What is our ideal 5 man lineup

[anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy]

For me there 4 clear guys and then the 5th is tricky.

Jacob Young
Geo Baker
Ron Harper
Myles Johnson

we NEED NEED NEED to get jacob more minutes on the floor with these other 3, it’ll take our team to a different level imo

 

[jordkap]

I actually think some of the problems would sort itself out if Mathis would shoot and make some 3s. He is more than capable but hasn’t taken one in seemingly forever. He clearly is forcing bad offensive action and it is killing us by not doing anything productive. If he is scoring, the team can role in any combination they want to.

 

[sct1111]

Those 4 and Caleb

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

I’d rather reframe this. At this level, ideal five man lineup should differ based on circumstance. Last night, Jacob should have been out there from the get go. Too little too late.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

For me there 4 clear guys and then the 5th is tricky.

Jacob Young
Geo Baker
Ron Harper
Myles Johnson

we NEED NEED NEED to get jacob more minutes on the floor with these other 3, it’ll take our team to a different level imo

Nailed it

Young has settled down In the last couple of games After a rough patch there when he lost his staring job

The 5th guy needs to be Caleb...who is getting his shots off (10 plus in each of the last 5 games)

i really like Mulchay, and the intangibles but he just isn’t a willing scorer

mathis is really a mess right now...the plus/ minus when he is on the floor is a real problem

rest of year this is what I would do

Harper, baker, young -32 mpg
Macconnell and Johnson -28 mpg
Mulcahy -26 mpg
Cliff. 12 mpg
Mathis. 10 mpg (if jones or mag was ready I might be inclined to give them a chance )

 

[RUBlackout]

I would like to see CM as the 5th with Mulcahy and Mathis spelling him

that said, while o know it sounds limiting on offense I would like to see Cliff playing alongside Myles. I truly believe the pick and roll would work better along with the high low game of both of them were in creating mismatches.
To me it’s baffling that we don’t try these different lineups

 

[zappaa]

What we need we don’t have.
We need Kyle Young, even if he never makes anything but a lay up.

 

[RUsojo]

Paul/Mathis
Then Caleb
Then Cliff

The issue is scoring. We can get comparable defense from Mathis that we get from Caleb. Comparable rebounding from Mathis and Paul compared to McConnell. We get better scoring from Mathis better efficiency from Mathis and much more efficiency from Paul - but Paul doesn’t shoot so he actually hurts us - so as a coaching staff I dedicate my time to Mathis to get him going and a lot of that will be automatic when he plays with that starting four.

 

[Jackson206:)]

Would take McConnell over Mathis without thinking twice.

 

[S_Janowski]

This might sound crazy but I would put Mathis in the starting lineup for a couple games to let him run with our top 4 and regain his confidence.

He’s completely lost out there coming off the bench with JY and Cliff and he was a big part of our run in the beginning of the season.

If we want to make any type of run in the tournament we will need Mathis to play like we’ve seen him play.

 

[ClassOf02v.2]

I agree we need to get JY more minutes with the ”1s” so I think it’s time to inject him back into the starting lineup, probably over Paul. So JY, Geo, Ron, Caleb, Myles. JY’s energy is huge, not to to mention he’s our 2nd leading scorer and leads the conference in steals.

Mathis’s slump is really killing this team. He was somewhat reliable from 3 up until the 5 game skid, and his game has completely changed since then it seems. I’d give him spot minutes and try to work some plays to get him open 3s, but yank him the second he starts with the selfish, head-down drives into the line against trees.

 

[RUsojo]

It’s crazy also once we realize Geo hasn’t really improved since his freshman season when he played with Corey...

 

[G- RUnit]

Maybe it’s time to bring Harper off the bench:
Caleb
Geo
Jacob
Paul
Myles

 

[Scarlet Blind_rivals]

Here are the starting lineups by records on sports reference.
▼ L W-L%
7 5 2 .714 G. Baker · R. Harper · M. Johnson · C. McConnell · P. Mulcahy
5 5 0 1.000 R. Harper · M. Mathis · P. Mulcahy · C. Omoruyi · J. Young
1 1 0 1.000 G. Baker · R. Harper · M. Mathis · C. Omoruyi · J. Young
1 1 0 1.000 G. Baker · M. Johnson · M. Mathis · P. Mulcahy · J. Young
5 0 5 .000 G. Baker · R. Harper · M. Johnson · M. Mathis · J. Young
1 0 1 .000 R. Harper · M. Johnson · M. Mathis · P. Mulcahy · J. Young

Paul 11-3, Mathis/Young 7-6, Cliff 6-0, Myles 6-8, Harper 11-8, Geo 7-7, McConnell 5-2
5 of those Myles losses were without Cliff playing, no real backup.

