Louisville basketball: Chris Mack has no shortage of PG options, but which is best?

David Johnson – Freshman

David Johnson started his Louisville career with a warm reception during his first trip to the scorer’s table and providing an immediate dunk in his first game back against USC Upstate. But college basketball can never be that easy for freshmen, as we’ve gotten a longer look at the true freshman guard, there’s still a long way to go.

Johnson is in tough spot, where his minutes are limited and he’s trying to find a way to fit in but also be effective. As a player, when you know you’re not going to be on the floor for long, especially when you struggle on the defensive end of the floor, you sometimes try to do too much or you try too hard to not make a mistake to the point where things aren’t natural.

In small chunks, Johnson has shown the ability to be able to provide play-making to the offense as a passer, slasher, and scorer. He looks like he belongs every time he takes the court, and often times he shows it with his play.

We saw that against Texas Tech as he got to the right spots of the floor several times on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, but was just unable to finish the play. His missed shots aren’t what is holding him back. Let’s be quite honest. He’s not on the floor playing regular minutes because of what Mack is seeing in practice.

Is it struggle to grasp the scheme? Is it problems learning/executing the pack line

Patience is key when it comes to David Johnson, he’s coming from a team where he was the best player and number one scoring option. Now he’s expected to facilitate and know when it’s time to be a scorer and when it’s time to get someone else involved. Perry dealt with this and didn’t exactly do it seamlessly, he’s arguably still dealing with it.

I don’t know that David is the guy to rely on this season, but he is going to be for a certain percentage of the game. Johnson needs to be a guy that Mack can rely on to bring constant energy. Once Johnson retains his full level of confidence in himself, he’ll be able to contribute to this Louisville basketball team.

Why David should be the starting/closing point guard: There’s obviously not a ton of concrete statistical data that I can give you that would support any argument of being the primary point guard moving forward.

On the season Johnson has played in six games totaling 30 minutes,  shooting 64 percent from the field on 11 attempts and 50 percent from three, while picking up just two assists and only one turnover. The numbers are incomplete. They really provide nothing outside of potential.

The only sell you can make here is on potential, and Louisville reaching its highest ceiling possible en route to making a run at the Final Four. Johnson is a up-and-coming star at the position there is no denying that, and oftentimes when people talked about the Cardinals this offseason as potential Championship contenders they brought up the potential in Johnson as the lead guard.

Experienced guards win National Championships more times than younger guards do, but it’s not often you get a player like Johnson who has a unique combination of size, length, scoring, play-making, defensive potential, and a high basketball IQ but that’s exactly what he brings to the table.

Can he play without mistakes at a high-level in the ACC? Probably not, at least not in the short-term, which is why Mack has relied upon his three upperclassmen guards. But if those players are going to limit the ceiling for Louisville, then now is the time to let him figure it out.