MUScoop

We've already discussed ad nauseam how it's not all seashells and balloons, and we understand that this years team has flaws...

However,
1- the season is not over and there is a massive 4 game stretch that looms
H Dayton (74)
H Central Michigan (274)
N Oklahoma, in Chicago at UIC (66)
H Valparaiso (258)

Why is this stretch massive?
Well Marquette is currently at 60 in KenPom, 62O and 62D efficiency.
Opponents KenPom listed above.

So, at a time MU desperately needs to figure out a way to get right, it gets 4 consecutive games that it will be favored in, 3 at home and one that should be a home environment.

2- I'm a very look forward type of guy, and I see a major opportunity here. Sure, Shaka has to turn things around quickly, and a loss versus Dayton on Wednesday could be doomsday, but in a season like this sometimes all you need is a nice 4 game stretch to get you off the schneid and back to winning ways.
IMO the schedule sets up nicely for that.

3- For all the well documented negatives, which I'm not going to refute until I see a reason to, there are actually some positives

A) Chase seems ready to star in his role. I'm sure the alpha will have some down games, but I think we can be confident we have an alpha. That alone will win some close games.

B) Rebounding is improved. Don't think I've seen a 15-0 offensive rebounding advantage on a Marquette team in many years.

C) We have a very talented freshman PG.

D) The team did show some fight coming back from a big deficit and being in a position to win versus Maryland before the wheels fell off.

I won't go backwards, and I have a lot of thoughts as to why the wheels fell off, but the simplest and easiest way to explain it is that the team can't shoot for crap.
Last year we were confident it would improve, but it didn't the way we hoped/thought it would. This year I don't think we are as confident.
This is the major problem amongst a plethora of developmental/talent/confidence issues of key players on the team.

4- My take:
If Marquette loses to Dayton at home the season might be toast. Maybe it's pure faith but I don't think that will happen.
I fall back on that Oklahoma game being one of the biggest of the season, assuming Marquette can get in the conversation.
I didn't have a great feeling about Maryland because of the Buzz motivation factor and how Buzz seems to find a way, and before the season started I had a bad feeling about that game v Oklahoma, so my instinct says 3-1...

That said, I think 4-0 with some nice margins of victory might be really necessary here to even think about the importance of the BE conference season and dancing.
That would put Marquette back in the 40s in KenPom with some confidence and everything to play for going into the Kohl hole

A team on a 4 game win streak with nothing to lose at that point going against their in state rival can be a dangerous thing.

Let get em Shaka and Co!

4-0, but neither back on track or season over.

These 4 are must win - but then we also need one of PU/UW

Quote from: DoctorV on November 16, 2025, 07:59:41 PMThat would put Marquette back in the 40s

Not necessarily

I just watched the buzz game replay and even though it's a tough loss, there is still hope:
Chase and Ben need to play that well every game - and they can.
Zaide is a nice 3rd option.
James jr is good enough as a freshman PG and needs to continue to be aggressive.
Those are the "go to" guys for the season.  Unfortunately we need to play with 5, so the next position is important. 
Caedin boxes out very well.  If he can play 18-20 minutes and have zero turnovers, 2 points and 8 boards that's good enough.

Parham is useless.  Bricks for hands.  He had about 10 passes/rebounds just bounce off his hands.  Also, not much defense there.  Looks good on paper but not good enough.

Norman looks scared.
Owens looks lost.

Stevens seems like the next best option.  D is improving and doesn't make too many mistakes. 
Phillips needs more minutes.  Needs to come in before the 16 media time out and get a 3.  If it goes in, he stays.  If it misses, he gets another minute in the 2nd half.  As long as he's taking and making good shots, he plays. 

That's a 7 man rotation with spot minutes from Norman, Owens and Clark, and Jones getting PG minutes when he returns from Injury.  Get them settled in this rotation and rely on the 4 "responsible" ones. Make sure the 5th guy on the court is not screwing it up for the 4 who can be trusted.

Quote from: WarriorFan on November 17, 2025, 04:28:46 AMChase and Ben need to play that well every game - and they can.

