We All Love Ed.....but

[Caf]

Farr and Reynolds were both capable of stepping away from the basket and scoring. Our present big men can't do that at this time. With this group Gates has to be the second big man.

I think you have a different memory of Reynolds' game than I do, Farr for sure. I'd also love to see that with Gates, I've hoped he'd become a stronger mid-range and post contributor.

[IM4X]

I think JP plays hard no matter what. I haven't seen any difference with him starting this year as opposed to him coming off the bench last year. He still dives all over the floor, flies out of bounds going after loose balls, etc.

Why on earth would you NOT start JP??? That's almost as ridiculous as not starting Edmond.

Definitely bring Malcom off the bench as a sixth man. But, all of this is moot anyway since Ed is finished for the year.

Simple. When JP comes off the bench, he does more of those things you'ce mentioned above. It's like he is being shot out of a cannon. JP coming off the bench is often the spark the team desperately needs. When he starts, his motor is not always cranked up. He can be quite lethargic (on offense and defense) and at times makes some really bad decisions in a game.He tends to stand in a corner on offense and he'll often even stay there when a teammate needs his help at the top of the key (maybe they've picked up their dribble or they hace two guys closing on them).

No question that JP shows superhuman tenacity at times and even comes through at important moments in wonderfully unorthodox ways.
No question JP is one of the five best players (one of 3 most valuable). I think we'd all agree that he could start on any BE team. But if someone plays better coming off the bench, why not not use him that way. Mack could just say, "Look you are playing your best ball when you come off the bench... you come out fired up with so much energy and it catches our opponent off guard... most importantly, it gives our team an edge."

Farr came off the bench often last year. No one really thought of him as not being a starter. When he would come in the games, he would often dominate. similar to what we witness from JP... which almost always leads to him having more points per minute and less mistakes per game. It's like he is both more energized and tuned in during the game.

I would start Bernard... and keep JP on the bench (like a chained attack dog). Then, at the first sign of the opposing players getting too comfortable, I'd unleash him.

[Drew]

If I was confident Kaiser and Tre could guard the 4 & 3 then I would bench JP. But I am not confident in that yet.

[scoscox]

Without Myles and Edmond, having JP come off the bench is completely out of the realm of possibility, but I would have agreed when they were both playing.

[XUFan09]

To be fair, Mack has gone with two-big lineup's in the past. Farr and Reynolds sometimes started together, as did Frease-Walker, McLean-Frease, and McLean-Love. These weren't always his go-to pairing, but they were frequent. Depending on the match up, and with our shooters, I think packing it in is exactly what we want.

In the past 2 years we've lacked the depth to do this, and this year we've lacked the talent.

No, the last two years aren't about depth. It's about a changing philosophy, one that generally doesn't have more than one big on the court. Floor spacing and defensive switching are being prioritized. Last year, Farr and Reynolds were both talented enough and in good enough shape to play more minutes, and O'Mara was reliable at a backup level. Mack had a good four-man rotation that he could have used to cover the 4 and 5 with Gates/London rounding it out. Heck, it was better than a lot of the 4-man rotations that he's had over the years. However, if the 1-3-1 wasn't being employed, two traditional bigs generally didn't see the court together.



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[AviatorX]

If I was confident Kaiser and Tre could guard the 4 & 3 then I would bench JP. But I am not confident in that yet.

So if Ed were healthy, your lineup would not include him or JP? Wow. Why do you want to take X's best players off the floor?

[Drew]

So if Ed were healthy, your lineup would not include him or JP? Wow. Why do you want to take X's best players off the floor?

If Ed were healthy then I would absolutely sit JP. JP is a good player with a great heart. But he makes more dumb mistakes than any other X player we have. For every great shot or steal there are 2 dumb turnovers and 3 lost assignments.

[Caf]

No, the last two years aren't about depth. It's about a changing philosophy, one that generally doesn't have more than one big on the court. Floor spacing and defensive switching are being prioritized. Last year, Farr and Reynolds were both talented enough and in good enough shape to play more minutes, and O'Mara was reliable at a backup level. Mack had a good four-man rotation that he could have used to cover the 4 and 5 with Gates/London rounding it out. Heck, it was better than a lot of the 4-man rotations that he's had over the years. However, if the 1-3-1 wasn't being employed, two traditional bigs generally didn't see the court together.

I disagree. I think it was very much out of necessity as O'Mara wasn't a reliable backup. We were toast on defense with just him on the floor and Reynolds was consistently getting in foul trouble. As said, it's not his go-to pairing but it's still important against teams with big PFs. Especially defensively. We don't have a single rim protector, so crowding the box with 2 big men is our best bet.

[xufan2434]

When he starts, his motor is not always cranked up. He can be quite lethargic (on offense and defense) and at times makes some really bad decisions in a game.

I would definitely agree with that part. He doesn't always have the same motor out of the game, and probably because he knows he has to play big minutes and needs to save himself. I forget who tweeted it, but they said in the tunnel right before the 2nd half he was preaching to the team that they need to get going and play with more energy. Then he starts the 2nd half on fire. Thats what it would be like if he came off the bench.

Having said that, I agree I wouldn't start him if we had that luxury. Unfortunately I don't think we do

[xuwin]

If Ed were healthy then I would absolutely sit JP. JP is a good player with a great heart. But he makes more dumb mistakes than any other X player we have. For every great shot or steal there are 2 dumb turnovers and 3 lost assignments.

That's a real stretch to say that he makes 5 bad plays for every good play. I assure you that if that were anywhere close to being true he would not be playing for Xavier.