Ten days ago against Wofford, freshman Theo Johnson had a statement game. With the game in cruise control Coach Wojcik left his bench players on the court for some developmental minutes and the team's only freshman contributor responded with 12 points in 12 minutes of play. Theo had played well in spot minutes up to that point and fans had been lauding his potential but until that game Theo hadn't put it all together. Since then he has followed it up with more solid performances when he's given the minutes and a certain "swagger" according to Wojcik. So now the question is, does he deserve more playing time?
First let's go over what Theo brings to the table. Right now he is second on the team in blocked shots per game (0.3 per game behind Adjehi despite playing half the minutes). For a player his age he's got exceptional timing and concentration to get a clean block without fouling. His quickness off his jump is probably the best on the team and he's shown not only an ability to come over from the weak side, but also the athleticism to block shots in transition and all the way out to the perimeter. My favorite play of the Davidson game was when Cochran and Theo sized each other up one-on-one at the end of the first half and Theo blocked him behind the arc as the buzzer sounded.
Defense is where Theo has the tools to thrive. Like Anthony Thomas, Johnson is long-limbed and quick enough laterally to stay with most players in the SoCon. He's always a threat to block a shot and this will make opponents less likely to drive to the rim when he's sharing the court with Baru.
This defensive ability has been evident since the Charleston Classic (really the last time Theo got consistent big minutes with Trent out). But his shooting left a lot to be desired. For the first half of the season Theo couldn't hit his free throws and his three point shooting hovered around 30%. The last three games the shooting behind the arc has improved to 4-8 and he's finishing plays by drawing contact and making 80% of his free throw attempts.
Cougar fans see these improvements and the potential that has been there and some clamor for him to see more minutes. But for all the positives there's still some typical freshman mistakes we're seeing. A few times this year Theo's gotten himself into trouble by trying to go one-on-one or taking a bad shot. These are the mistakes we're used to seeing from college freshman as they make the transition from being the top player in high school to a rookie in the NCAA. The adjustments are not easy to make and the fact that Theo has minimized these errors and earned more minutes lately is a testament to his hard work.
If he's going to get more minutes it will come at the expense of Anthony Thomas, Nori Johnson and Matt Sundberg. Theo is generally used at small forward, a position that is the 5th option offensively in Wojcik's system and locked up pretty tightly by AT. Nori has had just one more double-digit scoring game than Theo but his versatility and recent defensive success against Trevis Simpson should keep his minutes regular. Then there's Sunny D. Just when you thought it was safe to put the freshman in over the senior, Matt has begun to find his stroke again and become a valuable player off the bench. He's still inconsistent with his shot and defense but the fact that Wojcik brought him off the bench first against Greensboro may mean he's finding his niche.
With Trent fully healthy the rotation of players under the basket is pretty set in stone, that leaves Matt and Theo to fight for the remaining minutes at the 3 and 4 spots. Matt is a better floor spacer and scorer but Theo brings more athleticism and defense. If Anthony Thomas were struggling I might suggest giving Theo more time but AT is quietly giving the Cougars solid defense, 10 points and 5 rebounds a night. So to answer the initial question- probably not. As good as Theo has been of late his minute increase would come at the expense of someone else. For now Theo just needs to give us the best he can for 12-15 minutes per game. The team needs spark plugs off the bench (defensively and offensively) and Theo fits the bill. His minutes are going to increase throughout his career and his surprising success this early should have CofC fans very excited about what's to come.
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