Granted it was Prairie View, but there are some great positives from this:
~~We will have great depth this year, and not much drop off from first 5 to next 5
~~Cadougan is the best ball distributor on the team
~~Gardner will be a stud when he gets conditioned and some maturity. He has very good hands and a soft touch--give him minutes.
Blue is real special.
Gardner played great, even though level of competition, but when was last time an MU center had 17 points and did not miss a shot.
Junior may be a good passer, but he is not an offensive threat at all.
Exceptional defensive pressure, PV did not have a prayer.
Only issue was free throws, 22 for 33 for a 66%.
Great start for the newcomers.
Quote from: nyg on November 12, 2010, 10:24:01 PM
Blue is real special.
Gardner played great, even though level of competition, but when was last time an MU center had 17 points and did not miss a shot.
Junior may be a good passer, but he is not an offensive threat at all.
Exceptional defensive pressure, PV did not have a prayer.
Only issue was free throws, 22 for 33 for a 66%.
Great start for the newcomers.
Don't need JC to score with the rest of the firepower. He is the best ball ditributor.
The graphic at the end of the game had us 22 for 35 from the line - even worse. But let's not start that again. 17 Turnovers. Otherwise - I thought we were solid in all facets. Crowder looks very solid. DJO somewhat invisible tonight. loved Devante.
11 players scored - five in double figures. Nice.
This team is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
Buzz, bring a change of clothes. Buy two of each suit if necessary of you don't want people to know you changed. Wear white shirts - they don't show the sweat as much. And for the love of all that is good and holy, don't ever remove your suit coat on the floor again.
Hopefully buzz is on blood pressure meds, up 30 at half and he's sweating through his suit coat. Good grief.
Quote from: willie warrior on November 12, 2010, 10:26:30 PM
Don't need JC to score with the rest of the firepower. He is the best ball ditributor.
IMO, he's got the 08-09 Mo Acker syndrome going. Run the floor, distribute, don't make mistakes. It's great for a backup, but the lack of explosiveness just doesn't cut it for a starting point guard earning the majority of minutes. Without a playmaker like James we didn't have the "firepower" with Matthews, McNeal, and Hayward to make up for not having a playmaking point guard who can put some points up when he needs to and certainly wouldn't now if Cadougan would get a majority of minutes.
Gardner was far better than expected. Blue is a heck of a defender. It's easy to say this was a cupcake, but this team did give Cincy all they could handle a year ago. If tonight's any indicator, this will be a very fun and deep Marquette team to watch. Hopefully they can keep this level of play up against a (likely) much more competitive Bucknell squad.
Overall, very impressed. Blue looks like he has a year under his belt already. My one concern is none of Cadougan, Reggie, or Buycks looks like they can really initiate the offense right now. I noticed a lot of dribble up and hand it off on the perimeter (reminiscent of last season). It may not hurt us badly but it really does make you realize what a great job Acker and Coobs did for us last year. Gardner looked more comfortable at the line than anybody tonight. Jimmy was very good but not very aggressive in the half court. I think we will have some scoring by committee this year. DJO attacked the rim a lot which is good as long as he can draw fouls. Generally, they looked tough, athletic and ready to play. I think we are going to be a tough game for anybody we play.
Quote from: willie warrior on November 12, 2010, 10:16:13 PM
~~Gardner will be a stud when he gets conditioned and some maturity. He has very good hands and a soft touch--give him minutes.
Heck, if he's not a stud now, he's at least a "junior stud". If he was a junior, we'd say he was a stud now. Gives us something we haven't had in a looong time. He moves to the hoop as one of our other studs does a dribble drive, he then catches the pass!!!, (man, I'm still excited) and fluidly (no bobbles) puts up a soft shot. And he made every one!!
Nice asset.
Quote from: StillAWarrior on November 12, 2010, 10:38:37 PM
11 players scored - five in double figures. Nice.
This team is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
Buzz, bring a change of clothes. Buy two of each suit if necessary of you don't want people to know you changed. Wear white shirts - they don't show the sweat as much. And for the love of all that is good and holy, don't ever remove your suit coat on the floor again.
It looks as though he is not wearing an under shirt. He needs to be wearing an under shirt. Can someone get word to him? ?-(
Also, Jae Crowder is very good. He's going to really be about as good as we could have ever hoped to step in and replace Lazar's toughness on the glass.
Loved Jae's work. Thought that DJO and Buycks were both a bit off tonight. Liked Jr's distribution though he looked a step slow.
I'm glad to see EWil get some minutes. The depth is impressive.
