Why not play Clyburn at forward?

[andymhallman]

We've got some time to kill before the next game, so here's a mental exercise to keep you busy:

Will Clyburn is a good basketball player as evidenced by the fact he is our leading scorer. However, those who have watched him through these first 12 games have seen somebody who "checks out" of certain games. He is not a good dribbler and he is only a so-so three point shooter. On the bright side, he is a 6'7" guard and is a pretty dependable rebounder.

With all that in mind, why is he a guard? He seems much more like a forward. In fact, he is one inch taller than one of our starting forwards, Melvin Ejim, who I think everyone agrees is a forward.

This is why it matters: Tyrus McGee needs more playing time. He is the best three-point shooter in the Big XII. Unfortunately, our team is guard heavy, which is why he has to come off the bench. We need a point guard, which is why Lucious has to start, and we need Babb to start for his defense.

At the same time, our team is also light on forwards. Percy Gibson and Anthony Booker have shown flashes of brilliance but they are not as dependable as the other starters. Gibson takes too many hurried, contested shots and Booker fouls too much (although his stat line was good in the UMKC game).

My solution is to start this team:

Korie Lucious (G)
Chris Babb (G)
Tyrus McGee (G)
Melvin Ejim (F)
Georges Niang (F)

Have these guys come off the bench:
Will Clyburn (F)
Anthony Booker (F)
Percy Gibson (C)
Naz Long (G)

I'm actually sitting on the fence as to whether Clyburn should start over Niang but I think Niang should be given a few starts this year and Clyburn is the logical one to sit since we need two forwards and Ejim is too valuable.

The only downside to starting McGee over Clyburn is that McGee probably gets fewer rebounds than Clyburn (since he's five inches shorter) and will have a harder time defending tall guards, but McGee makes up for it in improved shooting and ball handling.

 

[DistrictCyclone]

I think any starting lineup needs either Gibson or Booker in it. Not sure Niang is ready to be an every-day starter, either.

 

[awd4cy]

I think any starting lineup needs either Gibson or Booker in it. Not sure Niang is ready to be an every-day starter, either.

I think Niang has shown he deserves to start more than Booker has.

 

[CyCrazy]

I think Niang should be a starter right now.

Besides Mcgee and probably Booker he has shown the most leadership and toughness. I should throw Babb in there as well I guess. That being said I think Niang can be a team leader right now.

 

[JMCato]

Cause he's only listed at 210lbs and you'd be putting him up against guys that have 30lbs on him...probably wouldn't go well.

 

[Rabbuk]

I think Niang has shown he deserves to start more than Booker has.

this.

 

[Clonefan17]

I like him at guard he's a good shooter and it's always nice to create matchup problems with a 6 7 guard.

 

[bozclone]

Korie has to play significant minutes at the point right now. I think Clyburn, McGee, Niang, and Gibson are more natural scorers than Babb, Melvin, and Booker. For this reason, I think we need to always have at least two of our scorers on the floor at any given time. I also think we would benefit from having McGee's energy in the starting lineup, so this would be my first and second units.

First unit: KL,TM,CB,ME,PG
Second unit: KL,WC,X,GN,AB (X = TM or ME or CB depending on matchups or who is playing well)

As the game progresses, minutes are earn based on performance.

 

[Thompsonclone]

I am not taking Clyburn out of the starting lineup. Leading scorer and is our second leading rebounder. If I had to change the starting lineup I would find a way to have Niang and Gibson playing together. Lucious, Babb, Clyburn, Ejim and Booker. Those 5 so Niang and Gibson are playing together.

 

[andymhallman]

Korie has to play significant minutes at the point right now. I think Clyburn, McGee, Niang, and Gibson are more natural scorers than Babb, Melvin, and Booker. For this reason, I think we need to always have at least two of our scorers on the floor at any given time. I also think we would benefit from having McGee's energy in the starting lineup, so this would be my first and second units.

First unit: KL,TM,CB,ME,PG
Second unit: KL,WC,X,GN,AB (X = TM or ME or CB depending on matchups or who is playing well)

As the game progresses, minutes are earn based on performance.

You hit the nail on the head. Babb is good three point shooter and seems like a better ball handler this year but he's probably not going to score a ton of points.

Ejim is not a great shooter but he gets a lot of baskets from offensive rebounds and handles the ball reasonably well under the hoop.

Booker rarely plays enough minutes in a game to score much, although he scored quite a few in a short span in that UMKC game.

Are there any highlights anywhere at all for that game?

 

[TheBentStick]

I think Clyburn would seem a lot better to us if CFH would stop using him as the backup PG. I'd bet most of his turnovers are when he plays that position. He's at his best when someone else feeds him the ball. But, I respect CFH, so we'll see how it plays out.

