Starter at the 4

[tower912]

For the 2019-20 season, who do you think will start at the 4?    Will Wojo stick with his 4-out offense and start Bailey/Cain, or will he modify his offense and use Ed at the 4?     From the late spring/early summer tea leaves, I think Wojo wants Ed to lose a little weight, work on his jumper out to 15 feet, and start at the 4, leaving JJ and Theo to split time at the 5.     

Benefits of Ed starting at the 4:    Takes care of the defensive rebounding concerns.  Won't get outmuscled down low.  Two shot blockers on the floor at the same time when paired with Theo.  If Koby is who he projects to be, Greg gets healthy, and Symir is ready to go, Ed's ability to finish around the rim through contact will come in handy, with an abundance of dump off opportunities.   

Liabilities:    Can Ed guard on the perimeter?    Not a lot of other schools run two post players in their offenses.     What does it do to spacing on offense?     If he and Theo are anchored to the low blocks, where are the driving lanes?    Don't we want Bailey on the floor as much as possible?

[wadesworld]

Markus, Koby, Sacar, Bailey, Theo

I think it will depend on our opponent as to who guards the opponent's "4."  If it's a thicker but shorter "4" you might see Sacar or even Koby guarding him at times with Bailey hounding the opponent's scoring guard with his length.

[BCHoopster]

For the 2019-20 season, who do you think will start at the 4?    Will Wojo stick with his 4-out offense and start Bailey/Cain, or will he modify his offense and use Ed at the 4?     From the late spring/early summer tea leaves, I think Wojo wants Ed to lose a little weight, work on his jumper out to 15 feet, and start at the 4, leaving JJ and Theo to split time at the 5.     

Benefits of Ed starting at the 4:    Takes care of the defensive rebounding concerns.  Won't get outmuscled down low.  Two shot blockers on the floor at the same time when paired with Theo.  If Koby is who he projects to be, Greg gets healthy, and Symir is ready to go, Ed's ability to finish around the rim through contact will come in handy, with an abundance of dump off opportunities.   

Liabilities:    Can Ed guard on the perimeter?    Not a lot of other schools run two post players in their offenses.     What does it do to spacing on offense?     If he and Theo are anchored to the low blocks, where are the driving lanes?    Don't we want Bailey on the floor as much as possible?

Theo does not have the lateral movement or quickness to guard on the perimeter.  If you want to play a 2-3 zone he would be fine but Wojo
basically plays man D.  Ed will get the opportunity for sure, see if he can produce.  I am not holding my breath on this.

[Galway Eagle]

No way bailey can play a Big East 4 unless he comes out looking like his old man this season. He's a 3

[MU82]

Markus, Koby, Sacar, Bailey, Theo

I think it will depend on our opponent as to who guards the opponent's "4."  If it's a thicker but shorter "4" you might see Sacar or even Koby guarding him at times with Bailey hounding the opponent's scoring guard with his length.

Largely this.

I think matchups will determine most things. If the opponent has a big 4 who does lots of work down low, it makes sense to play Ed and Theo/Jayce at the same time for stretches. If the opponent has a thinner and/or smaller and/or perimeter oriented 4, we use Bailey, Cain, Sacar, etc.

As we sit here today, knowing what we know about Wojo's options and Ed's skills, I think we will not see a whole lot of Ed at the 4.

[Afroman]

I could see it being a matchup thing. I'd have no problem with Morrow or Bailey starting.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I don't know if he'll start there, but I do think we will see a lot of lineups with Sacar as the 4.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I don't know if he'll start there, but I do think we will see a lot of lineups with Sacar as the 4.

With Bailey or Cain at the 3?

The only lineup I really see with Sacar at the 4 is if Markus, Koby, Greg and Sacar are all on the floor. 

[Nukem2]

I don't know if he'll start there, but I do think we will see a lot of lineups with Sacar as the 4.

I doubt that unless an opponent goes very small (perhaps Creighton?).

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Not sure who will play the 4, but sign me up for thinking that Ed at the 4 will be an unmitigated disaster.
My guess is we play 4 "guards" around a big offensively.  With bailey, sacar etc considered as guards. I think bailey and sacar can athletically defend 4s on defense, my concern is both have been poor rebounders heretofore.

[BCHoopster]

Not sure who will play the 4, but sign me up for thinking that Ed at the 4 will be an unmitigated disaster.
My guess is we play 4 "guards" around a big offensively.  With bailey, sacar etc considered as guards. I think bailey and sacar can athletically defend 4s on defense, my concern is both have been poor rebounders heretofore.

I think you can play small this year height wise as Sacar and Koby are physically big guards.  Bailey being 6'8" though skinny is a pretty good
defender and I see him guarding the 3.  Normally the 4 is not a strong offensive player, just have to try and keep that player off the glass for rebounding.  I think both guards above can do that.  Remember, the other team has to figure out how to guard MU.  Chess game.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Starting no matta.