 Unfortunately we need to play with 5.
 
 Get them settled in this rotation and rely on the 4 "responsible" ones. Make sure the 5th guy on the court is not screwing it up for the 4 who can be trusted.

I love your optimism. but if we have only 4 "who can be trusted" and with a fifth wheel whose duty is to not screw it up ("because need to play with 5", )I think this is simply unrealistic. No solid bench players to relieve the 4 guys and opponents zeroing in on the fifth wheel? Add in Chase and Ben playing well every game and what could possibly go wrong?



 

I hope Sean heals quickly.

I'm waiting out a long flight delay in Ft Myers last night. I'm sure I was mumbling to myself (not uncommon)as occasionally the lady in the Michigan sweatshirt a few seats away at the gate would give me an odd look, but yeah, I was thinking about the balance of the non-conf. schedule. I think MU goes 4-0 in the upcoming stretch (Oklahoma would be a really nice W), but bigger picture on the season is toast if Owens and Parham aren't better. Owens flat out puzzles me. Awesome athlete, but maybe he's a guy that freaks out under the lights? Lock down on D with slashing and cutting for some easy crams would seem, well, easy for him. Shaka should run some sets for him rolling off screens. Otherwise, maybe it's about mental fortitude. Stop thinking and just play! Get tough! Dominate!  Parham isn't the athlete Owens is, but he's got some game. We've seen it! Get these two guys right, and if Hamilton can offer even 4 & 6, while Ross, Zaide, Gold, James keep on keepin' on, the season can still be respectable. Flip side, Owens and Parham are as is, Hamilton not attempting shots, a depressing 14 wins might be it.

Quote from: WarriorFan on November 17, 2025, 04:28:46 AMCaedin boxes out very well.  If he can play 18-20 minutes and have zero turnovers, 2 points and 8 boards that's good enough.

I don't mean this in the wrong way, but WAT.

18-20 mins and 8 boards? Lol what planet iz u on??

Caedin last year had a DR% of 11.0%. This year it's fricken 10.5%.

Need to go 4-0 to keep NCAA hopes alive, and to seriously be in the conversation probably 10+ point average wins over Dayton & Oklahoma and 25+ point average wins over CMU & Valpo.

We need to see the defense be a bedrock. Need to prove we can actually turn teams over. The only one of the defensive four factors that we're top-100 in is turnovers, and barely (#88). That's putrid, and worse any positives are from running up numbers on cupcakes.

Offensively, we need to learn how to beat a zone. We have struggled every time we've seen zone. Maryland broke one out successfully. Either need to make threes or find the soft spots inside and make shots from there. We're going to keep seeing it until we show we can beat it.

Perhaps most important, we need to see a settled rotation and the staff figuring out who their best 7-8 players are. No more first half minutes in meaningful games from guys 9-11 on the depth chart. Games in November and December mean just as much as the games in February and March, and mean even more if you lose so much that late season conference games won't matter. This isn't the time for experimentation.

Until Sean returns, 8 man rotation.  Clark and Phillips are odd men out.  As infuriating as DO is, he is more likely to figure it out this season than MP.  And, if Clark is odd man out up front and MP is odd man out at wing, the rest of the rotation  falls into place, at least until Sean returns.
 Then, simply due to size and the inability to play them together, Sean and NJ alternate at the point.  I don't care who starts.  Play better, get more minutes.   
  Chase, Zaide, and Ben clearly co tinue to start.   Hamilton vs Parham for the last position with the other being first big off the bench.

DO is the wild card and linchpin.   If he figures it out and becomes who he was expected to be, so many other pieces fall into place.   If he doesn't, it will continue to be a slog.

Quote from: Scoop Snoop on November 17, 2025, 07:32:51 AMI love your optimism. but if we have only 4 "who can be trusted" and with a fifth wheel whose duty is to not screw it up ("because need to play with 5", )I think this is simply unrealistic. No solid bench players to relieve the 4 guys and opponents zeroing in on the fifth wheel? Add in Chase and Ben playing well every game and what could possibly go wrong?


