My gut

sobo1

Senior
Oct 15, 2023
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To Dan's point earlier point, there is no right answer here. No matter how you construct the starting lineup there are major question marks.

So you bench Rivera - okay, then who do you start? Dar? The reserve big man from 4-14 Rice. Suemnick? The 10th man from who averaged 2.9ppg on 14th place Oklahoma State?
 

sobo1

Senior
Oct 15, 2023
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660
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Idk maybe you play your best center Hines and best power forward Godswill
I don't think you can expect much from Hines this year. Doesn't matter how good you are at 18, you're not better than 24-year-olds. When he committed the consensus was that he will be good down the road but he's not ready yet. Very few freshmen bigs are.

I don't think Godswill is capable of playing forward.
 
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Bud Boomer

All-Conference
Dec 24, 2007
602
1,716
93
To Dan's point earlier point, there is no right answer here. No matter how you construct the starting lineup there are major question marks.

So you bench Rivera - okay, then who do you start? Dar? The reserve big man from 4-14 Rice. Suemnick? The 10th man from who averaged 2.9ppg on 14th place Oklahoma State?
I'd personally go small and start Fisher at the 4. He played some PF at Pacific and started at the 4 for DePaul.
 

Bud Boomer

All-Conference
Dec 24, 2007
602
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Godswill and Hines are both pure 5s. I expect those guys to split the 5 minutes pretty evenly at first, with Hines eventually surpassing GW.
 
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Bud Boomer

All-Conference
Dec 24, 2007
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FWIW, I think the minutes will end up looking something like this:

Budd (32)
Fisher (26)
Simpkins (25)
AJSM (23)
Hines (20)
Godswill (18)
Dar (18)
Parker (15)
Williams (15)
Felton (6)
Payne (2)
Rivera (0)
Mbaye (0)

Very guard heavy. Very thin at the PF spot. Back to the 10-man rotation.
 
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Jasonbmore

Redshirt
Feb 26, 2007
12
7
3
FWIW, I think the minutes will end up looking something like this:

Budd (32)
Fisher (26)
Simpkins (25)
AJSM (23)
Hines (20)
Godswill (18)
Dar (18)
Parker (15)
Williams (15)
Felton (6)
Payne (2)
Rivera (0)
Mbaye (0)

Very guard heavy. Very thin at the PF spot. Back to the 10-man rotation.
Thanks Dan and Bud for putting out your predictions to be picked apart by the message board 🤣.

I think Felton, and Payne will both be close to 10 min a game players.

While I think Godswill and Hines have more top end talent, Payne is solid, oldest, and has the most experience. Decent mobility for a big from the videos I saw of him. I have a feeling Payne will be solid for us.

Felton might play better as a SG with a fluid Pg next to him. He shot the ball well early in season than he fell off a cliff. He has a one season with decent PT under his belt, good size, a good shot and was a top 130 prospect out of HS.

Rivera might gain 6 minutes if he plays the backup 4, a position of need. He could probably handle low major 4s on D for the non con.
 
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PirateBlue08

Junior
Jul 25, 2025
327
354
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I'd personally go small and start Fisher at the 4. He played some PF at Pacific and started at the 4 for DePaul.
My thoughts also as a possibility. That would allow you to play one more guard or play more Dar which could be a big improvement to our offense opening up driving lanes and spreading the floor. Having a non-three point shooting threat at the 3-5 positions would be very limiting to Shah's driving-and-drawing-fouls offense.
 

sobo1

Senior
Oct 15, 2023
246
660
93
I don’t think anyone is going to average 0 mpg. I think it’s clear that sha’s plan is to play a 10-12 man rotation. The talent differential between players 1 through 10 is incredibly thin. It doesn’t make sense to construct a team like that unless you plan to play everyone.

It would make even less sense to buy players you don’t plan to use when you consider we are operating with one of the lowest payrolls in the league.

If you’re poor you don’t spend money on things you don’t plan on using.
 

jklings99

Sophomore
Aug 3, 2025
225
129
43
@sobo1 you said very few freshman bigs are good right away which is partially true. How quickly you forget Godswill as a freshman was our best big by a WIDE MARGIN. He may have been better than Okorafor, Toumi, Tubek, and Yalden combined.
 

TheHall87

Senior
Jun 3, 2001
439
628
93
@sobo1 you said very few freshman bigs are good right away which is partially true. How quickly you forget Godswill as a freshman was our best big by a WIDE MARGIN. He may have been better than Okorafor, Toumi, Tubek, and Yalden combined.
That's much more an indictment of the latter quartet than it is an endorsement of Godswill.

Godswill was passable as a freshman. We're talking about a young man who averaged three and three in 14 minutes a game. He's new to the game and missed a chunk of his senior year of high school so there is room for growth. He did improve as the season wore on.

I hope Hines can provide more than that -- it's a fairly low bar -- but there's a lot of room between the above numbers and "good."
 
