Going with a nine-man rotation at this time is a great decision because most teams don’t have the depth the Panthers have.

After dismissing Avery Smith from the team, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men’s basketball head coach Rob Jeter had to tweak his starting lineup. The Panthers have many new acquisitions that made the process of determining a starting five and choosing which players would come off the bench to spark the team a tough task.

Jeter has found a starting five that is working early on in the season. He has a solid frontcourt consisting of Oklahoma State transfer Torre Johnson, Paige Paulsen and freshman big man Tim Flowers.

This frontcourt group provides the size and scoring ability that is a key to winning. Most good teams have a formidable frontcourt, and that’s exactly what the Panthers have.

Flowers and Johnson bring plenty of the scoring and rebounding needed. Paulsen provides the ability to stretch the defense by making other teams’ forwards step out to the three-point line to guard him.

As for his starting guards, Jeter has decided on veteran point guard Allan Hanson and shooting guard Roman Gentry. Hanson provides leadership and does all the little things a point guard should, like passing the ball and playing solid defense.

Gentry is a good fit with Hanson in the backcourt, because he provides the ability to score from behind the arc and has the length to frustrate defenders.

How many players can consistently come off the bench and play well? Jeter said recently that he would prefer a nine-man rotation, but he has played more than that so far. He still has some questions to answer before settling on nine guys.

Jeter brings a good three-point shooter off the bench and has veteran leadership in Ricky Franklin. Franklin proved his importance by hitting the big three-pointer against Ball State that led to an overtime victory, even though he pulled the trigger on an ill-informed shot with only thirty seconds remaining in regulation.

Incoming freshmen Anthony Hill and Kevin Johnson are bringing more firepower to the frontcourt. These two are a solid team so far, at the early stages of the season; they’re two good, big, men who can come in and control the paint when the starters come out.

The other Panther that will get a lot of minutes off the bench is Deonte Roberts, who can play the point when guard Hanson comes out of the game.

Charlie Swiggett and Deion James have also backed up the guards in the early stages of the season, but they’ll have to fight for minutes in the future.

Going with a nine-man rotation at this time is a great decision because most teams don’t have the depth the Panthers have. This will allow the performance level of the team to stay high as the backups come into the game. It will also allow the starters to stay fresh and be able to perform at a high level late in the game when it matters the most.

Using any more then 10 players in a close game would make it hard to build chemistry, and that’s why Jeter should drop the amount of players in his rotation down to nine.

It’s very early in the season, so things will change, but the players Jeter has used this season are going to make it hard to separate the pack.

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