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Ok, ok. I know. This year is awesome and it's way too early to talk about next year. But I'm bored at work and, for entertainment purposes, I thought I'd start a fun thread.

Ok, so it seems this is our current year's starting lineup (I think we've finally settled into a really good rotation, although with Yanick being out it kind of messes things up, but play along with me here):

This Year (with Yanick)? . . .
- Yanick - C
- MK - PF
- Shawn Williams - SF
- Nick Russell - SG
- Nic Moore - PG

This Year (without Yanick) . . .
- MK
- Williams
- Russell
- Sterling
- Nic

Next Year . . .
- Yanick
- MK
- Sterling or Frazier or stud JUCO SF or B. Moore?
- Mudiay for Russell (definite upgrade in athleticism / attack mode . . . will be losing valuable experience and will we see a drop in defense? eventually will be a huge upgrade but will be learning curves/bumps)
- Nic Moore

Next Rotation:
- Frazier
- Sterling
- Cannen
- Manuel?
- B. Moore? (switch out Mudiay and Nic off and on)

With this lineup, does Frazier start? Does Sterling? Depends on who is playing well at the time? Where does B. Moore fit in? (If Sterling plays like he played against Memphis consistently, he starts IMHO).

Bottom line: who cares. This is a GREAT problem to have . . . so many damn good players, who to start and when/what are the ideal rotations? All great problems to have and glad LB is our coach to figure it out.

I think based solely on what we know right now it would be:

N. Moore
E. Mudiay
S. Brown
M. Kennedy
Y. Moreira

Lots of time for this to change, but it's fun to think about.

Mudiay will be the starting pg, Nic will probably play as a sg most of the time, takin over at pg while eman rests. Lately I would say sterling at sf, but that seems to be the only position up for grabs

Smu97186 wrote:Mudiay will be the starting pg, Nic will probably play as a sg most of the time, takin over at pg while eman rests.

I think that will be reversed, but they'll both have the ball plenty. I guess it could go either way though. (Also it may change over the course of the season.)

Nic moves very well without the ball. He and Mudiay will be a good combination together.

SMU Section F wrote:I think based solely on what we know right now it would be:

N. Moore
E. Mudiay
S. Brown
M. Kennedy
Y. Moreira

Lots of time for this to change, but it's fun to think about.

Right now, yeah, I agree with this. Will be interesting to watch what we pick up by the end of the recruiting period and what, if any, attrition happens. Fun stuff all around.

Rebel10 wrote:Nic move very well without the ball. He and Mudiay will be a good combination together.

I agree. Nic could have an even BETTER year next year if possible. Will Markus stay another year?

I think Marcus stays another year, I think with a dominate slashing guard (mudiay) he could average 15 and 10 for a whole year and set him self up to make an nba roster. I think he might be viewed as to much as a flash in the pan at the moment.

Pony_Law wrote:I think he might be viewed as to much as a flash in the pan at the moment.

That's been my view as well, but there's a lot of people with a better eye/ear for that stuff than me.

SMU Section F wrote:

Pony_Law wrote:I think he might be viewed as to much as a flash in the pan at the moment.

That's been my view as well, but there's a lot of people with a better eye/ear for that stuff than me.

Got to make your money quick in this business. Personal decision based on scouting projections. I'd be out quicker than a tornado through a trailer park with even a remote chance of being drafted in the first 2 rounds.

ojaipony wrote:I'd be out quicker than a tornado through a trailer park with even a remote chance of being drafted in the first 2 rounds.

If he starts getting info that he'd be selected in the draft, I agree 100%. I'm not sure what the word on him is now with NBA scouts. It'll probably depend how the rest of the season goes.

EDIT: I looked at a few sites (just a Google search) and he didn't seem to be projected anywhere. There were some positive notes though... I guess we'll see. He's certainly playing well and improving constantly.

MK will definitely stay all four years. He has no jump shot at all and without that he could not be effective in the nba. If he develops a jumper before he graduates, he could get drafted.

No way Nic Moore is our PG next year, Mudiay is a much better penetrator and he isn't nearly as good of a shooter as NM. Moore will play off-guard mostly and Mudiay will be able to hit him and Keith for tons of wide open 3s. NM will play PG when Mudiay rests...pretty exciting thought!

MFFL02 wrote:No way Nic Moore is our PG next year, Mudiay is a much better penetrator and he isn't nearly as good of a shooter as NM.

I agree with most of this assessment, but, while I'm pretty sure Mudiay will get all the playing time he can handle, I think Larry Brown is gonna want Nic running things on the floor. Neither one will probably be a "pure" PG or "pure" SG though, because, as I said, I do agree with your assessment of their strengths.

One thing I think I can safely say is that we will have one of the best backcourts in the nation next year. Lots of time to figure out the details; who knows what the next year will bring. Sure is fun to think about though.

MFFL02 wrote:MK will definitely stay all four years. He has no jump shot at all and without that he could not be effective in the nba. If he develops a jumper before he graduates, he could get drafted.

Are you a relative or close friend? How do you know he'll stay? Also, he's already a sophomore who's older than a sophomore so he can't "stay all four years". Of course, I hope we get 2 more seasons out of him, but I think that's highly doubtful. Big man is highly skilled/polished already and body is "NBA ready". I think he jumps the second he can (so will Nic Moore).

I think any of our players that see the opportunity will (and should) try to jump to the next level.

That said, this thread inspired me to do some NBA draft research and I'm not seeing any real NBA buzz for our guys at this point. Obviously things change, but right now it looks like our underclassmen will be back. (If they aren't, it probably means our team made a splash in the postseason and they got a chance to shine. Awesome.)

If any do make the jump, I'll support them wholeheartedly. The more professional players SMU can claim the better.