2019-20 McConnell 13-8, Mathis (31) 20-11, Myles 17-8, RHJ(31) 20-11, Geo 13-6
*Yeboah 14-8*Carter 3-3*
Young started 5 times both his freshman(1-4) and his sophomore(4-1) years at Texas.

Looking at the split numbers,

JY Shooting numbers don't change, start or reserve
RHJ has only come off the bench 12 times in his career, and that was Freshman year.
Montez has only come off the bench 16 times in his career, 9 fresh, 7 this year, numbers drop drastically, from starter to bench
Myles started 39 times, off the bench 43 times in his career, no drastic stat changes, he does seem to score more, commit less fouls, blocks more starting.
Geo has come off the bench only 17 times in his career. No real differences.
McConnell starts 28 reserve 46, stats don't really change start or reserve, except 3 pt shooting is higher off the bench.
Cliff too small a sample size, no real difference in 6 starts, 9 bench.
Mulcahy started 14(11-3), bench 6(1-5). His numbers are all over the place between starts and bench, but he is more valuable starting.

 

[richthedentist]

For me there 4 clear guys and then the 5th is tricky.

Jacob Young
Geo Baker
Ron Harper
Myles Johnson

we NEED NEED NEED to get jacob more minutes on the floor with these other 3, it’ll take our team to a different level imo

Caleb no doubt if he gets open looks in the flow of the offense instead of trying to have to go one on one he and JY are our best pure shooters

 

[Scarlet Blind_rivals]

I'll look at this another way, we have played the top 4 teams 6 games this year,
Michigan, Illinois, OSU, and Iowa (1-5)

*starters(Ill+3, OSU-12, Iowa-2, OSU-11, Iowa-13, UM-7) -42 total

RHJ 195 min FG 34/81 42% 3pt 14/38 36.8%(2s 20/43)
(+7*,-8*,+2*,-13*,-11*,-13*) 6 starts -36
195m -36/{45m not playing -6}

JY 179 min FG 38/71 53.5% 3pt 9/19 47.4%(2s 28/52 53.8%)
(+1*,+7*,-2*,-2*,-3,-1) 4 starts +4, 2 reserve -4
179m 0/{61m np -42}

MM 145 min FG 19/52 36.5% 3pt 7/17 41.1%(2s 12/35)
(-4*,-26*,-4*,-17*,-4,-13) 4 starts -51, 2 reserve -17
145m -68/{95m np +26}

Myles 135 min FG 19/35 54.3%
(+9,+16*,+1*,+6*,-6*,-7*) 5 starts +10, 1 res +9
135m +19/{105 min np -61}

Geo 185 min FG 21/63 33.3% 3pt 4/27 14.8%(2s 17/36)
(+10,-10,+5*,-23*,-10*,-2*) 4 starts -30, 2 res 0
185m -30/{55 min np -12}

PM 161 min FG 12/23 52.2% 3pt 3/7 42.9%(2s 9/16)
(+2*,-15*,-1,+2,-17*,+5*) 4 starts -25, 2 res +1
161m -24/{79 min np -18}

CM(4G-160) 91 min FG 12/39 30.8% 3pt 3/16 18.8%(2s 9/23)
(Dnp,Dnp,-9,+5,-12*,-2*) 2 starts -14, 2 res -4
91m -18/{69 min np -15}
-9 vs Iowa, 11 minutes(0-5,0-1) was first game back, -9 for 80m/120

Cliff(3G-120) 48 min FG 6/8 75%
(-10*,Dnp,Dnp,Dnp,-1,-2) 1 start -10, 2 res -3
48m -13/{72 min np -4}
Illinois opened 10-2 lead first 3m(-8), played 10m

Some players need minor adjustments offensively, others major.