It's called the Dwight Burke/Chris Otule strategy.


 

Quote from: tower912 on November 17, 2025, 08:57:29 AMUntil Sean returns, 8 man rotation.  Clark and Phillips are odd men out.  As infuriating as DO is, he is more likely to figure it out this season than MP.  And, if Clark is odd man out up front and MP is odd man out at wing, the rest of the rotation  falls into place, at least until Sean returns.
 Then, simply due to size and the inability to play them together, Sean and NJ alternate at the point.  I don't care who starts.  Play better, get more minutes.   
  Chase, Zaide, and Ben clearly co tinue to start.   Hamilton vs Parham for the last position with the other being first big off the bench.

DO is the wild card and linchpin.   If he figures it out and becomes who he was expected to be, so many other pieces fall into place.   If he doesn't, it will continue to be a slog.

I don't know if I agree with the bolded.

Quote from: WarriorFan on November 17, 2025, 04:28:46 AMI just watched the buzz game replay and even though it's a tough loss, there is still hope:
Chase and Ben need to play that well every game - and they can.
Zaide is a nice 3rd option.
James jr is good enough as a freshman PG and needs to continue to be aggressive.
Those are the "go to" guys for the season.  Unfortunately we need to play with 5, so the next position is important. 
Caedin boxes out very well.  If he can play 18-20 minutes and have zero turnovers, 2 points and 8 boards that's good enough.

Parham is useless.  Bricks for hands.  He had about 10 passes/rebounds just bounce off his hands.  Also, not much defense there.  Looks good on paper but not good enough.

Norman looks scared.
Owens looks lost.

Stevens seems like the next best option.  D is improving and doesn't make too many mistakes. 
Phillips needs more minutes.  Needs to come in before the 16 media time out and get a 3.  If it goes in, he stays.  If it misses, he gets another minute in the 2nd half.  As long as he's taking and making good shots, he plays. 

That's a 7 man rotation with spot minutes from Norman, Owens and Clark, and Jones getting PG minutes when he returns from Injury.  Get them settled in this rotation and rely on the 4 "responsible" ones. Make sure the 5th guy on the court is not screwing it up for the 4 who can be trusted.

Did Ben play well? I sawairballs ans 3 missed bunnies

Quote from: willie warrior on November 17, 2025, 10:22:45 AMDid Ben play well? I sawairballs ans 3 missed bunnies

Did you have a stroke?  If so, can I have your Warriors pennant that's hiding in your basement?

2-2.  Win the cupcakes, lose the legit games.   :-\

Quote from: Viper on November 17, 2025, 08:04:41 AMI'm waiting out a long flight delay in Ft Myers last night. I'm sure I was mumbling to myself (not uncommon)as occasionally the lady in the Michigan sweatshirt a few seats away at the gate would give me an odd look, but yeah, I was thinking about the balance of the non-conf. schedule. I think MU goes 4-0 in the upcoming stretch (Oklahoma would be a really nice W), but bigger picture on the season is toast if Owens and Parham aren't better. Owens flat out puzzles me. Awesome athlete, but maybe he's a guy that freaks out under the lights? Lock down on D with slashing and cutting for some easy crams would seem, well, easy for him. Shaka should run some sets for him rolling off screens. Otherwise, maybe it's about mental fortitude. Stop thinking and just play! Get tough! Dominate!  Parham isn't the athlete Owens is, but he's got some game. We've seen it! Get these two guys right, and if Hamilton can offer even 4 & 6, while Ross, Zaide, Gold, James keep on keepin' on, the season can still be respectable. Flip side, Owens and Parham are as is, Hamilton not attempting shots, a depressing 14 wins might be it.

As I noted in another thread, guys like Royce and Damarius benefitted playing with Marquette's senior leaders last year. Kam was a college superstar and Stevie and Jop were both very, very good players.

All of a sudden that leadership is gone and replaced by a couple of guys at least several notches below. Very little experience at PG also makes a big impact.