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shupat08

Senior
Mar 28, 2006
268
403
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@sobo1 you said very few freshman bigs are good right away which is partially true. How quickly you forget Godswill as a freshman was our best big by a WIDE MARGIN. He may have been better than Okorafor, Toumi, Tubek, and Yalden combined.

If you're the tallest short person in a room, it doesn't mean you're tall
 

sobo1

Senior
Oct 15, 2023
246
660
93
@sobo1 you said very few freshman bigs are good right away which is partially true. How quickly you forget Godswill as a freshman was our best big by a WIDE MARGIN. He may have been better than Okorafor, Toumi, Tubek, and Yalden combined.
I’m not sure if you’re trolling but I’ll take the bait….him being the best big on the team was one of the reasons we were 2-18. From an analytics perspective his offensive/defensive efficiency rankings were below average.

IMO, Godwill’s performance last year only further strengthens my position that most freshmen are in over their heads year 1.
 
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shu67

Senior
Jun 12, 2021
679
476
63
My gut says Sha will be experimenting the whole season and whomever starts at the beginning will not be at the end.

My gut also says if we have another disastrous season we will have a new coach next year as Sha will either implode on his own or be replaced. We need to at least be respectable. So Sha better do a bang up job this season with the team he built.

My gut also tells me if the season is a disaster the posters on this forum will be very angry and there will be a lot of negative posts about Sha. Worse than last season. It will get brutal.
 
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HALL85

Heisman
Jul 5, 2001
29,812
10,942
113
In
My gut says Sha will be experimenting the whole season and whomever starts at the beginning will not be at the end.

My gut also says if we have another disastrous season we will have a new coach next year as Sha will either implode on his own or be replaced. We need to at least be respectable. So Sha better do a bang up job this season with the team he built.
Sha is not going anywhere especially after reading the Felt interview. Another disaster and you’ll see a GM and other changes next season. We can’t afford the buyout normal Sha give up that salary.
My gut also tells me if the season is a disaster the posters on this forum will be very angry and there will be a lot of negative posts about Sha. Worse than last season. It will get brutal.
Posters? What posters? There’s like 20 people left after that On3 debacle.
 

jklings99

Sophomore
Aug 3, 2025
225
129
43
If we go 2-18 again, he doesn’t deserve to be the coach. Idk if he gets fired, but the noise will be loud. I think he’d get one more year though.
 
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HALL85

Heisman
Jul 5, 2001
29,812
10,942
113
If we go 2-18 again, he doesn’t deserve to be the coach. Idk if he gets fired, but the noise will be loud. I think he’d get one more year though.
What he deserves and he gets are two different things. We are in no position to play hardball because of money.
 

PirateBlue08

Junior
Jul 25, 2025
327
354
63
With another season like the last one, I'd rather just eat the buyout money and let Whalen coach for a year for pennies on the dollar.
 
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Jun 3, 2001
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That's much more an indictment of the latter quartet than it is an endorsement of Godswill.

Godswill was passable as a freshman. We're talking about a young man who averaged three and three in 14 minutes a game. He's new to the game and missed a chunk of his senior year of high school so there is room for growth. He did improve as the season wore on.

I hope Hines can provide more than that -- it's a fairly low bar -- but there's a lot of room between the above numbers and "good."
The nice thing....and it will be a challenge....is if we can manage to keep both Godswill and Hines together for another season or two...with experience, they could give us a pretty solid post presence.

Again, key will be in being able to do that.

I don't know that there are any "rules" but I assume we can "sign" current players to a contract extension (what else am I supposed to call it?) for next year, now/anytime during this season?

I don't know the players receptivity, but maybe with more clamps down on total budgets, the free flowing funds from the past couple of years will severely slow down, and maybe...just maybe, the old benefit of knowing the coach and knowing the system kicks back in to some extent, and more players become open to some continuity.
 
Jun 3, 2001
217
279
63
My gut says Sha will be experimenting the whole season and whomever starts at the beginning will not be at the end.

My gut also says if we have another disastrous season we will have a new coach next year as Sha will either implode on his own or be replaced. We need to at least be respectable. So Sha better do a bang up job this season with the team he built.

My gut also tells me if the season is a disaster the posters on this forum will be very angry and there will be a lot of negative posts about Sha. Worse than last season. It will get brutal.
My gut says you must have a lot of gut pain.....lol
 
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shu67

Senior
Jun 12, 2021
679
476
63
Your gut is wrong! I have a lot of major anxiety over the upcoming season just like most diehard SHU fans! If things go south than the gut pain might just happen too!
 

Halldan

All-American
Staff member
Jan 1, 2003
183,605
5,407
113
Maybe one of these will help



 
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johns79

Freshman
Jul 10, 2025
106
68
28
Will Hines contribute? Will he be good. Do we have more talent probably, more experience, not so sure, will we be healthy, no way to know?