With all of the injuries Nova is suddenly dealing with, one of the big debates going on around Nova Nation is who steps into the starting lineup between Brandon Slater and Cole Swider. While we haven't discussed it much here, it's been a big topic on social media and the consensus has been that it should be Slater. However, it was Swider who got the call on Saturday and on Tuesday Jay Wright provided some insight into the decision that I thought was interesting.
“One of the things we were thinking about, Cole Swider is one of our inbounders. We knew we were gonna get pressed because of not having Collin, so we were thinking we’re already down a point guard let’s not be down an inbounder too. So let’s start Cole, that’s what we were thinking about. Slater’s been playing great, great defensively, and we know we can play Cole at any position. We gotta make a decision but it really doesn’t matter to us because they’ll both play the same amount of minutes.”
Again, I just thought that was interesting and provided a look at some of the things coaches have to think about that fans might not realize or consider.
Villanova doesn't put much stock in defining traditional positions and, as Wright noted, generally judges its rotation in terms of minutes played rather than who does or doesn't start, but, at least to me, it's interesting to get a glimpse into some of what goes into these decisions beyond what even very knowledgeable basketball fans might think to consider.
“One of the things we were thinking about, Cole Swider is one of our inbounders. We knew we were gonna get pressed because of not having Collin, so we were thinking we’re already down a point guard let’s not be down an inbounder too. So let’s start Cole, that’s what we were thinking about. Slater’s been playing great, great defensively, and we know we can play Cole at any position. We gotta make a decision but it really doesn’t matter to us because they’ll both play the same amount of minutes.”
Again, I just thought that was interesting and provided a look at some of the things coaches have to think about that fans might not realize or consider.
Villanova doesn't put much stock in defining traditional positions and, as Wright noted, generally judges its rotation in terms of minutes played rather than who does or doesn't start, but, at least to me, it's interesting to get a glimpse into some of what goes into these decisions beyond what even very knowledgeable basketball fans might think to consider.