Possibility?

[Phantom Warrior]

For those who seem somewhat puzzled by the Reinhardt commitment (assuming it's true) here's a thought.

Reinhardt has been described in two articles as a lock-down defender. Maybe Wojo envisions him as the best option to defend the 4 despite being 6'6". Jae defended the 4 his two years at MU, and he's 6'5". Lazar defended the 4 for four years, and he was listed as 6'6" (though at the NBA combine he was deemed to be closer to 6'4").

Maybe Wojo sees Reinhardt as a better option to defend the 4 than Sandy or JJ.

And maybe he sees this as a way to allow Sam to get his feet wet playing 12-16 mpg at the 4.

If Reinhardt can be that kind of defender, then he would be an ideal stretch 4 for one season even though he is listed as a 2 guard/small forward type.

Last year Blueitt played the 4 for Xavier and Jenkins played the 4 for Nova. Both are listed as 6'6". In terms of their offensive games, both play much more on the perimeter than they do inside.

In Wojo's offense, the 2, 3, and 4 are virtually interchangeable since it's a 4-out/1-in system. So on offense, it really does not matter which of those three positions Reinhardt is listed at.

I guess my only real question about this concept is whether or not Reinhardt can get defensive rebounds. His stats do not appear to indicate that he is all that effective on the glass. But who knows? Maybe that was because he was playing more of a 2 on defense at USC.

I guess we'll find out whether or not my hypothesis (Reinhardt defending the 4) is correct next year, but at this point it seems to make some sense, and it certainly seems preferable to JJ or HC or SC trying to defend the 4.