One of the main points of Hovde in media day was that the team will play bigger than usual. He said we will see Blair playing as a 3 instead of as a 4. Although I don’t dislike that at all, do you think we can make that work with this team? Who else can play as a big 3?I imagine something like
I kind of see too many small players to be able to play consistently with a big 3. And I have doubts about who can be an extra 5, who can play as a 4 (is Coleman more of a 3 or a 4?), and who is too weak to play interior.
I think we will frequently see 2 big guys on the floor at once, which we haven’t seen in recent years. Two of Bedri, Ritter or Soulis on the floor at once is a big lineup. Those guys with Blair, Franklin or Coleman at the 3 is a good sized group.
Issue is that Noland, O’Keefe, and Brown seem like they are all in your top 5. So it would make sense to play them all together quite a bit. Maybe Thompson is the 3 whenever one of them is off the floor.
I also think we are going to see that a lot. My only concern is if Ritter and Soulis can play together or are too similar. If not, we need someone that can alternate with Bedri. Is Nweke going to be the one taking that spot?
But that implies playing three small guards which I don’t think is the plan, although it is obviously an option. And I think we have to add at least Sanders to that list.
I think Bedri, Ritter and Soulis share most of the 4/5 minutes and any pairing works. Igoe is more of a 4 and can also fill in. Blair is a 3/4 and likely plays 25ish minutes each night, although most as a 3. Playing 3 guards together is a very common lineup these days and we might see that as well. I’d also expect Brown, who is 6’4”, to see some minutes off the ball for once. My best guess is that we have a consistent rotation that goes 10 deep.
I thought Hovde was terrific on the broadcast. Obviously, he already saved the year by convincing the four seniors to remain at Columbia. Of course, that was the obvious choice given Kevin Hovde’s credentials, but the risk of their leaving then was significant. I do expect that all four of the seniors will be a major force this season and three or more will probably start. Everyone I know is very excited about the coming season and expecting great things from both the women AND the men’s basketball team.
The team seems deeper with the 3 transfers. If the 4 seniors start, who do you expect to be the 5th starter and who are the first few guys off the bench? Any thoughts?
If Coach Hovde goes big, the choices are Ritter Soulis, Coleman, Nweke and Igoe. Otherwise, O’Keefe, Sanders and Cunningham are the most likely guard options. O’keefe, who is an excellent all around player was overlooked early last season by the now departed coaching staff. Sanders is also very talented.
I think Ritter will be the fifth starter initially, but is very likely that we will see a lot of rotation between him and Soulis to see what works better. We will also see a lot of minutes from O’Keefe from the bench, and probably Sanders too. Let’s see about the rest, I guess Coleman has a high chance of getting a lot of minutes too, but we will see.
I just don’t see how O’Keefe is a bench player for this team. Or if he is, he’s got to be playing big minutes. Maybe Brown gives way. But I think O’Keefe will likely be Columbia’s best guard this year.
Maybe we get there at some point, but what Coach Hovde said is quite incompatible with playing Brown, Noland and O’Keefe at the same time. I think Brown will start and O’keefe will be the 6th player, but he can well be in the starting lineup very soon
More Lions Tiddbits: (1) Pomeroy has us ranked 245 ahead of Penn at 278; (2)Bedri’s scrimmage stats are great; (4) Ritter, Soulis, Nweke and Igoe all have the size and strength to be major factors in the Lions expected improvement this season. Hopefully, one or more of them will make a big impact in the Ivy League this season. All four are excellent athletes and Igoe was a two-sport standout (basketball and football) at Poly Prep in Brooklyn.
