First guard off the bench?

I feel like this is a race that will be all over the place and ideally resolved by the UNC game, but it was worth a thread because right now (incredibly early) it looks like a 5-way race for 10-15 minutes a night behind the starters.

Wayne takeways are:
-Jones and Brooks are going to play closer to 70 minutes than 60 in big games, at least early on. Jones looked as good as his incredible advanced stats suggested and Brooks we know will hit 3s and play very, very good defence.
-Nunez was the first guard off the bench against Wayne, can hit a 3 but still doesn’t look like the 40% shooter he probably has to be considering his lack of upside and struggles defensively
-Collins and Zeb out, but probably stock went up slightly because others struggled
-Bufkin looked his very young age in his debut, got minutes at both spots and the 3
-Barnes looked pretty good, would give us length and a passable shooter at the 2 and so might actually be in the conversation here with Brooks sliding to the 1 for 5-7 minutest that Jones sits, which I don’t think anyone here expected, and likely not getting minutes at the 3 with Terrence Williams looking a little slimmer and comfortable shooting it, which is really all he needs to backup Houstan for 10 minutes a night

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Really don’t think Barnes is even in the discussion right now. He got in real late both halves and that was without Zeb and Frankie

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You might well be right that he’s not in Howard’s plans at the 2, but if the other guards struggle and he can hit a 3 and provides length on D at the 2 that might be enough. Nunez presumably is getting a shot for those reasons (hard to see him providing much else other than knowing the O and D from being here for years) and Barnes might be better at both already considering Nunez has had trouble hitting 3s in actual games.

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I’m really intrigued by Barnes. He seems like a guy who is problem for other teams as an upperclassmen. He looks like a player. I must agree with Kturnup though. He is not a factor to be in the rotation this year. Not sure about this Nunez chatter either.

Edit: Nunez got a shot because it was an exhibition and Frankie and Zeb were inactive.

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Nunez and Frankie don’t play the same position. Nunez also got in before Bufkin and there has been some chatter by insiders that Nunez could be involved this year. So I think that’s generally legit and he’ll be in the rotation at least to start, emphasis on the last two words. With the younger guys all having a chance to overtake him

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Interesting. I’m always in agreement that the best players should play. If he’s it, he’s it.

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I don’t love Brooks at PG but IF we’re looking at an 8 man rotation it’s one guard, Williams and Diabate, and we don’t know for sure we even have a Big 10 quality bench guard considering how young Bufkin is, Collins maybe being a non-shooter and Zeb being a fairly unknown quality.

So I’m not sure it matters as much who’s a 2 and who’s a 1 as much as “who can play defence and get to a 100 ortg” this year to cover 10 minutes at the guard spot.

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Barnes looks to be a 3 all the way. Not much of a ball handler, more 3 and D wing type.

I wasn’t suggesting that he was anything other than that.

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I’m just hoping the 3rd guard who gets 10-15 minutes a game can be a positive and look like they belong. I’m sure someone will emerge and am looking forward to it. Ideally it will be someone who has a lot of upside.

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Watching Nunez come in a chuck 3s at a 23% clip for the first two weeks will be incredibly frustrating.

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I thought Bufkin didn’t look too bad, honestly…

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When he got in with Eli in the 2H he looked just fine. Very confidently shot the ball

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Very possible that Nunez plays spot minutes early in the season, but those minutes go to Bufkin as he gains more experience/game slows down.

Experience means something, even if the player’s ceiling is much lower.

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If there are early season backcourt minutes up for grabs (and it appears there are) I’m intrigued by the possibility of Zeb carving out a role as a defensive ace. There wasn’t much to be encouraged about by his offensive game last year but he flashed on the defensive end with his length and athleticism. If the other options are freshman who aren’t ready to be trusted, or Nunez who is a liability defensively, Zeb has a path to 10-12 minutes a game even if he doesn’t contribute much in offense.

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I think it’s Frankie Collins if he’s the second best point guard on the team. And then maybe Bufkin a few minutes to spell Brooks.

I realize I left out the option of none of them playing!

Dickinson 29 Diabate 11
Johns 26 Diabate 14
Houstan 20 Williams 20
Brooks 28 Houstan 12
Jones 34 Brooks 6

is maybe something we’ll see in conference if Johns, Williams and Diabate are as far ahead of the guards as they looked against Wayne AND we’re playing a team we want size against

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ideally we have Frankie and Zeb back soon. both should be better defensively than other options, and have ability to get to the rim.

Any new news on health status of Zeb and Frankie?

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Presser coming up soon, so we’ll see if we get anything.

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