Mikovio wrote:Cunningham should play the 3 and that also happens to be the position of the Braves' best returning player, 5th year senior Auston Barnes. Barnes averaged 9ppg and 6rpg last year and was the team's best 3 point shooter (34%). If Cunningham could run the point he'd be starting but forward is crowded.
Wufan wrote:Sometimes freshman don't excel in their first year. VanVleet took a back seat to Armstead as a rookie. That said, Bradley is not WSU, and PG takes a little longer to learn than forward. The 3/4/5 positions should be manned by Shaw, Taylor, Morgan, Barnes, and Cunningham. Even if all 4 are able to play 25 mpg (a lot for big men) that still leaves 20 mpg for JC. Barnes is capable of playing PF, and Shaw and Morgan are capable of playing center. That being the case, Cunningham should be competing for time with Taylor, not Barnes, in order to put the best players on the court. If he's not playing 20+ mpg by Valley time, then, as stated above, either Bradley is extremely good, or he's a bit of a disappointment in his first season.
Mikovio wrote:Wufan wrote:Sometimes freshman don't excel in their first year. VanVleet took a back seat to Armstead as a rookie. That said, Bradley is not WSU, and PG takes a little longer to learn than forward. The 3/4/5 positions should be manned by Shaw, Taylor, Morgan, Barnes, and Cunningham. Even if all 4 are able to play 25 mpg (a lot for big men) that still leaves 20 mpg for JC. Barnes is capable of playing PF, and Shaw and Morgan are capable of playing center. That being the case, Cunningham should be competing for time with Taylor, not Barnes, in order to put the best players on the court. If he's not playing 20+ mpg by Valley time, then, as stated above, either Bradley is extremely good, or he's a bit of a disappointment in his first season.
Taylor's a center. Cunningham isn't a center at this level.
Morgan and Taylor are playing the 5 and should split about 25/15. Morgan might be able to chip in at the 4 but given Taylor's consistent foul trouble he won't have much time to play beside him. If Taylor has made great strides here then I suppose Morgan might be competing for minutes with Cunningham.
At the 3/4 there's Barnes (who played 32mpg last year), Shaw, Cunningham and Donte Thomas. You've got a 5th year senior returning starter and another former top 100 recruit 4th year junior who has practiced with the team for a full year and impressed. Of 80 total minutes at these positions, I'd expect 60 are accounted for between Barnes and Shaw. Assuming Morgan only handles the 5, that's probably 15mpg for Cunningham at best.
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