Blue is special. Luckily it may take a couple of years for this offense and everything to catch up and be enough for the next level, but he is incredible. He is a hard worker and when you match his work ethic plus that talent with this program, the sky is the limit. If he keeps working like he has been, look out.
Butler is on another level. He is very impressive. Looks like a senior leader
Jae is a winner. We are blessed with some great JUCO kids.
I love this team.
Staring lineup with E. Williams, good for him! He played well.
Some things I really liked beyond the box score:
I saw why the guys at Draftexpress thought so highly of Vander's defense. He will play a lot because of his ability there alone. I also saw why there were reports of him being as tall as 6'5" now because he definitely looks bigger than the average shooting guard!
The Ox was even more impressive in getting himself in a position to score as he was in the actual finishes. He really showed great awareness going towards the hoop off the ball.
Jamil Wilson was SUPER into the game, greeting the guys every time they were subbed out and joking with Buzz on occasion. It looks like he's happy with his decision to come home!
1)Butler was so solid I almost forgot he was around. He's like Lazar last year, you just kind of assume he's going to make plays.
2)Crowder needs, and will get, more minutes. He's a horse inside.
3)Blue was outstanding tonight. Wow that kid can play defense (I know, the competition blah blah, but he really works hard). I told my kid to watch Vander play defense and sure enough right after I said that: blocks a 3pointer leading to a fast break, 2 deflections, a steal, and then a steal and a dunk. I'm really excited about him.
4)I'm not at all worried about DJO. Big deal a little bit of an off game. He's still going to be our offensive stud.
5)Gardner really did a nice job. Really soft hands and a good touch. Better FT shooter than a lot of our guards!!
Overall a really exciting start. A deep fast athletic team.
Okay.... a lot of positives from everyone which I agree with. Need to do a full analysis, though, including the negatives...
Turnovers: I know it is only one game but we will turn it over more this year.
Free Throws: Not good. Some of the new players need to be a little more focused. Some real bricks tonight.
Three Point Shooting: Outside of DJO and maybe Buycks, the three ball will be harder to come by this year. We need a third player to really be able to knock those down on a consistent basis.
Enough of the "Debbie Downer" stuff. Impressive game by the Golden Eagles. Looking forward to seeing them live on Sunday!
Threes will be harder to come by, but we are better on defense.
The thing that struck me most besides the fact that this team will be a nightmare for any offense with shaky ball handlers was that we just have much more overall length compared to last year.
At the guard spot except for Smith, we no longer will have two guys in there under six foot and at least Otule/Gardner offers Buzz the opportunity to put a big mans body in there if needed, even if neither is say 6'11 or 7' tall. Plus, if Erik Williams can consistently give Buzz say 10 solid minutes a game off the bench, he has the length via his long arms to potentially alter shots here and there.
Then next year if guys like Jamail Jones and Jamil Wilson can be regular pieces in the playing rotation, it will add two more 6'6-6'7 type of very athletic players who can help in Buzz's plan to have a defense that suffocates through long/lanky athletes at the wing spots and tough on ball pressure from the point guards. That hopefully will negate somewhat the lack of any 6'11-7' type of big man in the paint who alters shots.
Quote from: MarquetteDano on November 13, 2010, 01:55:54 AM
Okay.... a lot of positives from everyone which I agree with. Need to do a full analysis, though, including the negatives...
Turnovers: I know it is only one game but we will turn it over more this year.
Free Throws: Not good. Some of the new players need to be a little more focused. Some real bricks tonight.
Three Point Shooting: Outside of DJO and maybe Buycks, the three ball will be harder to come by this year. We need a third player to really be able to knock those down on a consistent basis.
Enough of the "Debbie Downer" stuff. Impressive game by the Golden Eagles. Looking forward to seeing them live on Sunday!
For whatever reason, i didn't think much about the three point aspect going into this season. We really benefited on offense last year by having so many quality three point threats, it was the biggest strength of the offense and all those guys are gone besides DJO.
Speaking of threes and perimeter jumpers overall, wasn't Butler a pretty good jump shooter in Junior College? What kind of three point shooters were Vander Blue and Reggie Smith in high school?
QuoteThrees will be harder to come by, but we are better on defense.
Yea, the defense is going to have to create turnovers that leads to more transition points compared to last year, especially in games where we struggle from the perimeter.
I liked the fact that Buzz instructed the guards to pick up 94 feet. It's something that will come into play more during Big East play when that shortens opponents' possessions going into the offense at 27 seconds on the shot clock as opposed to 30 or 31.
