a little less positive vibe - but still seeing progress

[roanoke]

The loss of Liam Robbins for a month is a crushing blow to this team's chance of making actual noise. I think they could have - before the injury we were playing really well, coming at people in waves and looking dangerous.

This, of course, opens the door for Dort and Dia to get the playing time many had clamored for. And both look like real players. So there is that - but without Robbins for a month, we are going to lose some games we would have won with him. It is a shame - and an all-too-familiar one.

Robbins is not a projected first round pick from what I can tell - but I think he is out of eligibility after this year - even though he missed so much time last year. It is brutal that he is hurt again - apparently at practice?

On the bright side, we have three guys who are stepping up: Wright, Lawrence and Manjon. These are very good players. All three could be back next year and do some damage. Trey is quietly doing a good job of ball-handling - we are not turning the ball over much - which is hard to appreciate unless you do turn it over a lot. He is under-appreciated. Stute is in a pretty bad shooting funk. Obviously, opponents are staying all over him - but that means we need to take advantage of that and find an open man. There is untapped potential there - and he is a real threat. He seems to get hit a lot without calls - that is ok for a big maneuvering down low, but less so for a shooter. He seems to have lost some confidence - we need him to get it back.

Smith, Shelby and Dort are starting to get their minutes. Dia will, too, now that Robbins is out. So we will continue to develop a solid rotation. But we will have to go a month without the one guy who could be unstoppable. This follows a recent history: Garland, Nesmith, Chatman that is bordering on snakebit. QMB, Dort and Dia will need to hold down the fort at the 5 - all capable. QMB is a really good glue guy - still, he needs to score 6-8 per night minimum, with Liam out. As the glue guy, scoring has not been imperative. Now it is. With Liam out, we may go to some more zone - frankly, if we are trying to wear folks out with waves of defense, switching defenses a lot would seem to be an effective ploy?

I feel for Stack - but I think he is making the most of this team. And Robbins development might lead to another big man portaling in? I can see his concept of waves and relentless defense is gaining traction. This is a very deep team. I hope we can keep a lot of these guys together so they can grow into the formula.

For now it is hard not to be a bit disappointed. Injuries are a part of the game. We have had more than our share. Hard to stomach year after year after year.

[buffy]

As the freshmen begin to play a lot more, the overall roster makeup looks healthier than it did two weeks ago when I was hyper critical of the gaps. We still need 2 shooters and 2 ball handlers, assuming we keep our team intact at the end of the season.

I'm still for Stack. Every single season we're playing our best ball at the end. One day, the roster stuff will work out for us. And the good Lord knows, Stack is due some good luck.

[Jason94]

The loss of Liam Robbins for a month is a crushing blow to this team's chance of making actual noise. I think they could have - before the injury we were playing really well, coming at people in waves and looking dangerous.

This, of course, opens the door for Dort and Dia to get the playing time many had clamored for. And both look like real players. So there is that - but without Robbins for a month, we are going to lose some games we would have won with him. It is a shame - and an all-too-familiar one.

Robbins is not a projected first round pick from what I can tell - but I think he is out of eligibility after this year - even though he missed so much time last year. It is brutal that he is hurt again - apparently at practice?

On the bright side, we have three guys who are stepping up: Wright, Lawrence and Manjon. These are very good players. All three could be back next year and do some damage. Trey is quietly doing a good job of ball-handling - we are not turning the ball over much - which is hard to appreciate unless you do turn it over a lot. He is under-appreciated. Stute is in a pretty bad shooting funk. Obviously, opponents are staying all over him - but that means we need to take advantage of that and find an open man. There is untapped potential there - and he is a real threat. He seems to get hit a lot without calls - that is ok for a big maneuvering down low, but less so for a shooter. He seems to have lost some confidence - we need him to get it back.

Smith, Shelby and Dort are starting to get their minutes. Dia will, too, now that Robbins is out. So we will continue to develop a solid rotation. But we will have to go a month without the one guy who could be unstoppable. This follows a recent history: Garland, Nesmith, Chatman that is bordering on snakebit. QMB, Dort and Dia will need to hold down the fort at the 5 - all capable. QMB is a really good glue guy - still, he needs to score 6-8 per night minimum, with Liam out. As the glue guy, scoring has not been imperative. Now it is. With Liam out, we may go to some more zone - frankly, if we are trying to wear folks out with waves of defense, switching defenses a lot would seem to be an effective ploy?

I feel for Stack - but I think he is making the most of this team. And Robbins development might lead to another big man portaling in? I can see his concept of waves and relentless defense is gaining traction. This is a very deep team. I hope we can keep a lot of these guys together so they can grow into the formula.

For now it is hard not to be a bit disappointed. Injuries are a part of the game. We have had more than our share. Hard to stomach year after year after year.

Trey is not a bad player nor a bad person. But it doesn't make sense for him to get more minutes than Manjon. You are damning him with faint praise by saying at least he isn't turning the ball over as much as he used to. A player who uses as few possessions as he does should not be turning the ball over at all. He is nominally the point guard because he brings the ball into the frontcourt, but half the time he picks up his dribble 35 feet from the basket. I'm surprised you think that the lineup he uses to start the game is a wise one. In this game where we had at least 4 starters in to start both halves (before Manjon even enters the game in either half), we were outscored by 9 points in the first half and 5 more points to start the second. Does it not makes sense to mix things up to not have lineups that are nearly devoid of players who can create any sort of offense? At some point a coach has to tell his players, "I know you like coming off the bench, but we need you as a starter to jump start our offense". Switching Manjon and Dort for Thomas and QMB would allow us to avoid having lineups where Lawrence has to dribble around like crazy because everyone else on the court needs someone to set up their shot for them. QMB is not going to score if nobody gets him the ball in a place where he can score, and nobody who is typically on the court with him can do that. It is no surprise that his FG% has dropped this season without Pippen setting up for easy buckets. Stute is blanketed because the open man can be Smith, QMB or Thomas - nobody respects their offense and therefore can key in on the one guy who they do fear

The history of our injuries goes back more than a few seasons - Kornet getting injured in 2016; The fiasco of injuries in 2014; the injury to Johnson in 2013, Ezeli in 2012, Walker in 2011. At least this season we have some depth, which isn't something we've had in the past few seasons. Injuries are part of the game and they suck, but our issues are not one that is primarily borne of injuries. It is a stubbon unwillingness to play our best players the most minutes.

[VUaskew]

Quick question as to why Paul Lewis isn't seeing more time. As we slide towards the all to real possibilty of no postseason, does anyone see that changing?

Not to bash Trey, but he's not that accurate of a shooter to warrant so much PT. Lewis is something of a mystery to me.

[charlestonalum]

Isn't or wasn't Lewis injured?

[utahozzie]

Qmb is a great kid. Love his effort. He should not be playing more than a few mins a game. The upside is not in the zip code as what they would get with Dort and dia. No brainer. He got matched up with miller last night and it was like me playing against an orange cone. He’s not a sec player. Bring him in in spots but can’t give him significant time.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Isn't or wasn't Lewis injured?

He's been available the last few games. Coach's decision not to play.

[Nashmann]

Lewis was injured early on but I believe he is healthy. I see him as a portal prospect. Would not hurt much if he did. With West coming in might be stiff competition for PT. I think we will have another spot or two beyond the three we already signed.