UW Lineup Scenarios

By Craig Yamada, Editor-In-Chief

There have been several requests to explore the line up shake ups for the upcoming 2010-11 season for UW. And in the spirit of that ESPN touch screen scenario TV, we have created our own to show our UW starting line-up possibilities. Granted these are based on opinion and a lot of assumptions for certain players, but we would love to hear what everyone else has in mind to start the season.

The beauty of the squad we are fielding this year is that we are not subject to the same starting five each game. We have the personnel to match up to any team that we may play against. Whether they are big (USC/WVU), or play small ball (Oregon/Marquette), or they play an annoying match up zone that dares us to knock down threes (OSU/ASU), we are ready.

Starting the Season

If you stuck a gun to my head and I had to decide on a lineup today, I would go with the following given the experience these five have over the rest of the team:

Teams to use against: Arizona and WSU

We all know that MBA, Holiday and IT are likely going to be staples for the starting lineup any given night. The PG spot is still up for debate but I’m 90% sure Romar will roll the dice with Gaddy out of the gates. Venoy will be ready off the bench should Gaddy slip. And as Griffin mentioned earlier, Gant should get an early look to slide into the four spot to open the season. Gant had a rough go about last year and seemed distracted. I am willing to bet that he regains his form and plays like he did circa freshman year.

Small Ball

Several teams in the Pac 10 are going to be quick and will run the ball up down the floor in transition. To counter, we must be prepared with our own quick lineup:

 Teams to use against: Oregon, Cal, and Stanford

Some of you may think I am crazy for moving Holiday down to the 4 spot, but we all know that Holiday has the potential to be a poor man’s version of Q-Pon if he can get his shot together. Q-Pon played predominantly on the elbows of the key this year and as well around the perimeter. He did make the occasional post-up which then resulted in a face up jumper.  With this lineup, Romar could do a spread offense with MBA cemented in the post. Our wings would have free reign to score from beyond the arc as Gaddy penetrates and kicks. Mr. Ross, this is your time to shine.

Playing Big

Having the size to compete with lengthy teams was not a luxury we were afforded last year. With losses to teams like Georgetown, USC, and West Virginia made it frustrating to watch as a player or fan. We now have the size to combat the bigger teams.

Teams to use against: UCLA and USC

With this line up, we will have what will be coined as “the block party” as Griffin stated in an earlier article. Nothing but brute force in the post and rebounding for opposing teams to play against. Ross and Holiday will be able to lock down the scorers and IT can get into the passing lanes.

Zone Busters

Given the emergence of the matchup zone deployed by Herb Sendek and ASU this year, a zone busting lineup could force teams to converge back into a man to man. How do you do that? Simple. Drive and kick to the open man on the arc.

 Teams to use against: Oregon State and ASU

This lineup is not very likely, but having a three pronged attack from the arc would definitely cause defenses to collapse. If IT can find a seem through the defense, Ross and Wilcox will be waiting in the wings for the open J.

All for now. What are your starting line ups? Thanks for coming!