In flux: Sampson continues to switch around starting lineup

IU coach Kelvin Sampson insists his first Hoosier team is still searching for an identity, for something the players can "hang their hat on," as he often says.\nAs he searches for that identity, he is also searching for a group of players he can count on. He is finding out who his starting five are, who his role players are and who -- if anyone -- can provide him much needed poise and experience. \nThe next step in that search will take place Saturday night when IU welcomes the Charlotte 49ers to Assembly Hall at 8 p.m.\n"You can come up with a starting lineup, but that's in pencil right now," Sampson said. "Eventually you'd like to have it in ink."\nSampson has been slightly unpredictable with his lineups so far. In the team's five regular season games, the coach has changed the starting lineup almost every game.\nThe changes began with junior forward Lance Stemler's insertion into the lineup before IU's tilt with Butler. Stemler replaced sophomore Ben Allen, whose minutes decreased gradually until Tuesday night's game at Duke, when Allen started opposite junior D.J. White. Stemler, injured with a concussion before the Duke game, is doubtful for Saturday's matchup with Charlotte.\nAlso, Sampson has stuck with his insertion of guards Joey Shaw and Armon Bassett into starting roles. The two freshmen have played well in place of seniors Earl Calloway and Rod Wilmont. Both seniors are captains but played reduced minutes at Duke. The only two players who have started every game are White and A.J. Ratliff, but Ratliff -- like Wilmont and Calloway -- didn't see much of the floor Tuesday night against the Blue Devils and has drawn quips from Sampson in his postgame press conference more than once this season.\nSampson said there was an implicit message behind his substitutions Tuesday. \n"Oh there was a message," the coach said Thursday afternoon. "But at the same time, whether I'm coaching the British Columbia Wildcats or IU, my responsibility is to put our team in a position to win. A lot of that's putting the right guys on the floor.\n"I'm just observing. I threw five guys out there to start the game; they didn't play very well. You know, I just didn't see a lot of confidence with that group. But I've never seen them play on the road."\nIt gets more complicated. Senior guard Errek Suhr, who anchored IU's comeback in the second half at Duke, might be getting some consideration for the starting point guard spot as well, Sampson said.\n"I like our kids to earn things," he said. "(Suhr) certainly earned consideration Tuesday night."\nFor now, as the team searches for its identity, Sampson will continue to search for his starting five. He's settled on a lineup for Saturday -- White, Ratliff, Allen, Bassett, and Calloway -- but as he's shown thus far, lineups can change on a whim.\n"I'm a lot more concerned about seeing progress as a team," he said. "You know we're going to have some head-scratching possessions right now ... Five years from now we're still going to look lost at times. I've never coached a team that didn't look lost at times. The thing as we go on is that you just learn more, you learn who plays where, who fits best together"