Tough way to lose, but truly a valiant effort by our boys. Especially from our two seniors, even despite Daniel Dixon rumored to be sick with the flu. And what a great venue in Charleston -- looking forward to going back over the next couple of years!

Below, we briefly recap the end of this season, and begin with a (way too) early projection of next year's starters! There will be plenty of seniors to go round, but there will also be plenty of young players to get up to speed next year.

It'll be interesting to see how we replace Dixon/Prewitt's combined 3,000+ points over the next few seasons. Who do you think will be our starting 5 next season? Roll Tribe!

Article: https://wmsportsblog.com/2017/03/08/look...-starters/

Thanks for your great work but you are vastly underselling Milon. He is our starting 2 next year.

Great article but a couple of things:

*Naptown Tribe is correct...Milon will start: he is a tough, tenacious #2 guard who can shoot the lights out.

*Terrific as Jack Whitman was this season, I cannot see him starting over Nathan Knight. If Knight works hard in the off-season, hits the weight room, and gets in 100% shape so he can stay longer on the court, he has the potential to be one of the Tribe's greatest ever at the center position quickly.

*Rowley could start..but he must get some 10-15 more pounds on his thin frame so he can handle
his end defensively. He has to get stronger, which will help his defense. Bigger, bulkier opponents
blew by Paul this season.

*If Shaver and staff can land a big man replacement who can play a little as a freshman for the departed Seacat to come in with the Williams and Loewe class for next season (as they are working hard right now to accomplish) it will give us the flexibility to have two big men on the court at times simultaneously for the first time in memory. That would allow us to occasionally move Knight to the #4 slot.

(03-08-2017 06:58 AM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Great article but a couple of things:

*Naptown Tribe is correct...Milon will start: he is a tough, tenacious #2 guard who can shoot the lights out.

*Terrific as Jack Whitman was this season, I cannot see him starting over Nathan Knight. If Knight works hard in the off-season, hits the weight room, and gets in 100% shape so he can stay longer on the court, he has the potential to be one of the Tribe's greatest ever at the center position quickly.

*Rowley could start..but he must get some 10-15 more pounds on his thin frame so he can handle his end defensively. He has to get stronger, which will help his defense. Bigger, bulkier opponents blew by Paul this season.

*If Shaver and staff can land a big man replacement who can play a little as a freshman for the departed Seacat to come in with the Williams and Loewe class for next season (as they are working hard right now to accomplish) it will give us the flexibility to have two big men on the court at times simultaneously for the first time in memory. That would allow us to occasionally move Knight to the #4 slot.

If we get a big man with the next class, I wouldn't be surprised to see Jack and Nathan start next to each other some times. Coach Shaver's tendencies are to go with experience over youth, but also to stick with the system, so who knows on that. It would be a big change for us to start two bigs.

Shaver will need to change his offense if both bigs start unless Nathan can truly run the floor and cover a forward on defense. I don't see it.

Not sure the offensive sets could do well with 2 big men unless the philosophy is changed with both on the court. The offense relies on spacing out 4 guys, running back cuts, and having either pick & roll with the center or the center passing out of the high post. Also, if both bigs are on the court, then defense would be a concern - the 3-2 would get ripped apart even more (if that is possible) and I don't think Knight can man up against opposing 4s (maybe a 1-3-1 with Knight in the middle and Whitman at the back?).

Two bigs on the court is the way most basketball is played; I get at the mid major level a lot of teams get by with just one true big, but two would be great. On offense it creates nightmares for our opponents as they have to worry about two threats inside (and the fact that Knight has some range with a shot). On defense there are plenty of options, but if you want to play a simple man I think Knight has the ability to guard the second slowest player on the court if needed.

I think he might put both Knight and Whitman out there as a gimmick once in a while but I doubt he'll do it regularly. Against smaller teams footspeed would be a huge issue and neither one of them has the outside jumper even though Knight thinks he does. Maybe against Towson you'll see it since rebounding tends to be an issue against them.

If Cohn could get more consistent with his shot they might be able to play Tot and Cohn on the court at the same time. It would in theory cover up some of their defensive woes on the perimeter.

I don't agree. The new wave is having one athletic big man who can run the floor. It is at the NBA level on down. UNCW is more like the norm across the nation now. The game doesn't go through the center position and hasn't since the three point shot was introduced. It's all about spacing to open driving lanes and create unguarded three point shooters.

(03-11-2017 09:01 PM)hktribefan Wrote:  Two bigs on the court is the way most basketball is played;