FINAL LINEUP: Post Oweh Returning

[W1LDCAT22]

Note: I am going to assume JQ is fully healthy to begin the season, so no pre/post JQ projections. With our roster being finalized with Oweh returning, it's going to be very interesting how minutes and lineups shake out. In my opinion, Lowe, Oweh and JQ will lead the team in minutes, as they will be our foundation. Outside of them, I believe Aberdeen, Jasper, Williams, Dioubate, and Garrison (you might insert Chandler here too), will be included in our main rotation and soak up the remaining minutes. Most probably already know that Williams has been my dark horse all offseason. With that being said, here is my projected starting lineup with the first off the bench below. I'm also curious on everyone else's take.

Starting Lineup:
PG - Lowe
SG - Oweh
SF - Williams
PF - Garrison
C - JQ

First Off The Bench:
Aberdeen
Jasper
Dioubate
Chandler
Jelavic
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne
Potter

 

[MegaBlue05]

I don’t think Aberdeen and Dioubate came here to come off the bench.

I’ll go with

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Dioubate
Garrison

Bench:
JQ (plays starter minutes)
Johnson (plays near starter minutes)
Williams (plays near starter minutes)
Chandler
Jelavich
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne

 

[crawfords corner]

They're gonna be doing so much winning won't be much worry about spread of minutes.

 

[Jireh]

It's a great problem to have, but I just can't see how there are enough minutes to go around. I know we've paid a lot of money and Jasper did not come here to sit. But there is just so much college experience ahead of him. Aberdeen and Dioubate are talented seasoned vets and will be better college players than Jasper this season. And let's not sleep on Chandler - I believe he could make a huge impact this year.

I do believe the end of the bench will be Hawthorn, Potter, Moreno and Jelavic. Noah is a wildcard. Out of necessity, he played a significant role last season. He's a good shooter and has a high basketball IQ. But he's not as athletic as some of the other guys.

Wow, Pope will have his hands full figuring out the minutes. Or maybe he'll just let the players figure that out based on their performance.

 

[W1LDCAT22]

I don’t think Aberdeen and Dioubate came here to come off the bench.

I’ll go with

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Dioubate
Garrison

Bench:
JQ (plays starter minutes)
Johnson (plays near starter minutes)
Williams (plays near starter minutes)
Chandler
Jelavich
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne

I don't think 7-8 of our guys came here to not start, that's why I think performance will decide lineups/minutes. My only argument for Williams instead of Dioubate is shooting. We will need William's knock-down shooting on the floor.

 

[Fox2monk]

Note: I am going to assume JQ is fully healthy to begin the season, so no pre/post JQ projections. With our roster being finalized with Oweh returning, it's going to be very interesting how minutes and lineups shake out. In my opinion, Lowe, Oweh and JQ will lead the team in minutes, as they will be our foundation. Outside of them, I believe Aberdeen, Jasper, Williams, Dioubate, and Garrison (you might insert Chandler here too), will be included in our main rotation and soak up the remaining minutes. Most probably already know that Williams has been my dark horse all offseason. With that being said, here is my projected starting lineup with the first off the bench below. I'm also curious on everyone else's take.

Starting Lineup:
PG - Lowe
SG - Oweh
SF - Williams
PF - Garrison
C - JQ

First Off The Bench:
Aberdeen
Jasper
Dioubate
Chandler
Jelavic
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne
Potter

I’d like to see Lowe/Aberdeen/Oweh/Mo D/(JQ When Healthy)

Jasper/Chandler/Williams(Noah)/Jelavic(Garrison)/Moreno as the second five or main subs for each position or sometimes together. Keeps more shooting and play making on the court at one time.

It’s going to be nearly impossible to get all 12 guys the minutes they probably deserve but it’s nice knowing guys could go 15-20 minutes as hard as they can with no worry of fatigue or drop off. If I had to guess right away Noah and Moreno/Jelavic will get way less minutes than they probably deserve but any injuries shouldn’t be an issue this year really.

