Three Potential Starting Lineups for the Red Raiders this Season

(Photo CC: John E. Moore III/ Getty Images)

With the latest news of Mac McClung’s transfer waiver being approved by the NCAA, Coach Beard’s roster is officially set for this season. That has prompted seemingly everyone to predict what five players will start out on the floor this season for the Red Raiders. This article will do the exact same, except I believe there are three different lineups the Red Raiders could come out with to start the season.

Lineup 1:

PG: Mac McClung

SG: Kyler Edwards

G/F: Kevin McCullar

G/F: Terrence Shannon Jr.

F: Marcus Santos-Silva

6th Man: Nimari Burnett

This lineup features a good mix of returners and newcomers. The obvious flaw with this particular lineup is that there is an absence of outside shooting. This deficit could be made up a little bit with Burnett being the 6th man which Coach Beard considers a starter in his system.

What this group is however is very athletic. All of these guys can get to the rim and if this group is the main group of starters, I expect a ton of teams to play zone defense on this team. The abundance of athletes and lack of shooting, especially if the program trots out these five to start games would promote other teams to try and make this team shoot it.

Lineup 2:

PG: Mac McClung

SG: Nimari Burnett

G/F: Terrence Shannon Jr.

F: Joel Ntambwe

F: Marcus Santos-Silva

6th Man: Kyler Edwards

Kyler Edwards as a 6th-man has been floated more and more as this offseason goes on and I think it makes a ton of sense. McClung and Burnett would make a dynamic backcourt that can get to the hoop and score from all three levels with Burnett’s outside shooting ability.

The frontcourt would be a scoring threat too with Ntambwe and Santos-Silva. This lineup would be less athletic up front, but the backcourt combined with Shannon would be incredibly explosive going to the rim.

Lineup 3:

PG: Mac McClung

SG: Kyler Edwards

G: Nimari Burnett

G: Terrence Shannon Jr.

F: Marcus Santos-Silvas

6th Man: Joel Ntambwe

This lineup is stacked with athletes, combined with a pure scorer off the bench. I really hope this team has been working on their zone offense because it looks like teams will really try to make them shoot. The obvious flaw with this lineup is the lack of a second big that can guard pure power forwards that they will face in Big 12 Play.

Ntambwe being the first to come off the bench will be interesting to see as he will bring a ton of scoring. This lineup overall will be incredibly hard to guard with a bigger lineup and if these guys can get to the rim and score, it might force teams that have less guard depth to go deeper into their bench than they might want to.

Conclusion:

There’s a pretty good chance I’m not even close on any of these lineups. This team is super-stacked with athletes and odds are that any one of about 10 guys could get starts at some point this season. What lineup this team comes out with ultimately shows what kind of team this is going to be this season. If the team comes out with more athletes, watch out for a ton of fast-break opportunities and attempting to get to the basket. If they come out with more scorers, look for the team to run a more half-court offense with lots of motion on offense and more outside shooting.

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