Interesting comment by Wojo at tonight's practice

[HutchwasClutch]

Interesting primarily because he didn't single out any other player tonight for praise, or other comment, all of his comments were team as a whole related, but said Heldt is much improved.  I think he said the most improved on the team if I remember correct.

Almost a given Fischer will have games with early foul trouble, especially given his history of being foul prone, and how small we are, so Heldt giving quality minutes backing up are critical this year. 

[Marcus92]

Woo emphasized a few key points: turnovers, communication, pace and efficient offense.

I paid the most attention to Rowsey, Howard and Hauser.

Rowsey looks like a heady player. He doesn't put the ball on the floor if he doesn't have to. He sees the floor well and is a good passer. One highlight was a drive to the left where he drew a defender and laid up a perfect alley-oop that Luke slammed home.

Howard's defense stood out to me. He moves his feet to get in position, stays in front of his man and isn't afraid to guard close — without reaching in to pick up a cheap foul. He's also got a really pure-looking shot, and had a couple nice drives and reverse finishes.

Hauser is equally smooth with his shot and wasn't afraid to take it. He looked comfortable moving without the ball. I wasn't paying as much attention to his defense or how he blocked out.

It was interesting to see two teams basically playing 4 out, 1 in. Lots of different lineup combinations. Great to get an early look at the team.

[HutchwasClutch]

Team goal is 10 or less turnovers a game this year per Woj

[Marcus92]

Reinhardt didn't stand out as much to me. He does look stronger than I expected. Think he hit one corner three on a kickout.

Luke and Matt played some pretty long stretches against one another without a break — I'd guess they were on the floor longer than anyone else.

Matt looked solid trying to deny position on the block. Probably won't see much on offense beyond a baby hook from about 5 feet. But it's possible he could spell Luke for 10 minutes a game. If Luke plays around 25 minutes, maybe we'll see 2-3 minutes a half without either one in the lineup.

[bilsu]

Wojo comments to the crowd he said that every player on the team has been the best player in at least one practice. During the scrimages you could hear him say good play Marcus. I was impress with Howard and Sam. Sam was 3 for 3 from three. I think Marcus missed all of his threes, but made some other nice plays. At first I thought Carter looked bad as he turned the ball over a few times. Then he preceded to hit three threes and made a beautiful floater on a drive. Duane hit three difficult threes. As far as Heldt it was close, but I felt he outplayed Fischer. It is only one scrimage, but neither Rowsey or Reinhardt did anything to impress me.

[DienerTime34]

Just one scrimmage, so don't turn me into a Scoop meme for this hot take. I thought Hauser was the best player on the floor tonight. I was calling him mini-Novak for his 3-point shooting, but the guy also has no wasted movements on the floor and just looks smooth. Markus Howard also looked and played much older than 17. JJJ also stood out, although his jump shot is still flat, and Duane had a super-athletic tip-in at one point, so hopefully his leg issues are behind him. Like everyone is saying, Rowsey and Reinhardt basically did nothing.

One scrimmage though. Fischer's legs looked absolutely dead and Heldt basically outplayed him throughout the night. Obviously don't expect that to be the case in the season, so who knows how much we can really learn from this event.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Interesting primarily because he didn't single out any other player tonight for praise, or other comment, all of his comments were team as a whole related, but said Heldt is much improved.  I think he said the most improved on the team if I remember correct.

Almost a given Fischer will have games with early foul trouble, especially given his history of being foul prone, and how small we are, so Heldt giving quality minutes backing up are critical this year.

Over the summer I was told by someone I trust that he expected 6 points and 4 rebounds a game from Heldt this year. I thought that sounded too high. But I would love to be wrong.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Team goal is 10 or less turnovers a game this year per Woj

And as he said that, the teams turned it over four straight possessions 

Fun, low key event.  Wojo is obviously a skills and communication coach, and he was more relaxed explaining what he wanted.  Some additional observations than those noted:

• Defense is way ahead of the offense.  Rebounding is a brutal flaw.
• Howard and Carter looked really good, in different ways.  Rowsey looked meh.
• The two frosh will contribute.  Hauser great on the perimeter, but his feet work is slow in the paint
• Heldter Skelter much stronger in the defensive block.  Offense will be a chore.
• Duane great at the end of the shot clock.  Not as good within the offense.

In the end, they are who we thought they were.

[SaveOD238]

Maybe it's a case of too high expectations, but for the second time (Madness) I felt very underwhelmed by Haanif and JJJ.  I expect those two to be two of our lead players, but in the practices, they were nearly invisible to me.

[GGGG]

I think expectations for Haanif to be Marquette's best player to be high.  Regardless, I think he is the type of guy that impresses over the course of time, so a practice type situation may not be the best to judge.

[HutchwasClutch]

One of best plays of the practice was Cohen's end of game running floater that was all net.  Pretty play.

[Brewtown Andy]

Team goal is 10 or less turnovers a game this year per Woj

.... They're not going to get there on a regular basis.

They averaged 14.7 per game last year, which turned into 20% of possessions and one of the worst 60 teams in the country at it.

Averaging exactly 10 on the same number of possessions as last year would have been 13.6% and tied for the best turnover rate in the country.

Either they're going to play MUCH MUCH slower, or they are almost never going to reach that goal.