Positions no matta.

Matchups, foul trouble,  playing the hot hand, injuries, etc. will determine lineup combinations and playing time.

The 4 will be a "flex" position.  May not have a settled starter until December or January.   And even then, matchups could mean a different starter at times.

[MU82]

Remember, the other team has to figure out how to guard MU.  Chess game.

Underappreciated part of the equation.

[CTWarrior]

Modern basketball is play your best five and don't worry about position.  I would hope we go small and run, run, run.

[MU82]

Modern basketball is play your best five and don't worry about position.  I would hope we go small and run, run, run.

My high school team just wrapped up our June schedule with a 4-day tournament. Despite being extremely undersized -- and only having 7 players because 3 others had to leave mid-week to play in an AAU event -- we made it to the championship game because our girls were hitting 3-pointers like crazy and beating our opponents down court for pitch-ahead layups. We played run and gun, and we were too fast and skilled for our opponents. That helped make up for us getting killed on the boards.

I'm hoping that in 2019-20 MU gets a lot more fast-break buckets than last year's team did. We had to do play half-court offense SO much.

As of today, the two things that concern me most about our Warriors is if we will have enough 3-point shooting to spread the floor, and if we will be able to consistently clean the defensive glass. I feel a little better about the latter with the addition of Jayce, and hoping that another couple of shooters emerge to help Markus. Looking forward to seeing what our guys can do!

[GooooMarquette]

Maybe we'll just start five switchables.

[D'Lo Brown]

With Theo having their back, Sacar, Brendan, or even Jamal will hold up in most games at the 4. With Theo out, I'd be a tad more concerned, but it is what it is.

I seem to remember hearing around when he arrived that Sacar was spending some time working at the 4.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

With Theo having their back, Sacar, Brendan, or even Jamal will hold up in most games at the 4. With Theo out, I'd be a tad more concerned, but it is what it is.

I seem to remember hearing around when he arrived that Sacar was spending some time working at the 4.

Part of the issue will be theo and sacar are very very poor rebounders

[brewcity77]

I think Ed will start the season there, but Bailey is the guy most likely to take those minutes. Depends on if either can establish themselves as a better shooter. For Bailey, he also needs to rebound better.

[Herman Cain]

Wojo said during his press conference that MU would be play 2 bigs at times.

We have the following Bigs: Theo , Ed , Jayce, Ike

We have the following guys who have some size and length: Brendan and Jamal

Depending on the opponent and circumstances  we will have between 2 and 3 of the above guys playing.

I look at the positions for Big Men as more related to who they can defend, versus what they can do offensively.  We will have some interesting match ups this year. For instance Butler signed Derrick Smiths a 7-1 240 pound grad transfer from Valpo (Rick Smits son) They will also Bryce Nze 6-7 225  coming in off his transfer year and he is a tough inside player.  We will clearly have some bodies to put up against these guys.  How will we match up against Nova and their bevy of 6-8 6-9 type guys?

[WarriorFan]

Cain and Bailey have potential to get a lot of time at the 4 because they are good rebounders and in a 4 out / 1 big they will be the next biggest.

Having said that, if I'm the coach I'm making it Morrow's job to lose, with the expectation that nailing jumpers, attacking the basket, and guarding opponents 2-5 on switches are all as important as rebounding and must be done well.  If Morrow can do those, the team would be big and intimidating with Theo at 5, Morrow at 4, BB at 3, Sacar at 2 and Markus at point.  Substitute Cain for BB or Sacar as required.

[tower912]

Enthused to read elsewhere that Ike is practicing hard with the team.  Huge contributions are not required of him this year, but next year, with Johnson and Morrow gone, he will be needed.

[shoothoops]

This will be a matchup thing vs various opponents as well as in game matchups. I expect Bailey to take the biggest leap forward on the team. I am also expecting big things from McEwen.  Thus, McEwen, Howard, Anim, Bailey, and any of the other 3. At times two of the 3 bigs will play depending on matchups.  The hope is that ball movement, spacing, extra pass is improved, instead of pounding it into the ground as much. I know they are working on Ed's versatility and mobility. 

[MU82]

The hope is that ball movement, spacing, extra pass is improved, instead of pounding it into the ground as much.

For me, the hoped-for biggest difference between last year's offense and this year's is that we get more easy baskets -- either in transition after good defensive plays, or through early offense.

With McEwen, Bailey, Elliott, Torrence and Cain, we have the personnel to get deflections, steals and breakaway dunks/layups. (He said, hopefully.)

[shoothoops]

For me, the hoped-for biggest difference between last year's offense and this year's is that we get more easy baskets -- either in transition after good defensive plays, or through early offense.

With McEwen, Bailey, Elliott, Torrence and Cain, we have the personnel to get deflections, steals and breakaway dunks/layups. (He said, hopefully.)

This too, yes.