Positional Breakdown: Point Guard

In the days leading up to Friday's Penn basketball 2011-12 season opener at UMBC, the (newly redesigned) Buzz will break down how the Quakers are shaping up at each position. Today, we start with the team's strongest spot: point guard.

THE PLAYERS:

Senior Zack Rosen, the only three-year captain in Penn basketball history, is the Quakers' engine. And when your coach is a former star point guard, you are going to be asked to do a lot. The 6'1 Rosen has shined individually the last two years, earning first-team All-Ivy honors in both after averaging a combined 16 points and 4.9 assists. He enters this season fourth among Penn's all-time assists leaders with 415. The challenge for the New Jersey native this year -- and for any point guard, for that matter -- will be to balance his explosive scoring ability with the need to set the table and distribute to his teammates. It's not just about the assist numbers, but about being a leader, being the smartest player on the court, and making sure all five players are in the right spot. Plus, we all know that the only stat that matters to Rosen and Allen is wins.

Sophomore Miles Cartwright has the potential to be even better than Rosen. As a freshman, "Meezo" made a huge splash (11.7 points, 3.0 assists per game) and became a mainstay in the Quakers' lineup, starting the last 19 games. While he qualifies as a combo guard, the 6'3 Cartwright's size is attractive at the point guard position. He will be asked to run the show when Rosen needs a rare rest and when Allen wants to give a different look, with Rosen off the ball. The jury is still out on whether Cartwright has the ability to handle point guard duties on offense, but he certainly has the potential to shut down opposing point guards on the defensive end.

Freshman Patrick Lucas-Perry appears to be a natural-born point guard based on scouting reports and the little we've seen of him at scrimmages so far. His high basketball IQ should allow him to learn the offense faster than most. The biggest challenge for the 5'11 speedster out of Michigan will be to use his quickness to his advantage without playing out of control.

Freshman Camryn Crocker could be the lefty version of Cartwright. But like Cartwright, he will likely be asked to play off the ball during his freshman season.

THE MINUTES:

Rosen has ridiculous endurance, and Cartwright isn't too far behind. Though the Quakers have the benefit of tremendous depth this season, don't expect too much of a change from the near-complete games the two played during the Ivy League schedule in 2010-11. Our best guess for the freshmen is that Crocker will play almost exclusively off the ball, and Lucas-Perry will serve as a change-of-pace spark off the bench for somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes per game.

THE OUTLOOK:

With four potential lead guards, this backcourt is so talented that the key will be mixing and matching to find what combinations work. Rosen and Cartwright proved they can play together -- Rosen's knock-down shooting blends well with Cartwright's slashing game -- so it will be up to Lucas-Perry and Crocker to adapt their games accordingly. Playing three of these guys at once could provide Allen with an intriguing lineup when he wants to press on defense and speed up the game. But from a point guard perspective, not much creativity is needed when the Quakers have the best one in the league in Rosen, who Allen called "probably" the best on-and-off-the-court leader in the country.