Byron Kerr on Twitter:

"Lonergan says possible starting lineup today: McDonald or Bynes 1, Garino 2, Armwood 3, smith 4, Larsen 5"

Can't always read too much into positions in basketball, especially at mid-major level and this is subject to change obviously. And also the term "starter" doesn't always mean the most minutes, etc. etc. Isn't worth hyperventiling about but a few interesting things:

-Only question being McDonald or Bynes at PG. Expected it would come down to the two of them, will be one thing to watch going forward.

-Garino at the 2 when he is generally talked about as being more of a 3 and even was guarding bigs when he played in HS. Also because it means both Kromah and Savage are coming off the bench.

-Armwood at the 3, been lead to believe he was more of a PF inside guy. But I guess it stands to reason as he is listed on the roster at 192 pounds (35 pounds lighter than Smith who is three inches shorter!)

-If McDonald starts at 1, this means the team will be starting three freshman. Have to think Pellom would probably take Larsen's spot if healthy though.

Definitely surprised about Kromah not starting.  That says a lot about Garino that they would start him over Kromah.  The front 3 make sense, but I wonder how Pellom will fit into that.  You would think he would start as well, assuming he can come back 100%.

Kerr also tweeted that Kromah tweaked knee in Kenner.

https://twitter.com/bkerr32/status/235463257324937216

Whether or not this carries to the regular season, it should light a fire under Kromah. 

I can second that starting lineup as McDonald, Garino and Larsen are almost certain to be in the starting 5 on opening night. Also think Armwood has one of the forward spots locked up, and the last spot is going to be a toss up between Dwyane and Nemanja until Pellom returns.

Wow, put down the pipe Skyhigh, whatever you're smoking has to be illegal.

I thought the comparison of our team next year to Louisville was a little off.  I'm thinking last year's Kentucky team is a better comparison.  

I'm suprised that Kromah is not in the "starting lineup" as well.  I figured they would want to keep him happy to ensure that he stays on for another season.  I wouldn't expect Bynes or Pellom to start.  Bynes just does not have the skill to run an offense and Pellom barely started last year despite having a great season due to attitude problems.  Unless he turns those around I expect him to be coming off the bench.

This lineup does make me really excited for this season though.  The depth we have at each position and the young talent.  THis team will make some waves this year and for a few years to come.  I wouldn't be suprised to see Savage making his way in this lineup before the end of the year too.   

If I had 10 or 11 guys that I could go to, I would look to having Kromah in reserve. He can come in at a couple of positions and the coach can affect the game by where he slots Lasan. Last year, I also got the feeling that he wasn't as focused in the beginning of games and it hurt us. I am sure that he will get his chance to start. He certainly has the talent, but not sure about the continual focus. As I have said a number of times, I think that Lasan's game is more likely to flourish with this player mix. We have many more scorers and, above all, you can't leave our bigs when they are within 6 or 7 feet of the rim like they did last year to clog the lane. 

I'm suprised that Kromah is not in the "starting lineup" as well.  I figured they would want to keep him happy to ensure that he stays on for another season.  I wouldn't expect Bynes or Pellom to start.  Bynes just does not have the skill to run an offense and Pellom barely started last year despite having a great season due to attitude problems.  Unless he turns those around I expect him to be coming off the bench.

This lineup does make me really excited for this season though.  The depth we have at each position and the young talent.  THis team will make some waves this year and for a few years to come.  I wouldn't be suprised to see Savage making his way in this lineup before the end of the year too.   

Looks like ML favors defense and hustle

Could be ML's just playing mind games with Kromah to motivate. 

Garino has to do a much better job shooting than what we saw in HS and Kenner games to be a legitimate starting Shooting Guard in college at this point.  Hopefully that was all injury related and he'll be better by start of the season.

What's funny is how everyone is reading this or that into this trip and who may or may not be in the starting lineup. The starting five you need to be interested in is the one that starts in our first real game. Bet it changes by then - maybe several times.

ML's not going to waste his time on "mind games," I hope.

He's got to 1) convince us all that he's got real confidence in his recruits; and 2) get this team accustomed to playing winning basketball.

I don't care how he does it. But he's been a winner before, so I know he's got his own preferred ways to coach. Good luck to him and the team.

Eat well, guys.

 If ML believes that the team did not play up to its capability this year, I can think of no better motiviation than to allow the upper classman to believe that they will have to compete to start.  Having said that, there is no way that Kromah doesn't start.  If we have 5 better players on the team than Lasan, we are in pretty good shape this year.

Looks like ML favors defense and hustle

Did anyone notice that Kromah tweeked his knee? Maybe that is why he is not starting?

 I thought Garino was a strong shooter in high school, feequentpy burying multiple threes in a game to become the third leading scorer on a loaded team.   Where are people getting the idea that he didn't shoot well in HS?

