Next years men's basketball team?

[Nate]

It appears that Turner and Bufford have indicated they are coming back.  The questions seems to be whether Mullens will be back.  Most of us agree he needs to stay but if he leaves for money because of his family most will understand even if it's probably the wrong choice.

Let's stick with Turner and Bufford coming back.  Our team next season will be pretty stacked with Lighty coming back.  Let's just assume Mullens is leaving.

G - Turner
G - Bufford <--  I believe he'll take the starting job from Deibler since Lighty will be a starter.
G/F - Lighty <-- Looking forward to having him back.
F/C - Lauderdale
G - Hill
G - Deibler < Probably going to be the 6th man. 
G - Simmons
G - Offutt
C - Sarikopoulos <--I'm intruiged by this kid.  He's 7 foot and weighs 265.
C - Madsen
G - Kecman 
G - Titus
G - Peters

Bold = Likely starters next season.

Thoughts?

[ScarletBlooded]

Wow...we're in SERIOUS need of a big man presence. Lauderdale can only do so much and Madsen's not really that good. I don't know much about the Sarikopoulos kid but with his stature, I hope he has a presence like that of a Greg Oden.

Your projected roster seems about right Nate. I was going for Diebler being a starter but he has been on and off this season and that's not what I expect from the All-Time scoring leader in Ohio High School history. He'd make a good 6th man though. As far as the Starters, Bufford has really picked up the slack in Lighty's absence so he most definitely is a starter suited for the Buckeyes. Turner is the team captain no surprise there and Hill...He was good in his freshman year, kinda off in his sophomore year, so he'd better make up for his off year by getting back in form, because if it wasn't for Simmons being charitable for giving Hill the starting PG spot, Simmons would most likely be starting.

With the exception of Diebler, Simmons and Offutt. Our bench is pretty weak. Sure they can provide spark but they're role players at best and I see Thad Matta going with a 8 or 9-man rotation at best until injuries to the main players forces the benchwarmers to step up.

To keep it real, this seems like a rebuilding season, even if Mullens comes back. I'm not sure if the Bucks can play a season with so much heart the way they did last season. They were great in out of conference play, even against tough opponents but the Big Ten left them exposed.

[Nate]

I don't thinks it's a rebuilding year at all.  I think if Turner and Bufford comes back they're a legit top 15 team and will contend for the Big 10 title.

On Deibler staring or not starting, it's hard to know what Matta will do.  But with Lighty coming back, either Bufford or Deibler become the 6th man.  I guess the 6th man could be Bufford since Deibler seems to play Matta defense.   

I personally think that getting Lighty back really pushes next years team up a notch.  They looked great in the first 9 games with him.  You have to believe that his effect will continue next year.  I think we're deeper next year than we were this year. 

I don't know, I just have a different feeling.  I really think next years team will be good if Bufford and Turner come back, which I think they are.

[AutoModGod]

I think both are coming back too; they've said they are and have not hedged.

Our weakest link is going to be at the point again.  PJ's spunk is unmatched but unfortunately his passing is pretty weak.  That is one reason that BJ and DL rarely got the ball in the post - we don't have a PG that can deliver it.  The upside is that PJ can get better and I expect he will work very had to get better.  To me his improvement will be a key for next year's team.

There has been some talk about making Turner the point for next year.  We saw some of that late in the year, late in games.  If that happens, then we would put Diebler or Bufford in the starting lineup and use Simmons as the 6th man.  Not sure I like this option, Turner is already doing everything (leads the team in scoring, rebounding and assists), it might be too much to ask for even more.

Looks like we need someone to step up behind DL next year too.  Not sure Madsen is the man either.  He did makes some threes from time to time, but he was a liability on defense this year. 

Speaking of defense, Thad says he wants to play man-to-man next year.  I don't know if that is the cure all for our rebounding issues or not.  A lot of the best teams in the country are playing matchup zone (like us) AND still managing to hold their own on the boards.  Our big problem is that we don't even try to rebound on the offensive glass - we just launch and retreat.  On defense, we don't box out and seem to always be out of position - that is a combination of coaching and desire if you ask me.

Nate, any more details on Sarikopoulos? 
Does he want to rebound?   

[Nate]

I really don't know much about Sarikopoulos other than his size.  He's about as big as Mullens.   We didn't have much of a presence in the paint and on the boards this year so I can't imagine it would be much worse??  This team needs to figure out how to rebound better.  It's very frustrating to watch such a big team not get boards.

[ScarletBlooded]

I respect your opinion Nate, as well as for you Auto.

I wanna believe, I really do, but that can only be done if they can resolve the problems they've had in the regular season. A man-to-man defense is in my opinion normally effective, doesn't leave anybody open so there is D on each and every offensive player, though it can be mixed up as well. Our BIGGEST issue was the opposition taking it to us in the paint while we get tentative and settle for low percentage jumpshots. I say we mix it up by throwing in a 2-3 zone every now and then. Force the slashers to be jumpshooters, lowering their chances of getting an easy shot and increasing our opportunity to rebound and reduce 2nd chance buckets.

Also memo to the Bucks, DON'T BE SCARED! ATTACK THE RIM! Even if it doesn't get in a shot or has a chance to be blocked, that'll help us put the opposition in foul trouble because they'll be forced to stop us and that should give us seemingly easy chances for points at the charity line. Three pointers are great but you can either live and die by them and the latter ain't pretty.

These players can get it done, but it'll have to be in Matta's hands to get them to do that. That way we can beat the teams we should beat and at least give hell to the teams we know that are better than us, even in that margin we can top the better teams. After all we have done that with Notre Dame, Miami, Purdue and Michigan State. We just have to stay consistent.