Serious question.

[PGsHeroes32]

Did Derrick get credit for the assist when he handed off to Davante underneath and SJU got called for goaltending?

Hope not. It was an awful pass.

[MU82]

Meanwhile, our 48 minute per game PG that we've seen play more minutes than any other player on the team contributes 2 points..and not a whisper of criticism...

Not a whisper of criticism of Derrick Wilson on Scoop?

Did I miss the eerie music and the Rod Serling introduction, or what?

[tower912]

He actually said 'not a whisper of criticism of Derrick Wilson'?    Gracious.   Cloudcuckooland.    Glad I have him on ignore. 

[Boone]

Not sure, but according to the play-by-play, he was awarded an assist on a pass under the hoop that Davante dropped, then picked up, shot and scored.

[ATL MU Warrior]

Hope not. It was an awful pass.

Are you referring to the play where Derrick drove the lane then did the wrap around pass that hit Davante right in the chest?

[NersEllenson]

Not a whisper of criticism of Derrick Wilson on Scoop?

Did I miss the eerie music and the Rod Serling introduction, or what?

Go back and read the post I quoted...Tower (to whom the point of not a whisper of criticism) and his undying love for Derrick Wilson have reached an epic proportion...maybe if Tower and a few others would ever acknowledge the reality, it wouldn't continue to perpetuate all of the discussion...but when they make such ludicrous points to try to support the notion the team would be worse with Dawson running the point..or turn a blind eye to all of the flaws with Derrick - it perpetuates the criticism/critical posts on Derrick.

Sure would love it if Tower would go point out all of the 90 second segments Derrick has been -5 this year..

[4everwarriors]

Seriously, look at what Derrick running the show has lead on to?

Junior wasn't great but man we are dancing easily with him.

Cadougan was surrounded by much better talent. Let's not paint him out to be the second com in' of Chris Paul. That said, Derrick can't carry Junior's Bike.

[PGsHeroes32]

Cadougan was surrounded by much better talent. Let's not paint him out to be the second com in' of Chris Paul. That said, Derrick can't carry Junior's Bike.

Ummm

read my post again

Specifically the part where I said Junior wasn't great

[MU82]

Go back and read the post I quoted...Tower (to whom the point of not a whisper of criticism) and his undying love for Derrick Wilson have reached an epic proportion...maybe if Tower and a few others would ever acknowledge the reality, it wouldn't continue to perpetuate all of the discussion...but when they make such ludicrous points to try to support the notion the team would be worse with Dawson running the point..or turn a blind eye to all of the flaws with Derrick - it perpetuates the criticism/critical posts on Derrick.

Sure would love it if Tower would go point out all of the 90 second segments Derrick has been -5 this year..

Got it. I thought it was a generalization, not specifically to one poster.

Even if one really likes Derrick (and Jake, for that matter), it's hard to imagine a credible argument being made that Dawson (and JJJ, for that matter) should get zero to 2 minutes of P.T.

[jesmu84]

Got it. I thought it was a generalization, not specifically to one poster.

Even if one really likes Derrick (and Jake, for that matter), it's hard to imagine a credible argument being made that Dawson (and JJJ, for that matter) should get zero to 2 minutes of P.T.

i haven't read every post on the subject, but I am 99.9999999% sure that no one has tried to make that argument. and even more sure that no one thinks that.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Thought Derrick was fine today. Played excellent defense on Harrison. Had some quality assists and steals. Only one bad TO that I can remember. That last second shot goes in and most of this board is in love with Derrick

Also thought Dawson was terrible. Harrison abused Dawson and he had some ugly turnovers.

That being said....I still would have run Dawson AT LEAST 10 minutes. Derrick was gassed and you could tell.

[mattyv1908]

Thought Derrick was fine today. Played excellent defense on Harrison. Had some quality assists and steals. Only one bad TO that I can remember. That last second shot goes in and most of this board is in love with Derrick

Also thought Dawson was terrible. Harrison abused Dawson and he had some ugly turnovers.

That being said....I still would have run Dawson AT LEAST 10 minutes. Derrick was gassed and you could tell.

TAMU - this post is a joke right?

I'll make this easier to swallow.  This year's PG play has been terrible, not just Derrick.  Consider a few things.  Opposing guards our 'best defender I've ever coached' to quote Buzz have outscored their season average against this team.  How does a great defender and defensive team allow opposing teams' guards to have career days every game and still be credited for being skilled defenders?

How does our best defender look away from his man up three with under 30 seconds to play only to have Harrison drain a three pointer to tie the game and he doesn't even realize it by the time he looks back at his man and we consider that good defense?