 

[UKfan3214]

I personally believe it would take a miracle to have JQ on the court before Christmas break. No doubt he starts when back to 100%.
So for our non-con schedule I'm seeing:

PG - Lowe
SG - Oweh
SF - Williams
PF - Dioubate
C - Garrison

Not sold there is enough shooting in this lineup though, especially with what Pope hopes to achieve from downtown. If Kam isn't >40% from 3, I could definitely see him sliding Oweh to the 3 and Jasper/Aberdeen starting or even Chandler. I'm hoping Jasper won't be a defensive liability so he can stay on the floor because I really believe that kid is going to be an absolute star. My favorite thing about all this depth is how many potential lineups Pope can throw out there. I trust this coaching staff to be able to scheme for any style team we play against. Just need JQ to get healthy and we can be a legit contender.

 

[true blue1]

Lowe
Aberdeen
Otega
Garrison
JQ

 

[BlueBloodedCat96]

Lowe Aberdeen Oweh Dioubate Garrison

 

[snapWojo]

Aberdeen isn’t coming off the bench. JQ, when healthy, is not coming off the bench.

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Mo
JQ

 

[52T]

I don’t think Aberdeen and Dioubate came here to come off the bench.

I’ll go with

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Dioubate
Garrison

Bench:
JQ (plays starter minutes)
Johnson (plays near starter minutes)
Williams (plays near starter minutes)
Chandler
Jelavich
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne

Doesn't matter what they came here to do other than what they are told

 

[JPFisher]

I'm gonna say that the first lineup we see next season is

Lowe
Chandler
Otegatron
Mo
Garrison

Later in the year, I'd be surprised if it's not

Lowe
Aberdeen
Otegatron
Mo/JQ
Garrison

I think we go with experience with Chandler at the start of the year and then Aberdeen begins to start as he comes to to speed in the system.

 

[BlueBloodedCat96]

All I know is it’s good having two McDonald’s All Americans coming off the bench.

 

[BlueBloodedCat96]

I'm gonna say that the first lineup we see next season is

Lowe
Chandler
Otegatron
Mo
Garrison

Later in the year, I'd be surprised if it's not

Lowe
Aberdeen
Otegatron
Mo/JQ
Garrison

I think we go with experience with Chandler at the start of the year and then Aberdeen begins to start as he comes to to speed in the system.

Not trying to be a smart a** but do you honestly think Chandler is in front of Aberdeen even to start the season? I’m not saying your opinion is dumb I just didn’t think there was a single fan that thought that was possible. Chandler did turn it on at the end of the season but he’s still very shaky and learning. Florida doesn’t win a national championship without Aberdeen. I like chandler a lot as a role player but if he’s starting this season at any point maybe I should tone down my expectations for this team. Maybe I’m too high on Aberdeen but I see him being a top three player on this team and a lock to start.

 

[BBNinSC]

Note: I am going to assume JQ is fully healthy to begin the season, so no pre/post JQ projections. With our roster being finalized with Oweh returning, it's going to be very interesting how minutes and lineups shake out. In my opinion, Lowe, Oweh and JQ will lead the team in minutes, as they will be our foundation. Outside of them, I believe Aberdeen, Jasper, Williams, Dioubate, and Garrison (you might insert Chandler here too), will be included in our main rotation and soak up the remaining minutes. Most probably already know that Williams has been my dark horse all offseason. With that being said, here is my projected starting lineup with the first off the bench below. I'm also curious on everyone else's take.

Starting Lineup:
PG - Lowe
SG - Oweh
SF - Williams
PF - Garrison
C - JQ

First Off The Bench:
Aberdeen
Jasper
Dioubate
Chandler
Jelavic
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne
Potter

I’m very excited about that starting line-up. I am expecting big things from Williams, too.
That is the most talented bench in the country.

 

[JPFisher]

Not trying to be a smart a** but do you honestly think Chandler is in front of Aberdeen even to start the season? I’m not saying your opinion is dumb I just didn’t think there was a single fan that thought that was possible. Chandler did turn it on at the end of the season but he’s still very shaky and learning. Florida doesn’t win a national championship without Aberdeen. I like chandler a lot as a role player but if he’s starting this season at any point maybe I should tone down my expectations for this team. Maybe I’m too high on Aberdeen but I see him being a top three player on this team and a lock to start.