Perplexed with how poorly both of those two are playing in particular, and while there's still plenty of time to make up for the rough start, most of us expected a lot better. Although aside from a breakout game in Iowa St., I don't think Owens really impressed much last year. Parham on the other hand appeared he could be as high as a #2 or 3 option on the team this year.

Quote from: 1SE on November 17, 2025, 12:52:11 AMThese 4 are must win - but then we also need one of PU/UW

Not necessarily to the second part, but we'd have to kill it in Big East play.

Win Wednesday, get some confidence, and go from there.

Quote from: Jay Bee on November 17, 2025, 08:09:35 AMI don't mean this in the wrong way, but WAT.

18-20 mins and 8 boards? Lol what planet iz u on??

Caedin last year had a DR% of 11.0%. This year it's fricken 10.5%.

I do believe we understand the problem similarly.
at least at the rate MU is missing shots, he'd have plenty of chances to get 8 boards in that amount of time!

Quote from: BM1090 on November 17, 2025, 12:52:16 PMNot necessarily to the second part, but we'd have to kill it in Big East play.

Win Wednesday, get some confidence, and go from there.

Also keep rooting for Creighton, Nova and Georgetown, otherwise "kill it" might have to mean 18-2.

Quote from: 1SE on November 18, 2025, 03:09:10 PMAlso keep rooting for Creighton, Nova and Georgetown, otherwise "kill it" might have to mean 18-2.

Nah. If they can win 4 of the next 6 a 15-5 top 3 finish in conference would earn a bid.

Problem is the winning 19 games part.
16 or less is likely on the outside looking in. 17/18 bubble

Quote from: DoctorV on November 18, 2025, 03:21:51 PMNah. If they can win 4 of the next 6 a 15-5 top 3 finish in conference would earn a bid.

Problem is the winning 19 games part.
16 or less is likely on the outside looking in. 17/18 bubble

I would add at least two to all of your numbers.

18-19, outside looking in. 20-21, bubble. 22, probably in. 23, definitely in.

The problem isn't just a Marquette one, it's a Big East problem. Xavier was at 21 wins on Selection Sunday last year with a better non-con than we are tracking to have in a better Big East than this is projecting to be, and they ended up in Dayton. If you want to feel confident, we have to be better than they were.

Quote from: brewcity77 on November 18, 2025, 03:44:55 PMI would add at least two to all of your numbers.

18-19, outside looking in. 20-21, bubble. 22, probably in. 23, definitely in.

The problem isn't just a Marquette one, it's a Big East problem. Xavier was at 21 wins on Selection Sunday last year with a better non-con than we are tracking to have in a better Big East than this is projecting to be, and they ended up in Dayton. If you want to feel confident, we have to be better than they were.

If you were right when you said that the success of Shaka's model was good for the NCAA, then all we have to do is get in the neighborhood of the bubble and it's a #donedeal.

Quote from: brewcity77 on November 18, 2025, 03:44:55 PMI would add at least two to all of your numbers.

18-19, outside looking in. 20-21, bubble. 22, probably in. 23, definitely in.

The problem isn't just a Marquette one, it's a Big East problem. Xavier was at 21 wins on Selection Sunday last year with a better non-con than we are tracking to have in a better Big East than this is projecting to be, and they ended up in Dayton. If you want to feel confident, we have to be better than they were.

If we don't get PU or UW I think we'll need 23 unless at least 3 of our 15 conference wins are against the big 3. But really depends on how BE finishes noncon and how many Q1 opportunities we have. But even then, hard to see the team we've seen so far go 16-4 or 15-5.

Guys - Come ON !?

This team needs to / could win 15 or 16 in the BE?  Not a chance.  They will be lucky to win 1 or two against UCONN, SJU and Creighton. They are likely to
( at best ) split w/ X and Nova and GT

This team is 12/8 or worse in the BE, and that's assuming they improve.

I view the Dayton game like the GB/NYG game.  It's a must win.  If they can't beat UD at home, then the wheels have clearly come off.

