3 games in, I am curious of others thoughts, but after losing Jacobson, I don't think there should be a lot of debate in terms of who our top 7 players are (my ranking is below).
1 - Smith
2 - Loyer
3 - TKR
4-7 Harris, Cox, Colvin, Heide,
8-10 Berg, Furst, Burgess
It's very strange to not see a 5 in our top 7 players this year, but I think our best shot of winning 20 + games and contending for the BIG10 will be to play our top 7 players as many minutes as possible throwing position out the window. Our 8-10 are good situational options but not a group you can build team strategy around. My prediction is that Painter is going to be forced sooner or later to play a 3 guard 2 forward or even a 4 guard lineup as our baseline.
This won't be an easy road, so if Painter can keep this team ranked and in contention for the BIG10, I would consider it right up there with any of his best coaching efforts since he has been here.
1 - Smith
2 - Loyer
3 - TKR
4-7 Harris, Cox, Colvin, Heide,
8-10 Berg, Furst, Burgess
It's very strange to not see a 5 in our top 7 players this year, but I think our best shot of winning 20 + games and contending for the BIG10 will be to play our top 7 players as many minutes as possible throwing position out the window. Our 8-10 are good situational options but not a group you can build team strategy around. My prediction is that Painter is going to be forced sooner or later to play a 3 guard 2 forward or even a 4 guard lineup as our baseline.
This won't be an easy road, so if Painter can keep this team ranked and in contention for the BIG10, I would consider it right up there with any of his best coaching efforts since he has been here.