Best 5

[radome]

I never thought that I would say or write this but, at least yesterday, I think that we played the best with Lazar, Jimmy and Jerrone in the game - not surprised.  What is surprising is that the best back court with these 3 was Mo and David.  It might not mean anything yet, given the opponent and early in the season.  But still ...

[bilsu]

I am not a big fan of Otule, but I am now convinced that if we want any chance of winning games in the Big East we have to start playing him. I seen enough of Fulce at starting center to know that is not going to work in the Big East.

[Hards Alumni]

I am not a big fan of Otule, but I am now convinced that if we want any chance of winning games in the Big East we have to start playing him. I seen enough of Fulce at starting center to know that is not going to work in the Big East.

you saw all you needed to last night in 6 minutes of play?  Part of which, I'm sure were injured.

[nyg]

I am not a big fan of Otule, but I am now convinced that if we want any chance of winning games in the Big East we have to start playing him. I seen enough of Fulce at starting center to know that is not going to work in the Big East.

Also not an Otule fan by any ways or means, but he is all we have.  There are some who believe he will be better than Barro in time, but lets see what Otule does against real competition in Orlando, with matchups against quality conference centers.  These last two games cannot even compare to what is upcoming for this team.

[muball]

I really dont think the combo of Mo and Cubie will be effective against teams in the top 150. Mo really is shooting to much IMO. DB and DJO will be more effective then Mo.

[wyoMUfan]

Other than a couple of bone head moves  I thought coobey played well, and paired up with Buycks/DJO coming off the bench I like that guard combo. W/ jimmy lazar and chris at the forward spots.

[T-Bone]

The great thing about this whole thread is that we have a bench that we can interchange to get the matchups that work for us (and for us to debate who should be starting). 

I do want to see Otule get more minutes to work on his confidence and handle.  Unfortunately neither of the first two games really gave him someone to work against.

[mu_hilltopper]

Now that Mbao can be played .. either him or Otule should be on the floor at all times during these cupcake games. 

[dsfire]

Now that Mbao can be played .. either him or Otule should be on the floor at all times during these cupcake games. 

Disagree.  I think we're probably looking for about 25 minutes per game between the two of them during the meat of the season, which means we need some time working 2-guard 3-forward (or 3-guard 2-forward even) sets just as much as Otule and Mbao need game time.

[Eye]

Best 5 right now - Cubillan, DJO, Fulce, Butler, Hayward

Hopefully the best 5 ASAP, by next Thursday would be great - Cubillan, Buycks or DJO, Butler, Hayward, Otule/Mbao.

I think Fulce would be pretty good in a role like Butler had a year ago. In a perfect world, Maymon's best role this year might be as a backup baseliner. DJO and Buycks seem pretty interchangable at this point to me. Acker's best role seems to be a change-of-pace guy off the bench. Mbao doing something well in these next 2 games would provide some juice heading into Orlando. It'd be nice to see Williams at some point.

[BM1090]

Cubillan, Buycks, Butler, Hayward, Fulce/Maymon/Otule. As long as the first four are in I'm confident

[tower912]

Grambling looks small and disorganized, so I am skeptical that either Chris or Yous are going to see a lot of minutes.    Can you imagine Yous getting caught on a switch and guarding someone Cubi's size?    Love that visual.   We could zone to get them some more minutes, but I am guessing that Buzz is going to try to NOT show the 1-3-1 until we run up against the tougher teams.     Anyway, against Grambling, any of the smaller 8 will be a fine combination, as far as I am concerned.    I hope EWill starts catching up.   

[Skatastrophy]

Grambling looks small and disorganized

Grambling got beat by Centenary, so I'd agree that we can't expect to see much in the way of competition again.

"GRAMBLING, La.-The Centenary men's basketball team had a strong second half that led to a 71-66 victory and its first win of the season over Grambling State on Tuesday evening. The Gents (1-1) outscored the Tigers by 10 in the final 20 minutes of play, while forcing 21 Grambling turnovers on the game."

[thanooj]

Best 5 right now - Cubillan, DJO, Fulce, Butler, Hayward

I want to believe in DJO.  But at this point he seems too square.  I wonder how good his handles are and how good his lateral quickness is.  I assume part of that is due to his injury.  DJO came in with alot of hype about his game and I am hopeful that it is true, but now I want to know what kind of player he is.  Is he a shooter or a scorer?  can he create his own shot?  play lockdown defense?  To be an effective player for MU he doesn't have to be any one thing, but I just don't know what he is yet.  He has the body of a stud player.  so what are your impressions.

as of right now I think Buycks is way more important on the floor.  He seems quicker, he seems like he can play defense, and he can get to the hole.  Against the zone I liked what I saw out of him.  he seems like he should be in the best 5 right now list.

I do believe that DJO will become something very good for us.  I think/hope he is merely hobbled by a lingering injury or two and in time will show us some things that we don't see yet or expect.

[NavinRJohnson]

I'm not expecting a whole bunch of wins regardless, but if Acker and Cubillan are our starting guards (and getting the bulk of the minutes) in the Big East, I'm not sure we even get to 5 wins.