Georgia's Maten (6th best), Nova's Hart (12th) toughest MU OpponentsFor the first time in four years, Marquette has three players in the 90th percentile (top 400) most valuable players in the country with Luke Fischer (189th), Haanif Cheatham (261st) and JuJuan Johnson (313th). MU fans were spoiled when MU did it from 2006 to 2013, and in 2003 all five MU starters made it including No. 3 Dwyane Wade and No. 39 Travis Diener being in the 99th percentile, or top 1% of all players.
Below is a list of the top 50 players at
Value Add Basketball that you will see if you watch the rest of Marquette's games. While Villanova's Josh Hart is making his case for Player of the Year as the 12th most valuable to date, MU faces an even more valuable opponent Sunday in 6-foot-8 Yante Maten of Georgia. Maten scored 30 points against Kansas and could not miss in the first half, and he is ranked among national leaders in blocked shots and rebounds and actually leads the Bulldogs in steals.
The "Actual Value" shows how many points per 100 trips the player is worth to his team per 100 offensive and defensive trips (Value Add 3.0), while the "If Go To" shows how many they would project to be worth if they received the ball at least 16% of the time (Value Add 4.0).
Below I list players by their actual value, but right now www.valueaddbasketball.com ranks by the projected value:
| Rnk | Player | Team | Ht | Actual Val | If GoTo |
|---|
| 6 | Yante Maten, #1 | Georgia | 6'8" | 13.34 | 13.34 |
| 12 | Josh Hart, #3 | Villanova | 6'5" | 12.55 | 13.80 |
| 19 | Rodney Pryor, #23 | Georgetown | 6'5" | 12.13 | 12.13 |
| 29 | Rodney Bullock, #5 | Providence | 6'8" | 11.71 | 11.71 |
| 37 | Ethan Happ, #22 | Wisconsin | 6'10" | 11.17 | 11.17 |
| 40 | JP Macura, #55 | Xavier | 6'5" | 10.98 | 13.18 |
| 45 | Mikal Bridges, #25 | Villanova | 6'7" | 10.75 | 13.95 |
| 51 | Eli Cain, #11 | DePaul | 6'6" | 10.60 | 10.60 |
| 83 | Khadeen Carrington, #0 | Seton Hall | 6'4" | 9.65 | 10.62 |
| 90 | Keenan Simmons, #45 | SIU Edwardsville | 6'6" | 9.57 | 15.79 |
| 121 | Khyri Thomas, #2 | Creighton | 6'3" | 8.91 | 11.92 |
| 140 | Jahmel Taylor, #5 | Fresno St. | 6'0 | 8.55 | 13.27 |
| 153 | Josh Nebo, #32 | St. Francis PA | 6'8" | 8.32 | 9.34 |
| 181 | LJ Peak, #0 | Georgetown | 6'5" | 7.97 | 8.77 |
| 189 | Luke Fischer, #40 | Marquette | 6'11" | 7.84 | 10.02 |
| 193 | Shamorie Ponds, #2 | St. John's | 6'1" | 7.78 | 8.56 |
| 215 | Kris Jenkins, #2 | Villanova | 6'6" | 7.57 | 7.57 |
| 220 | Trevon Bluiett, #5 | Xavier | 6'6" | 7.54 | 7.54 |
| 227 | JJ Frazier, #30 | Georgia | 5'10" | 7.42 | 8.90 |
| 246 | Andrew Chrabascz, #45 | Butler | 6'7" | 7.23 | 9.06 |
| 261 | Haanif Cheatham, #25 | Marquette | 6'5" | 7.11 | 8.33 |
| 275 | Justin Patton, #23 | Creighton | 7'0 | 7.04 | 10.06 |
| 277 | Edmond Sumner, #4 | Xavier | 6'6" | 7.03 | 7.73 |
| 289 | Cullen Russo, #13 | Fresno St. | 6'9" | 6.95 | 8.17 |
| 298 | Keith Braxton, #13 | St. Francis PA | 6'4" | 6.87 | 6.87 |
| 305 | Bronson Koenig, #24 | Wisconsin | 6'3" | 6.81 | 7.49 |
| 313 | JaJuan Johnson, #23 | Marquette | 6'5" | 6.77 | 6.82 |
| 316 | Marcus LoVett, #15 | St. John's | 6'0 | 6.75 | 8.09 |
| 324 | Nigel Hayes, #10 | Wisconsin | 6'8" | 6.70 | 6.70 |
| 376 | Kamar Baldwin, #3 | Butler | 6'0 | 6.37 | 10.32 |
| 392 | Emmitt Holt, #15 | Providence | 6'7" | 6.25 | 6.88 |
| 407 | Tre'Darius McCallum, #10 | DePaul | 6'7" | 6.14 | 6.66 |
| 433 | Jalen Brunson, #1 | Villanova | 6'2" | 6.00 | 7.20 |
| 434 | Myles Powell, #13 | Seton Hall | 6'2" | 6.00 | 7.81 |
| 486 | Tyler Lewis, #1 | Butler | 5'11" | 5.71 | 9.55 |
| 535 | Desi Rodriguez, #20 | Seton Hall | 6'6" | 5.45 | 5.45 |
| 603 | Jalen Lindsey, #21 | Providence | 6'7" | 5.13 | 8.31 |
| 612 | Avery Woodson, #0 | Butler | 6'2" | 5.06 | 9.30 |
| 613 | Donte DiVincenzo, #10 | Villanova | 6'5" | 5.06 | 7.78 |
