Was Marquette Madness any good? Was Jabari Parker really there? any more recruits? Special guest?
I thought it was pretty good. They moved things along pretty well and had enough entertainment to make things fun and entertaining. Some thoughts/observations:
-Real good turnout, decent enthusiasm
-No surprise guests
-Buzz impersonation contest was a fun idea, though the impersonations were pretty bad;
-Women's team was a lot of fun with a choreagraphed gangnam style dance;
-Jamal Ferguson doing some tumbling passes with the cheerleaders was pretty impressive;
-Otule working the crowd singing karaoke was pretty funny-have to admire a guy that can get up there and be a goof and laugh at himself;
-A student from the Fanatics ran the crowd through the I believe chant. Something more original along the same lines would be great, but I have to admit it was great for the Gtown game last year and creates a cool atmosphere;
-Dunk contest was so-so. The players didn't seem to into it. Thomas does have impressive athleticism. Was good to see Juan in there, which must mean they feel pretty good about his shoulder;
-Jabari was there, in a boot and on crutches; he does have a foot problem, but may also just have been getting in the MU spirit. Supposedly a great kid.
-McKay was there; good height, great hair, very skinny lower body;
-JaJuan was there, so was his mom. Almost all of the moms of the current team were there hanging with JaJuan's mom. Buzz is good. Big push for a commitment this weekend.
-I find the announcer really annoying; and the microphone was constantly cutting out.
-I wouldn't recognize all the recruits, but a lot of really tall dudes walking around.
Scrimmage:
-Vander had good energy and played to the crowd throwing an alley-oop to himself off the backboard. No outside shots, though he did brick a free throw pretty bad. In warmups, his shot looked a little better, though he still shoots from the apex of a pretty high vertical on his shot. Reminds me of Dominic James; tough to be real consistent.
-I thought Lockett looked great. Very smooth, pretty shot. I think he is going to be very good, and showed some real ability to score. I wouldn't be shocked at all if he is our leading scorer.
-Junior hit a deep three; his shot actually looked pretty good.
-Jamil may step into that nice inside outside scoring role Jae played last year, and Jimmy the year before. Has the ability to hit that 3 trailing the ball up the court like Jae did. Steve Taylor should develop into that role as well. Taylor has a big body for a frosh.
-Derrick Wilson distributed, but still looks like he'll struggle to score.
-Davante seemed to be moving pretty well. Still a big boy carrying some beef. Tough setting for him in an up and down scrimmage, but most importantly the knee seemed fine.
-Otule looks really strong, scored some nice buckets inside.
-Even our walk-on Dylan Flood has a D1 type build and can play. Not that he'll get much chance to contribute, but the kid will be a solid practice player. Chatted with him a bit; really nice and impressive kid.
-the depth of talent is so much better than it has been historically at MU, and next year should be even better. Way to go, Buzz.
Mayo's shot was looking pretty smooth. Nice to have that coming off the bench.
I also noticed that Juan had an extra step from last year. I was quite surprised with how active and quick his hands were. The only thing I noticed is that he was sitting to start the game maybe to rest his shoulder after the dunk contest. I think he could contribute in a small role similar to last year.
Quote from: seakm4 on October 13, 2012, 09:03:51 PM
I also noticed that Juan had an extra step from last year. I was quite surprised with how active and quick his hands were. The only thing I noticed is that he was sitting to start the game maybe to rest his shoulder after the dunk contest. I think he could contribute in a small role similar to last year.
Juan was subbed for Otule. Seemed to me they were only playing one rehabilitated player at a time. Juan apparantly does not have any fear of injuring himself. There was one time he was on Gardner and trying to impede Gardner's progress down the floor by using his body. It was kind of a futile effort, but the fact Juan would used his shoulder to try and stop Gardner told me he was either physically okay or crazy.
Any online videos of Madness?