Topic: Marshall Basketball "Depth"

[BoydCountyHerdFan]

Basketball coaches throw the word depth around all of the time but they hardly ever mean it.  I think that's the case right now at Marshall.  Marshall basketball is 7 deep (West, Kinsey, Taylor, Williams, Beyers, George, Obinna).  Those are the only guys that can be counted on in crucial minutes of a game. 

The next tier of guys (Goran, Marko, Iran, Early) can all provide, for a minute or two, breathers to those top guys but can't step in and replace their production, especially in a highly contested game.  Of these four guys, IMO, Early and Goran are the only one's with long term upside.  Spotting those two guys minutes in game situations that are a little less stressful will help their maturation process.  I just don;t see the upside with Marko at all and Iran just has health related issues that prevent him from being counted on. 

Trying to manage playing time for 11 guys is next to impossible and it ends up taking our top tier guys out and hurts continuity. It's a tough situation for DD and his staff.  I can't imagine how tough it is on guys like Williams, Beyers, George and Obinna to sit so long at times and then try to come back in and produce at the same level. IMHO, It's time to trim down minutes for some of the guys and get a little more consistent rotation.

[MUonium]

when you look at the minutes played, it was basically 6, 7, 8 players

[marshallmark]

Danny traditionally plays a lot of people in the non-conference schedule, then his bench shortens as the season progresses.  I don't see this as a problem.

[REL70]

I think our freshman are coming along. Obinna is getting more comfortable every game and Early isn’t afraid to play. He is a thick body that won’t easily be pushed around down in the paint when driving. I like the progression of both so far early in the season.

[98HerdAlum]

Danny traditionally plays a lot of people in the non-conference schedule, then his bench shortens as the season progresses.  I don't see this as a problem.

I can see how this could present a problem, especially this year. When Conference USA games start in two weeks, if DD decides to go with his top 7-8 guys then a lot of the guys that are used to playing 15-18 minutes are going to be asked to play 20-24 minutes on back to back nights. Conditioning could become an issue and force DD to go deeper on the bench into a less productive group of guys.  This year, conditioning and/or depth will be critical to determine wins and losses. I believe Marshall has enough depth at the 4-5 spots but I just worry about the guards getting in foul trouble or tweaking an ankle. If Jerrod West, Andrew Taylor or Taevion Kinsey have to miss significant minutes in a game, Marshall is going to struggle.

[MUonium]

I think our freshman are coming along. Obinna is getting more comfortable every game and Early isn’t afraid to play. He is a thick body that won’t easily be pushed around down in the paint when driving. I like the progression of both so far early in the season.

i agree, Early isn't afraid to go to play the game/go to the hoop and he'll progress. but, i'm afraid the truth at the moment is that he's clumsy/cumbersome driving and handling the ball in the paint or anywhere.  i don't know what his body chemistry is, he's thickly built but not fat, but if he can lose some bulk it would do him a world of good- he'll have to move better/quicker on D too.  i haven't seen enough to assess his jumping ability.
obviously Obinna must be doing everything right in practice to get starts and playing time and except for freshman type mistakes (fouls, etc.) he is by far, the better of the FR and will be a factor for years to come.

[98HerdAlum]

Early will eventually be a good, possibly great, player for the Herd but, like most freshmen, he is going to have to adjust to the speed of the game.  Obinna is much more D-1 ready than Early right now and that is due to his motor and what he can provide on the defensive end.  If you remember Jerrod West was able to contribute right away and it was all due to his high end motor and defensive prowess.  Early is strictly an offensive player at this point and it's a lot different playing against D-1 guys than it is playing against WV High School talent. I'm confident that David is going to work on his game and get his body right over this off season and I expect him to be a much more effective contributor this time next year.  The wonderful thing about it is that we should have both for 5 years.

[GreenWhite]

I agree the guard position is a concern. DD used Luke Thomas in the first couple of games to spell Kinsey/West/Taylor. But, can you rely on him to do that later in the season? Early needs to be the man to replace Kinsey/West/Taylor. He needs to develop quickly. I think Marko is nothing but a spot player. He had to play too many minutes last night because of foul trouble, mainly with Kinsey. As for the big guys, the only ones I trust right now are Obinna and Williams. Beyers is too inconsistent. Makes a good play then does two bonehead things. Goran has problems when it comes to getting the ball in the paint and going up strong. He aims to put the ball on the court before going up. Two of the first three games, I've had a birds eye view (Row SS), so I can really see how things develop from up there. It looks like two games before the conference season starts. Hopefully, the depth situation will be fixed by then.

[coalherd]

Anybody know the status of Iran?  Believe he was hurt, leg or foot injury, several games ago.  I think he was left in Huntington to "rehab", heal, etc., when the team went to Charleston, SC.  Hasn't played one minute since being hurt and, of course, I guess the staff, Coaches, can't comment on medical specifics due to privacy concerns.  Is he even been practicing with the team, if anyone knows?

[Herdmeister]

I can see how this could present a problem, especially this year. When Conference USA games start in two weeks, if DD decides to go with his top 7-8 guys then a lot of the guys that are used to playing 15-18 minutes are going to be asked to play 20-24 minutes on back to back nights. Conditioning could become an issue and force DD to go deeper on the bench into a less productive group of guys.  This year, conditioning and/or depth will be critical to determine wins and losses. I believe Marshall has enough depth at the 4-5 spots but I just worry about the guards getting in foul trouble or tweaking an ankle. If Jerrod West, Andrew Taylor or Taevion Kinsey have to miss significant minutes in a game, Marshall is going to struggle.

Danny has told me that one of the reasons for our early success has been our conditioning. As you have seen with every win we have had, we have had great last 10 minutes. We have seen some very nice runs in that time of every game and in Danny's mind that is due to our great conditioning

[MicDrass1]

We certainly look more aerobically built than much else.  To be greatly conditioned after spending so much time in isolation is awesome.  I think this is a season where Early needs to be used more to let him grow.  The coaches need to establish an offensive role for him bc he plays like a scorer.  He wants the ball.  Last shot of the game Ill go with Kinsey on a drive or Early.

[herdorbust]

We certainly look more aerobically built than much else.  To be greatly conditioned after spending so much time in isolation is awesome.  I think this is a season where Early needs to be used more to let him grow.  The coaches need to establish an offensive role for him bc he plays like a scorer.  He wants the ball.  Last shot of the game Ill go with Kinsey on a drive or Early.

The problem is we have to many players that can’t create their own shot. Kinsey, west and Taylor and I agree that Early can be with getting comfortable. Our bigs simply can’t handle the ball and usually turn it over when they put it on the floor. That is why the team looks really good when the ball is moving. When we play like the Toledo game and try playing one on one basketball then we see the result.