Its clear to me that the problem with MU's offense is the fact that we don't have a talented distributor at the Point Guard position. Marcus is really a shooting guard that just happens to be point guard size. He doesn't have a particularly good handle and isn't great at passing off the dribble. Other than the 2nd half of the Pres. Game Joe C has been very tentative and seems like he is having a hard time getting used to the length of and the speed at this level. Lack of a PG is particularly a problem for MU because the rest of the talent on the roster, while skilled particularly in shooting, aren't quick enough to create their own shot or to get all the way to the rim on the dribble. I'm pretty sure the coaching staff saw this coming. They were probably more concerned about replacing Rowsey's PG skills than they were about replacing his shooting.
So given that is where we are what can be done. We can pray for Joe to snap to it but there is no guarantee that will happen. We can limp along for now hoping Elliott can fill the void, but he appears to be more of a 2 guard than a 1. The only proactive thing I believe we can do is focus on a quick passing game where everyone moves without the ball and we try expose weaknesses in the defense by passing rather than dribbling. This falls to the coaching staff and frankly since Wojo has been here his offense seems to be more of a flow type which doesn't rely much on running a lot of specific plays. Unfortunately if we need to depend on players moving with intention to get each other open its much more important that they all know what they are trying to do during a possession.
This is what I believe clauses us these long droughts and makes us unable to get a lead on a team like Louisville. The book is out on MU. Blanket Marcus, play up tight on guys at the 3 point line and make MU beat you some other way. Its going to require a counter strategy by Wojo and the coaching staff.
Don't understand when JC and MH both in game, MH bringing ball up court majority of time.
Quote from: geps on November 24, 2018, 10:52:38 PM
Don't understand when JC and MH both in game, MH bringing ball up court majority of time.
Agree. Whether Joe C is a Big East quality PG is anyone's guess right now but he IS a PG. Markus is not. If they're both in at the same time playing them both out of position is is foolish IMO.
Markus only gets the easy assists eh?
Personally, I'm more concerned with our players inability to create their own shot then I am about Markus' passing.
We also need a consistent third scorer. Everything runs through Markus so all a team has to do is take him out of it while keeping a man glued to Sam. Who's going to punish them? Right now no one is consistent enough. Let's see if the third scorer emerges
How many points do we have in transition? It feels like 12.
We're working really hard for points right now.
Having a "point guard" with terrible court vision will do that to you.
Quote from: NotAnAlum on November 24, 2018, 10:40:41 PM
Its clear to me that the problem with MU's offense is the fact that we don't have a talented distributor at the Point Guard position. Marcus is really a shooting guard that just happens to be point guard size. He doesn't have a particularly good handle and isn't great at passing off the dribble. Other than the 2nd half of the Pres. Game Joe C has been very tentative and seems like he is having a hard time getting used to the length of and the speed at this level. Lack of a PG is particularly a problem for MU because the rest of the talent on the roster, while skilled particularly in shooting, aren't quick enough to create their own shot or to get all the way to the rim on the dribble. I'm pretty sure the coaching staff saw this coming. They were probably more concerned about replacing Rowsey's PG skills than they were about replacing his shooting.
So given that is where we are what can be done. We can pray for Joe to snap to it but there is no guarantee that will happen. We can limp along for now hoping Elliott can fill the void, but he appears to be more of a 2 guard than a 1. The only proactive thing I believe we can do is focus on a quick passing game where everyone moves without the ball and we try expose weaknesses in the defense by passing rather than dribbling. This falls to the coaching staff and frankly since Wojo has been here his offense seems to be more of a flow type which doesn't rely much on running a lot of specific plays. Unfortunately if we need to depend on players moving with intention to get each other open its much more important that they all know what they are trying to do during a possession.
This is what I believe clauses us these long droughts and makes us unable to get a lead on a team like Louisville. The book is out on MU. Blanket Marcus, play up tight on guys at the 3 point line and make MU beat you some other way. Its going to require a counter strategy by Wojo and the coaching staff.
In other words:
1. Can the "slow" motion offense
2. Pass more and quicker
3. Run plays
All our talk about lack of leadership at the top is misplaced, this team needs floor leadership.
Markus has had some selfish games, but if he maintains his current assist rate it would be the highest by a Marquette player since Travis Diener in 2005. Markus has had some high turnover games, but his 16.8% turnover rate is better than any season from traditional PGs like Traci Carter, Derrick Wilson, or Junior Cadougan.
4+ assists in every game, and other than the awful 11 turnovers against IU & Presbyterian, 2 or fewer in every other game. Some of his passes have been great (the laser to Theo the other night) but I think the problem is more having a third (fourth, fifth) scoring option Howard trusts.
I'd love to know how many of his assists went to Sam. We need someone like Joey, Sacar, Theo, or really anyone that will be out there regularly to earn his trust and prove they can regularly get 10-15 ppg and be a consistent threat.
Another thing someone touched on was transition offense. I've watched Chartouny a lot on defense and it seems like he's resisting the urge to get into passing lanes. I don't know if that's a team-wide part of the scheme, but our defensive turnover numbers are abysmal and it looks to have been coached into the players.
Guys with length like Jamal or instincts like Chartouny should have at least some freedom to turn defense into offense. I understand the risk of having players who go after every close pass like Jajuan Johnson did, and recognize we've had great half court D, so maybe that's part of the cause, but our inability to create turnovers that result in easy points has had a negative impact on our offensive efficiency because those plays typically lead to high efficiency opportunities.
TAMU
Inability for guys to create shots was my biggest concern heading into the season. Sacar and Sam benefited a great deal last year with Rowsey on the court. Both knocked it out of the park, but that is missing this year. In addition, there are are zero transition opportunities with these guys.
Quote from: Goose on November 25, 2018, 09:05:34 AM
TAMU
Inability for guys to create shots was my biggest concern heading into the season. Sacar and Sam benefited a great deal last year with Rowsey on the court. Both knocked it out of the park, but that is missing this year. In addition, there are are zero transition opportunities with these guys.
Yep.
Quote from: brewcity77 on November 25, 2018, 09:04:01 AM
Another thing someone touched on was transition offense. I've watched Chartouny a lot on defense and it seems like he's resisting the urge to get into passing lanes. I don't know if that's a team-wide part of the scheme, but our defensive turnover numbers are abysmal and it looks to have been coached into the players.
Guys with length like Jamal or instincts like Chartouny should have at least some freedom to turn defense into offense. I understand the risk of having players who go after every close pass like Jajuan Johnson did, and recognize we've had great half court D, so maybe that's part of the cause, but our inability to create turnovers that result in easy points has had a negative impact on our offensive efficiency because those plays typically lead to high efficiency opportunities.
While it is not our top problem I would like to have the coaching staff give guys who can get into lanes a little more freedom. We could use the easy baskets even if we give up some when the steal is missed and it might help guys like Joe and Cain gain confidence.