| 633 | Marcus Foster, #0 | Creighton | 6'3" | 4.93 | 5.43 |
| 652 | Tyler Wideman, #4 | Butler | 6'8" | 4.84 | 7.23 |
| 659 | Sean O'Mara, #54 | Xavier | 6'10" | 4.81 | 8.13 |
| 660 | Darrick Wood, #1 | DePaul | 6'5" | 4.80 | 8.55 |
| 680 | Zak Showalter, #3 | Wisconsin | 6'3" | 4.72 | 9.04 |
| 716 | Darryl Reynolds, #45 | Villanova | 6'9" | 4.52 | 7.71 |
| 757 | Sam Hauser, #10 | Marquette | 6'7" | 4.33 | 7.81 |
| 762 | Kelan Martin, #30 | Butler | 6'7" | 4.32 | 4.32 |
| 792 | Angel Delgado, #31 | Seton Hall | 6'10" | 4.19 | 4.19 |
| 810 | Maurice Watson, #10 | Creighton | 5'10" | 4.12 | 4.94 |
| 826 | Michael Nzei, #1 | Seton Hall | 6'8" | 4.05 | 7.04 |
Source: Georgia's Maten (6th best), Nova's Hart (12th) toughest MU Opponents (http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2016/12/georgias-maten-6th-best-novas-hart-12th.html)
Maten sounds like the kind of player we have no answer for. How do we defend Maten on Sunday? Or, do we let Maten get his and lock down everyone else?
I don't think you want to let Maten get his, mainly because I don't think there's anyone else on Georgia that can really beat you single-handedly. I think you have to double Maten in the post. Force him to pass it out. He's a good passer, but if you can put the ball back on the perimeter and turn them into a three-point team, we will have the edge.
I would also put Luke on Maten defensively. Far more important to limit his output than anyone else's. That means Reinhardt and Hauser likely have to deal with their center, but I like their odds against Ogbiede and Edwards a hell of a lot better than against Maten.
I think we also want to speed them up. Georgia has never been a particularly fast team under Fox and they're a terrible three point shooting team. If we can hit some threes early and get them running up and down, we may be able to tire their bigs out. Put them behind so they have to shoot threes and that creates longer rebounds and limits their offensive rebounding advantage.
Quote from: SaveOD238 on December 01, 2016, 06:29:36 AM
Maten sounds like the kind of player we have no answer for. How do we defend Maten on Sunday? Or, do we let Maten get his and lock down everyone else?
Has our defense shown any lock down ability?
Quote from: brewcity77 on December 01, 2016, 07:04:16 AM
I don't think you want to let Maten get his, mainly because I don't think there's anyone else on Georgia that can really beat you single-handedly. I think you have to double Maten in the post. Force him to pass it out. He's a good passer, but if you can put the ball back on the perimeter and turn them into a three-point team, we will have the edge.
I would also put Luke on Maten defensively. Far more important to limit his output than anyone else's. That means Reinhardt and Hauser likely have to deal with their center, but I like their odds against Ogbiede and Edwards a hell of a lot better than against Maten.
I think we also want to speed them up. Georgia has never been a particularly fast team under Fox and they're a terrible three point shooting team. If we can hit some threes early and get them running up and down, we may be able to tire their bigs out. Put them behind so they have to shoot threes and that creates longer rebounds and limits their offensive rebounding advantage.
I'd be concerned with Luke's quickness being able to handle Maten without fouling. I think you have to extend the defense beyond the arc and deny the post entry to begin with. That also plays to Katin/Hauser's strength of being quicker than Maten.
I do agree that we need to make this a run and gun game. We should be able to turn them over some and they are bad at creating turnovers. Both teams are not great at offensive rebounding so it'll be a lot of single possessions...meaning we want to create as many as possible (through TOs and pace of play).
