What's your starting lineup?

Petey Buckets

Starter
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Here's mine:

1 - Moore
2 - Holloway
3 - Sherrod
4 - Marko
5 - Arledge

It's a little shaky on defense, but this kitty purrs on offense. Allen will basically get starter minutes as a second or third guard, and a second unit of Edwards, Gray, Jenkins, Williams and Okoloji or whoever could be very effective. We'll see where Copes fits in when he gets back, but right now I don't see any way to take Marko out of that starter's spot.
 

Bricker

Starter
Moore
Allen
Sherrod
Marko
Arledge

Holloway is the perfect spark of the bench. BA will be big for us this year... there's a fire in his belly...
 

gmutom

Hall of Famer
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GOLD SPONSOR
GIVING DAY 2023
Like your thought process, Petey, but I still like Allen starting to give us three seniors out there. We surely didn't seem to fall off too much, though, when Holloway and Gray came in.
 

gmujim92

Hall of Famer
GIVING DAY 2023
I like Bricker's lineup, at least until Copes comes back.

Then I'd go with this: Moore, Allen, Wright, Marko, Copes

Copes needs to be on the floor in the A-10 or we will get destroyed in the paint.

Marko needs to be on the floor because he does so many things well. We're just so much better when he's in the game.

Wright and Allen are no-brainers. We'll need them to be senior leaders when the schedule gets tougher.

Holloway and Gray are an incredible guard/wing tandem coming off the bench, and along with JW and JA would form as good a 4-man reserve group as we've ever had.
 

GMUgemini

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I can see some problems with starting Moore and Allen together -- we leave a lot of three point shooting on the bench and that means less room for Moore and Allen to go to work. Starting Marko and Arledge together is a bit iffy too, because they are so similar.

However, I think you've got to start both Moore and Allen at this point:

Moore
Allen
Wright
Marko
Williams (to be replaced by Copes when he gets back -- I just think a Marko/Arledge pair will be too weak defensively in the paint, especially against more traditional forwards)
 

EXpatriot13

All-Conference
GIVING DAY 2023
-Moore
-Allen
-Wright
-Marko
-Arledge (Copes when he comes back)

First subs:
-Corey
-Holloway
-Gray/Okoloji
-JW/Jenkins
-Arledge

Okoloji is the odd-man out as he produces very little other than hustle. He's out of control and has a bad shot.
 
OP
Petey Buckets

Petey Buckets

Starter
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
I figured Holloway over Allen would be the most controversial part of that lineup. I think it makes more sense to put our four best/smartest offensive players on the floor at a time (Moore, Holloway, Wright, Marko) as much as possible. Bryon still gets big minutes, but Holloway fits better in that spot. "Spark off the bench" is a role that guys who can shoot 3's get shoe-horned into, but it's clear that Holloway is much more than that at this point. He's gifted offensively and keeps getting better.
 

EXpatriot13

All-Conference
GIVING DAY 2023
Allen is pretty gifted offensively as well, in different ways, but still. He can flat out get to the rim, finish through contact, and has improved his shooting. I see no reason to take Allen out of the starting lineup after what we've seen the last two games, and dating back to the end of last season.
 

JBiggs

Starter
Dude, you're nuts if you want to take Allen out of the starting lineup. Not only does he have size at 6-3, 214, but he's an incredible athlete that can both score and distribute. He had 5 assists to 1 TO in only 12 minutes last night to go along with 8 points on 50% shooting. The foul trouble was bogus for the most part.

Not to mention he's a grizzled veteran as a senior.
 
F

Flexxar

Spectator
Based on these first two games...

Allen
Gray
Wright
Marko
Holloway

It's a small lineup, but these are the guys that get the job done. J2 and Copes need to learn how to catch a ball. Arledge might not be the guy we think he is. He was at mason for 3 years and only looked like a superstar for 1 month of it. Needs to prove himself this season. I was not impressed with him the first game. Moore looks like a stud, but he is unproven. He only played 1 game.

Most people here are picking lineups of players that would be great picks when they were at the height of their college career. The problem is that they are highly inconsistent or unproven players. Guess what... That is exactly the problem that we have been facing for the past 2 seasons. We keep playing the guys that can get the job done instead of the guys that will get the job done.
 

Pablo

Hall of Famer
IMO, Bryon Allen is the best all-around player on the Patriots and continues to improve in all facets of the game. And, I assume that Coach Hewitt agrees with this and has given absolutely no thought to moving him into a reserve role.
 

