Javan Johnson at 4

[isucy86]

Why do a lot of posters on this board think Javan Johnson will play 4 next year?

I have watched a few highlight video's of his game and I just don't see him as a small ball 4. Sure he can shoot the 3, as over 50% of his attempts were from beyond the 3 pt. line. But he looks pretty slender. The Cyclone website lists him at 6'6" and 195lbs. He looks like a prototypical wing.

Looking back at Elite ISU's teams over the past 10 years, we had Ejim or Hogue as our small ball 4's Those guys would average around 8rpg. People focus on our poor shooting last year, but a bigger issue for me was poor offensive & defensive rebounding. Add to that, we have lacked physical toughness.

Another reason why I don't think Johnson is a good fit at 4 is Solomon Young. He is a mediocre rebounder at best- averaging about 6 rebound per 30 minutes.

I think ISU can be a solid team next year- but IMO its going to take a PG like DeJulius and a physical 4.

PG - Transfer
WG - Bolton
WG - Johnson
P - Transfer or Conditt or Foster
P - Young or Conditt

 

[RustShack]

I don’t think you know what small ball is.

 

[Cyforce]

If we were looking for a transfer at the 4 shouldn't we of seen a few names by now?

 

[Hayes30]

Small ball means 4 guards/wings and 1 big on the floor together. Him being the "4" does not mean he is a post player.

 

[RustShack]

If we were looking for a transfer at the 4 shouldn't we of seen a few names by now?

Yes.

 

[ISUCubswin]

Steyer and Booth will probably be starting for us so Johnson will need to be 4

 

[brokenloginagain]

you think prohm knows how to coach 2 bigs on the floor at the same time?

of course javan will play the 4.

 

[ClonesTwenty1]

Foster will be in the starting lineup next season.

 

[isucy86]

Small ball means 4 guards/wings and 1 big on the floor together. Him being the "4" does not mean he is a post player.

I don't think small ball works if a coach just throws 4 guards/wings out there. And maybe it's a reason ISU has not been very good under Prohm after Fred's players moved on.

IMO small ball only works if you can still hold your own on the offensive & defensive boards and defend the post effectively. Small ball doesn't work with 4 guards/wings if a couple of them aren't really good rebounders. Like I mentioned in the original post, when ISU was elite- we had Ejim and Hogue at the 4..

In addition the other guys all rebounded well. For being a 6'1" guy- Morris was an outstanding rebounder. But those teams had a lot of guys who boarded well- Kane, Burton, Abdul Nader, Clyburn, Thomas, Long, Weiler-Babb and DeJean Jones.

I just don't see those kinds of players on our team to play small ball effectively and compete for Big12 titles.

 

[Cyforce]

Small ball only works when you have a wing like Ejim, Houge, Burton, THT or Shayok that can defend a four. Johnson and Blackwell I believe are the 2 most likely candidates.

 

[MTCyclone43]

I don’t think you know what small ball is.

Is that where they play with the 28.5" ball?

 

[WhoISthis]

I don't think small ball works if a coach just throws 4 guards/wings out there. And maybe it's a reason ISU has not been very good under Prohm after Fred's players moved on.

IMO small ball only works if you can still hold your own on the offensive & defensive boards and defend the post effectively. Small ball doesn't work with 4 guards/wings if a couple of them aren't really good rebounders. Like I mentioned in the original post, when ISU was elite- we had Ejim and Hogue at the 4..

In addition the other guys all rebounded well. For being a 6'1" guy- Morris was an outstanding rebounder. But those teams had a lot of guys who boarded well- Kane, Burton, Abdul Nader, Clyburn, Thomas, Long, Weiler-Babb and DeJean Jones.

I just don't see those kinds of players on our team to play small ball effectively and compete for Big12 titles.

We have the players imo.

We’ve gone to the tournament 3 times since Hogue. The two years we didn’t, we didn’t play small ball. Go look at the rebounding numbers. We’ll be fine.

Small ball is about gaining more on offense than you give up on defense. And frankly, we don’t give up much on defense if you’ve watched our defense with two bigs.

 

[Clonehomer]

Why do a lot of posters on this board think Javan Johnson will play 4 next year?

I have watched a few highlight video's of his game and I just don't see him as a small ball 4. Sure he can shoot the 3, as over 50% of his attempts were from beyond the 3 pt. line. But he looks pretty slender. The Cyclone website lists him at 6'6" and 195lbs. He looks like a prototypical wing.

Looking back at Elite ISU's teams over the past 10 years, we had Ejim or Hogue as our small ball 4's Those guys would average around 8rpg. People focus on our poor shooting last year, but a bigger issue for me was poor offensive & defensive rebounding. Add to that, we have lacked physical toughness.

Another reason why I don't think Johnson is a good fit at 4 is Solomon Young. He is a mediocre rebounder at best- averaging about 6 rebound per 30 minutes.

I think ISU can be a solid team next year- but IMO its going to take a PG like DeJulius and a physical 4.