After having looked at KenPom I feel way better than I did a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure we win, but I definitely feel more confident that it's not a certain loss. ;D
There's no good way to handle Maten. I'd be just as worried about his ability to overpower Hauser and Reinhardt. If it was a home game, maybe less so, but figure the refs will give the close calls to Georgia down there and let him be a bit more of a bully.
I agree that we match up decently with them. Certainly not an unbeatable team by any stretch of the imagination. This will be one of the most important games of the season. Win the next two and I really like where we're at.
Luke simply isn't quick enough and we need him to be able to give help when Maten beats his man off of the dribble. I would try something different. I would have JjJ or Haanif guard him close and try to take away the dribble. If he posts up or shoots jumpers, so be it. Pressure the guards on the entry passes and take away his drive. Get rebounds and push the ball. Finally, make him play defense.
If we have not yet learned how to defend the pick and roll we're doomed, and even poor 3pt shooting teams seem to catch on fire when they play us; but what the hell do I know.
Quote from: muwarrior69 on December 01, 2016, 08:36:14 AM
If we have not yet learned how to defend the pick and roll we're doomed, and even poor 3pt shooting teams seem to catch on fire when they play us; but what the hell do I know.
So far this season, only three teams shot above their average from three against us. Michigan killed it in the first half, then cooled down to shoot 39.1%, slightly above their 34.1% average (1 fewer make would have had them virtually dead on their average). Houston Baptist was great, making 47.6% from deep, but they are actually better than us on the session at 39.8%, good enough for #33 in the country. And last night, Western Carolina's 28.0% was an improvement on their season average of 26.1%.
Considering two of those were blowout wins, the only real concern about our three point defense was when Michigan went 6/11 in the first half at the Garden. If we played them 10 times I don't think they'd match that shooting performance once. Those were some fluky, contested prayer type shots that happened to fall.
Now the pick and roll...well, I'm not as sold on our ability to stop that.
Quote from: brewcity77 on December 01, 2016, 08:55:20 AM
Considering two of those were blowout wins, the only real concern about our three point defense was when Michigan went 6/11 in the first half at the Garden. If we played them 10 times I don't think they'd match that shooting performance once. Those were some fluky, contested prayer type shots that happened to fall.
Now the pick and roll...well, I'm not as sold on our ability to stop that.
I'm with you here. Not terribly concerned about the three point defense. In the two losses, they allowed 60% shooting from inside the arc. That's more worrying.
Every year our fans think teams always catch fire from three against us. And every year we actually are either average or above average. Fans are very good at remembering the bad and overlooking the good.
Summer 2013, my notes: (http://latenighthoops.com/lasvegas-2013/#.WEA-GvBOKEc)
Yante Maten 2014
6'8" PF | The Family; Team Detroit
Fairly athletic 4 man who has had MM interest but may see things pick up. Not a wide body, but he's a very good rebounder (13% OR, 22% DR in EYBL) who isn't afraid to get physical. Blocks shots, scores through contact, seems to understand angles and seals off defenders well.
.....
Then in March 2014 he was still unsigned... tweet time:
Quote from: brewcity77 on December 01, 2016, 08:55:20 AM
So far this season, only three teams shot above their average from three against us. Michigan killed it in the first half, then cooled down to shoot 39.1%, slightly above their 34.1% average (1 fewer make would have had them virtually dead on their average). Houston Baptist was great, making 47.6% from deep, but they are actually better than us on the session at 39.8%, good enough for #33 in the country. And last night, Western Carolina's 28.0% was an improvement on their season average of 26.1%.
Considering two of those were blowout wins, the only real concern about our three point defense was when Michigan went 6/11 in the first half at the Garden. If we played them 10 times I don't think they'd match that shooting performance once. Those were some fluky, contested prayer type shots that happened to fall.
Now the pick and roll...well, I'm not as sold on our ability to stop that.
Some of the pick and roll defensive issues are an artifact of unwillingness to give up the long ball. As an example, we aren't letting Luke below the 3pt line when he stays with the guard b/c we don't want to give up the long ball but as a result the guy with the ball can turn the corner on Luke. Additionally, the weak side defense hedges to the lane to help with a drive but they are committing a full step short of where they should be because they are concerned about the kick to a weak side 3.
That's what made Michigan so horrific for us....they could drive on us AND hit some 3s that our defense was "designed" to prevent.
The question is, given Georgia's lack of 3pt shooting do we "pack the lane" so to speak and force Georgia to become a perimeter offense or do we play our "base" defense? How we play defense will say a lot about Wojo as a coach. Is he a Boeheim/Gard type (we play our way, you adjust) or a Izzo type that tinkers with style.