The thing about Blue defensively at first impression is that he seems to make one kind of mistake just once. If he gets caught out of position doing something, he corrects it in the next few possessions. It sounds strange to say for a freshman, but when his offense catches up to his defense, he will be more special than we already view him. I looked at the boxscore and he filled everything.
I know Cadougan is the best pure point, but there was something about his handle that didn't vibe right. He didn't seem comfortable crossing over to his left with his dribble between the circles. Also agree about the starting of the offense with the handoffs, that's something a good team (read as: Duke) will exploit by overplaying the wing.
I think Reggie Smith is going to give Buzz fits in a good way, like Eford did to O'Neill. You can see there are points where his talent just oozes, but there also points where you can do nothing but sit there bemused. He seems to be the living embodiment of Al's quote, "The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores."
Gardner's hands were a revelation. The three-point play where he caught the ball under the basket and switched to his left while being fouled was stunning. While I know it was a severely overmatched opponent, I like the fact he knows where to be with this offense.
In the halfcourt set, it's interesting that they may be better running a high-low than the 45-degree standard low post entry pass offense. That seems to depend more on the personnel (i.e., Butler catching the ball at the high post and having the confidence to look to the block for Crowder/Fulce), but it was nice to see variety in the sets.
Enjoyed watching Erik Williams play, just watching him blend into the action. The progress from offseason to Game 1 was incredibly encouraging. He may be the difference between this team being good and taking a step up.
Odd tangent...that new scoreboard is incredible. Also, great night all around for the athletic department...women's soccer advance, women's v-ball move closer to Big East title and a thorough whuppin of an overmatched opponent. A lot to like tonight.
Michael Webb of Prairie View had an interesting line:
Min FG 3-pt FT Off Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts
5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 0
Quote from: warriors1991 on November 13, 2010, 12:12:15 AM
2)Crowder needs, and will get, more minutes. He's a horse inside.
3)5)Gardner really did a nice job. Really soft hands and a good touch. Better FT shooter than a lot of our guards!!
Overall a really exciting start. A deep fast athletic team.
Damn right Crowder should get more minutes than 15. He should be starting
And Gardner needs more minutes also.
Quote from: MarquetteDano on November 13, 2010, 01:55:54 AM
Okay.... a lot of positives from everyone which I agree with. Need to do a full analysis, though, including the negatives...
[Three Point Shooting: Outside of DJO and maybe Buycks, the three ball will be harder to come by this year. We need a third player to really be able to knock those down on a consistent basis.
Enough of the "Debbie Downer" stuff. Impressive game by the Golden Eagles. Looking forward to seeing them live on Sunday!
Bucyks is not a three point threat.
In the game you watched did Buycks shoot 2-4 from 3 and have 7 assists, or did he catch the ball 8 times and dribble the ball off his foot 8 times like he was Ollie from Hoosiers?
Quote from: karavotsos on November 13, 2010, 09:20:03 AM
In the game you watched did Buycks shoot 2-4 from 3 and have 7 assists, or did he catch the ball 8 times and dribble the ball off his foot 8 times like he was Ollie from Hoosiers?
Hmmmm; last year Bucyks shot .418 overall and .273 from 3 point. He is not a 3 point threat!
Did Otule play well?
Quote from: El Duderino on November 13, 2010, 02:06:52 AM
The thing that struck me most besides the fact that this team will be a nightmare for any offense with shaky ball handlers was that we just have much more overall length compared to last year.
At the guard spot except for Smith, we no longer will have two guys in there under six foot and at least Otule/Gardner offers Buzz the opportunity to put a big mans body in there if needed, even if neither is say 6'11 or 7' tall. Plus, if Erik Williams can consistently give Buzz say 10 solid minutes a game off the bench, he has the length via his long arms to potentially alter shots here and there.
Then next year if guys like Jamail Jones and Jamil Wilson can be regular pieces in the playing rotation, it will add two more 6'6-6'7 type of very athletic players who can help in Buzz's plan to have a defense that suffocates through long/lanky athletes at the wing spots and tough on ball pressure from the point guards. That hopefully will negate somewhat the lack of any 6'11-7' type of big man in the paint who alters shots.
This. Perfect analysis in my view. This team will cause all kinds of problems for ALL opponents with its length and athleticism. Prarie View had some guys who could play. I'll be very interested to see how they fare against UW..I'll be surprised if they lose by more than 15-20 points.
What was last night's attendance?
