Justin

[brewcity77]

I just do not understand this.
The ONE thing TK did really well last year was distribute. And you want to take him out of that role, and put him in a role in which he's - at best - unproven? WHY?????

He was great at catch-and-shoot and far more efficient as a scorer when playing off the ball at GMU. His distribution was excellent, but I think his best role is as a secondary ball-handler in a two-point-guard system. I'm hoping Sean Jones is that primary ball-handler and we can see them operate in tandem the way Courtney Ramey and Matt Coleman did at Texas, or for a more Big East-relevant example, Ryan Arcidiacono and Jalen Brunson. Modern basketball is going more and more to having multiple ball-handlers and providers to create not just for each other but for wing shooters at the arc and pick-and-roll finishers inside. We made do with Kolek mostly going it alone last year in that regard, but I think both Jones and Mitchell will be groomed to take part in that role as well going forward.

[#UnleashSean]

So much doom and gloom on scoop. Omax will be better then Lewis!

[wadesworld]

So much doom and gloom on scoop. Omax will be better then Lewis!

When?  It's not like Justin was some 5th year senior who had reached his ceiling and OMax was some 17 year old freshman who's going to make his sophomore jump.  They were both in their second year of college basketball and Justin is like 80 days older than OMax.

[tower912]

Omax has a body type and skill set in high demand in the NBA.   Let's hope he develops his skills enough.

[PJDunn]

Too bad Oliver does not have access to a first class strength and conditioning program.

[Its DJOver]

Who's Oliver?

[panda]

panda often makes good points in his posts, but he is one Scooper who stakes out his ground and pretty much never backs down even when facts show he might not have been 100% right on a particular point.

Kolek is a great example. Last year, he was asked to make a major step-up in competition and change his position to the most important one on the floor. Nobody here had any idea if he could do it; we just had to trust Shaka's judgment. Now, we know exactly what he is capable of on the floor, though we're all hoping he improves a lot. How one can look at those simple facts and say he's more of an unknown going into next season is just goofy.

Morsell and Lewis were asked to become major offensive players after having never been that on the D1 level.

And your points about O-Max, Oso, etc, are of course spot on.

I wish we had more top-tier players, but I'm still looking forward to seeing what this team can become.

I watched Tyler play his freshman year and spoke to friends who coach d1 and they corroborated what I saw. A kid who was under recruited out of high school, supreme competitor and an elite court spacer/passer. He was ready to make the jump. Watching both Morsell and Kuath and Maryland and Oklahoma, they too were both more than well equipped to step in and make us competitive.

Posters expecting big things from Keeyan, Gold and Ellis is "goofy." There's nothing "goofy" about my takes. I made them before the season began and was one of the only ones who was bullish on last years team before the season started.

Barring massive jumps in development for several guys, next year may be a slog. The following season will be special.

[panda]

I just do not understand this.
The ONE thing TK did really well last year was distribute. And you want to take him out of that role, and put him in a role in which he's - at best - unproven? WHY?????

He played off the ball his freshman year and did enough to earn A10 freshman of the year. He can do both, but his skillset is better suited off the ball.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

I watched Tyler play his freshman year and spoke to friends who coach d1 and they corroborated what I saw. A kid who was under recruited out of high school, supreme competitor and an elite court spacer/passer. He was ready to make the jump. Watching both Morsell and Kuath and Maryland and Oklahoma, they too were both more than well equipped to step in and make us competitive.

Posters expecting big things from Keeyan, Gold and Ellis is "goofy." There's nothing "goofy" about my takes. I made them before the season began and was one of the only ones who was bullish on last years team before the season started.

Barring massive jumps in development for several guys, next year may be a slog. The following season will be special.

Is there anyone that actually said they expect "big things" from Keeyan, Gold or Ellis this year?  Acknowledging potential upside and improvement is different than expecting those guys to be significant contributors. 

[wadesworld]

The jumper has a long way to go for OMax.  Usually guys wings who are already 2 years into their college careers and are career 28% 3 point shooters aren't in high demand for the NBA level.  But he shot it much better than he did as a freshman, so maybe he'll have another big jump in that area.  To me the form isn't great.  Pretty herky jerky.  But so is Tatum's so who knows.

[JakeBarnes]

Is there anyone that actually said they expect "big things" from Keeyan, Gold or Ellis this year?  Acknowledging potential upside and improvement is different than expecting those guys to be significant contributors.

I think I said I expected big things from Ellis this year. Stand by that statement

[MU82]

I watched Tyler play his freshman year and spoke to friends who coach d1 and they corroborated what I saw. A kid who was under recruited out of high school, supreme competitor and an elite court spacer/passer. He was ready to make the jump. Watching both Morsell and Kuath and Maryland and Oklahoma, they too were both more than well equipped to step in and make us competitive.

Posters expecting big things from Keeyan, Gold and Ellis is "goofy." There's nothing "goofy" about my takes. I made them before the season began and was one of the only ones who was bullish on last years team before the season started.

Barring massive jumps in development for several guys, next year may be a slog. The following season will be special.

Good call on MU being better than many expected last season.

Otherwise, we'll agree to disagree that Morsell and especially Kolek weren't being asked to play roles they never had played before at the D1 level, not to mention what was being asked of Lewis, O-Max, Oso and others compared to what they had shown before.

Here's hoping that next season's players similarly excel in new or expanded roles. We Are Marquette!

[Uncle Rico]

Too bad Oliver does not have access to a first class strength and conditioning program.

Do you like gladiator movies?

[Uncle Rico]

Scoop:

I want Marquette to be more like Wisconsin where these unknowns lead them to top-4 conference seasons. 

