Despite the amount of size on the roster, this team is

Posted on: June 11, 2024 at 20:02:07 CT

better suited as a small ball team as they discuss as one of their starting options. The "smaller" guys are simply more talented and/or more developed and ready to go. And to be clear, "small ball" is relative.
Burns needs time. Marshall is the most ready of the younger bigs based on beef and that he's probably not going to get pushed around, but will be be ready skill and fitness wise? Gray is a banger but is not that skillful...there will be times you need a guy like that but hopefully not regularly.

The best rotation based on talent and experience probably looks like this:

Perkins-Robinson
Bates-Warrick
Grill-Boateng
Crews-Pierce/Shaw
Mitchell-Marshall

No way that works out to be the primary rotation.

I like Marshall and expect him to play, but I'm a long ways from making him a starter.

One of the best things that could happen to this team is that we don't need Gray.

There are 15 scholarship level players on the team. They can not all play. The first step in determining rotations has always been to identify who will not play:

Burns probably not ready.
Hopefully we don't need Gray.
Will Barrett accept a developmental year?
Will Allen?
The next option for the "doesn't play" is that they simply give up on Shaw or Pierce...Pierce would be a mistake.
It's possible that Crews or Warrick don't translate to this level. I am ABSOLUTELY NOT predicting this, but simply listing the order of possibility of guys that might not factor into a regular rotation.

The main thing I am comfortable predicting is that he rotation will be a complete shlt-show throughout the non-con and that it will become obvious (as I have stated) that we have too many guys. I would not have brought in Gray and I would not have kept Warrick and Grill...one or the other.