PG - Transfer
WG - Bolton
WG - Johnson
P - Transfer or Conditt or Foster
P - Young or Conditt

Why are you discounting Jackson? The one position that Prohm has shown to be able to coach is PG. Maybe Jackson will see a big jump next year.

1 - Jackson
2 - Bolton
3 - Johnson / Freshman
4 - Conditt / Foster
5 - Young

With another year of experience, I don't think this team would be a step back from what we had at the second half of the Big12 schedule this year. Obviously, that's not the bar we're all looking for. But any additions would give hope for at least a competitive team.

 

[RustShack]

The only way Johnson doesn’t start at the 4 is if Foster is ready. Young, Conditt, and Foster are all 5’s.

Jacobson at the 4 is a big part of us being bad last year, we’d be making the same mistake again.

The only way it would work is if Foster can guard small ball 4’s. Or If Young can, who so far can’t.

 

[isucy86]

If we were looking for a transfer at the 4 shouldn't we of seen a few names by now?

That may make my point. If I were building a small ball (4 guards/wings) roster, my two priorities this spring would be a PG and a Ejim/Hogue type wing. I haven't heard us linked with a single small ball 4. That means one of two things:

1. Prohm expects to play Javon 30+mpg at 4 (which IMO means ISU won't be good next year)
2. Prohm expects to play Young, Conditt and Foster about 65-80mpg at the 4 & 5 positions

I think the later can work if we play different offensive sets next year & rely on more ball movement vs. dribble drive.

 

[Cyforce]

That may make my point. If I were building a small ball (4 guards/wings) roster, my two priorities this spring would be a PG and a Ejim/Hogue type wing. I haven't heard us linked with a single small ball 4. That means one of two things:

1. Prohm expects to play Javon 30+mpg at 4 (which IMO means ISU won't be good next year)
2. Prohm expects to play Young, Conditt and Foster about 65-80mpg at the 4 & 5 positions

I think the later can work if we play different offensive sets next year & rely on more ball movement vs. dribble drive.

I think the 3 bigs combine for about 55 minutes and Blackwell backs up Johnson as the SB4.

 

[clone4life82]

That may make my point. If I were building a small ball (4 guards/wings) roster, my two priorities this spring would be a PG and a Ejim/Hogue type wing. I haven't heard us linked with a single small ball 4. That means one of two things:

1. Prohm expects to play Javon 30+mpg at 4 (which IMO means ISU won't be good next year)
2. Prohm expects to play Young, Conditt and Foster about 65-80mpg at the 4 & 5 positions

I think the later can work if we play different offensive sets next year & rely on more ball movement vs. dribble drive.

Some of the lineup decisions may be dependent upon who we’re playing and whether or not we can exploit them on offense without giving too much up on the defensive end. I think between those four Steve’s got options. He needs shooters that can space the floor for the bigs as well as a ball handler

 

[Clonehomer]

The only way Johnson doesn’t start at the 4 is if Foster is ready. Young, Conditt, and Foster are all 5’s.

Jacobson at the 4 is a big part of us being bad last year, we’d be making the same mistake again.

The only way it would work is if Foster can guard small ball 4’s. Or If Young can, who so far can’t.

That's the real hope, right? Foster comes in and plays the 4 from the get go? That'll allow Young and Condit to rotate and be aggressive on defense.

IMO though, we can talk all we want about who's playing the 4. What this team needs is a guy that can hit a corner 3. That would clear out the interior for the 5 to do work. Jacobsen wasn't that. The guards last year were iffy at best. Without that threat, the interior scoring will continue to be difficult. If that guy is Johnson, then call him a 4 and let him shoot away.

 

[isucy86]

The only way Johnson doesn’t start at the 4 is if Foster is ready. Young, Conditt, and Foster are all 5’s.

Jacobson at the 4 is a big part of us being bad last year, we’d be making the same mistake again.

The only way it would work is if Foster can guard small ball 4’s. Or If Young can, who so far can’t.

IMO the reason going big last year didn't work is because Prohm played the same offensive sets and defensive style as he did when we had a great small ball lineup. A coach either has to recruit to his system or adjust to the talent he has. I feel Prohm recruited to his system, but got caught when Lard and Horton-Tucker jumped to the NBA. What he didn't do going into the system is adjust to the talent he had going into the 2019/20 season.

I look at the 2020/21 roster and at this point, I'm not sure I see a small ball lineup that can finish in the top half of the Big12. I look at our 2020/21 roster at this point and feel we could finish in the top half of the Big12 starting 2 post players. But that assumes Young, Conditt and Foster are among our top 7 players next year. But that means Conditt makes significant strides in the off-season and Foster plays like a 4 star recruit.

 

[Cyforce]

Why are you discounting Jackson? The one position that Prohm has shown to be able to coach is PG. Maybe Jackson will see a big jump next year.

1 - Jackson
2 - Bolton
3 - Johnson / Freshman
4 - Conditt / Foster
5 - Young

With another year of experience, I don't think this team would be a step back from what we had at the second half of the Big12 schedule this year. Obviously, that's not the bar we're all looking for. But any additions would give hope for at least a competitive team.

Just my opinion but Bolton was a terrible point yet he still took the reigns after TH went down.