Starting 5???

districtballer · Apr 25, 2009

Rambunctious said:
We would have to be in dire straits for Brandon to start at the point. His specialty is 3-ball shooting and while he is good at that he isn't a starter at his natural position (SG) yet - - and won't be next year IMO. I do think he will be the first or second guy off the bench though. He's just not a point guard - - he has a high, hard dribble and he's not a great ball handler or passer. I honestly don't understand why some of us think we would be fine at the point with Brandon.

My thoughts exactly.

Ramball · Apr 26, 2009

This is why a lot of other fans think we won't be as good as next year. I think they may be just right. You're right, freshman are not usually impact players.

Look no further than what Butler did with starting two freshmen guards.

districtballer · Apr 26, 2009

Ramball said:
This is why a lot of other fans think we won't be as good as next year. I think they may be just right. You're right, freshman are not usually impact players.

Click to expand...

Look no further than what Butler did with starting two freshmen guards.

What Butler did was absolutely the exception and not the rule. Very, very rare. We can't realistically expect our frosh to perform the same way. I'm sure we all hope they do, but it's not realistic. I think they will be great players for VCU down the road, but we have to give them space to make mistakes, because they will.

VRam · Apr 26, 2009

The starting five for the CAA Championship and NCAA games will be Larry, Brad, Skeen, Gavin and Theus. All the other guys will play a lot. That's quite a starting four, which should take some pressure off Theus.

districtballer · Apr 26, 2009

VRam said:
The starting five for the CAA Championship and NCAA games will be Larry, Brad, Skeen, Gavin and Theus. All the other guys will play a lot. That's quite a starting four, which should take some pressure off Theus.

Agreed. Very scary lineup.

RamBo · Apr 26, 2009

The (2) main points here are this:

1- It's good that we can argue about it, and that is really the only position that's a problem right now. And though it is probably the most important position on the court, we are stacked, otherwise. But we definitely need to get that right. Signing Villarino would be HUGE, and we will likely be excellent .... again... if so. Theus could be a great surprise to us all, and who knows about Brandon. But he might have to factor in. I'm like the rest of you- I'd like to see him have a big seaosn- at the 2, where he belongs. We'll see if we have that luxury.

2- GJ should sign with VCU. The team would be his right away, if he is as good as billed. And the sky would be the limit for VCU- and perhaps very quickly, given the other excellent players we have.

* Final thoughts: No way in God's beautiful green Earth can Ed Nixon play the point. He is definitely an excellent penetrator, and yes- he is really adept at splitting a double, and taking it strong to the rack. Those are strengths we need to see him continue to employ, as a swing-man. and I believe he will give you some of that, along with awesome D. What he needs to do now is to focus on his ball-handling (which is HORRIBLE) and on finishing- which he has not been able to do. He can definitely make the move. Now, if he can finish, he will average 5 more points a game, and be a nice part of the offensive rotation. But the ball-handling, up and down the court will never be there.

I still think we would be OK if Brandon had to run the point, with Theus and guys like Burgess even helping a lot from his 3-spot. But I totally hope it doesn't come down to it, and that he can run that super-6 spot off the bench. He could be the Jamal Shuler of 07.'

districtballer · Apr 26, 2009

RamBo said:
* Final thoughts: No way in God's beautiful green Earth can Ed Nixon play the point. He is definitely an excellent penetrator, and yes- he is really adept at splitting a double, and taking it strong to the rack. Those are strengths we need to see him continue to employ, as a swing-man. and I believe he will give you some of that, along with awesome D. What he needs to do now is to focus on his ball-handling (which is HORRIBLE) and on finishing- which he has not been able to do. He can definitely make the move. Now, if he can finish, he will average 5 more points a game, and be a nice part of the offensive rotation. But the ball-handling, up and down the court will never be there.

Agreed, Nixon would be worse at the point than Rozzell. We need him on the wing. We also need him to finish those beautiful drives he makes to the basket.

VCU RAM · Apr 26, 2009

Early Season:
Burgess
Gavin
Sanders
KP
Rozzell/Theus

Later in the Season:
Burgess
Gavin
Sanders
Skeen
Rozzell/Theus

districtballer · Apr 26, 2009

VCU RAM said:
Early Season:
Burgess
Gavin
Sanders
KP
Vilarino/Theus

Later in the Season:
Burgess
Gavin
Sanders
Skeen
Vilarino/Theus

Hey you may not have read the thread, but Vilarino is a no go. He's committing to Gonzaga.

VCU RAM · Apr 26, 2009

Just saw that and that's very sad. Well Theus could definitely be a potential starter. Rozzell/Theus.

chrisbrower · Apr 26, 2009

so that makes the starters as of caa play

theus-pg
gavin-sg
burgess-3
skeen-4
sanders-5

coming off the bench

rozzell-pg
nixon-2
tj-3
duongo-4
kirill-5

still not bad, but gj would have been nice and theus will be tested

Blackmagic804 · Apr 26, 2009

chrisbrower said:
so that makes the starters as of caa play

theus-pg
gavin-sg
burgess-3
skeen-4
sanders-5

coming off the bench

rozzell-pg
nixon-2
tj-3
duongo-4
kirill-5

still not bad, but gj would have been nice and theus will be tested

This seems to be the most popular starting line up, so who do we believe will be the vocal leader on the floor? Larry maybe?

And YES Theus will be tested since he is the only one on the floor that can handle the ball. DB can Skeen handle the ball? :lol:

I kid, I kid...... I see a lot of pressure coming our way.

vcubob · Apr 27, 2009

Ndongo at the 4 spot? That's what i was thinking when i saw his name in the program, before i saw hm play. I still remember an early exhibition game, coach brought him in to guard one of the smallest, fastest guys on the court and i was stunned to see how well he did. Last time i saw him he was still limping slightly, i hope his recovery gets him back to his pre-injury status.

His shot is better than most give him credit for but he has looked uncomfortable with the ball on offense, especially when tightly guarded. An uptempo, pressing game suits his skill set.

districtballer · Apr 27, 2009

vcubob said:
Ndongo at the 4 spot? That's what i was thinking when i saw his name in the program, before i saw hm play. I still remember an early exhibition game, coach brought him in to guard one of the smallest, fastest guys on the court and i was stunned to see how well he did. Last time i saw him he was still limping slightly, i hope his recovery gets him back to his pre-injury status.

His shot is better than most give him credit for but he has looked uncomfortable with the ball on offense, especially when tightly guarded. An uptempo, pressing game suits his skill set.

Yeah, he's a heck of a defender, VERY quick. He also has an underrated 3-point shot that he doesn't get much credit for. He's wildly athletic and a full-court pressing scheme will utilize his strengths most effectively. He also needs to work on finishing once he gets to the basket (like Ed), but his length and height make him hard to stop when he drives. You don't usually see that combination of size and speed.

MarcusNation · Apr 27, 2009

Ndongo is the only reason we were close to winning at JMU last year. You guy wanna start a hug fest on Ndongo, I'm in. I love his passion. I was sorta hoping he would be a player/coach this year.

Starting 5???

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