Who will start?

[CameronCrazy'11]

The roster's set, Summer League play is well under way. Can the collective wisdom of the DBR posters give us a starting line-up?

[speedevil]

The roster's set, Summer League play is well under way. Can the collective wisdom of the DBR posters give us a starting line-up?

pg: paulus
sg: scheyer
sf: henderson
pf: singler
c: thomas

that will be the starting lineup for the first game of the season.
it will change throughout the year.

i believe, zoubek will get some starts at center, smith will get a start at guard, and williams will get a start a sf sometime during the year.

[Acymetric]

Greg, Jon, G, Kyle, and Zoubek for my money. Above I saw Lance listed as a C, and I really hope that he can sneak some minutes on the floor with Z or Plumlee in the game so he can work more as a 4, which probably fits his size and skillset better.

[CameronCrazy'11]

Greg, Jon, G, Kyle, and Zoubek for my money. Above I saw Lance listed as a C, and I really hope that he can sneak some minutes on the floor with Z or Plumlee in the game so he can work more as a 4, which probably fits his size and skillset better.

Agreed. Lance struggles against big center. I think K will split him between the 4 and 5 next year. Even our two freshmen seem like more natural 5's than Lance.

[quickgtp]

I am going with:

g Paulus
g Williams
g Henderson
f Singler
f Thomas

Scheyer, Smith, Zoubek, McClure and Czyz getting the most minutes off the bench.

[Got_Duke]

there's absolutely no way williams starts ahead of scheyer, no way

[Ignatius07]

there's absolutely no way williams starts ahead of scheyer, no way

Thank you. From all accounts Elliot is going to be a really good player, but Scheyer already IS on both defense and offense. He and Singler are two of the most well-rounded players in the ACC. I don't want to beat Jumbo's drum anymore, but suffice it to say it is extremely unlikely K sits Scheyer in lieu of Williams. Now, I can envision a scenario where Nolan starts ahead of Scheyer, but even that is probably not going to happen.

I think pretty much everyone agrees that Gerald and Kyle will start. As for the others, I picked Paulus, though I think there is a very real possibility that Nolan could challenge for that spot by mid-season.

I am puzzled by those that pick LT to start over Zoubek. We saw last year that a frontcourt of LT and Singler means that Singler is guarding the other team's 5, something which K lamented but grudgingly accepted due to Zoubek's health. I wonder if the people who didn't pick Zoubek did so because they don't expect him to be healthy? Because if he is, I think this choice is a slam-dunk (to borrow a notorious phrase). Several times last year K mentioned that he preferred having Zoubek in there to slide Singler over to the 4, and - as good as LT is on defense - Zoubek is simply a better overall choice on defense at the 5, since LT can get outmuscled too easily.

Most minutes off the bench, in order: Nolan, LT, Elliot, McClure, Plumlee, Pocius, Czyz

[Papa John]

In my mind, Henderson, Singler, Scheyer and Paulus are shoe-ins... I think that fifth spot will likely go to Zoubek most of the time, but imagine that K will sometimes opt to go with a 3-guard lineup with Nolan depending on the opponent...

The more intriguing questions to me are who will get bench minutes as the season progresses, as this will be a prime indication of how much progress the returning players have made and/or how talented our frosh actually are... I would love to see a situation where our depth of talent is so even that we end up with an 11-man rotation with guys averaging no less than 7-8 minutes per game, but think this is highly unlikely... Far more likely would be our starters taking around 3/4 of the minutes, with the remainder going to 3-4 other guys... So who are those 3-4 other guys likely to be by mid-season?

[CLT Devil]

I just can't see Zoubek starting over Lance. It's been a whole offseason since Ive seen Zoubs, but it just seems like more bad things happen while he's in there. I think he does a good job of spelling Lance or matching up against a large lineup, but I could see Miles getting those minutes if he's any good at all. I know Zoubs has had to battle through injuries, but I just don't see him getting that much better. Here's to hoping I'm wrong.

Paulus
Scheyer
Hendo
Singler
Lance

Not bad with Nolan, McClure, Williams coming off the bench. Interesting to see if Marty can insert himself into the lineup.

[Edouble]

I think pretty much everyone agrees that Gerald and Kyle will start. As for the others, I picked Paulus, though I think there is a very real possibility that Nolan could challenge for that spot by mid-season.

I am puzzled by those that pick LT to start over Zoubek. We saw last year that a frontcourt of LT and Singler means that Singler is guarding the other team's 5, something which K lamented but grudgingly accepted due to Zoubek's health. I wonder if the people who didn't pick Zoubek did so because they don't expect him to be healthy? Because if he is, I think this choice is a slam-dunk (to borrow a notorious phrase). Several times last year K mentioned that he preferred having Zoubek in there to slide Singler over to the 4, and - as good as LT is on defense - Zoubek is simply a better overall choice on defense at the 5, since LT can get outmuscled too easily.

