Busting Brackets
Fansided

Villanova Basketball: Wildcats ceiling lowers if Bryan Antoine can’t play

By Tristan Freeman

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 23: Collin Gillespie #2 of the Villanova Wildcats handles the ball on offense against the Purdue Boilermakers in the first half during the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at XL Center on March 23, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - MARCH 23: Collin Gillespie #2 of the Villanova Wildcats handles the ball on offense against the Purdue Boilermakers in the first half during the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at XL Center on March 23, 2019 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

It seems that Bryan Antoine’s injury isn’t getting better. How big of an impact will it have on Villanova Basketball if he can’t play?

It was a newsworthy event for Villanova Basketball at Big East Media Day. They were voted No. 2 in the preseason polls to Seton Hall at the top, a surprise considering that the Wildcats have recently won a pair of national championships recently. But the bigger piece of information came from head coach Jay Wright regarding the status of freshman guard Bryan Antoine.

The five-star shooting guard was already slated to be out for nearly two months, dealing with a torn labrum in the shoulder. The hope was that he would be available to go for the start of conference play with Villanova and provide enough of a boost for them to make another Final Four run. Antoine is a strong “one and done” candidate for the 2020 NBA Draft and is supposed to help replace the offensive production of leading scorer Phil Booth on the perimeter.

However, according to Coach Wright, the timeline for Antoine’s recovery and eventual return to the court could be delayed indefinitely. Even the idea of a “redshirt” season was brought up by him, depending on how the next 6-8 weeks go with his recovery. On one hand, this isn’t groundbreaking thinking by Wright, who has a history of not playing guys when they weren’t ready. He essentially did it last season to another top-tier recruit in Jahvon Quinerly, although the reason had to do with his inability to play in the system for Villanova Basketball. What it does say is that this coach will put the best lineups on the floor, regardless of how many stars they have when they arrive.

Related Story. Villanova 2019-20 season preview. light

The Wildcats also are still in good shape on the perimeter even without Antoine. Returning guard Collin Gillespie is one of the best perimeter players in the Big East, coming off a season where he averaged 10.9 ppg and 2.8 apg. His 38% three-point shooting on 5.6 attempts also means that Villanova won’t be desperate for shooting. And while Antoine and fellow five-star freshman Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are the notable newcomers for Villanova, don’t forget about top-60 shooting guard Justin Moore, who’ll get the early starting nod and have the chance to carve out a major role as a freshman.

But depth will be a concern for the Wildcat guards. Chris Arcidiacono (brother of famous champion Wildcat Ryan) is the only true perimeter player on the bench, with either Saddiq Bey or Brandon Slater possibly needing to play at the two-spot in case of emergency. So if Antoine truly is out for longer than expected, don’t be surprised to see Gillespie lead the Big East in minutes played, as he’s the only true healthy ball-handler on the team. It worked for Seton Hall with Myles Powell but whether Villanova is better off playing the junior that much remains to be seen.

It also means that there’s little margin of error when it comes to Moore’s ability to impact the game. If he struggles as a freshman, there really isn’t anywhere to go for the coaching staff when it comes to backcourt production. The Wildcats will need their frontcourt depth to lead the way through the first half of the season before Antoine returns, and even afterward when he gets his feet wet in the college game.

That’s why I’m concerned about the trajectory of Villanova Basketball. They already were going to rely on a fair amount of production from the freshmen, combined with the junior trio of Gillespie, Jermaine Samuels and Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree and the expected development. None of it is a guarantee despite the track record of this coaching staff. That’s why I agree that the more-proven returning Pirate players gave them the rightful edge on top of the Big East preseason polls. But when it came to who had the higher ceiling once the postseason arrived, it was fair the say that the Wildcats were more likely to make that Final Four run.

dark. Next. Big East preseason power rankings for 2019-20

Unfortunately, the serious issues of Bryan Antoine have to make Wildcat fans nervous about how the 2019-20 season will go. In some ways, they’ve become Gillespie or bust for the time being. If he develops into an All-Big East performer, then the team won’t skip a beat. However, if the extra workload is too much for him and Moore to handle, Villanova Basketball will have more losses in the non-conference portion of the schedule than they are used to.