Jajuan J breakout

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm not hearing much about Jajuan Johnson.  Here's a guy that was ranked by Scouthoops as the 7th best shooting guard coming out of HS in 2013.  32nd overall.  Seems like expectations are low.  Not sure why that's the case.  Shouldn't we be looking for a breakout season from him?     

Mr. or Mrs. Johnson I presume? 

[Wojo'sMojo]

Reading.  Is.  Fundamental.  I didn't say they get worse. I said there was no evidence that they get better.

And really, what was it about JJJ that gave you the impression that he would have been just as good as Thomas?  He didn't really do much of anything.


Here it is, almost seven years on this board and the willie witless is still a back bencher without an original thought.  Like a book!!  (One with a lot of pictures and real big letters.)

So they just stay the same as they gain more experience? Maybe the magical basketball fairy decides to sprinkle players with improvement as they see fit. Just by walking on the court JJJ would have been just as good as Jake...he really didn't do a whole lot either, save a couple games where he was hot from downtown.

[GGGG]

So they just stay the same as they gain more experience? Maybe the magical basketball fairy decides to sprinkle players with improvement as they see fit. Just by walking on the court JJJ would have been just as good as Jake...he really didn't do a whole lot either, save a couple games where he was hot from downtown.

Yeah I know.  Just like the PG position.  Recruiting mistakes left a dearth of quality options available.  The choices were either a freshman that seemed overwhelmed, a senior who was a former walk-on and for good reason, and a knucklehead who shouldn't have been on the team to begin with.

People label me a Buzz apologist, but I was as critical of his personnel mistakes as anything.  We were in that position because he wasted resources on players like Jamail Jones, TJ Taylor and Jamal Ferguson. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

On Thomas v. JJJ. JJJ has more  talent but Thomas could out shoot him from three. Our team was so challenged from the outside that playing Jake was a necessary evil. Mayo was the one taking away jjjs minutes (deservedly so).

I hope jjj breaks out this season. But that's what it would be, a break out...not a foregone conclusion. II hope he does break out. I was really high on him last summer. Thought he was going to start over Mayo

[GGGG]

On Thomas v. JJJ. JJJ has more  talent but Thomas could out shoot him from three. Our team was so challenged from the outside that playing Jake was a necessary evil. Mayo was the one taking away jjjs minutes (deservedly so).

I hope jjj breaks out this season. But that's what it would be, a break out...not a foregone conclusion. II hope he does break out. I was really high on him last summer. Thought he was going to start over Mayo

Agree on all counts. 

[PGsHeroes32]

Jake's 3 pt shooting was an asset last year. He just shouldn't have started and played 30 minutes almost every game.

That should have been Mayo(foolish human being or not).

[mu-rara]

Here it is, almost a year later and the Sultan of Slurpiness is still stealth shilling Buzz's handling of players last year. Like a book!!

Just when I was beginning to believe willie could add value.

[MU82]

I am not writing him off in the least, but I don't think he was misused last year.  He was a non-entity for the most part.  Hopefully the new staff and a summer of hard work will do it for him.

I don't know if I'd say he was "misused," but I would say that Buzz never really gave him a chance once we got into the meat of the season. Even when he did play JJJ, he'd yank him after one bad play.

More than that, I'm a big believer in the "if it's broke try to fix it" philosophy. We obviously were a poor offensive team last season and our defense wasn't the greatest, either. I'd have applauded a little change for the sake of change -- coaches, including many excellent ones, do this quite often. Heck, even Buzz did it with Dawson once, Taylor a couple times and finally Burton near season's end.

Now, maybe JJJ was so bad in practice that he didn't merit even that much run. I wasn't there, so I don't know. I do know what I saw in games, however, and what I saw was the worst backcourt in my 35+ years watching Marquette hoops -- and, as a result, a season without either an NCAA or NIT bid.

[Dawson Rental]

Absolutely agree.

I Think the Most important element to the defense are the communications between the players.  As the SI article explained, Wojo is trying to instill the “Get on the Line” (communicating) to All the players.  One weak link and it doesn’t work.

It might be a good MU Cheer (Get on the Line) to keep the players constant aware of communicating.  Wojo might like all the help he can get..

Actually, "get on the line", (in order to run sprints) is the punishment Wojo serves up when the players forget to communicate in practice.  So, a get on the line cheer would probably be taken by the players as criticism by the crowd rather than a rallying cry.

[chapman]

Actually, "get on the line", (in order to run sprints) is the punishment Wojo serves up when the players forget to communicate in practice.  So, a get on the line cheer would probably be taken by the players as criticism by the crowd rather than a rallying cry.

For those who don't like booing the home team, it seems like a nice alternative.