I picked LT to start over Z. I think it could go either way. While a healthy Zoubek is going to get alot of minutes, I think many folks are sleeping on the fact that Lance has had six months to work on the things he needs to work on. He's got talent, and hopefully he's got the desire to hang on to his starting spot that he's had for two years now. It's pretty clear that one of the starting frontcourt spots is Singler's. Lance has a much better shot at beating out Zoubek than Singler for the other frontcourt spot, and to do this he needs to play tough D and rebound. He could improve on the former through hard work over the summer and the latter depends heavily on attitude. Zoubek was definitely coming on at the end of last year, but having Lance on the court makes us a faster team. If he can get stronger in the off-season, I think he has a good shot at starting.

I am interested to hear why some people think that Paulus may lose his starting spot mid-season to Nolan. If Nolan is really a player, I can see him getting close to equal minutes, but I can't see him replacing our top three-point shooting senior captain four-year starter in the starting line-up. I can see how you can make an argument that Nolan will be a better player by the middle of the year, but I can't see him usurping Paulus' spot, just because of the mental/emotional impact of such a move, both on Paulus, and on the team.

[quickgtp]

There is no way Williams starts over Scheyer? Wow, way to support that argument! IMO there is a good shot that Scheyer continues in the 6th man role like he did last year.

BTW....if we start paulus, scheyer, henderson, singler and zoubek we will get run out of the gym when we play athletic teams. Either Thomas, Smith or Williams (or all) have to be plugged in there somewhere. Czyz and Marty just aren't ready to start.

[CLT Devil]

I don't think there is any chance Williams starts over scheyer. Smith?...possibly. Scheyer is too good. Williams would basically have to be as good as Demarcus to warrant starting. I could see Nolan coming in early for Paulus or Scheyer as the 6th.

[mgtr]

I think the poll results are interesting. The four players that most people select are probably the core of the team (Paulus, Scheyer, Henderson & Singler, in no particular order) have about the same number of votes. Thomas and Zoubek have about the same total between them, and are about equally split.

Sounds like a pretty good summary of most of the discussions since April.

[CameronCrazy'11]

I think the poll results are interesting. The four players that most people select are probably the core of the team (Paulus, Scheyer, Henderson & Singler, in no particular order) have about the same number of votes. Thomas and Zoubek have about the same total between them, and are about equally split.

Sounds like a pretty good summary of most of the discussions since April.

I think it's a good sign that nobody hasn't picked Henderson and Singler yet. Given the discussions over the past few months, I'm a little surprised that more people aren't choosing Smith or Williams. I thought they'd have about 25% each wanting them to start.

[3rd Dukie]

I am just curious as to why so few people expect Scheyer to be the 6th man again. He seemed to embrace the role last year. Some guys can do it, and some can't.
I'm not saying he's not one the most important guys on the team.

Just wondering.

[Indoor66]

I am just curious as to why so few people expect Scheyer to be the 6th man again. He seemed to embrace the role last year. Some guys can do it, and some can't.
I'm not saying he's not one the most important guys on the team.

Just wondering.

IMO he is one of the best four players on the team. Who would you consider starting ahead of him?

[Bob Green]

I am just curious as to why so few people expect Scheyer to be the 6th man again.

I believe Jon Scheyer will definitely start. The 6th Man role will be filled by Nolan Smith. The 7th Man will be either Thomas or Zoubek depending upon which one doesn't start.

As the season progresses, roles will shift.

[DukieInBrasil]

I went with Singler, Scheyer, Z, Paulus and Gerald.
A healthy Z should start over LT b/c he can handle bigger players.
I think it is possible that Scheyer doesn´t start, but it wouldndn´t be for EWill, it would be for Smith. I think that he is the quiintessential 6th man, but he is too good to not start. Unless Smith makes a huge leap forward as a ball-handler and distributor, Scheyer will most likely start.
I don´t think Paulus sits, certainly not on opening day.

[DevilDan]

As much as I am rooting for Zoubek to start and produce, I think at best we can only expect to get 3-4 minute spurts from him. Anything further would be to expect stamina from him that we haven't seen to date. If we are up-tempo (as well SHALL be), I'd take those few minutes at a time from BZ, with Lance rotating in and out. If Miles & Olek push these two, all the better.

The other four spots? No worries ... Go DUKE

[Edouble]

I am just curious as to why so few people expect Scheyer to be the 6th man again. He seemed to embrace the role last year. Some guys can do it, and some can't.
I'm not saying he's not one the most important guys on the team.

Just wondering.

So few people expect Scheyer to be the sixth man because most of the time in college basketball, and I'm talking about any team here, if a good player leaves (Nelson), the younger guy who was coming off the bench first the year before for him (Scheyer), takes his place in the starting line-up.

Shane Battier really embraced the role of defensive role player, but we wouldn't have gotten the NC in 2001 if he hadn't grown as a player.