shooters off the bench. 

The offseason development of Jordy & Nana will be key for this team.  If they make big jumps, I expect big things.  If not, it could be an NCAA bubble or worse situation.

 
NaNas high school coach had said in an interview that there would be a pretty steep learning curve for him but once he got it all down the growth would be exponential. I would expect there will be some games this year where he completely amazes us and some games where we are calling for him to sit the bench. But as others have stated as long as he is willing to defend he will see minutes w that length n athletism 

 
Minnesota_husker said:
I know we have already beat this dead horse but why do people think Nana is suddenly going to be a factor this year?

He played in 7 games and averaged 3 minutes. 

While I assume he has grown and got better, I just dont see him suddenly increasing to 10-15 minutes a game.

I know Miles gives Freshman a short leash but find me an example of a guy who played that little of minutes in there freshman year and suddenly played bigger minutes the next year.
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There is only so many minutes in a game and we had several experienced players in front of them.   

 
I believe that Deon Lyle from UTSA would be a great get for us. He can light it up at any moment he steps on the floor. Would not surprise me if we get him and he starts, because Allen and Watson out there leave us a little undersized. Also, the starting lineup would have a forty percent three-point shooter on the floor. If not, you would just swap Lyle for Allen and move Harris to the one off the bench. Karrington Davis will get the freshman treatment this season, inconsistent minutes and he will not redshirt in my opinion. He could possibly be better than Nana and take his minutes but Miles will go no more than 9 deep I would guess. 

Watson

Lyle

Palmer

Copeland

Roby

Bench

Allen

Harris

Akenten

Tshimanga 

 
Minnesota_husker said:
This is a lazy comeback. The guys in front of Nana and Thor were far from lighting it up and guys were playing hefty minutes.

If those two were decent they would have gotten more than 21 minutes.
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They are 18, moving to D1. They were not top 100 players.  Maybe they need a little time to development.   If I recall pettaway & palmer were not lighting it up as freshman 

 
SouthLincoln Husker said:
They are 18, moving to D1. They were not top 100 players.  Maybe they need a little time to development.   If I recall pettaway & palmer were not lighting it up as freshman 
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So Nana Akenten is going to be as good as James Palmer after he transfers?

Got it!

Palmer played in 38 games and started 5 games his freshman year. Averaged 13.3 MPG

Played in 34 games his Soph year but simply got stuck in a rotation issue.

Petteway played in 28 games and started 11 games his freshman year. 

The issue for those two was more similar to what Tarin Smith or  Thomas Allen went through.

 
Minnesota_husker said:
So Nana Akenten is going to be as good as James Palmer after he transfers?

Got it!

Palmer played in 38 games and started 5 games his freshman year. Averaged 13.3 MPG

Played in 34 games his Soph year but simply got stuck in a rotation issue.

Petteway played in 28 games and started 11 games his freshman year. 

The issue for those two was more similar to what Tarin Smith or  Thomas Allen went through.
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Wow, your never wrong!  I'm just saying not every kid can pick up the change from HS to college as a freshman.  In fact, most do not.  Its unfair to this kid to say he is a wash after his freshman year.  

 
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