Lineup/Strategy during Bones absence

[BracketForecast]

Whether Bones is out for a week or all the way to the NCAA tournament, we're going to have to mix things up to win games against quality opponents. I think we can do it! What adjustments would you make?

My take:

Playing time:
Our primary lineup should be Ace/Jamir/Vince and any two of Corey/Levi/Hason.
Ace needs to play 35 minutes per game, as we don't have a natural point without Bones and Tre.
Is Josh a pure 2? He has a very lowest turnover rate on the team by far. Maybe he could run a little point to spell Ace?
Jamir needs 25+ minutes. We're going to start running the offense through him once Bones is gone, so might as well give him the chance to shine now.
MBJ has been a really good offensive rebounder and rebounding generally, and we should use him more.

Strategy:
The lineup with Ace/Jamir/Vince and any two of the big men (including MBJ) has great size. I think we should really lean into crashing the boards to help us compensate for the loss of offensive efficiency.
Shorten the game. I think we need to largely avoid trapping and full court press unless our opponent is REALLY turning the ball over a ton. Once they pass out of it, our guys playing 30+ minutes are going to get gassed trying to "fix it" getting back on D.
Defenses are really going to pack it in on us. Getting our good/decent 3 point shooters (Vince/Key/Jamir) open looks is going to be critical. Josh has shot poorly, but he's a gifted shooter. We need to find a way to get him in the groove.
Ace is ranked 30th nationally in steal %, but he might have tone that aggressiveness down some. He's been in foul trouble quite a bit this season, and we cannot afford for him to foul out.

Any thoughts?

PS - the first guy who comments "let Coach Rhoades run the team" or something to that effect automatically gets put on ignore. This is a message board and we are fans. We are allowed to speculate and give our input.

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

I would start Douglas and Stockard vs. Ward. I think this game is going to be too physical for Ward. We do need him off of the bench though, and we need both Douglas and Stockard to stay out of foul trouble.

Unfortunately, I'm betting Coach Rhoades starts Curry at the two. I am all for Watkins getting that start as he can handle the ball and could be a matchup problem for SLU at 6'7".

The "X" factor in all of this just might be Banks and Brown-Jones, particularly Brown-Jones.

As I said in an earlier post, ACE has to stay out of foul trouble or this could get ugly very quick for VCU.

VCU's defense will have to win this game, not their offense.

 

[BGDragoon80]

I would start Douglas and Stockard vs. Ward. I think this game is going to be too physical for Ward. We do need him off of the bench though, and we need both Douglas and Stockard to stay out of foul trouble.

Unfortunately, I'm betting Coach Rhoades starts Curry at the two. I am all for Watkins getting that start as he can handle the ball and could be a matchup problem for SLU at 6'7".

The "X" factor in all of this just might be Banks and Brown-Jones, particularly Brown-Jones.

As I said in an earlier post, ACE has to stay out of foul trouble or this could get ugly very quick for VCU.

VCU's defense will have to win this game, not their offense.

Did you think we might see some zone defense tomorrow to potentially protect Ace from fouling?

 

[TampaKAP]

We are about to witness the true meaning of Point Forward. Ace is obviously the lead point and needs as much time as possible. Looking at the quotes from MR's presser, Vince and Jamir will also shoulder ball handling duties. I agree with Banks and MBJ as X-factors. Right now the only thing keeping Josh off the court is Josh. To this point, the game still appears to be too fast for him(he hasn't slowed it down in his mind yet) and thus he is pressing it. He needs to dive in the deep end of film study and trust what he learned in the session not what his eyes are telling during the game. MBJ...if there was every a time to have a freshman of the week type game, this would be it. His style of play matches SLU more than any other player on our roster

 

[duncanlamb]

Whether Bones is out for a week or all the way to the NCAA tournament, we're going to have to mix things up to win games against quality opponents. I think we can do it! What adjustments would you make?

My take:

Playing time:
Our primary lineup should be Ace/Jamir/Vince and any two of Corey/Levi/Hason.
Ace needs to play 35 minutes per game, as we don't have a natural point without Bones and Tre.
Is Josh a pure 2? He has a very lowest turnover rate on the team by far. Maybe he could run a little point to spell Ace?
Jamir needs 25+ minutes. We're going to start running the offense through him once Bones is gone, so might as well give him the chance to shine now.
MBJ has been a really good offensive rebounder and rebounding generally, and we should use him more.

Strategy:
The lineup with Ace/Jamir/Vince and any two of the big men (including MBJ) has great size. I think we should really lean into crashing the boards to help us compensate for the loss of offensive efficiency.
Shorten the game. I think we need to largely avoid trapping and full court press unless our opponent is REALLY turning the ball over a ton. Once they pass out of it, our guys playing 30+ minutes are going to get gassed trying to "fix it" getting back on D.
Defenses are really going to pack it in on us. Getting our good/decent 3 point shooters (Vince/Key/Jamir) open looks is going to be critical. Josh has shot poorly, but he's a gifted shooter. We need to find a way to get him in the groove.
Ace is ranked 30th nationally in steal %, but he might have tone that aggressiveness down some. He's been in foul trouble quite a bit this season, and we cannot afford for him to foul out.

Any thoughts?

PS - the first guy who comments "let Coach Rhoades run the team" or something to that effect automatically gets put on ignore. This is a message board and we are fans. We are allowed to speculate and give our input.

