All this talk of player rotations...how would you do it?

[HomerChampless]

No, I wouldn't play a 10 man rotation for 10 man rotation's sake.

 

[SpiderRico]

This is how I would do it:

I would start the same starting 5 we've been starting.

I would bring Uthoff in for Basabe, move White to the 4 and have Uthoff at the 3.

I would bring in Olesani for Woody.

I'd bring in Oglesby for Gesell and move Marble to the point.

Then I'd bring back in Basabe for White, keep Uthoff at the 3 and Basabe at the 4.

I'd bring Gesell back in for Marble and have Gesell run the point.

I'd bring back in Woody for Olesani, White for Uthoff and Marble for Gesell to get back to the starting five.

That's 8 total players rotating. Keep Sapp, McCabe and Jok on the bench unless they are absolutely necessary.

 

[brhawks18]

This is how I would do it:

I would start the same starting 5 we've been starting.

I would bring Uthoff in for Basabe, move White to the 4 and have Uthoff at the 3.

I would bring in Olesani for Woody.

I'd bring in Oglesby for Gesell and move Marble to the point.

Then I'd bring back in Basabe for White, keep Uthoff at the 3 and Basabe at the 4.

I'd bring Gesell back in for Marble and have Gesell run the point.

I'd bring back in Woody for Olesani, White for Uthoff and Marble for Gesell to get back to the starting five.

That's 8 total players rotating. Keep Sapp, McCabe and Jok on the bench unless they are absolutely necessary.

This is actually a pretty good rotation Spider.

Bottom line is the Hawks have gone into a funk recently. I'd rather they do this now versus late in the season. Peaking to soon is a bad thing in sports.

At the same time while I don't understand how one player who shot 1-8 against OSU played 22 minutes, I also know this program is in a much better place then I would have thought when Coach McCaffery took over 3 1/2 years ago. With the current roster they are deep without a doubt. But I've yet to see any real toughness from this group. I am talking Matt Gatens tough. It's not something that's teachable at this point in life in my opinion. Guys have by now or they don't. Gesell is about as close as the Hawks have right now.

I believe kids have to be taught toughness from a very early age. Many kids today are soft. Several kids have had things handed to them in many cases. Some call it an entitlement mentality.

What ever the case, Fran McCaffery and this staff have brought the program back from a near death experience. Give it some more time. Iowa, to date, has not lost to Penn State or Northwestern at home. See Wisconsin and OSU for that. Things could be so much worse.

The fact Iowa Basketball is relevant again in the media is proof of where the program is headed.

 

[BILLBUCKNER]

Stillbuster ,that was a thing of beauty.

 

[MiniMoeHawk]

This is how I would do it:

I would start the same starting 5 we've been starting.

I would bring Uthoff in for Basabe, move White to the 4 and have Uthoff at the 3.

I would bring in Olesani for Woody.

I'd bring in Oglesby for Gesell and move Marble to the point.

Then I'd bring back in Basabe for White, keep Uthoff at the 3 and Basabe at the 4.

I'd bring Gesell back in for Marble and have Gesell run the point.

I'd bring back in Woody for Olesani, White for Uthoff and Marble for Gesell to get back to the starting five.

That's 8 total players rotating. Keep Sapp, McCabe and Jok on the bench unless they are absolutely necessary.

That makes the most sense but there is no way Fran keeps McCabe on the bench. I would prefer to keep Marble off the PG role and let Clemmons play marginal minutes to spot Mike G. Marble would only play the point of Mike is in foul truoble.

Mike G should play as close to 40 minutes as possible if he can handle it.

 

[WindsorHawk]

This is how I would do it:

I would start the same starting 5 we've been starting.

I would bring Uthoff in for Basabe, move White to the 4 and have Uthoff at the 3.

I would bring in Olesani for Woody.

I'd bring in Oglesby for Gesell and move Marble to the point.

Then I'd bring back in Basabe for White, keep Uthoff at the 3 and Basabe at the 4.

I'd bring Gesell back in for Marble and have Gesell run the point.

I'd bring back in Woody for Olesani, White for Uthoff and Marble for Gesell to get back to the starting five.

That's 8 total players rotating. Keep Sapp, McCabe and Jok on the bench unless they are absolutely necessary.

I want all 11 to see the floor in the 1st half and then reduce the rotation to the 7 or 8 having the best game at the appropriate time. The appropriate time and rotation being whatever Fran thinks will work best.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

This is how I would do it:

I would start the same starting 5 we've been starting.

I would bring Uthoff in for Basabe, move White to the 4 and have Uthoff at the 3.

I would bring in Olesani for Woody.

I'd bring in Oglesby for Gesell and move Marble to the point.

Then I'd bring back in Basabe for White, keep Uthoff at the 3 and Basabe at the 4.

I'd bring Gesell back in for Marble and have Gesell run the point.

I'd bring back in Woody for Olesani, White for Uthoff and Marble for Gesell to get back to the starting five.

That's 8 total players rotating. Keep Sapp, McCabe and Jok on the bench unless they are absolutely necessary.

Okay, but White, Uthoff and Marble are all 3 struggling right now. Personally, I see the merit in using all 10 or 11 to find the hot hand. If you produce, you play. Why not use all of your bullets? This team has chemistry no matter which 5 are on the floor. If that wasn't the case, then I would agree more with not using the players that choke the chemistry. The real reason we have lost games is because ALL of the players on this team have been sub par from the FT line, except for White and Woody. But unless and until White starts taking and making the 15 ft jumper, teams will play off him and not allow him to get to the rim from the wing. Fran can't force White to take the mid-range jumper. This limits White to mostly fastbreak points and if the opposition can shut down the fastbreak, they take White out of the mix.