 

[psychlone99]

This is why it matters: Tyrus McGee needs more playing time.

Not to distract from you point, but I think who is in the starting 5 is somewhat overanalyzed. McGee is averaging 24 minutes, which is fourth highest on the team behind Babb, Clyburn, and Lucious. I think that is appropriate.

And, for the record, I think the hand-wringing over Clyburn is a bit premature at this point. He may turn out to be a disappointment, but I think some of our worries may seem a bit silly in due time.

Overall, I think the rotation and minutes are being handled pretty well. We just need to get better at some of the fundamentals: turnovers and, to a lesser degree, free throws. I think we have room for improvement defensively as well.

 

[Thompsonclone]

I think Clyburn would seem a lot better to us if CFH would stop using him as the backup PG. I'd bet most of his turnovers are when he plays that position. He's at his best when someone else feeds him the ball. But, I respect CFH, so we'll see how it plays out.

Clyurn had his second best game when running the PG spot. At UNLV, he was getting to the basket and the line whenever he wanted to. Finished with 21 and 15 so he is more than capable of playing that spot, IMO.

 

[ripvdub]

Clyburn looked horrible at pg against iowa, maybe because all of the press D. But he's no Royce, he doesn't need the ball in his hand tocreate

 

[Rabbuk]

With Babb and booker starting that's essentially leaving only 3 people who can put the ball in the bucket.

 

[Big_Sill]

Not to distract from you point, but I think who is in the starting 5 is somewhat overanalyzed. McGee is averaging 24 minutes, which is fourth highest on the team behind Babb, Clyburn, and Lucious. I think that is appropriate.

And, for the record, I think the hand-wringing over Clyburn is a bit premature at this point. He may turn out to be a disappointment, but I think some of our worries may seem a bit silly in due time.

Overall, I think the rotation and minutes are being handled pretty well. We just need to get better at some of the fundamentals: turnovers and, to a lesser degree, free throws. I think we have room for improvement defensively as well.

This is correct, minutes are what matter, not "starting"

 

[SyracuseCyclone]

Because he is a difference maker defensively outside. I give him a chance to totally shut down McLemore McGruder or McClellan.

I am going to assume he was paid to throw the Iowa game or something since it was such a disgraceful performance and apart from that game he really hasn't been a disappointment, move on, and not hold it against him and have my fingers crossed that the tall rangy 20 point a game scorer shows up for Big 12 play. Outside of that one game he's been OK for a guy that new to the team and didn't play for a year pretty good D that hopefully continues to improve and good rebounding.

This team has nice size at the perimeter if they get it to click defensively, Lucious decides to play smart, and guys hit 40% of their 3s (they're gonna take tons of them) they should be in every big 12 game. THe teams pretty well built to win games in the 50s. I see a decent amount of second chance points in the conference games as well if everyone, Clyburn in particular is playing hard and crashing the glass offensively. There is no point in getting down on Clyburn hes going to give you points, and that tweener forward position you refer to is well manned by Niang and Ejim.

The last thought I have about Clyburn and Lucious though is it really sucks that the wrong one of them wants to show off to everyone in the gym that he is the best player on the court every time he touches the ball. I wish it was Will and not Korie that thought he was LeBron/Kobe.

 

[CyCy]

Unfortunately Clyburn's 3 point shooting hasn''t clicked yet.

At Utah he shot 5.1 3's per game, made 40.3% and had 10 games with 3 or more 3's.

Here he has shot 3.5 3's per game, made 28.6% and had one game with more 3 or more 3's.

If his 3 point shooting returns to where it was at Utah, he will be much more of an impact player.

 

[isucy86]

Isn't Clyburn a Forward?

Sure he has played some minutes at PG when Corie sits, but Clyburn basically plays the wing forward position. IMO that is his best position. He isn't a strong dribbler in traffic and doesn't have the strength to play PF in the Big 12.

The reality is ISU's offense is a PG, a Post player and 3 interchangeable jump shooters (Babb, Clyburn and Ejim). Each has slightly different strengths: Babb- defense, Clyburn- slasher and Ejim -rebounder, but they are interchangeable.

As far as Niang playing center- I don't think he has the height or defensive skills to be effective in Big 12 play. We need Gibson & Booker to be solid at center. Niang and McGee can then fill the minutes as the other starters get a break.

Man- am I jonesing for some Cyclone hoops. One home game in almost a month- hope Fred never schedules that way again!!!!!!

 

[jahfg]

Is Clyburn in an unlucky shooting slump or is 28% from three what we're going to get? I think the success of the team might depend on the answer to that question.