Loved Blue - great defender. I'm officially on the crowder band wagon and Gardner has a beautiful touch. Even if it was in garbage time, this must be what it feels like to have a big man.
Foul shooting seemed like a problem. Hope it doesn't come down to that again
Quote from: patso on November 13, 2010, 09:43:39 AM
Did Otule play well?
He did fine. I mean, PVAM was completely undersized so he overwhelmed with his size. Not much of a test for him.
Why didn't Jones play that much? He was a very highly regarded recruit.
Quote from: ken8406 on November 13, 2010, 01:39:00 PM
Why didn't Jones play that much? He was a very highly regarded recruit.
Freshman with other people ahead of him on depth chart (Butler, Fulce, Crowder, etc.). Williams obviously had a good week in practice so stole some minutes from Jones too.
Ken asks a valid question however one thing that I can tell already that is going to drive me crazy this year is people's comments about why a certain player didn't play so much. There is simply some people who are going to lose out minutes to others. There is no way that everyone sans Frozena is going to average 15+ minutes per game. The math doesn't work...
Butler/DJO: 30 minutes minimum
Crowder: 25 minutes minimum
Blue: 20 minutes minimum
Buycks: 20 minutes minimum
That leaves 75 minutes MAXIMUM (probably closer to 65 min) for the rest of the team (7 players remaining)
Quote from: ken8406 on November 13, 2010, 01:39:00 PM
Why didn't Jones play that much? He was a very highly regarded recruit.
One thing that needs to be understood is that Buzz values defensive intensity more than anything. When Jones played on television last year, that is the one thing I thought he lacked. Like Williams last year, it may be a little rough for Jones until he figures things out.
So at this point is Jones considered a project player? or at least defensively?
Yes. Any freshman is going to be a "project" on some level. That doesn't mean that this year won't be a learning experience and he can add a lot later on in his career.
Quote from: Ners on November 13, 2010, 11:13:23 AM
I'll be very interested to see how they fare against UW..I'll be surprised if they lose by more than 15-20 points.
thats because they'll be playing big 10 bball and only have 20 possessions for the game
Quote from: ken8406 on November 13, 2010, 02:14:16 PM
So at this point is Jones considered a project player? or at least defensively?
I hate to say it but he's an insurance policy at this moment.
But a damn good one.
Quote from: willie warrior on November 13, 2010, 09:28:40 AM
Hmmmm; last year Bucyks shot .418 overall and .273 from 3 point. He is not a 3 point threat!
Is it last year? The conclusion that you can draw from those stats is that Buycks had to work on his offensive efficiency after last year. I don't know how you can be certain about this year. What Buycks will or will not be. I don't know how you have the conviction to say what a player is not with exclamation points after an exhibition game and a cupcake game. Maybe you're right. I hope you're wrong.
I liked what I saw from the newbies and definitely enjoyed seeing E-Will have an impact on the game...I really hope he can build on this and give us some productive minutes throughout the year.
Gardner's hands and touch are extremely impressive, but the one observation that I'm mildly concerned about in his game is that he seems to release every shot around the basket from his chin...did anyone else notice that??? It isn't a problem against undersized teams like PVAM, but he may get a few of those shoved back down his throat around the basket in B-East play...just an observation (and thankfully, an easy fix for the coaching staff)...
But all in all, like I said, I'm very impressed by every single one of the new guys...this is a deep team!
Quote from: MU_Iceman on November 13, 2010, 09:28:50 PM
I liked what I saw from the newbies and definitely enjoyed seeing E-Will have an impact on the game...I really hope he can build on this and give us some productive minutes throughout the year.
Gardner's hands and touch are extremely impressive, but the one observation that I'm mildly concerned about in his game is that he seems to release every shot around the basket from his chin...did anyone else notice that??? It isn't a problem against undersized teams like PVAM, but he may get a few of those shoved back down his throat around the basket in B-East play...just an observation (and thankfully, an easy fix for the coaching staff)...
But all in all, like I said, I'm very impressed by every single one of the new guys...this is a deep team!
His release was fine in the sense that he got his shots of quick..actually raising the ball above his chin..would take more time to launch the shot..than some of the "shot put" delivery would. His get off time was great..and more important than release point in my opinion.
Quote from: karavotsos on November 13, 2010, 09:17:30 PM
Is it last year? The conclusion that you can draw from those stats is that Buycks had to work on his offensive efficiency after last year. I don't know how you can be certain about this year. What Buycks will or will not be. I don't know how you have the conviction to say what a player is not with exclamation points after an exhibition game and a cupcake game. Maybe you're right. I hope you're wrong.