Also scoop:

None of our guys are good and none of them will get better because they’re unknown

[Viper]

I watched Tyler play his freshman year and spoke to friends who coach d1 and they corroborated what I saw. A kid who was under recruited out of high school, supreme competitor and an elite court spacer/passer. He was ready to make the jump. Watching both Morsell and Kuath and Maryland and Oklahoma, they too were both more than well equipped to step in and make us competitive.

Posters expecting big things from Keeyan, Gold and Ellis is "goofy." There's nothing "goofy" about my takes. I made them before the season began and was one of the only ones who was bullish on last years team before the season started.

Barring massive jumps in development for several guys, next year may be a slog. The following season will be special.

1) I can’t handle more slog. Too many seasons of slog 2) I guess I need to become a TK fan because right now I’m not.
3) TK, I’m selfish. Save me from the slog.
Ball in. Check

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I think I said I expected big things from Ellis this year. Stand by that statement

What makes you think so, JB?

As I said last year, to my eye EE looked like a guy suited for pickup ball at the Rec. What are people seeing that make them think he can make the jump to productive BE player?

[bilsu]

What makes you think so, JB?

As I said last year, to my eye EE looked like a guy suited for pickup ball at the Rec. What are people seeing that make them think he can make the jump to productive BE player?

He is quick and athletic, so he has the potential to step it up.

[panda]

Is there anyone that actually said they expect "big things" from Keeyan, Gold or Ellis this year?  Acknowledging potential upside and improvement is different than expecting those guys to be significant contributors.

I feel like I’ve seen some posters saying they’re excited/expecting things from those guys. There’s nothing wrong with saying that but if you haven’t watched them play, it’s totally baseless speculation.

[panda]

Good call on MU being better than many expected last season.

Otherwise, we'll agree to disagree that Morsell and especially Kolek weren't being asked to play roles they never had played before at the D1 level, not to mention what was being asked of Lewis, O-Max, Oso and others compared to what they had shown before.

Here's hoping that next season's players similarly excel in new or expanded roles. We Are Marquette!

You not being aware they were ready for those roles because you never watched them play is much different from them actually not being prepared. There’s nothing wrong with not seeing them play, but saying they weren’t ready just because doesn’t make much sense to me.

[Goose]

Just curious, if Omax, Kam and Oso were transferring to MU this season, would you be excited based off their numbers from last season? I think most of us would be very excited simply off off of numbers. Now, it might be different if you saw them play a dozen games, but I think there would be excitement adding these three guys.

For me, I saw them play last season and am very excited to see how they progress going into next season. I would much rather have returning guys with upside then being excited about transfers having nice stats from the previous season.

I have said it multiple times, but every guy, with exception of Kur, that has played for Shaka at MU is a basketball player, not just an athlete. I’ll take my chances on having a high level HC to develop players within the program.
IMO, the three guys mentioned were better than I expected last season and I expect additional improvement from them and all of the guys.

[panda]

Just curious, if Omax, Kam and Oso were transferring to MU this season, would you be excited based off their numbers from last season? I think most of us would be very excited simply off off of numbers. Now, it might be different if you saw them play a dozen games, but I think there would be excitement adding these three guys.

For me, I saw them play last season and am very excited to see how they progress going into next season. I would much rather have returning guys with upside then being excited about transfers having nice stats from the previous season.

I have said it multiple times, but every guy, with exception of Kur, that has played for Shaka at MU is a basketball player, not just an athlete. I’ll take my chances on having a high level HC to develop players within the program.
IMO, the three guys mentioned were better than I expected last season and I expect additional improvement from them and all of the guys.

I did say I’m excited/expecting a jump next season for Omax. I think kam will struggle shouldering more of a lead scoring role and Oso showed flashes last year, but really faded down the stretch. I like to see the game start to slow down for guys after a full season of consistent minutes, but he didn’t take much of a jump towards the end of the year.

To be very clear, I’m not down on any of the guys. I just think the following season, not next year, will be the special one if the core sticks together. This year may be a struggle with guys moving into roles they’re not yet ready for. Hoping for some big early developmental jumps.

[brewcity77]

Just curious, if Omax, Kam and Oso were transferring to MU this season, would you be excited based off their numbers from last season? I think most of us would be very excited simply off off of numbers.

I'd add Tyler to that list, but agree completely. O-Max clearly has a ton of potential, was efficient, and can score inside and out. Kam was first team all freshmen, Oso was one of the highest efficiency players in the league. And Tyler led the league in assists while playing out of position.

All the added talent we need is already here, it just needs development.

[Uncle Rico]

I'd add Tyler to that list, but agree completely. O-Max clearly has a ton of potential, was efficient, and can score inside and out. Kam was first team all freshmen, Oso was one of the highest efficiency players in the league. And Tyler led the league in assists while playing out of position.

All the added talent we need is already here, it just needs development.

Bingo.  The more I look at it and think about it, the more excited I am

[panda]

I'd add Tyler to that list, but agree completely. O-Max clearly has a ton of potential, was efficient, and can score inside and out. Kam was first team all freshmen, Oso was one of the highest efficiency players in the league. And Tyler led the league in assists while playing out of position.

All the added talent we need is already here, it just needs development.

I do think Tyler will take big steps IF we get solid Pg play from Mitchell and Jones.

Next year could be fun if these guys can make quick jumps, but realistically I think high expectations (top 3-5 conference finish, winning games in the tournament) should be two season from now.

[Uncle Rico]

I do think Tyler will take big steps IF we get solid Pg play from Mitchell and Jones.

Next year could be fun if these guys can make quick jumps, but realistically I think high expectations (top 3-5 conference finish, winning games in the tournament) should be two season from now.

Tournament is a crapshoot