I read a lot of fuss on this board about how many guards we have, how many guards we need, and why we can or cannot take another "wing" or a "post".
To my surprise, I see little if any acknowledgment of the concept of "positionless" basketball, which Jeff Capel espoused as a goal when he was hired. Like what Brad Stevens is doing in Boston, and many others around the country, you have a primary ballhandler, a big (probably but not always), and 3 versatile athletes on the Court with them, but of course in a given moment you can have two bigs out there, or two ball handlers, etc. It's fluid. Other than a PG and a big, you don't have traditional positions. Maybe the word "wing" is used in lieu of traditional SG/SF. The "stretch 4" concept has some application, but it's not a hard and fast rule.
To me, it's pretty clear that this is Capel's direction with the roster, but I think at the moment he's looking for another shooter/ball handler, and "best player available" with his last roster spot. All of the consternation over whether Drumgoole, Toney or Champagnie (or Jeffress) are guards or forwards is misplaced, as are the questions about whether we take "another" big man in Sanogo.
From Capel's initial press conference:
"I like being versatile. I like players that are versatile, players that can guard multiple positions and do, you know, different things offensively.I want to have a point guard. In my opinion, that's the only true position in the game any more. If you look at the game now, it's completely different. So having a point guard is very, very important."
https://pittsburghpanthers.com/documents/2018/3/28/3_28_18_Capel_Press_Conference_Transcription.pdf
He's got his point guard for the next two seasons, and Horton is a better running mate than McGowens was because of skill set, but I think it's accepted that Horton has the necessary handle to assist with ballhandling duties as well. Theoretically, while you need somebody on the floor with reasonable handle in addition to X, at minimum you need somebody to handle the ball approximately 5-10 min per game while Johnson sits, or is in foul trouble. Horton can do that, which leaves he and X to play 20 minutes together per game as well as handle the ball while the other rests. A grad transfer who can handle and shoot is a nice fit here, obviously, but it could be Okudale or Drumgoole getting some of these minutes alongside X or Horton while the other is sitting.
Realistically, Johnson, Horton, Champagnie and Toney are all going to play 30 mpg. Brown is going to give you 20, and it would appear that Coulibaly and Hugley are going to be the other 20 in the post, more or less - in any event, it's probably some combination of those 3 big guys eating up 40 minutes this year. That doesn't rule out Hugley or Coulibaly getting some additional run in a bigger lineup, but those 40 big man minutes are going to be those 3 guys, whereas this year it was Hamilton, Brown, and a dash of Coulibaly.
So you've got a total of 40 mpg (probably more like 30 as I think that top 4 is going to play more like 32-33/game, but we'll round up) to divide between Odukale, Drumgoole, Collier, Amadasun, Hugley, presumably Jeffress, and an unnamed final recruit (presumably a grad transfer ballhandler/shooter, who would eat up 15-20 of those available minutes). That's really not a lot of open playing time.
What happens if we don't land that grad transfer ballhandler/shooter, and instead land Jeffress and Sanogo? It's an indication that they believe in Drumgoole as a shooter, despite the uneven results in a poor sample size this year, and that they believe similarly in Toney and Champagnie to take another leap forward (Toney went from a 25% 3pt shooter to a 33% 3pt shooter as a soph, and I would expect Champagnie to match or exceed that growth entering his soph season, with some additional improvement coming from Toney also). Maybe they think those 3 guys will be good enough as ballhandlers to at least provide complementary assistance alongside the primary point guard in a given unit (between them, they give you 15-20 mpg to spell Horton and Johnson, and in that situation whichever of Horton and Johnson are on the floor dominates the ball regardless). You'd have a point guard, 2-3 additional guys with decent handle and versatility, and a big, in a given lineup. You could potentially add Jeffress and Odukale to this guard/wing group, but I think there's room and time for them to develop on their own pace rather than be rushed to the floor prematurely like Toney was.
And then in the following year? You subtract Terrell Brown (and replace him with a point guard who is ready to contribute for in 2021, and then take over for X in 2022), and those post minutes get spread between Coulibaly, Hugley and Amadasun (or Sanogo, if we land him). Theoretically there would be more minutes available for an incoming guard, also, assuming we have a 1-year rental coming as a grad transfer this year.
