Louisville basketball: 3 starting lineup options for 2020-2021 season

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Louisville basketball (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

Middle-of-the-road scenario

Point Guard: Carlik Jones
Shooting Guard: Jay Scrubb
Small Forward: Samuell Williamson
Power Forward: Jae’Lyn Withers
Center: Malik Williams

If we’re looking at the middle-of-the-road scenario for the Cardinals, there’s not much variation in terms of the names. In fact, four of the five starters from the best-case scenario are the same here. The only change is that Jae’Lyn Withers, who was the No. 125 recruit in the 2019 class, takes his year in the program and steps up to be the power forward as JJ Traynor isn’t ready.

However, if we’re getting down to brass tax with the lineup and trying to fully construct why this would be a middle-of-the-road scenario, it also comes down to the way that this team would be operating even if the personnel is the same.

In the best-case scenario, Louisville would have a four-headed monster on their hands with Williamson able to score inside and out, Williams dominating on the interior and Jones and Scrubb being able to both create for themselves and for teammates as playmakers in the backcourt. For a middle-of-the-road scenario, however, they would be much more one-dimensional.

There is a world where both Jones and Scrubb, one jumping from Radford and the other coming from JUCO ball, are not fully ready to handle the schedule of playing ACC competition (or top-tier non-conference competition) every week. If that were to happen, Mack would become much more reliant on Williamson and Williams to be the pillars of this club.