[brewcity77]

.... They're not going to get there on a regular basis.

They averaged 14.7 per game last year, which turned into 20% of possessions and one of the worst 60 teams in the country at it.

Averaging exactly 10 on the same number of possessions as last year would have been 13.6% and tied for the best turnover rate in the country.

Either they're going to play MUCH MUCH slower, or they are almost never going to reach that goal.

I thought the same. I was under the impression we'd use depth to push the pace, which would mean any decrease would be good. I think aiming for 10 or fewer is unrealistic.

[Jay Bee]

Interesting primarily because he didn't single out any other player tonight for praise, or other comment, all of his comments were team as a whole related, but said Heldt is much improved.  I think he said the most improved on the team if I remember correct.

Almost a given Fischer will have games with early foul trouble, especially given his history of being foul prone, and how small we are, so Heldt giving quality minutes backing up are critical this year.

What's this history of being foul prone? It doesn't exist.

[The Lens]

We have three kids and our oldest, brought a friend.   All 4 kids walked away as happy as can be last night.  Every player was extremely engaging and friendly with the fans.  Really, really nice kids on this team.  It was a very nice event by MU.

[sa87]

Team goal is 10 or less turnovers a game this year per Woj

Lofty goal

[Nukem2]

What's this history of being foul prone? It doesn't exist.

Luke's issue is getting 2 fouls early in the game and having to sit out much of the 1st half of many games.  That is an issue.  In the final analysis, he does not end up with more total fouls than other bigs.  Just the timing of those first couple fouls.  It's happened many times in his first two seasons.

[Dr. Blackheart]

What's this history of being foul prone? It doesn't exist.

While you can quote his 4.8 fouls charged per 40 minutes of conference play as not out of the norm on the high side, you can also look at the opportunity cost of Luke's conference attrition.

• Luke had 4 or 5 fouls in 15 games last season, or 36% of all games.
• 75% of those games where in the Big East, or 45% of the conference games.
• Luke played 30% less in those conference games:  24 MP vs. 32 MP in three or less foul games
• However, Luke was scoring at a 0.44 points per minute clip in the conference games where the opposing coaches went at him (4 or 5 fouls) as they wanted to take MU's advantage away versus at a 0.36 clip when he wasn't in foul trouble (18% higher). Match-ups and Luke sitting on the bench with no back up was one way opposing coaches went about beating MU.
• Luke drew 3.5 fouls per 40 minutes in conference play vs. 4.3 the year before.  His free throw rate dropped significantly from 52.1 to 33.1.  Wonder why?
• MU had Steve Taylor, a good rebounder, to spell Luke.  Last season, not much, especially with Matt hurt.  Answer: Slide Henry over and play more zone.

Match-ups and attrition matter in a competitive, well-coached conference, not so much versus cupcakes.  Having Matt to provide minutes will help. Rebounding is worrisome.  Is almost half of the conference games high enough to be classified as "foul prone"?  Not sure, but it looked last night from Matt's post defense that Luke's attrition losses will be lessened.

[warriorchick]

I thought the same. I was under the impression we'd use depth to push the pace, which would mean any decrease would be good. I think aiming for 10 or fewer is unrealistic.

Not any less realistic than the expectations many Scoopers have, such as making the tournament every year.

[rocket surgeon]

i'd be happy with averaging LESS than 14.7 for starters. the closer to 10, obviously, the better and would/should be reflected in our W/L's.  that's assuming we're putting the ball in da hole. 'ey?

[bilsu]

I thought the same. I was under the impression we'd use depth to push the pace, which would mean any decrease would be good. I think aiming for 10 or fewer is unrealistic.

I think pushing the pace is more about defense than offense. Wojo said last night that players turn the ball over when they try to do things too fast, so they need to slow things down. Basically a quicker pace (more pressure) on defense and a more controlled pace on offense. He wants the players to take good shots and not force things.

[Jay Bee]

I think pushing the pace is more about defense than offense. Wojo said last night that players turn the ball over when they try to do things too fast, so they need to slow things down. Basically a quicker pace (more pressure) on defense and a more controlled pace on offense. He wants the players to take good shots and not force things.

Someone please run correlation on avg poss length vs 3fga/fga%

In an Uber & cant myself now

Muslim girl blasting country. Wth

[brewcity77]

I think pushing the pace is more about defense than offense. Wojo said last night that players turn the ball over when they try to do things too fast, so they need to slow things down. Basically a quicker pace (more pressure) on defense and a more controlled pace on offense. He wants the players to take good shots and not force things.

Regardless, forcing more possessions means more opportunities to turn it over. Number of turnovers per game is less important than percentage. We were at 20% last year. Get that down to the 18-18.5 range and I'd be overjoyed.

[Brewtown Andy]

Someone please run correlation on avg poss length vs 3fga/fga%

In an Uber & cant myself now

Muslim girl blasting country. Wth

Unscientific version:

Via KenPom, top five shortest offensive possession length teams ranks in 3FGA/FGA

Green Bay: #262
Washington: #227
Marshal: #15
The Citadel: #3
Maine: #174

Preliminary results indicate that there is zero correlation.

[Newsdreams]

So, Sam might meet or exceed expectations

https://twitter.com/wisbbyearbook/status/790328392096755713