I'm not as high on Aberdeen from the get-go as you are. He's definitely good, though.

Pope harps on how much guys improve in year two. For a guard, the decision-making ability in this offense is incredibly important. Aberdeen won't have that experience.

Chandler was (IMO) the most athletic guy on the roster last year, was one of our most determined and effective defenders, and shot better than 50% from three in the last seven games of the season.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Chandler takes a huge leap this summer. He's also not a normal sophomore, btw. This would've been his senior season, so his physical maturity will likely match Aberdeen.

I'm just real high on Chandler and think he blows up this year. Work on that handle, passing, and shooting off the dribble, and he's gonna turn a lot of heads.

 

[hotelblue]

no one is going to push us around with any two or three of these guys on the court at the same time.

oweh
aberdeen
dioubate
garrison
quaintance

if we stay healthy, we’re probably going to have significantly more defensive potential than any team in the sec had last year. it’d probably be a battle with florida for number one.

 

[Mash 2.4]

Lowe
Johnson
Oweh
Mo
JQ
will be the end of year lineup. Aberdeen, Williams and Jelavic are gonna play a lot. If Garrison doesn’t show a lot of improvement I can see Moreno moving ahead of him in the rotation by years end. Garrisons not a terrible player, but what does he really do well? JMO, but if he doesn’t really improve over the summer he may be the odd man out. I also don’t discount Chandler, and Noah forcing their way on the floor with good play. Hawthorne to me is the wild card. He may be much better than people think. Nice problems Pope has.

 

[BlueBloodedCat96]

I'm not as high on Aberdeen from the get-go as you are. He's definitely good, though.

Pope harps on how much guys improve in year two. For a guard, the decision-making ability in this offense is incredibly important. Aberdeen won't have that experience.

Chandler was (IMO) the most athletic guy on the roster last year, was one of our most determined and effective defenders, and shot better than 50% from three in the last seven games of the season.

I have no doubt whatsoever that Chandler takes a huge leap this summer. He's also not a normal sophomore, btw. This would've been his senior season, so his physical maturity will likely match Aberdeen.

I'm just real high on Chandler and think he blows up this year. Work on that handle, passing, and shooting off the dribble, and he's gonna turn a lot of heads.

Yes I agree he just really needs to work on that handle. If you showed Chandler from the start of the season and compared him to the end he didn’t even look like the same player. Hopefully it’s the same amount of improvement over the summer. He looked like a stud near the end but that’s mainly because he started hitting shots. I see the potential in Chandler once he is completely comfortable and gains confidence which I think happened. Good problems to have right now BBN

 

[westerncat]

I think Pope will play a lot of players early and will see different lineups.

 

[FilsonCat]

I think we may eventually see:

Lowe
Johnson
Oweh
Jelavic
Quaintance(if he can handle starting minutes)

Subs:
Aberdeen
Chandler
Williams
Dioubate
Garrison

Early on, Pope is going to throw a lot of lineups out there and figure out who is willing to play on his wavelength. You have to figure he'll go after the legs of most every team we play and use utilization metrics to keep the team healthier. This is probably the most balanced team top to bottom since 2015, and they're gonna scrap more than anyone outside of Butler did last year. I wish we had Butler leading this group. They'd be on a revenge tour for sure.

 

[JPFisher]

Yes I agree he just really needs to work on that handle. If you showed Chandler from the start of the season and compared him to the end he didn’t even look like the same player. Hopefully it’s the same amount of improvement over the summer. He looked like a stud near the end but that’s mainly because he started hitting shots. I see the potential in Chandler once he is completely comfortable and gains confidence which I think happened. Good problems to have right now BBN

Great problem to have, Man. This team will attack in suffocating waves. It'll be fun as can be to watch.

 

[kywildcat41035]

Aberdeen isn’t coming off the bench. JQ, when healthy, is not coming off the bench.

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Mo
JQ

Yep this is the lineup!

 

[bucsrule8872]

I’m starting the Juniors and Seniors.

G Lowe- All-ACC
G Aberdeen- National Champion
G Oweh- All-SEC
F Dioubate- Final Four experience
F Garrison- SEC experience

Bringing the Freshmen and Sophomores off the bench.