 FQ, from the games that they watch that they don't see. ... on Garino. I just think that bobo is getting the Jones for the game. Anyway, Garino is all about the parts of the game that most kids don't work on like defense, passing, dribbling and rebounding. Anyway, this isn't a competition between Garino and Kromah. AGAIN, I can see the two of them on the floor at the same time and Kromah would do very well.

It is sort of like having a slow pitcher who nibbles on the corner and throws a lot of balls and just can't go one-two-three.... the fielders fall asleep. Garino is a pusher on the offensive end. Guys will look for the pass and cut and score.

Strickly from the games we saw Garino on TV and in the Kenner.  It was said he was a better shooter previously.  I'd like to see it to believe it first.  Maybe he's a streaky shooter and an opportunistic scorer.  But in college I think the 2 guard needs to be able to hit the 3 on a consistent basis to spead the floor.

I may be wrong, but in the flex the 2-guard does not have to be primarily a shooter as the focus is on getting high percentage shots for multiple players in multiple positions rather than singling-out specific positions for scoring.

bobo, if you watch a couple of games, what do you know about streaky. Here's the deal. from what was heard about his senior season, he wasn't practicing with the team much to "shut down" the knees. So, if you watch 3 games after a decent layoff, when they played in the tourney, each game, he was looking better. A guy doesn't take those outside shots unless he and his coach know he should make them.  Bottom line, he can shoot. What's better, he can drive to the hole and slam it. What's best is he is the sort of defender that gets people's attention in 3 minutes of play, as he did with the commentators on the national tournament broadcast.

OR, the other possibility is that Lonergan has no clue.

Seriously, a story like that with Garino at 2 makes me hugely happy. bobo, I also only saw a few games and was amazed at his all around game. To start Garino means that Lonergan would be of the mind that Garino will run the freaking offense correctly during the first several possessions of the game. All coaches want to start fast and no one wants silly crap at the beginning of the game where you find yourself always coming back from 5 to 7 down for no reason.

What I really think this team is starting to resemble is one that played at an oft ignored school called The George Washington University during the early part of this century.

herve, exactly! In fact, if you can, you want your 2 through 4 to be able to take an open 3 if the defender runs under the screen. You also want some boards from your 2. Again, we have the luxury of two potential stars at the 2 right now in Garino and Kromah... 3 if you drop in Savage

re-reading byron kerr's tweet, when he says "starting lineup today," is he talking starting lineup for the season or for the italian trip?  not to mention he said "possible," which of course nobody can dispute.

lowpost exactly. That's why we have a 25 post thread to analyze the meaning of something that may or may not have much meaning.

CBO, this is called having fun and enjoying the speculative and uncertain nature of sports.  None of us know what will happen, but tidbits that lead us down a path of knowing, and giving our two cents to that path is what makes this a great forum IMHO.   

 CBO, you realize you don't have to participate or even read these threads, right? If we're not supposed to discuss things that won't necessarily make a difference, I guess the schedule is off limits until the official one is released. We really shouldn't have talked about the A10's realignment until it was official either. And obviously we can't discuss potential recruits. Most of those guys never even play for GW! I guess the answer is for herve to just shut down gwhoops from April to October to spare CBO the trouble of reading pointless discussions.

Of course the official starting lineup isn't going to be announced in August, but what's the harm in speculating?

Based on this, I would predict Mark Lund at the 1, Lewie Helton at the 2, Roy Ghantous as a small 3, Rock Battistoni at the 4, and nobody at the 5, so we are playing a man down.

That's a big change squid from the old regime's philosophy of playing a man up! 

My completely underqualified starting lineup based on very little...1 McDonald 2 Kromah 3 Garino 4 Armwood 5 Larsen.  Pellom, Smith and Savage are the first ones off the bench with Mikic and Bynes playing roles.   I'd be interested to see where Paris fits in there.  Ive heard good things, but with so much depth (i love using that word with this team) he may fall through the cracks.

I would be surprised if Smith is not in starting lineup to start the season due to his knowledge of the system, hard work on the boards and Pellom's absence.

I expect lots of rotation/minutes amongst Garino, Armwood, Larsen depending on matchups and foul problems.

CSH, so in other words, you are not entitled to an opinion that the discussion here is speculation without many facts. Carry-on apparently it's a slow August when people are looking for deep meaning in a starting lineup that hasn't even been announced by ML.

And before anyone else misconstrues what I said - you are free to have that discussion I just think it's ridiculous. And by the way the entire thread started off a second hand report saying it was a "possible" starting lineup, not "the" starting lineup.

 Not saying you're not entitled to your opinion, just that it seems ridiculous to show up here multiple times just to say how little you care about this thread. You think it's pointless, obviously most of the people posting here disagree. Does it really matter that everyone here know that you think they're wasting their time?

 ....and the first pointless and acrimonious debate of the 2012-2013 begins....

 But between different participants.

CBO like we had so much else to talk about. A bit of discussion based on a report straight from the coach surely is a terrible thing. I for one feel complete and total shame.

Let's switch the subject to something more worthwhile like moaning about the OOC schedule for the 653543rd time.

Oh, well, we'll start seeing soon what's up.