I'd start with Myles and JY as starters, no changes needed. Given Ron's numbers against the top4 B1G teams, he should be the third starter. Figure out which 2 functions best with those 3 starters, based on starting record should be Paul/Geo or Paul/Caleb. Limit the time between Tez and Ron +/- dictates that, limit Caleb and Geo together their shooting% and style is too similar. Space better, get Myles and Cliff more touches and shots, get Mulcahy to shoot more, Caleb, Geo, and even Ron lately have got to limit the 3 attempts and tell Mathis to focus on 3s more, less drives. Get these players to buy into their new roles the last 4 games and into the B1G tourny, if they want to beat the top, adjustments to the offensive shot distributions and efficiency needs to be made because the defensive efficiency is good.

 

[zebnatto]

I'd also add CM to those four. If we're up at end game, I could see situations where I'd want to have Paul replace Jacob.

 

[RUChoppin]

I just wish Mathis would figure out whatever's going wrong and fix it.

Syracuse-Iowa (6 starts): 19.9 pts/40 on .444 FG%, .481 3P%, .556 FT%

@Michigan St to @Michigan (4 starts, 7 off bench): 9.6 pts/40 on .288 FG%, .222 3P%, .500 FT%

 

[RU-Choppin-Ohio]

Time to end the Mulchaly starting experiment. When the in your face defense gets tough, he really can't do much. Other than dribbling around the perimeter hoping for the defense to let someone get open.

 

[whofrewdatmataRU13]

Young
Baker
McConnell
Harper
Johnson

Mulcahy
Cliff
Mag

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Each game is different. Tez is streaky. When he snaps out of his funk, at that point, I would ride him but until then we can’t afford to play him with the hope it happens. Have to trust whatever Pike is observing at practices too.

 

[MLBash93]

For me there 4 clear guys and then the 5th is tricky.

Jacob Young
Geo Baker
Ron Harper
Myles Johnson

we NEED NEED NEED to get jacob more minutes on the floor with these other 3, it’ll take our team to a different level imo

With this lineup we need a defensive minded player, first thought would be montez but that leaves us really small outside of myles and he has been awful lately. Next thought is Caleb, and I think that would be the right guy here, but he likes to shoot so much lately and I am not trying to take shots away from JY Geo or Ron (when they start falling).

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

He doesn’t “like” to shoot. That’s crap. Go rewatch the games. Nobody is getting open. Would you rather him pass to the opponent or take a shot clock violation?

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Also - it’s probably not a lucky coincidence either that we grab the offensive rebound on a high percentage of Caleb’s misses (his one terrible air ball - for example - PM was there underneath to collect the rebound). Smart player with good court vision even if not the best long range shooter. Understands the schemes and know when we have bodies near the basket to at least give us a chance for the rebound or put back.

 

[hiwater]

For me there 4 clear guys and then the 5th is tricky.

Jacob Young
Geo Baker
Ron Harper
Myles Johnson

we NEED NEED NEED to get jacob more minutes on the floor with these other 3, it’ll take our team to a different level imo

This plus McConell. I would not mind seeing Cliff O instead of McConell against teams without good size and 3 point shooters like Maryland and Nebraska.

PM has been so unproductive for his last 3 games that I would sit him or cut his minutes until his finger heals

 

[RUsojo]

Also - it’s probably not a lucky coincidence either that we grab the offensive rebound on a high percentage of Caleb’s misses (his one terrible air ball - for example - PM was there underneath to collect the rebound). Smart player with good court vision even if not the best long range shooter. Understands the schemes and know when we have bodies near the basket to at least give us a chance for the rebound or put back.

This actaully happens more with Young especially and Mathis to a lesser degree than Young but much more than McConnell. Didn’t post it because I thought people would get upset about it lol haven’t noticed it with McConnell but I’ll keep an eye out.

 

[RacPac12]

Those 4 should probably get the most minutes when possible. I guess the 5th should be Caleb because of his defense. I was a little surprised the advanced metrics don't like Caleb's offense, but stats tell a better story than my eyes. Bottom line is Young and Mulcahy should be taking more shots. Not forcing shots, but taking their shots within the offense.

For all the crap Young takes about his turnovers, Mulcahy has a much higher turnover %, which again was a little surprising to me. I guess because when Young gets out of control in can LOOK really bad.

Who do we want taking a shot with the game on the line? Has to be Geo right?

I'm pretty new to basketball advanced stats, so please someone let me know if I am not reading into these correctly.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/rutgers/2021.html

 

[richthedentist]

This plus McConell. I would not mind seeing Cliff O instead of McConell against teams without good size and 3 point shooters like Maryland and Nebraska.

