USC lost several lead-guard options in their roster overhaul this offseason. Still, Eric Musselman has no doubt that the Trojans will have someone on the team to take those responsibilities on.
Musselman discussed the point guard spot on his new team during a recent media availability at practice in Los Angeles. For him, almost anyone can play as their one considering the players that he has had run at both Nevada and Arkansas. That doesn’t mean it’ll work as well but it just means that they have more options than you may think.
“I think that, like, for us, we’ve had guys that are in that 6’6 range that have had really good success in our system, whether it’s Moses Moody, Anthony Black, Caleb or Cody Martin. I can go on and on – Isaiah Joe,” Musselman recalled. “We just kind of wanted to go with that template so to speak. We have had some guys that were not traditional point guards play really well.”
“Doesn’t mean that we’ll be able to do it again. But Cody Martin came to us as a four-man from NC State, we played him at the point. Lindsey Drew from LA was a longer player that, you know, had played some point but we rolled with him exclusively. Jimmy Whitt was like a three, four-man. Even though he was super undersized, we played him at the point,” continued Musselman.
In re-tooling the entire roster, USC lost essentially all of their playmaking production. That includes that from names like Boogie Ellis, Isaiah Collier, Kobe Johnson, and Bronny James.
Of the 11 transfers in for USC, Desmond Claude (Xavier) is among the highest career averages in assist. His rate sits at 2.5 after posting 3.2 last season for the Musketeers. Saint Thomas (Northern Colorado) is up there too at 2.3 after averaging 4.2 for the Bears. Kevin Patton Jr. (San Diego) at 2.4, Clark Slajchert (Penn) at 1.9, and Bryce Pope (UC San Diego) at 1.5 are also options along with Wesley Yates (Washington).
Size is something that Musselman is accustomed to with his point, especially in order to benefit the defense. It’s just a matter now of which Trojan stands out the most in their opportunities at the position.
“Doesn’t mean it’ll work this go around but that was the thought process of trying to find guys that value the ball and maybe we could put them in different positions to keep our defense the way that we want,” explained Musselman. “If you have some length at the point guard position, it allows you to switch a little bit more one through five.”
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