JJ isn’t even close to being a starter. He’s raw, undisciplined and a ball hog. Never met a shot he didn’t like/take. He's a typical “superstar“ freshman in that he’s always “been the man” and scored at will at the high school level. He's having a very difficult time adjusting to being a bench player and getting limited minutes. He’s pushing things way too much and too quick when he’s in, trying to get all he can cause he knows he won’t be in long. If he sticks around and works and develops he can become a very good player, but right now he's not, just look at his stats vs the 6 power five teams we’ve played, they’re horrible. He’s put up some decent numbers in games against cupcakes but against actual competition he’s been awful. Honestly he shouldn’t be getting the minutes he’s getting if it weren’t for our Lowe situation and him being about the only viable backup pg we have. Starting him in a sec road game would be absolutely disastrous.
The 5 several have listed: Lowe; OO; Cam; Mo; JQ are the absolute obvious starters if they’re suited up. The premise of “it doesn’t matter who starts” is 100% wrong. Not starting your best 5 players is, to put it very bluntly, stupid. What’s the point of that again? “Saving” some of your best players so they can come back from a 10-4 or 18-11 deficit? Yeah, ok, that makes sense
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JQ is clearly ready to go full speed, so get him in the starting lineup and play him all you can, he’s a huge difference maker on both ends of the floor.
If Lowe is suited up and playing in the scheduled game, start him. No reason to “hope” things go well for a while and save him. We’ve seen how things go without him and it’s not good. None of Aberdeen, Chandler nor JJ can run the offense and frankly, we look pathetic when any of those three play the point.
If/when Lowe’s shoulder pops out again, deal with it if/when it happens. The only chance this team has of having a decent sec record and getting a good seed in the NCAA tournament is if Lowe and JQ play major minutes. Lowe can penetrate, dish to open shooters and score himself if needed. He can completely break down a defense, no one else on this roster can do that. JQ is just a beast. He can dominate the defensive end of the court with his ability to guard the pick and roll and protect the rim. Whatever he gives on the offensive side of the ball is a bonus.
Those two guys HAVE to play 25-30 minutes a game moving forward.