G Johnson
G Chandler
G Williams
F Jelavic
F Quaintance

That leaves the Mountain Mamba, a McD’s AA, a 4-star top 40 recruit, and another 7 footer as our deep reserves.

This is the deepest we’ve been in a long long time. And still have one spot we can fill, if Pope wants another player.

I mean, really, how many rosters have we seen with a Burger Boy as our 11th or 12th man?

Insane!

 

[Big BlueBeard]

We have some dogs no doubt. Oweh, Mo, Aberdeen, JQ and prob Kam as well. It’s gonna be fun.

 

[trueblujr2]

It's a great problem to have, but I just can't see how there are enough minutes to go around. I know we've paid a lot of money and Jasper did not come here to sit. But there is just so much college experience ahead of him. Aberdeen and Dioubate are talented seasoned vets and will be better college players than Jasper this season. And let's not sleep on Chandler - I believe he could make a huge impact this year.

I do believe the end of the bench will be Hawthorn, Potter, Moreno and Jelavic. Noah is a wildcard. Out of necessity, he played a significant role last season. He's a good shooter and has a high basketball IQ. But he's not as athletic as some of the other guys.

Wow, Pope will have his hands full figuring out the minutes. Or maybe he'll just let the players figure that out based on their performance.

They all came here knowing the situation. Obviously these are guys who are looking st the bigger picture and have a Championship on their minds more so than their draft status. Pope will use 10-11 guys regularly he’s big on analytics and maxing players output by determining how long they can go before performance drops and they need a rest.
Pope is building what we all hoped Cal would build, by prioritizing winning and Championships and finding the guys who want to be part of that.

 

[Tampa_cat54]

I’m starting the Juniors and Seniors.

G Lowe- All-ACC
G Aberdeen- National Champion
G Oweh- All-SEC
F Dioubate- Final Four experience
F Garrison- SEC experience

Bringing the Freshmen and Sophomores off the bench.

G Johnson
G Chandler
G Williams
F Jelavic
F Quaintance

That leaves the Mountain Mamba, a McD’s AA, a 4-star top 40 recruit, and another 7 footer as our deep reserves.

This is the deepest we’ve been in a long long time. And still have one spot we can fill, if Pope wants another player.

I mean, really, how many rosters have we seen with a Burger Boy as our 11th or 12th man?

Insane!

This is the deepest we have EVER been, in my opinion.

We legitimately have 13 guys who could log heavy minutes on an SEC team.

Not even 96 or 2015 had the type of talent at spots 11, 12, 13 and 14.

Just an outrageously deep basketball team.

I swore I would never, ever want to platoon again, but this team has me thinking like a crazy man.

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Mo D
JQ

Jasper
Chandler
Kam Williams
Jelavic
Garrison

And that leaves out:

- A McDonald's All-American freshman
- A former top-150 Sophomore who logged decent minutes last year
- A top-35, 4-star recruit from this year's class
- And a 7-footer who played 20+ MPG in the MAC last year

When you can make 2 full platoons and have 4 guys of that caliber STILL not in the rotation, you have to be in contention for one of the deepest teams in College Basketball history.

 

[BluestBlood]

We will be tough to scout that is for sure, with most weeks our own coaching staff may not know the lineup much less the opposition.
I also feel almost all our guys play a lot because I bet Pope has us running and gunning full speed and our guys as athletic as they are will be spent. They’ll be begging for breaks.
If team chemistry is there this year and everyone plays to win against a Tennessee tech the same as a Florida and have that killer instinct then we hang 9!

 

[blue cincy]

We will see line ups match up some. If we play Houston (you might see Mo at the 5), Williams at the 4, Oweh, Aberdeen and Chandler or Johnson type of line up.

But I think to start the season, after a little thought, cause I got a small brain.

5 Garrison
4 Mo
3 Williams
2 Oweh
1 Lowe

Off the bench first 2 (like Pope does)
Aberdeen and JQ
Johnson and Chandler
After that will depend on who is doing great in practice and shoot around.