St. Louis is alot like us. They have 1 consistent ball handler, Yuri Collins. He is coming off an injury. Press to get the ball out of his.hands. make others beat us off the bounce. Foul French around the rim, he is shooting 29.4% from the foul line. Get the ball in transition...do not let them set up their man 2 man or 2-3 zone.

Take advantage of Jimmerson off the bounce, he cant guard a parked car one on one on defense.

 

[Major Ram 2.0]

Would be really special to see Jamir or Josh have career nights. YurinCollins for SLU tried to play when hurt and went back out before end of game. So he’s at best not 100% and at worse not available.
Going to be interesting hope the good guys show up and ply their butts off

 

[RamDaddio]

I love Vince, but not too sure about him being a primary ball handler. I hope we'll have another plan...

 

[enonram]

I love Vince, but not too sure about him being a primary ball handler. I hope we'll have another plan...

But if slu wants to press m2m, that means having a big play d full court. That doesn't really fit slu's makeup. Makes sense to have VW bring the ball up.

 

[enonram]

VW still needs to be the glue guy tomorrow. Get everyone else involved. No hero ball.

 

[Ramdog]

Did you think we might see some zone defense tomorrow to potentially protect Ace from fouling?

If we play too much zone we will be out rebounded by 50

instead of 40

 

[share the ball]

Play Defense, Play Defense, Play Defense and Rebound Rebound Rebound
Limit turnovers to single digits, Mix in a little zone as a change of pace for a few possessions every 10 minutes to make St Louis think on O each time down (we are still a man-to-man D team and you don't change your stripes this late in the season)
Offensively run a lot of pick n Roll sets to create mismatch with VW and Jamir vs St Louis weakest Defender (VW and Jamir are the two most likely to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim or into the 6-8 ft range where % goes to 60%+) Don't see French leaving the paint much except when he has to guard Stockard our only big with range outside of 5 feet
would use press sporadically but just to make St Louis use clock
Cannot get into a game with lots of possessions or score in 70s (we just don't have the scoring chops without Bones)
would use 8 man rotation at most (use timeouts to get extra rest for key starters) also sub them out right before TV timeouts to steal an extra amount of rest around a timeout
VCU 59 - St Louis 55
go rams

 

[Finance Ram 10]

Watching their Dayton game, I just think we need to keep throwing speed and people at them. They looked way out of shape, so I really think they can be worn down.

 

[PRock]

Did you think we might see some zone defense tomorrow to potentially protect Ace from fouling?

I hope so, based on how SLU shot the other night. Though high pressure also has merits given the TO challenges they also had....if Yuri Collins plays, he’ll be at 60%, but still better for them than the alternative. If Collins doesn’t play....they will have serious troubles with our press.

Whatever we do on defense, i just hope we honor every offensive possesion like it’s our last one.

 

[LQuarles]

I'd start Ace, Jamir, Vince, Levi, Corey. Try to run a balanced offense, and value the ball more than any other game all season. I'd love scoring from all 5 starters, with Ace dishing out assists and drawing some fouls. Run a lot of pick and pop with Levi, helping to draw French out, then make them pay with backdoor cuts with some assists by Levi. Try to draw fouls from French, and foul him when he has the ball. Run a few set plays for Vince and Jamir to get them some open 3s. Bring Key/Josh/Hason in as the "6th man".

Ballhandling can be by committee, with Ace, Jamir, Vince, and Josh getting a share of bringing the ball up. Josh played PG in AAU, and if he gets some meaningful minutes, he may surprise, as long as he lets the game come to him.

Bring Ward off the bench, let him have a field day with Linnson and whatever guards who decide to drive inside. Give MBJ more than 15 minutes off the bench, and he'll do good things.

KEEP SOMEONE, ANYONE, ON GOODWIN. HECK, PUT ME IN, COACH! Now, more than ever, we can't afford to allow him to get a bunch of rebounds, and therefore give SLU a bunch of second chance opportunities. Those will kill us.

Throw a handful of defensive looks at them. Man, 2-3/matchup zone, press, etc. Quickly switch to some zone if a couple of guards get in foul trouble. Force them to shoot a bunch of jumpers, especially anyone not named Perkins, and GET THOSE REBOUNDS!

Fight Like Crazy!™

 

[kegler]

Play Defense, Play Defense, Play Defense and Rebound Rebound Rebound
Limit turnovers to single digits, Mix in a little zone as a change of pace for a few possessions every 10 minutes to make St Louis think on O each time down (we are still a man-to-man D team and you don't change your stripes this late in the season)
Offensively run a lot of pick n Roll sets to create mismatch with VW and Jamir vs St Louis weakest Defender (VW and Jamir are the two most likely to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim or into the 6-8 ft range where % goes to 60%+) Don't see French leaving the paint much except when he has to guard Stockard our only big with range outside of 5 feet
would use press sporadically but just to make St Louis use clock
Cannot get into a game with lots of possessions or score in 70s (we just don't have the scoring chops without Bones)
would use 8 man rotation at most (use timeouts to get extra rest for key starters) also sub them out right before TV timeouts to steal an extra amount of rest around a timeout
VCU 59 - St Louis 55
go rams

We will definitely need to improve on offensive rebounding ( 3 all of last game which is unbelievable) unless our shots are falling, naturally. I love the enthusiasm generated in these threads. This game will be a measure of how we've progressed as a team, young as it is. Hope for the best. I'm not sure who our "go to guy" will be come crunch time if that's what develops. We can do this! GO RAMS!!