Jordan Tolbert (Texas Tech transfer) visits SMU

[malachi896]

Yes, our roster is versatile. Who am I playing out of position? Realistically MK is not a Center, probably a PF in LB's world and a SF or PF in my world. Someone is going to get Shawn Williams's minutes. Who would you like to get Shawn William's minutes? Who would you play at Center, PF, SF?

Will you get off the MK as a 3 horse already. Everyone on here knows he doesn't have the skill set to be a small forward and would be insanely out of position playing at the 3. How is that going to work on defense for you when the other team throws out a swing forward that can pop a 3? MK trolling the 3 point line and having that guy blow by him is not a good look.

[The PonyGrad]

Without more beef on YK or CC then MK is our best C option against < 7' beefy inside players.

[StandUp]

I understand that many do not see MK as a 3. To each his own. No problem. Then play MK at the 4, not the 5. Let's be honest here, MK is not a center. Put MK on another Top 10 Team and there is no way MK is their center. Duke, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Kansas, Syracuse, UCLA. Thinking more about our lineup next season, I guess I would rather see Ben Moore play the 3 in bigger lineups and play Sterling Brown at the 3 in three guard lineups. Nic Moore is our 2 and Emmanuel Mudiay running the point. Bring Jordan Tolbert and Keith Frazier off the bench playing good minutes. Start Frazier at the 2 instead of Nic once Frazier has earned more playing time. Given our lineup I can't really see Jordan Tolbert being anything more than a strong bench player. Hope that I am proved wrong.

I guess the question is, who is our Center? Yanick, Cannen? We both know that on another team Yanick and Cannen are probably 4s. If we had a 5, Myles Turner anyone?, then we would be unstoppable and MK would be able to play the 4.

[malachi896]

I understand that many do not see MK as a 3. To each his own. No problem. Then play MK at the 4, not the 5. Let's be honest here, MK is not a center. Put MK on another Top 10 Team and there is no way MK is their center. Duke, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Kansas, Syracuse, UCLA. Thinking more about our lineup next season, I guess I would rather see Ben Moore play the 3 in bigger lineups and play Sterling Brown at the 3 in three guard lineups. Nic Moore is our 2 and Emmanuel Mudiay running the point. Bring Jordan Tolbert and Keith Frazier off the bench playing good minutes. Start Frazier at the 2 instead of Nic once Frazier has earned more playing time. Given our lineup I can't really see Jordan Tolbert being anything more than a strong bench player. Hope that I am proved wrong.

I guess the question is, who is our Center? Yanick, Cannen? We both know that on another team Yanick and Cannen are probably 4s. If we had a 5, Myles Turner anyone?, then we would be unstoppable and MK would be able to play the 4.

Here, you are finally making sense to me. If we had two beefy big men, we could have the added wrinkle of going big at the 4 and 5 and punishing the inside. Hopefully YM, who going into the season everyone thought would be our best or second best player will put some work in and this can happen. All i know is we are stacked and extremely versatile going into next season and that will allow LB to play pretty much any style he needs to attack weaknesses of our opponents. Just wish we didn't have to wait 7 months for it to start up.

[ponyboy]

It's going to be very interesting to see how LB uses Mudiay and Nic Moore. A sort of two headed point guard machine? Is Mudiay maybe closer to a 2 guard than Nic is? Have Nic bring the ball down the court most possessions? I'm assuming they'll play at the same time most of the time.

[smu2004]

My guess as to tbe starting 5 next yr is:

EM
Nic
Frazier
Ben moore
Kennedy

First 3 off the bench are:

Jordan
Sterling/RM (this will prob be a great off season battle)
CC

Unless there is foul trouble, I doubt we see 1 second of competitive basketball being played w both EM and Nic on the bench at the same time. When EM sits Nic will run the point and when Nic sits Frazier will prob drop to the 2 and Sterling/RM will come in etc.


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[malachi896]

It's going to be very interesting to see how LB uses Mudiay and Nic Moore. A sort of two headed point guard machine? Is Mudiay maybe closer to a 2 guard than Nic is? Have Nic bring the ball down the court most possessions? I'm assuming they'll play at the same time most of the time.

I presume Mudiay will be the primary ball handler. Nic is an amazing shooter and it will be great to see him curl off screens and pop up for threes to stretch the D. Also, as much as I love how fearless Nic is driving into the lane, his height is a limitation. E-Man driving straight to the hoop at his height will draw more fouls and draw more help defense allowing for more dishes for easy shots/buckets.

