Way too Early Look at the Basketball Bucks, Part 3

Now that we’ve discussed all of next year’s players including what positions they could theoretically play, let’s try to paste together an idea of what the starting lineup might look like next season.

Before we begin I want to point out that there is a long time before any of this actually gets set in stone.  We have no idea how certain people will play compared to how they performed last season (especially the new guys), and so the vast majority of this is guesswork.  Part of this, also, is to give an early sense of excitement for the upcoming season because there is so much talent on this team that it’s nigh disgusting.  It was rough having to choose who to play and who to sit in each lineup – Matta has to be smiling a little bit at having to deal with this particular “problem”.

“Small” Lineup

Here’s the fun with the “Small” Lineup.  You could plug any of Thomas, Weatherspoon, Sullinger or Lauderdale in at the 5 spot and probably do pretty well for yourself considering you go small in order to push the pace and deal with a faster smaller lineup.  The advantage of Lauderdale is that he gives you experience plus good size without actually being comparatively “big”.  The biggest downfall with both Sullinger and Lauderdale is that they don’t have the speed to play the 5 spot in a small lineup.  Thomas or Weatherspoon, or even Kecman would be a better fit for the 5 spot there, but I think you don’t want to give up on the talent/experience and shot changing ability of Lauderdale and Sullinger.

“Big” Lineup

Take a look at the “Bigs” for a minute and tell me what you see.  First, Thomas and Weatherspoon are interchangeable at the 3 and 4 spots and I have them shift to the 4 in the backups so that Lighty can make an appearance somewhere.  Second, Big Z Sarikopoulos plays a heavier role here than anywhere else for obvious reasons.  Lastly, Buford as a backup?  This is one place that there could be a lot of play.  I place Buford as the backup primarily because Diebler’s ability’s from outside the arc would be more handy in a court of big guys than Buford’s all around ability – though Matta’s comments about working on his 3 point shot may change that come time for the season.  Also, Diebler has an inch on Buford, giving him a slight advantage for the Big spot (though an inch difference almost might as well be nonexistent).  Lighty also get’s relegated to the backups due to his lack of size and minor inconsistency from the outside.

“Traditional” Lineup

The Traditional offense is predicated on the idea of getting a balance of Big guys down low and faster, smaller, guys outside.  Given Weatherspoon’s propensity for the dunk and his ability to play down low, I give him the nod over Thomas in the traditional style offense.  Lighty would be downgraded to the “6-man” coming off the bench as a primary defensive specialist.  The hope is that Craft would provide enough defensive ability that having Lighty on the bench to start the game wouldn’t be a liability.  Lauderdale takes a seat to Sullinger based on sheer talent, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Dallas starts due to his more extensive experience.

Max Talent

The last lineup I want to examine is the “Best Skill” lineup.  Obviously this lineup is based on having the best 5 players on the court to start the game.  Weatherspoon is replaced with Thomas, compared to the Traditional offense, due to Thomas’ increased versatility compared to Weatherspoon who seems to operate better in the paint.  Also, Lighty makes an appearance in the starting lineup as Buford moves up to the Point Guard position.  Smith takes a shot at the 2 spot while Sibert moves down to 3, taking advantage of some of their other skill sets.

It’s pretty obvious from inspection that the job of delegating who gets playing time at this point would not be a fun one.  If I had to wager a guess as to what lineup we might see in November for the first game might be the last one given the overall experience and talent of the lineup.  However, it might as well be a coinflip depending upon how people look in fall practice and during the exhibition games before hand.  All I know for certain is that the Buckeyes are absolutely swimming in talent right now and it’s going to be exciting to see how things turn out in the end.