Trent Lockett V Matt Carlino

[Tugg Speedman]

In reading all the comments (criticism) about how (useless) Matt Carlino is, I reminded of the exact same comments made two years ago early in the season about Trent Lockett, MU's other senior transfer (one-year rental).

Recall that at the end of that season Lockett was very good.  Don't judge Carlino until February.

[Sharpie]

I agree in that he gets a little leeway. Hoping he turns it on sooner than later. And by turning it on, I don't necessarily mean being our leading scorer or anything.

Deonte also gets a little time in my eyes as well.

[Tugg Speedman]

I agree in that he gets a little leeway. Hoping he turns it on sooner than later. And by turning it on, I don't necessarily mean being our leading scorer or anything.

Deonte also gets a little time in my eyes as well.

+1!

If you're unware ... Deonte Mom passed a few weeks ago (October I believe).  He needs time and when he is fully focused again, he will be fine.

[hairy worthen]

In reading all the comments (criticism) about how (useless) Matt Carlino is, I reminded of the exact same comments made two years ago early in the season about Trent Lockett, MU's other senior transfer (one-year rental).

Recall that at the end of that season Lockett was very good.  Don't judge Carlino until February.

Sir, I know Trent Lockett, I have seen what Trent Lockett can do, Matt Carlino is no Trent Lockett

[MU82]

Makes sense.

I admittedly was one who judged Lockett harshly in November/December but really came to appreciate him a month or two later.

Carlino's skill set is vastly different from that of Lockett, but he deserves patience from the masses.

[brewcity77]

The drawback for Carlino is that Lockett was surrounded by proven guys. Blue had a great year, and Jamil, Davante, and Junior were there to pick up any slack. Lockett didn't really need to do much except add defense early on. On this team, I think many people hoped for Carlino to be a leader (especially in the scoring department) from day one. And as Matt isn't near the defender Lockett was, he doesn't have that to hang his hat on when he's not putting up 15+ in a win.

I agree completely that we need to be patient, not just with Carlino, but with the entire team.

[Tugg Speedman]

I was listening to a Barkley interviewed on Mile&Mike a little while ago.  Sir Charles was talking about LeBron and why he has not played well.  He said LeBron is deferring too much to Love and Irving, just like he did early on his first season in Miami (to Wade and Bosch).  Barkley said Lebron needs to stop worrying about stepping on toes and start stomping on toes.  He needs to demand the basketball and be, well, LeBron.

I see the same with Carlino.  He is a scorer and on the floor for that reason.  So Matt needs to stop worrying about everyone else (Derrick, Juan, StJ), demand the basketball, and start scoring!  

When he does this, he will be fine.

[brewcity77]

Matt's assist numbers have been ridiculous. I never expected that out of him. In some ways it's been a drawback because he's shown he can score, but as long as the ball ends up in the bucket, I'm just as happy with a helper as I am with a score.

[Nukem2]

The major issue Lockett had early on was turnovers.  Once he got used to the sytem, he eliminated those and was just fine and he was a very good defender.  Carlino has far more issues, is slow and cannot defend.  His contributions will have to be on the offensive end of the court.

[NersEllenson]

A more interesting question might be:

Todd Mayo vs Matt Carlino

In many ways they are somewhat similar - both have somewhat sketchy pasts with regard to team dynamics.  Personally I'd prefer to have Todd and all that came with him.

[GGGG]

A more interesting question might be:

Todd Mayo vs Matt Carlino

In many ways they are somewhat similar - both have somewhat sketchy pasts with regard to team dynamics.  Personally I'd prefer to have Todd and all that came with him.

Their "pasts with regard to team dynamics" are nowhere near "somewhat similar."

After getting to deal with Todd for a few months, Wojo didn't want him as part of the program.  He actively recruited Carlino despite his past.  That speaks volumes enough for me.

[brewcity77]

The problem was Wojo didn't get to deal with Todd for a few months. Todd took off for the summer and was off hanging with his brother instead of going through the drills and team building exercises the rest of the squad was involved in.

[mu03eng]

A more interesting question might be:

Todd Mayo vs Matt Carlino

In many ways they are somewhat similar - both have somewhat sketchy pasts with regard to team dynamics.  Personally I'd prefer to have Todd and all that came with him.

It's early on Matt, but I definitely would say no to Todd and am leaning no on Matt.

