Start Buie
- Thread starter Gski0736
- Start date
It’s less about who starts and more about who finishes. I’m all for giving him the nod, but have to trust Collins to know what sort of energy works best.
Demps famously came off the bench even though he was NU’s most lethal scorer.
Demps famously came off the bench even though he was NU’s most lethal scorer.
Based on Collins' comments in his press conference, I wouldn't be surprised to see Buie starting over Spencer very soon. Perhaps as soon as Saturday. But that's just speculation. I have no inside info.
I think starting a competent player, but handing starter minutes and the final minutes to the better guy off the bench is a good way to keep everyone involved. Phil Jackson did it for a good run with John Paxson and BJ Armstrong.
Rotating Buie, Spencer and Gaines gives CC some good options depending on the matchups. I think they definately needed Gaines against Winston last night.
Rotating Buie, Spencer and Gaines gives CC some good options depending on the matchups. I think they definately needed Gaines against Winston last night.
Buie played a season-high 26 minutes against MSU after playing 24 minutes against both Boston College and Purdue. Meanwhile, Spencer played only 17 minutes against Purdue and 19 minutes against MSU and BC.
The one knock against Buie starting is that he is a bit of a ball hog. (What's the polite way of saying this? He doesn't get other guys involved quite as much? He is a high volume offensive player?) Buie reminds me a little bit of Tre Demps. I believe that Demps led the team in scoring--or was close to it--while coming off the bench for the majority of Collins' first season. He brought a real spark off the bench, but he didn't share the ball a ton.
There's no doubt that the 2-12 start in the first 5 minutes of the game last night killed us. Still, everyone had opportunities to contribute during that stretch:
Offensive Possession #1: Young turnover (Traveled on way to basket after a nice inside feed by Spencer.)
Offensive Possession #2: Kopp missed runner (Tough shot with shot clock winding down after strong MSU defense throughout the possession.)
Offensive Possession #3: Nance missed jumper (Open, makable shot along baseline off feed from Spencer.)
Offensive Possession #4: Spencer turnover (Pocket picked while driving. Reckless ball handling. )
Offensive Possession #5: Young turnover (Ill advised pass into traffic after getting the ball one-on-one on the block.)
Offensive Possession #6: Gaines made runner (Tough, non-assisted runner.)
Offensive Possession #7: Spencer missed pull-up jumper (Open, makable shot.)
Offensive Possession #8: Kopp missed jumper (Decent pull-up off spin-move towards lane.)
So, what's better? Give everyone in a balanced lineup a chance to get going and get involved early? Or potentially have a little more offensive firepower out of the gate--but also probably fewer touches by the rest of the lineup? I imagine that we'll wind up seeing Buie start some games and get a chance to find out.
Start Spencer. Play the hot hand more min. Buie is young and he was crazy hot against MSU. It’d be a lot to expect that game in game out. He did have a really nice play with nance and given some time and experience they could start to play really nicely off of each other.
That play right there is why I am still nervous about Young doing much in BIG play. It was a beautiful play to get him the ball and he had an open path to the basket. But he was afraid of the MSU guys behind him and so he hesitated hoping they would go by him, leading to his shuffling the feet. He needs to be able to just go up with two hands and dunk that ball right away with no hesitation. That should have been an easy flush and maybe even an and-1 if someone tried to block it from behind. I just really worry that he won't be able to operate against tall or athletic big men.
He’s not quick enough against that competition. Best thing that happens if he takes it hard there is a block.
As others have said, I don't care if he starts as long as he gets plenty of minutes to contribute and develop. If he's playing less than 20-25 min/game going forward that would not be enough--unless he is playing poorly. RIght now he's very streaky but when he's on, he's something we haven't seen in decades--a true scorer who can create his own shots and score off balance.
Also thinking that Young will continue to have problems against big athletic centers. They had better hope that Jones develops his overall game or go hard for a BIG recruit or transfer. Also the more we see of Spencer, he looks like pretty good 7th or 8th man off the bench but definitely not a LG.