PM has been so unproductive for his last 3 games that I would sit him or cut his minutes until his finger heals

I wouldn't mind seeing CO and Myles just not sure howCliff would guard th eoutside and what that would do to the offense but I'd give it 5 minutes a game especially against teams with two big men and also provided MJ doesn't get into foul trouble

 

[RUBlackout]

I just think Mathis needs to a) look for contact going to the hole more b) look to pass to keep the defense honest c) needs to shoot from 3pt (he had some success early on here and has gone away from it)

I just think he is in a funk right now and needs to snap out of it. I think he should be coming off the bench still and possibly 6/7 in that rotation. It is also not right to have him and Young on the floor for long periods of time.

I would like to see as my starters:

GB
RHJ
MJ
CM
JY

Depending on the flow of the game you bring in PM or MM as your next sub to spell one or two of GB/JY/RHJ. The next sub is CO for Myles. That said, I still think you need to play CO and MJ at the same time to open things up.

A lineup of GB or CM/RHJ/JY or PM along with CO/MJ would be game changing IMO. Driving to the basket would change our entire offense as we would create mismatches and could get easy layups/lobs or kick outs to our shooters. Watch CO give us 10pts+ in that scenario off the bench as well as help us in the rebounding game where we need serious help.

I would bet you that type of change would ignite this offense tremendously.

 

[hiwater]

I wouldn't mind seeing CO and Myles just not sure how Cliff would guard the outside and what that would do to the offense but I'd give it 5 minutes a game especially against teams with two big men and also provided MJ doesn't get into foul trouble

That's why I mentioned "teams without great 3 point shooters". He hedges against the drive when he is out on perimeter D against smaller guys so he is in his stance a few feet away. He just is not quick enough to step out on his man to take the 3 away and keep up with his man if he decides to drive. He has to guard someone that is not much of a 3 point threat so that he can play off him on the outside.

As far as offense, I think that you can really pressure the paint and dominate rebounding with 2 bigs like MJ and CO in there at the same time. Teams like Maryland and Nebraska would be forced to double more in the paint which would leave the 3 other players open for easy 2 point jumpers. They do not necessarily need to be 3 point shots. Harper, McConnel, Baker, and Young have been very good shooting mid range jumps. We would not have to live or die by the 3, but those will be more wide open when available. That should help the percentage some.

Teams like Mich, Iowa, Wisc that have 2 or more big men on the floor at once are also good 3 point shooting teams. Their bigs can all shoot the 3 as well as put the ball on the floor driving to the hoop. Cliff is at a disadvantage if he has to step out on anyone outside because he is slow to react to the drive or he does not move his feet well enough to stay with the dribbler. He needs to play a little off his outside guy which means the a good 3 point shooting big will eat him up.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

This actaully happens more with Young especially and Mathis to a lesser degree than Young but much more than McConnell. Didn’t post it because I thought people would get upset about it lol haven’t noticed it with McConnell but I’ll keep an eye out.

No - it doesn’t happen with Young at all. When he bricks a 3 it often turns into a runout the other way and too often in frustrating fashion against bad teams - like hoisting a 3 early in the shot clock with a 10 point lead on NW with nobody anywhere near the basket for us. I love the guy and he does amazing things for us, but not this. I wasnt talking about long offensive rebounds back out to the perimeter on bad misses - those are pure luck whenever they happen and have nothing to do with the court vision of the original shooter.

 

[RUsojo]

No - it doesn’t happen with Young at all. When he bricks a 3 it often turns into a runout the other way and too often in frustrating fashion against bad teams - like hoisting a 3 early in the shot clock with a 10 point lead on NW with nobody anywhere near the basket for us. I love the guy and he does amazing things for us, but not this. I wasnt talking about long offensive rebounds back out to the perimeter on bad misses - those are pure luck whenever they happen and have nothing to do with the court vision of the original shooter.

this post is exactly what I was talking about in another thread....ohhhhh only when Young misses a three does the opponent get a run out I see. Yeah the guy who is shooting 40% from 3 is just Killingggggg us with his long misses

Young gets us many putbacks on layups that don’t fall. I honestly believed you that maybe we got some from McConnell misses lord know he misses enough but now I don’t. Gonna check anyway though because I like to do my research smh