Friday, October 2, 2009

Projecting starting 5

In basketball, it means more who finishes a game than who starts it, but here is a preliminary look at who may start the season for each WAC team with the season now basically a month away. If you are logging on from another school, feel free to tell me how far off I am.

Boise State (19-13, 9-7) WAC qtr-round, CBI first-round
PG — Anthony Thomas 6-foot, 205 — 9.5 ppg, 4.7 apg
SG — Paul Noonan 6-7, 210 — 10 ppg, 3.6 rpg
SF — Robert Arnold 6-7 170 — Junior college transfer
PF — Ike Okoye 6-9, 230 — 8.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg
C — Kurt Cunningham 6-10, 260 — 10.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg

Fresno State (13-21, 3-13) WAC qtr
PG — Steven Shepp 6-2, 170 — Redshirt sophomore
SG — Mike Ladd 6--5 190 — 9.5 ppg, 36 3-pt %
SF — Paul George 6-8 210 — 14.3 ppg 6.2 rpg
PF — Sylvester Seay 6-10 235 — 15.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg
C — Nedeljko Golubovic 6-8 245 — 7.3 pp 34 3-pt %

Hawaii (13-17, 5-11) lost WAC play-in
PG — Hiram Thompson 6-2 175 — 2.4 apg
SG — Roderick Flemings 6-7 210 — 16.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg
SF — Adhar Mayen 6-8 195 — 4.3 ppg
PF — Bill Amis 6-9 220 — 10.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg
C — Paul Campbell 6-10 215 — 2.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg

Idaho (17-16, 9-7) WAC qtrs, 1-1 in CollegeInsider.com Tournament
PG — Mac Hopson 6-2 185 — 16.4 ppg, 5.9 apg
SG — Kashif Watson 6-1 175 – 10.3 ppg
SF — Luciano de Souza 6-7 205 — 8.5 ppg 36 3-pt %
PF — Brandon Wiley 6-6 225 — 8.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg
C — Marvin Jefferson 6-10 245 — 9.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg 58 blocked shots

Louisiana Tech (15-18, 6-10) lost WAC semi
PG — Jamel Guyton 6-3 180 — 11.8 ppg, 2.0 apg
SG — Kyle Gibson 6-5 205 — 16.1 ppg, 2.7 apg
SF — Olu Ashaolu 6-7 230 — 5.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg
PF — David Jackson 6-8 195 — 5.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg
C — Magnum Rolle 6-11 225 — 12.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg

Nevada (21-13, 11-5) lost WAC final, CBI first round
PG — Armon Johnson 6-3 195 — 15.5 ppg, 4.2 apg
SG — Brandon Fields 6-4 185— 9.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg
SF — Joey Shaw 6-6 205 — 7.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg
PF — Luke Babbitt 6-9 225 — 16.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg
C — Dario Hunt 6-8 230 — 3.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg

New Mexico State (17-15, 9-7) WAC semis
PG — Hernst Laroche 6-1 170 — 5.8 ppg, 4.3 apg
SG — Jonathan Gibson 6-1 171 — 14.1 ppg, 2.1 apg
SF — Jahmar Young 6-5 180 — 17.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg
PF — B.J. West 6-8 215 — Freshman
C — Hamidu Rahman 6-11, 245 — 6.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg

San Jose State (13-17, 6-10) WAC qtrs
PG — Justin Graham 6-4 195 — 8.3 ppg, 4.7 apg
SG — Adrian Oliver 6-4 210 — 17.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg
SF — Chris Jones 6-4 205 — Freshman from Newark, Calif.
PF — C.J. Webster 6-9 255 — 12 ppg, 6.5 rpg
C — Chris Oakes 6-10 235 — 8.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg

Utah State (30-5, 14-2) WAC champion, NCAA first round
PG — Jared Quayle 6-1 180 — 13.1 ppg, 6 rpg, 3.7 apg
SG — Pooh Williams 6-3 200 — 5.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg
SF — Tyler Newbold 6-4 200 — 9 ppg, 4.2 rpg
PF — Tai Wesley 6-7 240 — 12 ppg, 6 rpg
C — Matt Formisano 6-8 235 — 3.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg

11 comments:

Travis Mason-Bushman said...

I would expect Steffan Johnson to start at SG for Idaho, Brandon Wiley to start at SF and Luiz Toledo to start at PF.

3-star recruit Corey Stern will probably see starts at SF later in the season... or maybe right away?

Jason Groves said...

I have read on your blog that Johnson is a good player. You think he would come in and start over Watson, who started all year last season?

Travis Mason-Bushman said...

Yes, I do... he's a much more dangerous weapon. Not that Watson won't get some serious minutes off the bench, but Steffan is an instant threat upgrade. He averaged 14.1 ppg and 4.9 apg at Pacific and is dangerous from anywhere on the court. He'd be a force-multiplier for Mac Hopson.

Over the summer, I watched them playing together in open gym... neither they nor Don Verlin will admit it, but I'm pretty sure there's been a plan from the minute Johnson enrolled here, to make him and Hopson into a backcourt machine this year. You could see the connection on the court, like they'd been playing together for years.

Johnson only gets this one year at Idaho, and I just don't see Verlin wasting that kind of scoring threat riding pine.

I moved Wiley down because he was always undersized for a PF at 6-6 - the Vandals simply had no other options last year. With the newfound depth and size on the roster, he can move down to a spot he matches up better at.

I think de Souza will continue to come off the bench as the "special teams" long-baller. You'll see a lot of him again, but he doesn't strike me as a starter because of his inconsistency.

The Vandals are going to be a much faster-paced team this year. It's pretty much the opposite of last year, when we had no depth anywhere. Watson will get his minutes because of that. We won't be having players pull 35+ minutes.

Anonymous said...

For Louisiana Tech there no question first team JUCO All-American DeAndre Brown will start at the point.

Jamel Guyton played all of one game at the point position last season and will not log a minute there this season. He will be the 2.

Kyle Gibson at the 3.

Olu Ashalou at the 4.

Magnum Rolle at the 5.

Anonymous said...

I wasn't too happy with NM State's overall performance last season but I feel really good about this upcoming season. The Aggies are due for a big year.

chilero said...

Jason

Any word on N'doye's clearance by NCAA? He could be a factor for us up front if he gets cleared early enough to practice/play.

Also, any word on West? I'm hoping he does some big things to help us forget about Big Wen and Gillenwater's absence.

THX

Jason Groves said...

No word on clearance yet. Menzies said N'doye's knee surgery last week went well and that he could practice in three to four weeks.

I think West will be able to step in and be productive. If the Aggies get any production from West, Sy, etc., the loss of Wendell and Troy could even out assuming the guards play like everyone expects them to.

jimmy said...

J.G.; not too many WAC guys are busting your chops, so your scouting job passes muster. Does academically ineligible still allow TG an McK to practice with the team, just not play games? Or are they locked out of practice by NCAA until after exams??

Anonymous said...

B.J. is not eligible to play yet and there is no guarantee he will get cleared before practice starts next week.

Jason Groves said...

Jimmy. Welcome back. Troy and Wendell will still be able to practice....anon, I don't think that West's situation is any different than any of the new players the Aggies have coming in or in the past.

Anonymous said...

Well, if West can get cleared for non-conf games, plus go up against Troy and Wendell in practice, then he'll progress rapidly compared to riding the pine. Which then leads to a Deeper Bench for 09-10 season.
If these guys play less minutes, especially JY because Troy had his little battle of wills with Marvin, it stands to reason that productivity for rested, hungry players will increase. Wendell redshirting; not a bad career move. Jimmy