Friday's Starrters

I'm sure others will disagree, but here are the players I'd like to see start on Friday.

1. Rowsey at the 1. He's a fourth-year junior, and he is a real threat to score any time he's on the court.

2. Duane at the 2. I like his defense, his maturity, his focus. Again, another veteran.

3. JJ at the 3. He lost his starting job, but in the regular season final on Senior Night he came to play. He was productive, and he showed good energy. Give him a chance to do it again.

4. Sam at the 4. He may be a freshman, but he is so mature. He seldom makes a mistake, and he's become a better defender as the year progressed. Normally, I would go with Katin for his veteran status, but he reportedly told Wojo he wanted to come off the bench on Senior Night because he was comfortable with that role. Let him remain comfortable.

5. Luke at the 5. Like JJ, he lost his starting job, but he never sulked. When he's in the game, opponents have to respect his low-post scoring potential. He also gives us a shot-blocker4 that Matt doesn't give us.

Off the bench:

1. Katin - already covered

2. Matt - already covered

3. Haanif - kind of obvious

4. Markus - sometimes Markus is a bit iffy in terms of protecting the ball especially early in the game. Let him watch for a couple of minutes and get a feel for the game and the opposition, and then let him come in to provide that spark. He came off the bench for the national team, which didn't bother him, and he averaged the second highest mpg on that team.

Markus will start.

Agree with bringing more size in, but would put JJ in for Rowsey, not Howard. I could go either way on Luke/Matt starting, but may start Luke just because he seems to play better as a starter.

Markus, Rowsey, JJ, Hauser, Luke

Need the shooters in early, need Luke to be able to establish himself down low and start drawing fouls on their foul-prone bigs. Really like to see some of the shot fake moves that Luke used to effect against Patton of Creighton. Could be very useful come Friday.

Two things:

1) Since Sindarius Thornwell is such a tall 2G, I think we will need to have Cheatham in the lineup often for defensive purposes
2) If we will pass the ball well with excellent ball movement and get it to open shooters we will win. South Carolina is VERY good defensively and get a lot of steals. WE CANNOT TELEGRAPH OUR PASSES ON FRIDAY NIGHT! Take care of the ball!

I don't think Wojo is going to change the starting lineup from what got them here. He might make some quick changes, but I think the starting 5 will be the same.

If he's going to make a change, now is the perfect time. A week to get acclimated, and a completely different set of teams. The only real chance we'll see anyone familiar with us is if we make the Sweet 16. That's why I really hope Luke is back in the starting lineup. I think we'll need both his presence and passing in the post.

I would like to see some of the 1-3-1 zone defense at times to mix things up. My hunch is that South Carolina has not seen very much 1-3-1 playing in the SEC>