My big issue is that Matt's defense to date has been atrocious, at one point I said to my wife during the NJIT game "here comes a backdoor screen against Matt that'll be an easy bucket"...5 seconds later there it was.

Now I'm hoping that was more of an abortion since UNO and NJIT are very fast and we won't see that again, but it was disheartening especially given the lack of scoring on the other end to compensate.

As far as Todd goes, god bless the guy but the LAST thing this team needed was that guy and his bag of issues hanging around the locker room

[MU82]

I'm not about comparing Carlino to Lockett, and I don't think this thread is really about that, either.

It's about "Should we have patience with a guy who has proven at another school to have certain abilities, just as it was proven we should have had patience in a past situation?"

I don't know if Carlino will be any good for Marquette but I want him to get more chances. I'm pretty sure Wojo will provide those opportunities, at least in the near term.

[FLwarriorENT]

I was never thrilled with the Carlino add.  You get rid of Mayo because of "issues"... then bring in this guy?  Nevermind the fact that he's a chucker that plays zero D.  It's just weirdly hypocritical.

[mu03eng]

I was never thrilled with the Carlino add.  You get rid of Mayo because of "issues"... then bring in this guy?  Nevermind the fact that he's a chucker that plays zero D.  It's just weirdly hypocritical.

Totally different issues though between the two.

[Ellisium]

Totally different issues though between the two.

Wojo comes from a place where that attitude isn't dealt with at all.  Part of the reason for his hiring was to give MU its squeaky clean/upstanding image a good polishing.  Buzz had begun to tarnish that a bit.  There's no way Wojo would have kept him.  Mayo was a ticking time bomb in Wojo's world.  Really doesn't matter anyways with the way the team is this year.  Mayo instead of Carlino wouldn't have much of an impact on offense or defense.  We're in a bottoming out year, only to come out of it with an upward trajectory. 

[brewcity77]

I think Mayo was on a "one strike and you're out" policy, though Todd probably didn't know it. So many have talked about JUCO players making boosters "squirmy" but Mayo's continued issues took the cake. Buzz was always going to give him the chance to graduate but Wojo had no such loyalty.

[bilsu]

Locket suffered,because fans knowing that he averaged 13 pts a game at AZ St were expecting him to be a double digit scorer. In the same way Carlino is suffering by fans having to high of expectations. I do think he needs to shoot less.

[brandx]

Locket suffered,because fans knowing that he averaged 13 pts a game at AZ St were expecting him to be a double digit scorer. In the same way Carlino is suffering by fans having to high of expectations. I do think he needs to shoot less.

He averaging under 8 shots per game.

[GooooMarquette]

There are similarities between the two (proven players from other programs, struggling at first here), but there are two additional factors that concern me about whether Matt can improve like Trent:

1.  As stated before, Trent was surrounded by talented, experienced players like Vander, Jamil, Junior and Davante, so there was more room for error.  This year's team has much less playing experience...so we are more in need of early production from Matt.

2.  The entire team is learning a new system.  With Trent, we had plenty of experienced guys who could help coach him on Buzz's system on the court.  With Matt, we don't have that luxury, since the whole team is learning as they go.

Matt seems like a talented kid, and I'm not about to call him "useless" like some here have...but the odds seem to be stacked against him.

[MU82]

I grew to appreciate Lockett very much, but I'm not sure if he scored 38 in his first month at MU!

[Tugg Speedman]

Brew dug up the Lockett 2012 post to remind everyone that their comments about Katin are not new, and probably just as wrong.

Here is a post from two years ago to remind you what everyone was saying about Carlino.   Note the date this thread was started, November 26, 2014 ... in late November many here were writing off Carlino, like they did Lockett before and like they are now starting to do with Katin.

So forgive me if I ignore all the comments about Katin.  I've heard them all before ... from a crowd that has a poor track record.

[GoldenDieners32]

Brew dug up the Lockett 2012 post to remind everyone that their comments about Katin are not new, and probably just as wrong.

Here is a post from two years ago to remind you what everyone was saying about Carlino.   Note the date this thread was started, November 26, 2014 ... in late November many here were writing off Carlino, like they did Lockett before and like they are now starting to do with Katin.

So forgive me if I ignore all the comments about Katin.  I've heard them all before ... from a crowd that has a poor track record.

KR will find his rhythm just wait