It all comes together much easier than many seem to think.
To my surprise, I see little if any acknowledgment of the concept of "positionless" basketball, which Jeff Capel espoused as a goal when he was hired. Like what Brad Stevens is doing in Boston, and many others around the country, you have a primary ballhandler, a big (probably but not always), and 3 versatile athletes on the Court with them, but of course in a given moment you can have two bigs out there, or two ball handlers, etc. It's fluid. Other than a PG and a big, you don't have traditional positions. Maybe the word "wing" is used in lieu of traditional SG/SF. The "stretch 4" concept has some application, but it's not a hard and fast rule.
To me, it's pretty clear that this is Capel's direction with the roster, but I think at the moment he's looking for another shooter/ball handler, and "best player available" with his last roster spot. All of the consternation over whether Drumgoole, Toney or Champagnie (or Jeffress) are guards or forwards is misplaced, as are the questions about whether we take "another" big man in Sanogo.
From Capel's initial press conference:
"I like being versatile. I like players that are versatile, players that can guard multiple positions and do, you know, different things offensively.I want to have a point guard. In my opinion, that's the only true position in the game any more. If you look at the game now, it's completely different. So having a point guard is very, very important."
https://pittsburghpanthers.com/documents/2018/3/28/3_28_18_Capel_Press_Conference_Transcription.pdf
He's got his point guard for the next two seasons, and Horton is a better running mate than McGowens was because of skill set, but I think it's accepted that Horton has the necessary handle to assist with ballhandling duties as well. Theoretically, while you need somebody on the floor with reasonable handle in addition to X, at minimum you need somebody to handle the ball approximately 5-10 min per game while Johnson sits, or is in foul trouble. Horton can do that, which leaves he and X to play 20 minutes together per game as well as handle the ball while the other rests. A grad transfer who can handle and shoot is a nice fit here, obviously, but it could be Okudale or Drumgoole getting some of these minutes alongside X or Horton while the other is sitting.
Realistically, Johnson, Horton, Champagnie and Toney are all going to play 30 mpg. Brown is going to give you 20, and it would appear that Coulibaly and Hugley are going to be the other 20 in the post, more or less - in any event, it's probably some combination of those 3 big guys eating up 40 minutes this year. That doesn't rule out Hugley or Coulibaly getting some additional run in a bigger lineup, but those 40 big man minutes are going to be those 3 guys, whereas this year it was Hamilton, Brown, and a dash of Coulibaly.
So you've got a total of 40 mpg (probably more like 30 as I think that top 4 is going to play more like 32-33/game, but we'll round up) to divide between Odukale, Drumgoole, Collier, Amadasun, Hugley, presumably Jeffress, and an unnamed final recruit (presumably a grad transfer ballhandler/shooter, who would eat up 15-20 of those available minutes). That's really not a lot of open playing time.
What happens if we don't land that grad transfer ballhandler/shooter, and instead land Jeffress and Sanogo? It's an indication that they believe in Drumgoole as a shooter, despite the uneven results in a poor sample size this year, and that they believe similarly in Toney and Champagnie to take another leap forward (Toney went from a 25% 3pt shooter to a 33% 3pt shooter as a soph, and I would expect Champagnie to match or exceed that growth entering his soph season, with some additional improvement coming from Toney also). Maybe they think those 3 guys will be good enough as ballhandlers to at least provide complementary assistance alongside the primary point guard in a given unit (between them, they give you 15-20 mpg to spell Horton and Johnson, and in that situation whichever of Horton and Johnson are on the floor dominates the ball regardless). You'd have a point guard, 2-3 additional guys with decent handle and versatility, and a big, in a given lineup. You could potentially add Jeffress and Odukale to this guard/wing group, but I think there's room and time for them to develop on their own pace rather than be rushed to the floor prematurely like Toney was.
And then in the following year? You subtract Terrell Brown (and replace him with a point guard who is ready to contribute for in 2021, and then take over for X in 2022), and those post minutes get spread between Coulibaly, Hugley and Amadasun (or Sanogo, if we land him). Theoretically there would be more minutes available for an incoming guard, also, assuming we have a 1-year rental coming as a grad transfer this year.
It all comes together much easier than many seem to think.
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