A couple weeks ago, San Diego State basketball fans learned that the high-flying incoming freshman Zylan Cheatham will likely miss 3-4 months due to a broken bone in his left foot. While the Aztecs still have plenty of freshman to be excited about, the team will definitely feel the impact of Cheatham's absence.
Like I stated in my previous article from August, front-court depth has been a problem for the Aztecs for the past couple of years, and now it'll be a problem for the beginning of the 2014 season.
The one big man off the bench from last year, James Johnson, decided to end his run with the Aztecs and transfer to Liberty, leaving the roster with two big men: Skylar Spencer and Angelo Chol. Cheatham is listed as a 6'7", 205-pound forward, and was likely to see most his time playing the four position his freshman year, with guys like J.J. O'Brien, Matt Shrigley, and Malik Pope (assuming Winston Shepard and Dwayne Polee II start at the guard spots) getting most the minutes at the three spot.
Cheatham was really Fisher's only option to bring off the bench to give Chol and Spencer a rest. He isn't the physical rebounder or prolific shot blocker that Spencer is, but he's a guy that you can bring in off the bench to run the pick and roll and run the floor. This puts that much more pressure on Chol and Spencer to stay out of foul trouble, and most importantly, increase their stamina. SDSU has a tough non-conference schedule this year, including Utah, BYU, Washington, Cincinnati and all of the other possible opponents in the Maui Invitational. So lacking depth in the front court could lead to a few losses early in the season.
However, there is some sort of a bright spot resulting from this injury. With only two real big men, Coach Fisher might have no choice but to try small ball. We saw a little of this last year with Xavier Thames, Aqeel Quinn, Polee, Winston and Davis/Spencer/O'Brien, and it actually worked. With so much athleticism, why not just try to outrun teams at times?
Chol and Spencer are going to need to rest at some point. Imagine Shepard attacking the defense with Polee, Quinn, Shrigley and Pope on the perimeter.
Scary.
Individually, this does not effect anybody on the roster more than O'Brien.
Because of SDSU's lack of point-guard experience, it was a possibility that O'Brien would run the point with the second unit when Winston is on the bench. We saw a lot of O'Brien running the point, especially in O'Brien's first year before the huge emergence of Thames.
With Cheatham gone, O'Brien will be the best option the team will have to back up the big men. This means that O'Brien may start, then stay on the court with the second unit to play big. We know that O'Brien has the agility to pull that off as he has seen a heavy dose of minutes from Coach Fisher over his first three years with the Aztecs.
O'Brien looked out of place last year, partially because he was playing out of position. In his first two years at SDSU he played the four alongside Tim Shelton then Deshawn Stephens. Now with Cheatham out, maybe fans can see some vintage O'Brien--the one that used to get double-doubles night in night out.
Now that's enough about the team concept. How about Cheatham, himself? Cheatham's game is all about playing above the rim and getting to the rack with his athleticism. With a suspect jump shot and a skinny frame, he relies on his athleticism for him to impact on the game.
What if this foot injury doesn't go away?
Although he is having a screw placed in his foot and will most likely come back as new, what if by any chance this continues to be a problem for the young star? His game relies too much on speed and jumping ability for him to lose explosiveness. All of SDSU hopes he has a speedy recovery and is able to make an impact as soon as he returns. If the rehab process goes well and he plays the rest of his college career fully health, we are looking at some NBA potential.
Cheatham's injury will definitely play its part in the beginning of SDSU's season. But with the talent that this year's roster has, adjusting and managing the rotation shouldn't be a big issue for Coach Fisher.