Arizona Basketball: Projected 2016-2017 Starting 5
By Mark Barrera
With the 2016 recruiting class basically complete, it’s time to look at who the possible starters will be for the 2016-2017 season.
Coach Sean Miller and his staff have a unique problem, albeit a “good” problem, on their hands with the 2016-2017 lineup, the team has a lot of starter quality players. This allows for several options to throw out each night, and makes Arizona a difficult a versatile team to play against.
With so many players that could start for this team, one thing is for certain… the set starting five will adjust and change constantly leading up to conference play. Even when conference play starts, depending on the opponent, the Arizona Wildcats starting lineup could change.
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The options are endless for Miller and his coaching staff, much like the Oregon Ducks uniforms. Only, these options don’t borderline on the ugly and ridiculous side.
There is a lot of youth and inexperience to deal with next year, along with key veterans. I believe early on, Miller will start his more experienced players. However, I believe Miller should roll out this starting five to start the 2016-17 season:
- Point Guard = Kobi Simmons
- Shooting Guard = Allonzo Trier
- Small Forward = Ray Smith
- Power Forward = Chance Comanche
- Center = Dusan Ristic
This lineup gives the Arizona Wildcats a nice mix of youth and experience. It also is a big, athletic, long, prototypical NBA style, lineup: PG – 6’5″, SG – 6’5″, SF – 6’9″, PF – 6’11”, C – 7’0″. The size alone puts their opponent at a disadvantage.
I’ve seen most projections have Parker Jackson-Cartwright starting at PG, Kadeem Allen at SG, Trier at SF, Ray at PF, and Dusan at C. Again, the lineup can go in so many directions, and when looking at what most other projections have, I can definitely see why they chose that lineup.
PJC is the only true PG on the team and has plenty of valuable experience. Kadeem, being one of the most experienced players on the team, can now play his more natural position at the 2 (shooting guard), which allows him to play more freely, and play his game.
Trier is going to start no matter what, end of discussion. He ultimately may be the alpha and leader of this team. Smith may have the most upside, though, at 6’9″ 220 lbs, he can stretch the floor and take advantage of his speed and athleticism. However, Smith hasn’t played basketball in a couple years, following his subsequent knee injuries.
As the season progresses, I see Dusan and Kadeem being moved to a second unit role. Dusan is too much of a liability on defense, plus, more and more teams are moving to a Warriors style lineup.
Smaller, quicker forwards on the floor, allows teams to run the court quicker and take advantage of their athleticism. Oregon is a prime example of this, and it showed in the two games Arizona lost to them last season.
With that being said, below is the more consistent lineup I see come conference play, along with the first players off the bench:
- Point Guard = Kobi Simmons
- Back-up PG = PJC or Kadeem Allen
- Shooting Guard = Allonzo Trier
- Back-up SG = Kadeem Allen or Rawle Alkins
- Small Forward = Terrance Ferguson
- Back-up SF = Rawle Alkins
- Power Forward = Ray Smith
- Back-up PF = Lauri Markannen or Keanu Pinder
- Center = Chance Comanche
- Backup Center = Lauri Markannen or Dusan Ristic
As you can see, the amount of talent this team has to throw at teams every night is extremely exciting. The question being brought up to Miller, is how will he handle minutes for this team? We won’t see a platoon system like Calipari ran with Kentucky, although it could work. But this team will basically have two or three starting groups.
A couple of days ago Sean Miller spoke to Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star regarding the possibilities of this team. Miller said, “Everybody likes to use the analogy of the Golden State Warriors. Like Draymond Green: What position is he? Shaun Livingston? Andre Iguodala? If you think about it, that’s kind of the team that we’re building for next year. We have a lot of versatile guards and wings, and being able to play the style that fits them best is important.”
This now brings us to a third possibility when it comes to the starting five. With Miller understanding how the game is evolving, and positionless basketball becoming more common, here is a lineup I can see being used against teams like Oregon:
- Point Guard = Kobi Simmons
- Shooting Guard = Rawle Alkins
- Small Forward = Allonzo Trier
- Power Forward = Terrance Ferguson
- Center = Ray Smith
The lineup above might not be a fan favorite, due to the youth and inexperience. But this lineup has no one under 6’5″, every player can shoot from anywhere on the floor, and they can run. I could also see Rawle and Terrance trading places since Rawle is built like a brick house.
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As you can see, there are several routes Miller can take. More so than ever before, Miller has options to match any opponent. You can expect to see multiple options for the first couple of months as Miller and his staff try to figure out which possibilities work best together. At the end of the day, all I know is one thing… this is going to be a fun year! BEARDOWN ARIZONA!