Who is our 5th starter next year?

[Coleman]

Obviously a transfer announcement would change things, but as things stand now, who do you got? I voted Gold but I think the minutes will be pretty evenly distributed between the 3 players.

[The Lens]

It's Jop.  You can't lead the BE in scoring sitting on the bench.

[Its DJOver]

Jop was 6th in mpg last year. Jop plays the same position as the only starter we don't return.  Don't think it's any more complicated than that.

[Coleman]

Jop was 6th in mpg last year. Jop plays the same position as the only starter we don't return.  Don't think it's any more complicated than that.

You may very well be right. But my thinking is 6'11" vs 6'7"..... Oso is 6'9"....does Ben take the tip?

[PGsHeroes32]

You may very well be right. But my thinking is 6'11" vs 6'7"..... Oso is 6'9"....does Ben take the tip?

barring a big splash in portal(not happening)

Its gonna be Jop. Hes the scorer, hes a upperclassman, hes our best bet at D rebounding and I think the biggest thing is Gold is the true Oso back up as well.

Starting Gold and Oso together is playing with fire of immediate foul trouble. They can and will play together. Just dont see it as a starting tactic when you have a Jop on the team.

[MuMark]

barring a big splash in portal(not happening)

Its gonna be Jop. Hes the scorer, hes a upperclassman, hes our best bet at D rebounding and I think the biggest thing is Gold is the true Oso back up as well.

Starting Gold and Oso together is playing with fire of immediate foul trouble. They can and will play together. Just dont see it as a starting tactic when you have a Jop on the team.

Yep

[NCMUFan]

Joplin was going head to head with Sanogo and Clingan.
Got to say he is ready to start.

[BLWarrior91]

It's Jop.

[mileskishnish72]

If it's not Jop, he could well develop a roving eye.

[The Sultan]

 I 100% think it will be Jop, but...

...if Chase develops more offensively and Shaka wants to set a defensive mindset out of the gates, you could see Chase started with Jop providing instant offense off the bench.

...if Ben is more consistent offensively, and Shaka wants Jop to back up Oso primarily, Ben could start with Jop coming in to not only provide more offense, but take Oso's spot in the rotation.

But yeah, it will be Joplin.

[StillAWarrior]

If it's not Jop, he could well develop a roving eye.

I was concerned about Jop developing a roving eye this off-season - he was the one contributor I really worried might enter the portal. I think a lot of guys are susceptible to the whisperings, "how are you going to make it to the league if they won't even let you start?" Total speculation on my part, but I suspect OMax's plans -- and I believe Jop and OMax probably talked about OMax's plans -- played a role in Jop staying put. I think Jop will definitely be a starter next season.

[CountryRoads]

Joplin. He'll have a big season on both ends of the floor.

[bilsu]

Gold

He will play forward on offense and center on defense.

[Badgerhater]

Joplin starts, Gold gets starter-level minutes as 6th man.

[panda]

Jop

[Clam Crowder]

Joplin was going head to head with Sanogo and Clingan.
Got to say he is ready to start.

I watched this game back the other night and I can safely say Joplin was not successfully going head to head with either of those 2 at any point in that game. Just praying they missed or that he didnt foul out in 5 minutes.

[The Sultan]

I watched this game back the other night and I can safely say Joplin was not successfully going head to head with either of those 2 at any point in that game. Just praying they missed or that he didnt foul out in 5 minutes.

Yeah, he was the definition of "defensive stop-gap."

[wadesworld]

But at the same time, they had to guard him and he had their defense totally out of sorts.  Players were throwing their hands up at each other and they had to go to a zone.

[MU82]

If we get a Jayce Johnson-type big who could back up Oso, Shaka can at least consider starting Gold. But if not, you simply can't have your only backup big starting next to your only other big.

Jop makes sense in a bazillion ways mentioned by others.

[Coleman]

Good stuff here. Even though I initially said Gold, the Joplin rationale makes perfect sense to me. I'm feeling really good about this team. I think people are correct that if OMax stayed, Jop would probably have been gone. Can't dwell on losing OMax because if we hadn't lost him we would have lost the Big East 6th Man of the Year, and either of those would hurt. Just gotta play the hand with the cards you have been dealt. I think this team is going to be VERY good and should stay in the top 10 all season. Really excited.

[Don_Kojis]

Jolpin can't jump.   He actually plays like he is about 6"4.   He has to learn to dribble and not fall down or lose the ball.  He is an outside shooter and if he isn't
making them, he shouldn't be on the court.  We need someone else to become our 5th starter.

[jfp61]

Jolpin can't jump.   He actually plays like he is about 6"4.   He has to learn to dribble and not fall down or lose the ball.  He is an outside shooter and if he isn't
making them, he shouldn't be on the court.  We need someone else to become our 5th starter.

i agree with all of this, i am probably as low on Joplin as anyone one... at the same time he is such a good outside shooter it  largely doesn't matter.

He'll just be Davante Gardner on the wing.

He has advance stats that love him. His play last year was in such a high tier of recent Marquette players. The Justin Lewis, Davante Gardner, Vander Blues, sophmore years. And Theo John and Duane Wilsons best years. That was his tier last year.

I will be annoying sing the defense slip, but it might be the best path staying good. Without a special Gold and Ross development

[The Sultan]

I think Joplin will start.  In the long-run I think Chase Ross is the better player because of his work on the defensive end.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Its great to that the players have grown. The new roster lists Oso at 6'11", Joplin at 6'8" and Jam Jones at 6'5".

[Uncle Rico]

Its great to that the players have grown. The new roster lists Oso at 6'11", Joplin at 6'8" and Jam Jones at 6'5".

What about Cam?