Loyola's version of the 4-out, 1-in scheme was created out of necessity in 2014-15 when our entire frontcourt (Osbourne, O'Leary, Cody Johnson, Jeremy King) transfered out, leaving only 6'4" Christian Thomas as our only returning frontcourt player. We got 6'7" Montel James from the Juco ranks; 6'6" Donte Ingram turned out to be a very productive freshman, but started only one game. But that was it-- Montel James was the tallest player on the roster, and our second tallest starter was Thomas (generously listed as 6'5").
With that lineup and using a much higher-intensity defense, we managed to win the CBI Championship, the Contintental Tire Tournament in Las Vegas, and won 24 games. And that was with Milton Doyle injured for something like 11 games of the conference season.
But we went to that scheme out of necessity. A lot of teams have done it, too. And it's not as unusual or difficult to game plan against now as it was several years ago.
If we've got Cameron Krutwig for the next two years, and we've got improved recruiting power as a result of the Final Four season, why do we need to stick to it? We can always create the flexibility to go big if we have the personnel. There are simply some matchups that give us problems, and when the opposition can gameplan for only one kind of lineup we're sometimes at a disadvantage. Krutwig has so much ability inside, but there are some things he can't do well-- he's an OK but not great shot blocker, he has below-average vertical (uh... let's face it... he has almost zero vertical), and I'd like to see him develop some more at creating space for teammates to drive to the basket.
|