Preseason Roundtable: Irreplaceable

The preseason roundtable continues as we look to something every team fears: injuries. Marquette was blessed with good health for the bulk of last season, and hopefully they will again in 2011-12. But if something does go wrong, where would it go most wrong? Let's ask the roundtable!

Who can Marquette least afford to lose for a long stretch?

Alan: I'm sure this is a minority opinion, but Chris Otule. The entire defense funnels to him. He won't score, but we have multiple scorers, so I can't vote for any of them. Otule is the guy who can force teams away from the drive, who can make teams play on the perimeter, and who can win the opening possession with the jump ball. In addition, I think we'd struggle if Gardner had to play 20+ mpg and Jamil and Crowder had to replace him. This team will have a good offense no matter what happens. But the only way it has a good defense is with Otule enforcing the middle.

Dr. Blackheart: DJO. Simply put, you cannot replace his scoring, unlike last year when an experienced Buycks could have stepped into that role.

James: Junior Cadougan.

John: Junior Cadougan. I am hoping someone else emerges who can run the point, but I'd hate to make Derrick start big games as a freshman to run it, and we saw the breakdowns that could happen even when a very good off-guard (Buycks) was forced to move over to point.

Kevin: DJO. Many will say it's Cadougan because of the nightmare we saw when Travis Diener went down years ago. I think we've got guys, and an offense, that doesn't rely as heavily on the PG. DJO, on the other hand, is the glue guy who can defend and score in 6 different ways. There's never a lot of room for error in the Big East. Losing DJO would put us under that margin.

Rob: When I looked at the net points contributions for last year, Crowder was the #2 contributor behind Butler. I'll stick with him. In hoops, I believe that 2-3 good players make up about 80% of the positive contributions. If either Crowder or DJO are out for a long stretch, my optimism will fade.

Tim: DJO. Again, that backcourt can't score a lick without him. If DJO goes down with an injury, the Warriors have no proven backcourt options that will worry opposing coaches.