How does our starting point guard shoot under 22% from the field, under 38% from the line and have at least 8 bone headed fouls/turnovers/poor decisions in the last three games that cost us be considered 'quite fine?

Harrison, Cotton, Starks, Garrett Jr., etc, etc have all far exceeded their season averages against Derrick Wilson and company and you have somehow convinced yourself he's a good defender.  Can you explain your rationale or have you so thoroughly drank the Kool Aid that you can no longer tell reality from fiction?

Our starting PG brings nothing to the table offensively, he's below average ORtg for the team and the numbers bear it out, and yet his defense allows players to out produce their normal stat lines.  Can you make a reasonable argument to support him being a great defender, the greatest defender Buzz has ever coached?

Is Buzz making those statements in regards to Derrick scrimmaging with his kids' basketball teams he coaches on the weekends?

Believing in Buzz being the right man for the job is one thing, as I and many others on here believe.  Believing what simply isn't true from any statistical measure solely because Buzz says it to be so is a completely different thing altogether.  You're infallible coach is wrong on this one and you're logic is going down with the ship and losing credibility on this forum the longer you toe the line on your 'rational' observations.

[tower912]

OK, this one confuses me.   I thought your numbers showed that Derrick was the better PG this year.   

[warriorfred]

Derrick is not a threat to score.  It has been written and said many times, but in the half court offense with Derrick at the point, Marquette is effectively playing 4 on 5.  His man can play back 8 to 10 feet and double team or cut down on the driving lanes.  Honestly, I saw a better half court offense under Dukiet (but Dukiet had Toni Smith, so that is not exactly fair).

I look forward to a healthy Duane Wilson.

[CTWarrior]

How does our best defender look away from his man up three with under 30 seconds to play only to have Harrison drain a three pointer to tie the game and he doesn't even realize it by the time he looks back at his man and we consider that good defense?

C'mon, nobody expected the guy to launch from that distance.  Low percentage shot that unfortunately went in.

Harrison, Cotton, Starks, Garrett Jr., etc, etc have all far exceeded their season averages against Derrick Wilson and company and you have somehow convinced yourself he's a good defender.  Can you explain your rationale or have you so thoroughly drank the Kool Aid that you can no longer tell reality from fiction?

Do you watch us play defense?  We switch constantly.  Derrick does a very good job guarding his man, and those other guards generally get a lot of their points after the switch when they often beat our other guards or commonly our forwards.  That said, while Derrick is a plus defender he is not close to being the best defender Buzz has coached (I firmly believe that Dominic James is the best on ball defender I can remember suiting up for MU and Buzz coached that guy).  The fact of the matter is that we don't have great defenders all over the floor like we usually do to make Buzz's defense work.  Our best exterior defenders in the Buzz mold, Derrick and Juan, are unfortunately horrific offensive players.

So a lot of Derrick's problems are based on the way Buzz is using him.  He is surrounded by players that amplify his very severe limitations on offense (granted he would be a lousy offensive player regardless of who else he is playing with, but the guys we have on the floor with him are doing him no favors), and we have a defensive scheme that makes the one thing he does well, guard the ball, less important as he is easily switched off of the ball.  And he plays too many minutes, so he wears down at the end of games.

I think he will be better next year.  I think by far his biggest failing this year was not being able to work a two man game with Gardner, out best interior scorer in a very long time.  That will be less of an issue next year as we won't rely on the traditional low post game.

[Big Papi]

I don't know what some of you are smoking or looking at.

Derrick is far from the best defender we have ever had at MU.  Having said that, Derrick is our best perimeter defender PERIOD.  That doesn't mean he is a great defender but when compared to the rest of our players, he is very good on a defensive team that is average at best.

Now looking at a box score and saying that Cotton, Harrison and other point guards total points scored proves that Derrick is not a good defender is a stupid comment to make.  Do you not watch the games?  Do you not see that our defensive philosophy is to switch on screens?  Do you not see that Buzz from time to time uses color coded cards so that our players know what type of defense to play that trip down the court?  Just because Harrison finished with 20 doesn't mean he got 20 on Derrick.  I wasn't keep track but I know he hit a three on Thomas when he was guarding him off the switch in the first half.

We need an upgrade at the point guard position next year.  I don't think anyone is debating that.  My hope is that Duane Wilson has the goods to supplement and play some point guard minutes and that Derrick and Dawson improve significantly or it is going to be another long year. 

[4everwarriors]

That assumes the roster stays constituted as is presently known; just sayin'.

[NersEllenson]

I don't know what some of you are smoking or looking at.

