Starting Five..

[daneaholic]

Who does everyone think will be in the starting five next season? I think that one of the freshmen will get into the starting five, bet it raffa or ambrose. What do you guys think?

[alexfamous]

PG: raffa

SG: Brian Lillis

PF: ROSS IS BOSS

SF: Brent Wilson

C: obviously it will be Brent gifford but i would like maybe a chance for yocum.

 

bench: Ambrose, Knight, Reid, Iati, Connelly, Covington, maybe a walk on.

 

its going to be tough with out jamars leadership on the court but i think we will semi rebuild. our new recruits will have to become fan favorites quick i think.

[scottotile]

I think it will be hard not to start Connelly at PF, especially if he keeps improving.

[B9j2j6s]

The starting lineup at the beginning of the year will not include a freshman, but I could see two sophmores

 

PG Lills (SR)

SG Iati (SR)

SF Anderson (Soph)

PF Wilson (SR)

C Gifford (Soph)

 

Players off the Bench: Ambrose (FR), Covington (JR), Connelly (JR), Ross (SR), Raffa (FR)

Reserves: Yocum (Soph), Knight (SR), Allen (FR), Walk-On

[purplehaze]

G- Lillis

G-Iati

F-B. WIlson

F-Connelly

C-Covington

 

Off the Bench--G: Raffa, Anderson,Ambrose,Knight , G/F :Allen, F/C:-Yocum , C:Gifford Defense: Ross ,Walk-on: Weaver

 

There is a possiibility Raffa could start, but knowing Coach Brown, he would have to be a phenom and show alot in early practices to start immediately. The same goes for Timmy Ambrose. As the season progresses we may see some of the freshman work their way into the lineup. Gifford may start sometime in the season, but I see Jimmie C. getting the early starts. Billy Allen is a multi-talented. He can play SG or Small Forward. Ross will get more PT in his defensive role-he will shadow the opponents best shooters (note what he did in the AE tournament).

If Raffa is as good as his clippings, look for him to get into the starting lineup soon. Iati is comfortable coming off the Bench.

If Gifford works over the summer and adds strength--look for him to start at some point also.

It will be fun to watch Tim Ambrose.

Alot can happen between now and November, in the weight room and working out, alot can develop. Who knows? we may see some things emerge that we were not expecting.

[albanyhoops31]

G - Iati

G - Lillis

F - Wilson

F - Connelly (could do a lot here, could easily put ross in here, or mike knight or something and go smaller)

C - Gifford

[Dane Pound]

Mine:

Lillis

Brent Wilson

Three other guys.

 

Seriously I like Gifford at the center spot because seems like he has a little more offense and we could struggle to score. I've never seen Raffa, Ambrose, Allen or a player to possibly be named later and added to the roster so it's hard to say. They could be all-world or they could drive us nuts with turnovers, etc.

 

The problem I see with playing Brent Wilson, Connelly and Gifford at the same time is defense. A lot of teams in our league play a third guard at small forward and I think Connelly or Brent Wilson would struggle to guard them. That said I really like Connelly a lot and hope he has a much larger role next year.

 

The thing that might be interested to see is how many starters we'll have over the course of next season. I think last year other than Senior Day we had six different guys start with Covington and Gifford being the only variables. I wouldn't be shocked if we had 8 or 9 different guys start games next year.

[purplehaze]

Mine:

Lillis

Brent Wilson

Three other guys.

 

Seriously I like Gifford at the center spot because seems like he has a little more offense and we could struggle to score. I've never seen Raffa, Ambrose, Allen or a player to possibly be named later and added to the roster so it's hard to say. They could be all-world or they could drive us nuts with turnovers, etc.

 

The problem I see with playing Brent Wilson, Connelly and Gifford at the same time is defense. A lot of teams in our league play a third guard at small forward and I think Connelly or Brent Wilson would struggle to guard them. That said I really like Connelly a lot and hope he has a much larger role next year.

 

The thing that might be interested to see is how many starters we'll have over the course of next season. I think last year other than Senior Day we had six different guys start with Covington and Gifford being the only variables. I wouldn't be shocked if we had 8 or 9 different guys start games next year.

I agree. depending on the opponent and how certain guys are doing at any particular time

[UA_MA_2000]

Mine:

Lillis

Brent Wilson

Three other guys.

 

Seriously I like Gifford at the center spot because seems like he has a little more offense and we could struggle to score. I've never seen Raffa, Ambrose, Allen or a player to possibly be named later and added to the roster so it's hard to say. They could be all-world or they could drive us nuts with turnovers, etc.

 

The problem I see with playing Brent Wilson, Connelly and Gifford at the same time is defense. A lot of teams in our league play a third guard at small forward and I think Connelly or Brent Wilson would struggle to guard them. That said I really like Connelly a lot and hope he has a much larger role next year.

 

The thing that might be interested to see is how many starters we'll have over the course of next season. I think last year other than Senior Day we had six different guys start with Covington and Gifford being the only variables. I wouldn't be shocked if we had 8 or 9 different guys start games next year.

 

Excellent point about the smaller lineups tending to be the common practice in the America East. I like how everyone here has varying, projected starting "5s"'; tells me that we have a deep team. Having said this, my novice prediction for our starting 5 starts with the assumption that perhaps more experienced and older (just due to more physical development and more years in the gym/weight room) will get the "nod":

 

Projected Starts in Bold:

 

PG Iati/Raffa/Knight (the first two in equal time perhaps? All three?)

SG Lillis/Ambrose (if we face a quicker team that tends to play 3 guard-type players, I'd drop Lillis to SF and put Ambrose at SG)

SF Carl the "Boss" Ross or Billy Allen or Reid Anderson; too close to call (To me, the SF is the most interesting position this season. It is a position entirely up for grabs IMHO)

PF Wilson/Connelly/Yocum

C Gifford/Covington (in equal time)

 

Also, I think we could also go with a bigger lineup depending on who were playing. That lineup might feature:

 

PG Raffa/Iati/Knight

SG Lillis/Ross

SF Connelly/Allen

PF Wilson/Yocum

C Gifford/Convington

 

When thought about, I really have no idea what our lineup will look like next year. So much can happen in terms of physical development with these younger players, and I have no idea what the recruits will look like, but it's fun to speculate!

[KingDane]

Can't comment on Raffa, Ambrose, Allen. Need to see them first in an Albany uniform, then actually playing. I'm confident that Gifford is solid for 3 years. He's got a great touch up close and from what I saw didn't get the ball many times when he worked hard to gain position. Not sure Iati will ever or should ever start on this team again. IMO he's and extremely hard worker and has got value in a' coming off the bench' roll only if he hits a 3 quickly. As a ball distributer/playmaker, and on defense, I think his time has passed at this level.

 

GIfford

Lillis

Wilson

Ross

Point Guard - tbd

[olddog71]

It would not surprise me greatly to see someone new added to our roster for next year. I think Coach Brown will be out on the recruiting trail very shortly, and we will capitalize on another tournament appearance.

[purplehaze]

It would not surprise me greatly to see someone new added to our roster for next year. I think Coach Brown will be out on the recruiting trail very shortly, and we will capitalize on another tournament appearance.

back to that question--Do we have another scholarship available? I thought we were full up with Raffa, Alllen and AMbrose coming in