Starting Front Court

[jazyj]

Is Ollie going to start Facey with Nolan/Brimah or start Brimah and Nolan

 

[mcs333]

He will not start both AB and Nolan. KO will need the ten fouls at the center position. He may at times play them together but I think that will be kept to a minimum. I hope Facey starts at the 4 position but he needs to win it. KO could play 3 guards and a small forward. It will all depend on how well Purvis and DH rebound. Match up also will help determine who plays.

 

[CTBasketball]

I think its a good possibility that Nolan and Brimah play a lot together. But once either picks up a foul, they'll send it Facey or Lubin.

Nolan and Brimah is a pretty damn good frontcourt.

 

[joober jones]

I think its a good possibility that Nolan and Brimah play a lot together. But once either picks up a foul, they'll send it Facey or Lubin.

Nolan and Brimah is a pretty damn good frontcourt.

It's one of those "having your cake and eating it too" type situations. I love the Brimah/Nolan combo when they're both in the game. They give us a more imposing frontcourt, Nolan gets to play his natural position, and the two just play very well off each other. Brimah had a damn good looking pass to Nolan for a quick bucket late this season - the best pass I ever saw him make.

The flipside is the foul issue which others have brought up. Both guys are very foul-prone and even though Nolan is a natural 4, he's frequently needed to play the 5 since other than AB we don't have a true 5. Facey isn't a center and Lubin is still a question mark at this point.

Playing PN and AB together as starters is a gamble and a great one if it pays off. If it doesn't, it's a very costly error.

 

[UconnU]

I think its a good possibility that Nolan and Brimah play a lot together. But once either picks up a foul, they'll send it Facey or Lubin.

Nolan and Brimah is a pretty damn good frontcourt.

That line up is so offensively challenged though. History has shown we will concede the 5 spot but not the 4 and the 5.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Nolan and Brimah is a pretty damn good(defensive) frontcourt.

FIFY

 

[UconnU]

We need a stretch 4 to run our system anyway. Its all about spacing and creating lanes for our guards and being able to hit jumper off the pick n roll. But we also need a 4 who can guard other 4s.. the 4 is pretty much the 2nd most important position on the floor for us. Which is why so much pressure is going to be on kf.... I hope kid is improving(and a burger or two wouldnt hurt)

 

[selles]

We need a stretch 4 to run our system anyway. Its all about spacing and creating lanes for our guards and being able to hit jumper off the pick n roll. But we also need a 4 who can guard other 4s.. the 4 is pretty much the 2nd most important position on the floor for us. Which is why so much pressure is going to be on kf.... I hope kid is improving(and a burger or two wouldnt hurt)

Thing is, I don't know that we have a system per se. What has amazed and impressed me most about KO so far is his ability to adapt both to his players and to the opponent. That was especially evident in the tourney. So many coaches get locked into a single way of doing things (looking at you K, Boeheim, etc.) and KO doesn't have that flaw.

I don't think anything is off the table at this point (and I think there was a Horde article quoting KO to that effect), but I do agree that foul issues will probably negate playing Brimah and Nolan together too much. Unless Rock can beast as a 5 like Toraino Walker circa late 1989-90, that is.

 

[jazyj]

That line up is so offensively challenged though. History has shown we will concede the 5 spot but not the 4 and the 5.

thats why he might start facey who has a better ranged offensive game

 

[Kitaman]

I'm not so sold on Nolan. Very disappointed in him not finishing at the rim in the Championship game, not holding on to the ball and relying on the charges. He'll be a junior next year and he should show much more improvement and stronger hands, or Facey/Brimah will be tapping him out for minutes. Brimah seems to be the best investment right now.

I don't know which staff is working with him but they have to get him to at least dominate a couple of games (if capable). Maybe you guys see something in Nolan that I'm not seeing (beyond potential).

 

[Palatine]

I'm looking for an offensive upgrade with Brimah this year.

 

[BankShot]

Completely agree with Kitaman on Nolan. I was yelling for him to FINISH in the Championship game. He could have had a career game if he was more forceful getting and playing with the ball. If he marginally improves year 3 and 4, at least we have a great depth and a great kid on the team.

I think his ceiling would be a Hilton lite (senior year).

Facey shows good size, nice footwork, and some range, which in this system with guards, a 4 who can get out of the paint to pick and roll is a HUGE.

I think Brimah is going to be our next Hasheem, and by year 3, 2015, he will be the most dominate defensive force in the country. He was a monster year one for as green as the grass grows.

 

[BoatShow]

The nicest thing about Nolan/Brimah in together is that they are both big men who can pass a little bit.

 

[David 76]

Brimah has to improve on offense this year. He really has nowhere to go but up. The question is, how much? His shoulder adds to that question mark. I assume Facey will start at the 4, but Rock, Nolan or Facey, we lose a lot of offense from the PF position. More of a loss than we will gain from AB's maturing.
That is fine if we gain enough rebounds and have increased offense from our wings. Fortunately, this will happen with Purvis & Hamilton.
But I don't see a scenario where we get more offense out of the 4 & 5 spots than last year.

 

[UconnU]

Have you guys noticed that we recruit a lot of bigs who have trouble catching the ball...which is something extremely hard to teach.. this seems to be a theme of the last 10 years. Coincidentally we've won 3 national ships over that period of time so don't fix whats not broken?

 

[CTBasketball]

FIFY

I think Nolan will surprise people with his offense next year.