[The PonyGrad]

It's going to be very interesting to see how LB uses Mudiay and Nic Moore. A sort of two headed point guard machine? Is Mudiay maybe closer to a 2 guard than Nic is? Have Nic bring the ball down the court most possessions? I'm assuming they'll play at the same time most of the time.

I say they likely start together but at least one should be on the court at all time so there will be a lot of times that only one is on the court.

[smu2004]

The notion of MK at the 3 is patently absurd and should not be dignified.

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[ponyboy]

The more you beat up on StandUp, the more he's going to defend the idea. Not bagging on the guy, just describing. Never seen a guy so seemingly impervious to what seems to be obvious and fair critical feedback.

[StandUp]

ponyboy - instead of obvious and fair criticism, I guess I would say good and healthy debate about our team. You cannot tell me that you really think that MK is a center So you don't see MK at the 3. Understood. Who do you see playing the 3, 4, 5 with the addition of Jordan Tolbert. That was the original topic, right? I could see MK at the 4, Yanick at the 5, Sterling or Ben at the 3.

I just wish that posters would stay more on topic and actually be willing to share their basketball opinions instead of having non-sports opinions about other posters. We are all supporting the same team. Don't get me wrong, we do not need to sit around the camp fire holding hands singing Kumbaya. I really do not care all too much about whether you agree with my opinions or not, but I would be interested to know your basketball opinions. Not a whole lot gained by criticizing someone's opinion when you are not able to share your own opinion.

[ponyboy]

No, I agree. I enjoy the conversation. I was just expressing embarrassment for you that you were continuing to defend MK as a small forward type despite what seemed to me at first to be gracious disagreement with the stance -- with continuing ridicule heaping on. But I respect what you have to say.

Anyway, MK seems to me kind of a four/five tweener. But Cunningham has really come on and may actually be able to fill the center position for long stretches. I don't know what to say about Yanick other than I feel sorry for him. But I'm not sure I'd choose him over the other options right now.

[hoopmanx]

MK can play at center or PF in college. Some of you get so caught up in positions, w/o even understanding the system. Tolbert is a combo forward that has to play the 4. Sterling brown is your 3. He's starting most of the games on a 26 win team as a frosh, and is neck and neck as our best perimeter defender, and probably our best rebounder by position.

[Harry0569]

MK can play at center or PF in college. Some of you get so caught up in positions, w/o even understanding the system. Tolbert is a combo forward that has to play the 4. Sterling brown is your 3. He's starting most of the games on a 26 win team as a frosh, and is neck and neck as our best perimeter defender, and probably our best rebounder by position.

If Jabari/Rod Hood can play "center" for Duke, then I'd be willing to say that MK could too.

The game has changed; it's more perimeter oriented. The days of two big men playing together on the block is outdated.

[StandUp]

ponyboy - Don't worry, no need to feel embarrassed for me. I am definitely not embarrassed about my basketball opinion. I believe what I believe, to each his own. Thank you for having a basketball opinion. It is great that we have the opportunity to discuss our team. Next year will be fun. Let's get ready for tonight!

hoopmanx - Our roster has a number of tweeners 4/5, 3/4, 2/3, agreed, thus our versatility. That is beyond obvious. Picture any of our players on another Top 10 Team and tell me what position that they would play. MK would not play center at Duke, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Kansas, Syracuse, or UCLA. Sterling might not even play the 3 at these schools, my guess is that Sterling would play the 2. No problem if you disagree with my opinion, happy to see you expressing your basketball opinion.

You claiming that Mustang Nation does not understand the "system" is not close to accurate. As much as you want to think that you know more about our roster, potential positions, and our system... well, keep telling yourself whatever makes you feel good. Many of us know more than you will ever accept. We all know different things. To all of us that do not understand the "system" like you do, educate us. Who knows, maybe this will make you feel better?

Point is that if we play a 3 guard lineup next season, no doubt Sterling is our 3, but it would be nice if LB started to experiment a little more with a bigger lineup, playing Ben Moore at the 3, playing MK at the 4 and settling with Yanick or Cannen at the 5. LB has expressed regret throughout the year about not getting enough playing time for Yanick, Cannen, and Ben Moore. 3 guys that are more than deserving of starters minutes. Now you throw Jordan Tolbert in the mix and playing time gets even more interesting. Would you really start Jordan Tolbert over Ben Moore or Yanick Moriera?