Originally Posted by
Kedsy
After Rasheed played PG for most of a recent high school all-star game, he was quoted as saying Coach K asked him to work on playing point in preparation for the coming season. Don't know how well he'll do, but I bet we see him stealing a few minutes a game at PG next season.
Ryan played some C this past season, on a team that had both Mason and Miles. I remember him guarding Sullinger and doing a creditable job. Personally, I think Ryan can guard most college centers better than he can guard quicker college PFs. I expect Ryan to pick up at least 5 minutes a game at C next season, maybe as many as 10.
Well, you might be right, but if Coach K asked Rasheed to get prepared to play some PG, my guess is you also might be wrong. Having said that, I doubt we'll see this particular lineup very often, if at all, but I like that Coach K will have that club in his bag.
That's a valid concern. We'll have to wait and see if he's capable there.
In a lineup containing Rasheed, Seth, Andre, and Ryan, I'm not sure it matters how well Alex can shoot from the outside. As far as Seth at PG is concerned, while he stopped being our primary PG in early December this past season, he still played several minutes at PG in almost every game. I suspect that trend will continue.
My basis for assuming Rasheed is a plus defender is his well-reported reputation as a plus defender (at least in high school). My basis for Alex is that Coach K has said he's a potential four-year starter and it's hard to imagine him making such a statement if Alex wasn't pretty good on D. Also, assuming Rasheed actually is a good defender, and that Tyler continues his hard-nosed off-ball D, Alex's size alone makes him a defensive asset unless he has very slow lateral footspeed and, again, if that was the case I doubt Coach K would have made such glowing comments about Alex. As far as Ryan is concerned, I think he's a better defender than most on this board seem to believe. Even if I'm wrong about that, if Rasheed, Tyler, Alex, and Mason perform as well defensively as I hope they will, then Ryan's help-side shot-blocking and charge-taking is all we'll really need from him in that lineup.