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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Flyers have options for starting lineup
With the first exhibition game Tuesday, Dayton coach Brian Gregory will have to decide soon on a starting lineup. He’s always said players in general make way too much out of being first string, and he has a point. UD will rotate so many guys, it really doesn’t matter who’s on the floor for the opening tap.
But SOMEBODY has to be out there. And at this point, there’s no clear-cut answer at the vacant power-forward position.
Let’s assume center Kurt Huelsman, point guard London Warren and wings Chris Wright and Marcus Johnson reclaim their positions, as expected. Who do you plant at the 4 spot?
I believe Chris Johnson is their next-best player, but the 6-6 sophomore is certainly no power forward.
The Flyers could play a big line-up with posts Devin Searcy, Matt Kavanaugh, Josh Benson and Huelsman manning the 4 and 5 spots, but I see that as being only an occasional look for UD because of potential problems with defensive match-ups.
I also could see the Flyers going “small” and having Wright guard a power forward while the Flyers keep their one-in-four-out alignment. Wright was recruited as a 3, and that’s certainly where his pro future is, but he’s not opposed to playing some at the 4.
“I’m OK with that,” he said. “Being versatile, that’s something the coaches want and I really take pride in that. If I can play defense on a little bigger guy, I can move to the four. If it’s (matching up with) somebody smaller at the 3, I can take advantage of that and get some post-ups. It’s good just to be able to interchange between the two (positions).”
Any way it turns out, the Flyers have a lot of options, which will make them a tough opponent for more limited foes.