JBiggs

Starter
Edwards is the only guard that can possibly--and will probably--get pulled from the starting line-up. He just seems to regress every time I see him. It's almost like he started thinking too much the minute he started playing college ball. As a freshman, he was more fluid and decisive than he is now as a junior. I feel bad for the kid, because he seemed to really have the tools coming out of HS, but the coaches need to do what's best for the team going forward, and I think that means he gets replaced by either Holloway or Moore.

I talked about what I wanted to see from J2 yesterday, but he didn't deliver unfortunately. He was efficient when he did get the ball in his hands and he grabbed 6 boards (3 offensive), but he should have dismantled that frontcourt with 34 minutes of playing time. He's just so damn passive, which may be attributable to his shoulder injury in part. I know it must be hard for an athlete to come back from something like that and play with a high level of intensity.
 

MASONscott

Starter
GIVING DAY 2023
BA and Wright are the only two solidified starters. I'd play them at least 25 minutes a game.

1 - Moore
2 - Allen
3 - Sherrod
4 - Marko
5 - Arledge

PH first off the bench.

Moore has some BA in him and will drive to the basket. He did it a couple times yesterday, but he did it a lot in summer play. If he can develop into a 6-8 point a night PG with 4-8 assists a game, we may be in business.

Arledge closed last year well enough to earn the right as starter and Marko has shown enough in two games to earn the starting role.

JW had a pretty serious concussion. We should reserve judgement until he has a couple months under his belt. Wouldn't be surprised to see him steadily improve as his mental and physical skills get back to 100% and return to a starting role or at least get the minutes. Few athletes come back from a serious concussion at their previous playing strength.

Copes - surprised so many are plugging him in so easily. Hip kept him from playing at 100% last year and the suspension this year has him still as the odd man out. 2 years 2 suspensions. Make him work twice as hard and it should take twice as long to earn the starting role.
 

99 Patriot

Starter
GIVING DAY 2023
Agree with Scott, though would throw Copes in for Marko once he's back.

These early season games are about preparing for a tough conference schedule. That means finding what works. Would love for Moore to get a bunch of starts under his belt now so we can know what to expect when the real important games come around.

Not starting Allen is absurd. He won us our first game and since last February has easily been the best player on this team. Love what Gray and Holloway are doing early in the year, but not near enough for them to supplant BA.
 
F

Flexxar

Spectator
Agree with Scott, though would throw Copes in for Marko once he's back.

These early season games are about preparing for a tough conference schedule. That means finding what works. Would love for Moore to get a bunch of starts under his belt now so we can know what to expect when the real important games come around.

Not starting Allen is absurd. He won us our first game and since last February has easily been the best player on this team. Love what Gray and Holloway are doing early in the year, but not near enough for them to supplant BA.

Throw Copes in for Marko? Marko got a double double last game. As far as the stats are concerned, he was the best player on the team in both of the last two games and you want to bench him for Copes? Sounds insane to me, but Hewitt will probably do it...
 

99 Patriot

Starter
GIVING DAY 2023
Throw Copes in for Marko? Marko got a double double last game. As far as the stats are concerned, he was the best player on the team in both of the last two games and you want to bench him for Copes? Sounds insane to me, but Hewitt will probably do it...

The staff loves Marko and he's going to play big minutes either way, however we've been fortunate to play two teams so far that had zero inside presence of their own. That's going to end, which to me means we'll be exposed inside. Copes, with his stone hands and pouty face, is still our best interior defender one-on-one and in help defense. We will need that. I have loved Marko's rebounding so far and willingness to be physical, and truthfully I think he'll close more games for us on the floor then Copes, but for setting a tone early, I'd still go back to Copes.
 

gmutom

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GIVING DAY 2023
I think a sign of Marko's intelligence is how he has been able to avoid fouls thus far — especially given the new rules. Last year he was whistled a lot for reaching, setting moving screens and hand-checking his opponent; but he has shown in the first two games that he has learned to avoid those calls and to play within the new rules.

I hope Copes and Arledge also figure this out, because we can't afford for them to be sitting on the bench with foul trouble like they did many times last year. Otherwise, Marko will be playing more minutes this season than both of them.
 

Washingtonian

Hall of Famer
I think a sign of Marko's intelligence is how he has been able to avoid fouls thus far — especially given the new rules. Last year he was whistled a lot for reaching, setting moving screens and hand-checking his opponent; but he has shown in the first two games that he has learned to avoid those calls and to play within the new rules.

I hope Copes and Arledge also figure this out, because we can't afford for them to be sitting on the bench with foul trouble like they did many times last year. Otherwise, Marko will be playing more minutes this season than both of them.

Marko has one foul TOTAL through two games:
http://www.gomason.com/fls/25200/PDF/MBBStats.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=25200
 
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