Babb

[AllInForISU]

I still don't get this logic. Why start anyone? Why start Clyburn? Why start Ejim? I mean, all that matters is minutes played right? Why not bring Clyburn off the bench?

I think you start your best players. And I don't care if McGee is a "spark" off the bench. Why can't he be a "spark" to start the game?

If you watch a game at any level you would know why teams need a spark coming off the bench. Why didn't James Harden start for the Thunder last year? Why didn't Ben Gordon start for the Bulls in 2004 when he won the 6th man award? A great 6th man is more important to a team than an average to slightly above average starter.

 

[Clones85']

I still don't get this logic. Why start anyone? Why start Clyburn? Why start Ejim? I mean, all that matters is minutes played right? Why not bring Clyburn off the bench?

I think you start your best players. And I don't care if McGee is a "spark" off the bench. Why can't he be a "spark" to start the game?

You question my logic and than ask "why start anyone?"

Well you start people, b/c if you don't than it's 5 on 0 and I don't like our odds.

Want to know why Babb starts? Defense and size. You don't want to get a good scorer off to a good start in a game. Once a great scorer gets going, it's hard to stop them. So you put Babb on him from the start, hopefully he gets him out of his game early and the opposing teams top scorer struggles. We saw it all year last year and it worked great. Why are people so quick to jump off ship after 6 games?

 

[St810s]

If you watch a game at any level you would know why teams need a spark coming off the bench. Why didn't James Harden start for the Thunder last year? Why didn't Ben Gordon start for the Bulls in 2004 when he won the 6th man award? A great 6th man is more important to a team than an average to slightly above average starter.

James Harden got traded to the Rockets and is killing it in a starting role for them. And the Heat, who beat the Thunder last year for a championship, didn't have any 6th man coming off the bench to spark them. They seemed to do just fine without one.

I get that people enjoy the luxury of having a great player come off the bench for us. But maybe McGee would flourish in a starting role. Maybe Babb would flourish coming off the bench. Who knows. But why not switch it up until Babb gets his thing going again?

 

[Clones85']

James Harden got traded to the Rockets and is killing it in a starting role for them. And the Heat, who beat the Thunder last year for a championship, didn't have any 6th man coming off the bench to spark them. They seemed to do just fine without one.

I get that people enjoy the luxury of having a great player come off the bench for us. But maybe McGee would flourish in a starting role. Maybe Babb would flourish coming off the bench. Who knows. But why not switch it up until Babb gets his thing going again?

Harden is killing it? His FG% is down 7 points and his 3 FG% is down 5. Sure he's scoring more points but it's a product of increased minutes and going from 3 to 1, not because he's being more efficient.

Babb starts b/c he's our best defender. He will get the most minutes on the team in Big 12 play like last year b/c he slows down opposing teams best player. You can complain all you want about McGee not starting over him but he never will, nor should he (I love McGee)

 

[St810s]

You question my logic and than ask "why start anyone?"

Well you start people, b/c if you don't than it's 5 on 0 and I don't like our odds.

Want to know why Babb starts? Defense and size. You don't want to get a good scorer off to a good start in a game. Once a great scorer gets going, it's hard to stop them. So you put Babb on him from the start, hopefully he gets him out of his game early and the opposing teams top scorer struggles. We saw it all year last year and it worked great. Why are people so quick to jump off ship after 6 games?

Babb does give us great size at the 2 spot. And I love what he brings on defense. But so far this year, McGee is averaging more rebounds and steals per game. And honestly, I think McGee's D has looked better than Babb's so far too. Babb hasn't brought much to the table thus far this year.

Now, I am not saying that McGee needs to start forever and always, but now is the time to be tinkering with lineups. If McGee sucks in a starting role and Babb starts to turn the heat up, by all means, switch them back. But why not try? I think McGee has earned it. And he has said before that his goal is to become a starter.

On a side note, does anyone know of a site where they keep the +/- statistic for college basketball? I'd be interested to see that for our players.

 

[CY88CE11]

I do enjoy having McGee coming off the bench for us, and I love Babb's defense. However, I think McGee made the biggest strides this offseason on the defensive end. I don't think his defense is far from Babb's at this point. Granted, it's a different type of defense between the two. Babb shuts down a player's shot, McGee uses quick hands to create turnovers. I'm OK with either of them starting at this point. As mentioned, they both get the minutes, so it's not that big of a deal.

 

[TurbulentEddie]

I bet if you looked at the "spark plug effect" in some statistical manner (+/-?), it would come out looking as bogus as players being on hot/cold streaks. That said, I think there is strategic value in starting Babb over McGee to frustrate other teams' starters (typically better offensive players) with his defense and to wear them down. I think Booker (and to a lesser extent, Ejim) accomplishes the same thing; Gibson and Niang are much better on offense. So where's the Booker thread?

The real problem is basketball is 5v5 not 8v8 confused:

 

[CyMyGuy]

Tyrus is awesome, but so is Babb, don't be so overreactive after he's played 4 games. If Fred wants Tyrus to start, he will. He's seen him in both roles and everyday in practice. He's clearly a very productive player that will play starter minutes regardless of the lineup. If you really think this is making the difference between winning and losing games, I'm pretty sure Fred is already a mile ahead of you.