 

[ganner918]

We played 10 guys significant minutes at any given time last year. We have 14 players on this squad. Potter, Moreno, Noah, and Hawthorne are the most likely odd-men-out. It's really hard to pick any of the other 10 who WON'T play a lot. We might have 10 guys playing 15-25 minutes.

 

[Fox2monk]

I personally believe it would take a miracle to have JQ on the court before Christmas break. No doubt he starts when back to 100%.
So for our non-con schedule I'm seeing:

PG - Lowe
SG - Oweh
SF - Williams
PF - Dioubate
C - Garrison

Not sold there is enough shooting in this lineup though, especially with what Pope hopes to achieve from downtown. If Kam isn't >40% from 3, I could definitely see him sliding Oweh to the 3 and Jasper/Aberdeen starting or even Chandler. I'm hoping Jasper won't be a defensive liability so he can stay on the floor because I really believe that kid is going to be an absolute star. My favorite thing about all this depth is how many potential lineups Pope can throw out there. I trust this coaching staff to be able to scheme for any style team we play against. Just need JQ to get healthy and we can be a legit contender.

Me too and I also think Chandler is gonna break out but I fear we have so many guys he may not get the time to show it.

 

[Bigkyfan10]

Starters/backup
Lowe-Aberdeen-Chandler
Oweh-Johnson-Noah
Williams-Hawthorne-Jelavic
Dioubate-Garrison
Quaintance-Moreno-Porter

Lowe, Oweh, Williams, Dioubate, Quaintance, Aberdeen, Garrison, Johnson will get the top 8 most minutes per game IMO. Chandler, Moreno, Hawthorne, and Jelavic will fight for the 9th and 10th most minutes per game. Two of those four will be the 11th and 12 man. 13th will be Noah(maybe he bumps up to 11th or 12th) and 14th will be Porter. That would be my prediction.

 

[Bluesbrother]

Great problem to have, Man. This team will attack in suffocating waves. It'll be fun as can be to watch.

Agree. Everyone is focused on who starts and with this team it is unimportant, IMO. One question is do we have a backup point guard? Maybe Jasper can handle it.

 

[JPFisher]

Agree. Everyone is focused on who starts and with this team it is unimportant, IMO. One question is do we have a backup point guard? Maybe Jasper can handle it.

I see us as having four options at PG. Chandler had some run at it last year and should be working on his handles this summer. Then there's JJ and Aberdeen and the presumptive starter, Lowe. If Oweh improves his handles as well, he could probably do a little spot PG-ing too.

So yeah. Seems like we have four legitimate options at PG.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Pope will likely start Lowe and Aberdeen together, because it makes the most sense from a ball-handling and shooting perspective. Aberdeen was great when he had real minutes for Florida. He also obviously knows what it takes to win.

Williams as a 9 point per game Tulane transfer might be the most "hyped-without-real sample-size" incoming player we've had here in a long time. I think he turns out to be a 3 to 4 points per game guy next year, and then gets a bigger role as a junior.

Oweh at the 3. Three ball-handlers/play makers on the court at once in Lowe/DA/Oweh.

Williams as the starting three appears to be the cutesy choice of the day. I'm going with experience and real sample size.

 

[kyboss360]

let the players figure that out based on their performance.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

All I know is it’s good having two McDonald’s All Americans coming off the bench.

Especially as opposed to having to rely on 2 (or more) freshmen to anchor/lead the team...

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

I don’t think Aberdeen and Dioubate came here to come off the bench.

I’ll go with

Lowe
Aberdeen
Oweh
Dioubate
Garrison

Bench:
JQ (plays starter minutes)
Johnson (plays near starter minutes)
Williams (plays near starter minutes)
Chandler
Jelavich
Moreno
Noah
Hawthorne

What I think also. Will Potter RS? He can shoot and plays with some energy.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

They're gonna be doing so much winning won't be much worry about spread of minutes.

Maybe thats how this works. So many teams will be run down that our bench is going to get quite a deal of minutes. There really should be no one getting more than like 28-30min.

 

[NociHTTP]

I worry about the JQ situation, and I think if he's not on the court by Christmas break, he won't go out of his way to play. If he weren't injured he'd be in the NBA.

Our depth, with or without JQ, will wear down opponents.