[Loose Cannon]

Actually, "get on the line", (in order to run sprints) is the punishment Wojo serves up when the players forget to communicate in practice.  So, a get on the line cheer would probably be taken by the players as criticism by the crowd rather than a rallying cry.

My mistake.   I thought it was/is a great reminder to the players to communicate...

Being a negative connotation I certainly hear your point. Thanks 

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

You're right, young players usually get worse with more playing time the previous year   Thomas was a better player in your opinion last year, I disagree that JJJ wouldn't have been better with equal playing time. Just because it's what you think, doesn't make it a fact.

Let's say players practice about 6 days per week, 2 hours per day. It's probably a little more in season, and maybe a little less in the offseason. I'm including weights, film, everything. (somebody with more knowledge feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

That's 12 hours per week, 624 hours per year. A total of 37,440min per year.

If JJJ played an extra 10mpg, that would be about an extra 300min of court time.

So, while we all buy into the cliche that "gametime experience" helps, it's likely that a player's OVERALL experience is likely driving their improvement. Gametime minutes are a component of their improvement, but I'm not sure that it's as valuable as fans assume.

Give me 37,000min. of practice time for a player, and I'll show you a guy who improves.

[Lennys Tap]

Let's say players practice about 6 days per week, 2 hours per day. It's probably a little more in season, and maybe a little less in the offseason. I'm including weights, film, everything. (somebody with more knowledge feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

That's 12 hours per week, 624 hours per year. A total of 37,440min per year.

If JJJ played an extra 10mpg, that would be about an extra 300min of court time.

So, while we all buy into the cliche that "gametime experience" helps, it's likely that a player's OVERALL experience is likely driving their improvement. Gametime minutes are a component of their improvement, but I'm not sure that it's as valuable as fans assume.

Give me 37,000min. of practice time for a player, and I'll show you a guy who improves.

Know nothing fans always want the back up. To them the unseen is always better than the status quo. Even when we were winning people clamored for more Erik Williams, Jamail Jones, etc.. During a difficult year it gets even worse. Either they know more than the guy who watches all 37,440 minutes of practice or the coach really sees it the same way they do but is trying to lose on purpose. Crazy.

[g0lden3agle]

Of all the returning players from last season, I'm most interested to see what JJJ did with an off-season's worth of strength and conditioning.  When I first saw him at the beginning of last season my instant impression was his physique simply wasn't ready for the rigors of a college basketball season.  Hoping he's taken this time to add on a few pounds.

[MU82]

Know nothing fans always want the back up. To them the unseen is always better than the status quo. Even when we were winning people clamored for more Erik Williams, Jamail Jones, etc.. During a difficult year it gets even worse. Either they know more than the guy who watches all 37,440 minutes of practice or the coach really sees it the same way they do but is trying to lose on purpose. Crazy.

I don't know which of us you classify as "know nothing." I wasn't clamoring for Williams and Jones, and I wouldn't have been clamoring for changes last season if we had been winning.

But we weren't winning. Change was warranted. So talking about know-nothing fans' silliness during good times has nothing to do with last season.

A good coach is capable of making changes on the fly. Hell, Buzz made a change to Dawson vs. GT and was richly rewarded for it. So Buzz, himself, proved this thesis -- which isn't exactly some secret formula. Good coaches do it all the time.

[Henry Sugar]

I think it's worthwhile criticizing Buzz's approach to playing freshmen most years, and in particular, last year.

There are almost no coaches that play freshmen less than Buzz. Most years, it worked. Last year, it didn't.

I don't know if any of us have an idea of what to expect from JJJ this year.

[JakeBarnes]

I think it's worthwhile criticizing Buzz's approach to playing freshmen most years, and in particular, last year.

There are almost no coaches that play freshmen less than Buzz. Most years, it worked. Last year, it didn't.

I don't know if any of us have an idea of what to expect from JJJ this year.

People ready for the season so we can actually answer these questions and not have academic debates on the board:

[MU82]

People ready for the season so we can actually answer these questions and not have academic debates on the board.

There's nothing academic about these debates!

[mu03eng]

I think it's worthwhile criticizing Buzz's approach to playing freshmen most years, and in particular, last year.

There are almost no coaches that play freshmen less than Buzz. Most years, it worked. Last year, it didn't.

I don't know if any of us have an idea of what to expect from JJJ this year.

I think this statement should really be applied to just about everyone on the team.

Luke Fischer has played 4.1 minutes on average over 11 games in which he scored 2.1 points per game, with a long of 19 minutes.....we are treating him as if he is the savior when he is eligible.

