re: Is the Gangster finished?

I like the Eason clip the basketball Twitter released today.

How deep was Wade’s rotation at vcu? It’s nice on paper to say “12 man rotation” but Wade usually has an 8-9 man rotation nailed down by conference play since he’s come here. Our rotation at the start of this season went pretty deep those first few games until the games started getting tougher.

No way

Wheeler would be the icing on the cake.

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I think you could see both start

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Definitely both should start. Colbert at the 4, Efton the 5..surround them with three guards in Gaines, Pinson and Miller who can create for themselves or get in the paint and lob it up/dish it off to a pair of grown men.

Colbert hype was huge before we landed Eason. Those two will have to battle for that spot, and that's only if Days doesn't return.

LSU STACKED.

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Can’t do that with 4 guys who can’t really shoot

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Efton has decent range and Miller shot 34% from 3 as a true freshman. I'm sure he could improve that already decent number. Pinson will have games where he hits 6-7 3's as well.

That's all besides the point though, as I think the identity of this team will be points in the paint and sharing the basketball.

At VCU, both of Wade's 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 squads had 10 guys average double digit minutes; one guy over 30 minutes.

Contrasted with LSU's squad last season that had truly 8 guys average double digit minutes (minus Manning and Reef b/c how few games they played). The even bigger difference is we had 3 players average more than 30 minutes and Days probably would have been a 4th if not for consistent foul trouble. I wonder what the minute distribution would have looked like if Manning had stayed and O'Neal stayed healthy over the full season.

Honestly, it's not really going to matter who "starts." The debate really is who is getting high 20s minutes versus who is getting 10-13 minutes. Our starting lineup may not necessarily be our best 5 guys.

I'm going to use this year's Baylor squad as an example. Flo Thamba started every game at the 5 for them, but only averaged 15 minutes a game. Jonathan Tchatchoua was his pound for pound reserve and averaged 19 minutes a game. Then they would play small ball with Mark Vital at the 5. They really staggered these guys based on the skillsets of the other guys in their respective lineups and obviously on opponent matchups.

To my point, Knight may be a serious contributor, but Wade may prefer him come off the bench and play starter minutes so there's a calm veteran guard presence still on the floor when Pinson and Miller come out.

And there's still the wildcard of who moves on from this roster if Days decides to return. If it's Ezewiro, well we weren't expecting him to play much this season any way. But if it's anyone else, it's going to provide more clarity of how the minute distribution with all the newcomers is possible.

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sharing the basketball.

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Hope so.
Could go the opposite way where all these guys coming to be 'the man' on a new team...

You could make that argument for Pinson, Miller, Reid, Knight, and Days if he comes back...
Only so many shots to go around. Hopefully they get on board with 'sharing'

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Doesn’t really matter who is there at the tip

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It matters.

Im certainn it will to some of these players. They have egos to work around...

No matter how you slice it... several players will be taking a step backwards from last years roles...... whether thats guys like Wilkinson and O'Neal.... or Knight and Eason.....or high school studs that may barely see the court like Colbert or Murray.....

Bout to see who is a team player and who isnt

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Can’t do that with 4 guys who can’t really shoot

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Wade has proven his offense can adapt to the personnel. In 18-19 they weren't a very good 3 point shooting team, nor did they take a ton of them. Yet, they still averaged 80 ppg (top 15 nationally) and were top 12 in offensive efficiency.

Going into the following year, 19-20, people were worried (myself included) about who would facilitate the offense with Waters gone. I thought the good efficiency numbers they had in 18-19 was because of Waters. What happened was the opposite. LSU was MORE efficient in 19-20 even though they were a poor 3 point shooting team who, as a result, didn't attempt many 3's (relative to their competition). They also scored just as many ppg. So in other words, there was ZERO dropoff despite losing key offensive players in Waters and Reid.

This year was LSU's best 3 point shooting team under Wade. Yet, their ppg game and efficiency were only slightly better than the years prior.

Point being, Wade has shown that regardless of personnel and the strengths/weaknesses of that personnel, his teams can generate points at a high level. And he's done it WITHOUT great three point shooting teams; without a "true PG"; without teams that rely on great ball movement to create shots, and all the other complaints people have raised about the offense over the last 4 years.

At some point you just have to acknowledge the guy knows how to generate offense...regardless of personnel and style of play.

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You wanted to use his soph yr stats only.

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Huh?

My exact words were

As a Soph in the mountain west averaged


The mountain west is a conference chalky fwiw

It’s 18 games worth of sample size in the conference. Sure it’s cherry picking. But there is 3 game sample size of cherry picking. And then there’s 18.

There is a method to it for anyone with a brain. You watch film. The guy shows flashes. You find evidence of sustainable flashes to show what he could potentially may be.

He was also really terrible in 4-5 high P5 matchups. More than likely got smothered as one of the only 1-2 good players on a terrible team.