2011-12 Player Preview: #5 Junior Cadougan

First off: please don't ever ask Junior to sing. Thankfully, he's not under scholarship for his vocal stylings. Junior enters his junior season facing the same situation he encountered last year: as the only veteran "true" point guard on the roster. In 2010-'11, anyway, that fact wasn't enough to earn Cadougan the starting point guard job, as Coach Buzz Williams instead opted to give senior guard Dwight Buycks most of the minutes at the helm of MU's offense.

But as Buycks' playing time and quality of play diminished towards the end of the season, Cadougan was more than willing to take advantage of the opportunity. He only managed four points per game in his 20 minutes of action per contest, showing that Junior's scoring game is not his strong suit. Unlike many point guards, Junior isn't much of a deep threat -- he never had more that two three-pointers in a game last year, and he only managed a 15% shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

Junior's a slashing point guard in the truest sense of the term, which was on full display against lowly Providence last season, when he recorded his first career double-double with 10 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds. The kid won't kill you from long range, but he will continually drive to the basket either dishing the rock or going in for the lay up.

Minimum Expectations:
Junior builds off of last season, going from solid back-up PG to a dependable starter, giving the team 25-30 minutes a game. We'll hopefully see some additional offense from him, too, if for no other reason than to keep the opposition's defense honest.

In My Wildest Dreams:
Not only do we see the transition to starting PG work seamlessly, but we see a floor leader emerge. If Cadougan is able to create enough scoring opportunities for his teammates, I expect a significant improvement on his 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio from last season (which was good for 125th in country). If he improves in that area, and maintains his tenacious defense, he'll never see the bench.

In My Worst Nightmare:
Cadougan feels pressure from freshman PG Derrick Wilson and can't handle the rigors of being the coach on the floor, and falls back into the same pattern of inconsistency that marked his sophomore year.