I think he will be, but we have almost no evidence that anyone will be any good other than Burton.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I don't know which of us you classify as "know nothing." I wasn't clamoring for Williams and Jones, and I wouldn't have been clamoring for changes last season if we had been winning.

But we weren't winning. Change was warranted. So talking about know-nothing fans' silliness during good times has nothing to do with last season.

A good coach is capable of making changes on the fly. Hell, Buzz made a change to Dawson vs. GT and was richly rewarded for it. So Buzz, himself, proved this thesis -- which isn't exactly some secret formula. Good coaches do it all the time.

The problem is you are equating change = better.

So, while I agree that (insert line up) or (insert player) struggled, that doesn't mean the guy sitting on the bench is better.

I know we can all sit and say "What do they have to lose?!", but I don't think D1 coaches ever think like that. They are control freaks (for the most part) and rarely try something just to try something. I'm not saying it never happens, but it's rare.

[NersEllenson]

I don't know which of us you classify as "know nothing." I wasn't clamoring for Williams and Jones, and I wouldn't have been clamoring for changes last season if we had been winning.

But we weren't winning. Change was warranted. So talking about know-nothing fans' silliness during good times has nothing to do with last season.

A good coach is capable of making changes on the fly. Hell, Buzz made a change to Dawson vs. GT and was richly rewarded for it. So Buzz, himself, proved this thesis -- which isn't exactly some secret formula. Good coaches do it all the time.

Good point...yet not in Buzz's world.  Buzz was the definition of insanity last season.  As I've said, either his ego had gotten so big that he felt he was a good enough basketball coach to win, when playing 4 on 5 -or he simply didn't care a whole lot about winning basketball games last year.

JJJ should have been given a lot more time than he was.  Period.  If you are Buzz, you have to know Jake Thomas was not the future of your program - then again when you know you are gone - do you really care about developing the future of your program through playing them?  Probably not.

[NersEllenson]

The problem is you are equating change = better.

So, while I agree that (insert line up) or (insert player) struggled, that doesn't mean the guy sitting on the bench is better.

I know we can all sit and say "What do they have to lose?!", but I don't think D1 coaches ever think like that. They are control freaks (for the most part) and rarely try something just to try something. I'm not saying it never happens, but it's rare.

If you weren't able to watch last year's team and come to the conclusion very early that if change was NOT made in the backcourt - it was going to be a disaster of a season - well, you simply aren't a very astute observer.  

You make changes after you have a good deal of data that shows this isn't working....Buzz had plenty of that data...yet refused to change.  

It is NOT that difficult to see that if one of your guys isn't guarded within 6 feet on the perimeter and it is clogging the lane for your best players to operate - you've got a major problem.  

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

I think it's worthwhile criticizing Buzz's approach to playing freshmen most years, and in particular, last year.

There are almost no coaches that play freshmen less than Buzz. Most years, it worked. Last year, it didn't.

I don't know if any of us have an idea of what to expect from JJJ this year.

Now this is a fair critique.

Big picture:

Buzz seemed to land good recruits, but they were rarely productive as underclassman.

In some cases, a specific player might not have had the talent, but it happened enough times that it's a legit critique on WHY the younger players weren't able to develop useful roles.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

If you weren't able to watch last year's team and come to the conclusion very early that if change was NOT made in the backcourt - it was going to be a disaster of a season - well, you simply aren't a very astute observer.  

You make changes after you have a good deal of data that shows this isn't working....Buzz had plenty of that data...yet refused to change.  

It is NOT that difficult to see that if one of your guys isn't guarded within 6 feet on the perimeter and it is clogging the lane for your best players to operate - you've got a major problem.  

We've had this discussion already. I know where you stand. You know where I stand. We don't need to relive it.

My initial post in this thread was simply about the idea that "game minutes" automatically increase improvement. I don't believe that is the case.

Sugar makes an interesting critique about Buzz's track record, but I think that's a big picture perspective, not a direct critique of (insert player) should play instead of (insert player).

[Galway Eagle]

Let's say players practice about 6 days per week, 2 hours per day. It's probably a little more in season, and maybe a little less in the offseason. I'm including weights, film, everything. (somebody with more knowledge feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

That's 12 hours per week, 624 hours per year. A total of 37,440min per year.

If JJJ played an extra 10mpg, that would be about an extra 300min of court time.

So, while we all buy into the cliche that "gametime experience" helps, it's likely that a player's OVERALL experience is likely driving their improvement. Gametime minutes are a component of their improvement, but I'm not sure that it's as valuable as fans assume.

Give me 37,000min. of practice time for a player, and I'll show you a guy who improves.

What you don't acknowledge is how that playing time can affect a player's confidence thus he may not get better skill wise in those 300 minutes but he will get out of his head able to do things freely without fear of getting benched.