It does not matter who is right and who is wrong. If you believe Bucyks is our three point threat--fine. I say he is not, and look at his shooting stats. The point is if Bucyks is a three point threat, then in my opinion we are in the hurt locker--kind of like DJames being a three point threat, and look at where that got us.
We have DJO and with the number of other players we have, pound it inside. Who knows, maybe Cadougan will become a three point threat. After all it is not last year.
Quote from: Ners on November 13, 2010, 11:40:39 PM
His release was fine in the sense that he got his shots of quick..actually raising the ball above his chin..would take more time to launch the shot..than some of the "shot put" delivery would. His get off time was great..and more important than release point in my opinion.
I guess you're right, his delivery point was low but he did release it pretty quick...hopefully he's crafty enough around the basket that it continues to be effective around conference time...
Quote from: willie warrior on November 14, 2010, 07:16:16 AM
We have DJO and with the number of other players we have, pound it inside. Who knows, maybe Cadougan will become a three point threat. After all it is not last year.
From the looks of Friday, we're going to be a slashing team again but it may not be as much "slash and kick out" as last year. Judging by what we saw in the pro-am and in the exhibition game, I think Jamail has a chance to be a three-point specialist off the bench...I think, assuming he isn't too much of a liability on the defensive end of the floor, he could carve out a nice niche as a scorer off the bench...
The starting point guard in Buzz's mind has to do two things. Play pressure defense and not turn the ball over. Cadougan cannot play pressure defense to the level of Smith and Buyckes so that rules him out. Smith will turn the ball over more than Buyckes, so that rules him out. So Buyckes will start at point. Blue is a much better defensive player than DJO, so he will start over DJO. Buzz is going to open the game with the most defensive pressure possible. He is not worried about offense, because we have enough scoring power. I also think this team will not be taking a lot of three point shots. Last year we were small and Acker and Culliban strength was 3pt shooting instead of taking the ball to the basket. This year the emphasis will be taking the ball to the basket.
Quote from: bilsu on November 14, 2010, 09:26:19 AM
The starting point guard in Buzz's mind has to do two things. Play pressure defense and not turn the ball over. Cadougan cannot play pressure defense to the level of Smith and Buyckes so that rules him out. Smith will turn the ball over more than Buyckes, so that rules him out. So Buyckes will start at point. Blue is a much better defensive player than DJO, so he will start over DJO. Buzz is going to open the game with the most defensive pressure possible. He is not worried about offense, because we have enough scoring power. I also think this team will not be taking a lot of three point shots. Last year we were small and Acker and Culliban strength was 3pt shooting instead of taking the ball to the basket. This year the emphasis will be taking the ball to the basket.
Excellent points and analysis...so good I'm even believing what you wrote that Vander may start over DJO...but that would take some serious balls on Buzz's part...but I'd say it is possible..which that alone shocks me that I'm even writing..
As much as I like Blue, the offensive end would suffer. Not sure yet what Reggie Smith brings to the O end, but Blue
at this point in time seems to be unsure of himself on the outside shot. Jimmy is not a threat from the outside so what
offense will they have if DJO is not starting? I see a three man rotation between Jimmy, Blue and DJO. The big question might
be is Gardner more of a force than Otule? I really thought he came along way from the first time I saw him at the Pro-Am. He
is running better and knows how to use is body, a young Wes Unseld.
Quote from: Ners on November 13, 2010, 11:13:23 AM
This. Perfect analysis in my view. This team will cause all kinds of problems for ALL opponents with its length and athleticism. Prarie View had some guys who could play. I'll be very interested to see how they fare against UW..I'll be surprised if they lose by more than 15-20 points.
Get surprised. Wisconsin beat them by 44. 99-55
Quote from: Ners on November 14, 2010, 10:02:27 AM
Excellent points and analysis...so good I'm even believing what you wrote that Vander may start over DJO...but that would take some serious balls on Buzz's part...but I'd say it is possible..which that alone shocks me that I'm even writing.
I don't really think it will be a big deal who start games because as much as Buzz subs in guys in and out, including within the first 3-4 minutes of a game, what will matter most is overall minutes played and who is in the game the last 5 minutes of close games.
So it's possible that DJO won't start games, but i expect him to average around 30 minutes and be in there late during pretty much any game that is close. That matters a lot more than being in the starting lineup IMO.
That said, if Blue develops into a lockdown defender, i can easily envision Buzz playing a good amount of three guard situations involving a PG/Blue/DJO with Butler and Otule or Crowder.