Derrick is far from the best defender we have ever had at MU.  Having said that, Derrick is our best perimeter defender PERIOD.  That doesn't mean he is a great defender but when compared to the rest of our players, he is very good on a defensive team that is average at best.

Now looking at a box score and saying that Cotton, Harrison and other point guards total points scored proves that Derrick is not a good defender is a stupid comment to make.  Do you not watch the games?  Do you not see that our defensive philosophy is to switch on screens?  Do you not see that Buzz from time to time uses color coded cards so that our players know what type of defense to play that trip down the court?  Just because Harrison finished with 20 doesn't mean he got 20 on Derrick.  I wasn't keep track but I know he hit a three on Thomas when he was guarding him off the switch in the first half.

We need an upgrade at the point guard position next year.  I don't think anyone is debating that.  My hope is that Duane Wilson has the goods to supplement and play some point guard minutes and that Derrick and Dawson improve significantly or it is going to be another long year. 

There have been some games where we switched on all screens - but it was more matchup dependent - did it against McDermott exclusively.

However, question:  If you have a true, elite, lockdown defender at the guard position - why do you not just assign him to the oppositions best player, and lock him down?  Why switch say Derrick off of Cotton to Henton or someone else?  The reality is, is that there hasn't been a lot of switching - and if Buzz truly believed he had an amazing lock down defender at the PG position - he'd assign him to ballhawk the opponents PG at all times.

The new hand check rules hurt Derrick - eliminated his best asset as a defender - physicality.  He's still a good defender....but I wouldn't say elite...if he were....Buzz would never have Derrick switch off his man..ever.

[ATL MU Warrior]

There have been some games where we switched on all screens - but it was more matchup dependent - did it against McDermott exclusively.

However, question:  If you have a true, elite, lockdown defender at the guard position - why do you not just assign him to the oppositions best player, and lock him down?  Why switch say Derrick off of Cotton to Henton or someone else?  The reality is, is that there hasn't been a lot of switching - and if Buzz truly believed he had an amazing lock down defender at the PG position - he'd assign him to ballhawk the opponents PG at all times.

The new hand check rules hurt Derrick - eliminated his best asset as a defender - physicality.  He's still a good defender....but I wouldn't say elite...if he were....Buzz would never have Derrick switch off his man..ever.

Sorry, but this is just absolutely blatantly incorrect.  You are making up your own reality. 

[mattyv1908]

OK, this one confuses me.   I thought your numbers showed that Derrick was the better PG this year.   

Tower - He is the better PG unfortunately.

My post was in response to TAMU saying he thought Wilson played 'quite well' yesterday.

[MU82]

i haven't read every post on the subject, but I am 99.9999999% sure that no one has tried to make that argument. and even more sure that no one thinks that.

You know who seems to think that? The only person who matters: Buzz.

[brandx]

C'mon, nobody expected the guy to launch from that distance.  Low percentage shot that unfortunately went in.

Except he has done it every game. Of course it was to be expected. As a matter of fact, he had done it earlier in this game.

I mean who would expect the leading 3-point shooter in St. John's history to shoot a 3-pointer (from a distance he often shoots from) with the game on the line?

[CTWarrior]

However, question:  If you have a true, elite, lockdown defender at the guard position - why do you not just assign him to the oppositions best player, and lock him down?  Why switch say Derrick off of Cotton to Henton or someone else?  The reality is, is that there hasn't been a lot of switching - and if Buzz truly believed he had an amazing lock down defender at the PG position - he'd assign him to ballhawk the opponents PG at all times.

I don't know the answer to your question.  Derrick Wilson is not a lockdown defender (true lockdown defenders are rare), but I think Buzz is certain that he is our best perimeter defender.  Maybe Buzz doesn't want him fighting through screens 35 minutes a night because it will wear him down.  But I disagree that we don't do an inordinate amount of switching all the time.  Maybe his philosophy is that all the guys should be able to defend.

[mattyv1908]

I don't know the answer to your question.  Derrick Wilson is not a lockdown defender (true lockdown defenders are rare), but I think Buzz is certain that he is our best perimeter defender.  Maybe Buzz doesn't want him fighting through screens 35 minutes a night because it will wear him down.  But I disagree that we don't do an inordinate amount of switching all the time.  Maybe his philosophy is that all the guys should be able to defend.

Since it is a known fact that Derrick really has zero contribution to the offense other than dribbling the ball up the court wouldn't this be his greatest contribution?

[CTWarrior]

Since is a known fact that Derrick really has zero contribution to the offense other than dribbling the ball up the court wouldn't this be his greatest contribution?

Yes, it would.