I think an important lineup change that we have seen the last couple of games is Thad's willingness to go to a smaller lineup for an extended period of time. Having Craft and Scott out there at the same time really helps us extend our defense and force turnovers. And offensively getting out and running and having extra shooter on the floor seems to really help us out. Its true we get beat up on the boards a little bit but it seems like we did okay when Thomas is really battling down low. I feel like he may wear down a bit if he is forced to guard the other teams five for too long but this is an interesting change that I hope to see a lot more of. Do we see this lineup for longer periods of time as we march our way through the big ten tournament and into the NCAA's?
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Depends on matchups, but probably, yes. I think we try to have to push the tempo. Amir is also nonexistent. All our other guys rebound well for their size, down to Craft.
We actually out rebounded Illinois today by a good margin with the small lineup out a lot
The small lineup seems to get things going when nothing is helping, and I'm sure that Thad will keep that going throughout the tourney. But what if we (hypothetically) run into a team like Gonzaga in the tournament? One with two big guys that can produce? Seems like bad news bears, especially with Amir acting so dead in the water lately.
We could play chicken and see who blinks first. We run out Craft, Scott, Thompson, Q, and Thomas and hope our mismatches work out better then theirs do. Press them hard and see who has to make adjustments first. Probably not realistic i know, but at least it would be interesting.
Roll with it.
I agree with this theory. Everyone stresses out about how much of a disadvantage it puts us in but they ignore the other side. Make their bigs guard us out away from the rim. It also opens up driving lanes.
We do an excellent job on denying the post.
our posts aren't great on offense, but I would say amir is decent in post decent and ravenel is very good considering his height
It won't work against a team with a couple of 6'10" post players.
I thought they recruited a 6' 10" player from Shaker Heights, no?
Battles are sometimes won by generals; wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates. Football is no different, the guys down in the trenches win the games, not the coach.
2014
If we go with the smaller lineup we need Sam Thompson on the floor. There was a bit yesterday where it was Craft, Scott, Ross, Smith, and Thomas and we got beat up badly on the boards. I know Thompson was in foul trouble but it was an issue. But when Thompson is on the floor his athletic ability makes him as good of a rebounder as anyone not 6'10 or taller so that really helps negate the undersized matchups.
I would put Q in this role as well. He is a solid rebounder most of the time and seems willing to battle underneath defensively. I know he still seems to struggle on a play here or there but I still hold out a lot of hope for him turning into a 15 pt 6 rebound type of player once the light clicks on.
Roll with it.
I disagree a bit. Q does exactly as you say on the offensive side, but when it comes to the defensive end, I don't think he battles. I think its because he's a ball watcher and he wants to find the ball, which is great on offense, he's a hawk on the glass. But on defense, it would best for him to find his man and body him up, instead of going for the ball. He gets beat quite a bit because he's underneath going for the ball, forgets to box out and his man crashes the glass for an easy rebound and put back.
Yes. If the Bucks go small, it's gotta be Scott-Craft-Smith-Thompson-Thomas. When you're at a size disadvantage the guys out there have to play very good defense and hit the defensive boards. Ross is a liability on both fronts. He was not boxing out at all yesterday, and if I had to guess, that's probably the primary reason he only played nine minutes.
I think Q has the ability, but not the will. Not at this point anyways. He goes to sleep on the defensive end way too often and doesn't box out. That's why we really need Sam on the floor.
Q is not a "solid" rebounder. When Matta goes with a small lineup all 5 must buy in 100% to the defensive plan. Q has not yet learned to "buy in" to anything. Not even shooting. He became a failure at that in the Illinois game when he chucked up a 25 footer as he dribbled across mid-court with under 10 seconds taken off the shot clock.
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small lineup all the way. if they end up playing a team in the tourney with a couple of solid post players, accept the job Thomas and/or Thompson will do in the post and try to exploit a mismatch elsewhere.
there are a thousand pros and cons to both sides of the argument, and I trust Matta will have this team ready to go up against any team and any style of play (unless it's a Princeton offense...)
Imagine next season playing a faster pressing style and telling Amir to just play hard for 10-15 minutes a game on defense going for blocks and not to worry about foul trouble. Playing a 9 man rotation to keep guys fresh and going with our small ball lineup for about half the game in spurts. Marc Loving can dunk like Slam and shoot like Q. He is a 6'8 210 PF. Get ten more pounds on him before next season and he could be a ridiculous mismatch for the other team in that small ball lineup.
I imagine something like this:
C/F: Amir 10-15min, Loving 20, Trey 5-10 (based on Amir foul trouble)
PF: LaQuinton 30min, Loving 10
SF: Thompson 30min, ADV 10
SG: Lenzelle 20min, Scott 15, Kam 5
PG: Craft 32min, Scott 8
The pure second unit of Trey, Loving, ADV, Kam and Scott has 3 guys who are killer three point shooters and one of the best penetrators in the conference. The Bucks could also conversely go big with Amir, Loving, Ross, Thompson, and Craft while also having two guys out there who can really shoot the 3 and two guys who are great perimeter defenders. Next year is going to be a really cool year if Loving and Kam can perform to their potential.
Agree with your thoughts, the lineup combos you list can spread minutes effectively and efficiently.
Really think Scott is ready to break through, his late efforts against IU spoke volumes as far as how he's come along this year.
In Matta I trust, I'm sure he'll find a way to spread the lineup next year. Good problem to have....
"Success - it's what you do with what you got" - Woody Hayes
Thomas says he's coming back unless he is guaranteed he will be taken in the 1st round.
It has been a long time since a Top Ten team has played a "pressing style".
Matta would MUCH prefer to have a "presence" in the middle than a small lineup. He has been forced to do this out of desperation.
I like the small lineup but I think it is situational choice that Matta feels is his best "play" when we don't seem in sync and only against the right team.
I disagree with the statement that using Scott and Craft requires Thompson to be on the floor for rebounding purposes. If anyone needs to be there for that, it should be Lenzelle Smith who is one of the best rebounding guards in the B1G, but I realize that defensively he may be a liability in the post against a 6'7"+ forward. Heck, Craft is out rebounding Thompson last I checked.
Also, I wondered why Matta hasn't tried going big. I can't remember anytimethis season when we had Amir and Ravenel on the floor at the same time. I know both can be dreadful offensively at times, but it would be nice to see Ravenel at the #4 and Thomas at the #3 just to see how other teams would handle them...anyways, too late for that cow to leave the barn.
ohioscott
Thad has used Q like the NBA would - a direct sub when he is resting D Thomas. It wouldn't hurt to overlap them for a couple minutes on either end of the substitution, but I don't mind it at all.
This lineup will be key for us in the NCAA tournament. Matchups will dictate what we can and can't do, but I can see Thad trying to find ways to get the "small lineup" on the floor for at least one stretch per game.
Even more important than that, this team could go as far as the officiating crew that's calling their game. It's no secret that Big Ten officials let the boys in our conference beat each other up a bit more than most officials around the country. We're an extremely physical and aggressive team on the perimeter. We're used to playing physical and aggressive and getting away with it. If we get a crew from another conference that starts calling things tight on us and putting Craft and/or another perimeter player or two on the bench (or at least handcuffing them on the court with foul trouble) it could spell some big trouble for us. The only times the offense is clicking is when it's being generated by our pressure on defense.