Thread: Future teams
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Old 03-25-2019, 09:01 AM   #26
waterhead
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Everything starts with whether or not Cumberland comes back obviously so I will throw in that disclaimer. As long as we have him back (and with the new additions) I think we will be better at 4 out of 5 positions and possibly all 5. No disrespect to Jenifer (who had a great season) or Cane who was very valuable for us over the course of his 2 years.

At center we have Brooks who showed improvement over the course of the year. We will see who comes out of the pile in the back up role between Nsoseme and Diara but everyone has an extra year under the belt. From the rumors out there about Prince I would expect him to come in for all of the back up minutes for Scott and perhaps even at times allowing Scott to play the 5 when Brooks is in foul trouble. No longer will we need to see Moore or Fredericks getting those minutes. With the addition of Prince and Hardnett I think we obviously improve a solid situation from the standpoint of the 4 and 5. I think Prince could see 15 mpg his first full playing year. He just seems like a Cronin wet dream type of player.

I would imagine Curtis is going to give us an upgrade at the wing as well (over Moore and Fredericks). I would expect him to be getting the primary backup minutes on the wing by mid season. I don't think it's a huge ask for someone of his caliber to provide a similar scoring punch as Broome did off the bench this year...which was pedestrian. I fully expect Curtis to be putting in 15 mpg and may come closer to 20. He may even take over for Williams as a starter at some point if Keith looks like he did toward the end of the season. But a lot of this depends on Curtis ability to defend. It will also be interesting to see if (or how much) Cumberland plays PG as that would open up another spot for Curtis to fill on the wing. So I think Curtis is going to have some options that may go beyond just back up minutes. He seems like the type of recruit that will be capable of playing a major role ala Evans and Cumberland did even as frosh.

The big question is what is going to happen at the point and perhaps more specifically Johnson in general. If Cumberland is on point will Johnson be the backup or will we play them together? Will we put Johnson on the wing or Curtis if Cumberland plays point? Honestly, I am VERY high on Johnson however, putting the ball in Cumberland's hands on every possession is probably the route we need to go because of his understanding of the game, scoring, and assist ability and it keeps him from having to be constantly running off screens to get the ball. I love the energy Johnson brings and his defense could help us get back to elite status giving us someone who can play lock down on the perimeter (and rebound). But Johnson does not fit the description we need on the wing very well unless he really works on his shot so he may have to wait another year for starter minutes. We lost 2 senior PG's but we haven't lost any depth at the position really...lol!

We are going to be extremely versatile next year...but as usual we are going to need some shooters to step up to help Cumberland. And quite frankly I think we are going to struggle there a bit (and it may be the only place we struggle). I see Williams around 30%. Johnson probably similar 30% range and I just hope Curtis can make 35%. If we don't see a huge jump from Moore (shooting 3's) in the first 10 games of the year...he may as well ride the pine or find a better situation for himself.

I don't see a lot of minutes for Hardnett, Moore, Fredericks, or Ellie and maybe not Diara depending on his improvement and how good Prince is. Someone has to come out of this group to surprise us though. Would be nice to get 2 of them.
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