If we split with X, that would be worse than losing to Dayton. Xavier is terrible.

Quote from: brewcity77 on November 18, 2025, 03:44:55 PMI would add at least two to all of your numbers.

18-19, outside looking in. 20-21, bubble. 22, probably in. 23, definitely in.

The problem isn't just a Marquette one, it's a Big East problem. Xavier was at 21 wins on Selection Sunday last year with a better non-con than we are tracking to have in a better Big East than this is projecting to be, and they ended up in Dayton. If you want to feel confident, we have to be better than they were.

Quote from: brewcity77 on November 18, 2025, 03:44:55 PMI would add at least two to all of your numbers.

18-19, outside looking in. 20-21, bubble. 22, probably in. 23, definitely in.

The problem isn't just a Marquette one, it's a Big East problem. Xavier was at 21 wins on Selection Sunday last year with a better non-con than we are tracking to have in a better Big East than this is projecting to be, and they ended up in Dayton. If you want to feel confident, we have to be better than they were.

The numbers I used meant from here on out.

So 19 more wins, to get to 22 total before the BET etc

Quote from: brewcity77 on November 18, 2025, 06:36:42 PMIf we split with X, that would be worse than losing to Dayton. Xavier is terrible.

So are we

Quote from: 1SE on November 17, 2025, 12:52:11 AMThese 4 are must win - but then we also need one of PU/UW

We're not beating either.  They're both going to roll us.

Quote from: HutchwasClutch on November 18, 2025, 07:18:54 PMSo are we

We'll beat Xavier twice.

Quote from: HutchwasClutch on November 18, 2025, 07:23:18 PMWe're not beating either.  They're both going to roll us.

Purdue yes. UW's SOS is currently 338th nationally.

Quote from: HutchwasClutch on November 18, 2025, 07:23:18 PMWe're not beating either.  They're both going to roll us.

Ellenson's 20 wins with nothing to show for it team beat UW when they made the S16

The 2018 NIT team beat a S16 bound Purdue team

I doubt we win either but it certainly can happen in down years

Nope. People don't know this, but there never has been an upset in the history of college basketball. The better team always wins.

Quote from: Galway Eagle on November 18, 2025, 10:36:58 PMEllenson's 20 wins with nothing to show for it team beat UW when they made the S16

The 2018 NIT team beat a S16 bound Purdue team

I doubt we win either but it certainly can happen in down years

The 2018 NIT team played a S16 bound Purdue team, but we didn't win. Our first ever win over Purdue was the Koby McEwen game in 2019-20. They did beat tourney-bound Providence and swept Seton Hall and Creighton.

Quote from: brewcity77 on November 19, 2025, 06:23:43 AMThe 2018 NIT team played a S16 bound Purdue team, but we didn't win. Our first ever win over Purdue was the Koby McEwen game in 2019-20. They did beat tourney-bound Providence and swept Seton Hall and Creighton.

My bad, thanks.

Scoopers posting "I'm worried" before a game has been light humor (OK, OK-very light humor), but I really am worried about tonight's game. I tried to rationalize the IU game as mostly a case of DeVries going bonkers, even though it was much more than just that. IU's struggles with mighty Incarnate Word helps support that theory. But going from up 9 to losing by 7 so quickly in the Maryland game on our home court still haunts me. And Fanta repeating over and over that it was because MD was geared up because of Payne going out was SO annoying.

I am often a bit nervous at the beginning of games but was completely relaxed and confident at the beginning of the Maryland game. I'm hoping to find tonight that I was worried about nothing after the final buzzer. Call it blind faith if you like, but despite the evidence to the contrary well-stated here, I think this team plays fairly well and comes away with our first non-cupcake W. To be clear, I have no illusions that a W would mean all is well going forward.

SS,  I feel the same way.  I think they win tonight.  I think Shaka gets the best out of the team or even he will be a little discouraged.  In the end Shaka is a good coach.  We all have to have some faith that he knows what he is doing and seeing at practice.  Like you said, who knows what it will mean long term but it would be nice to get a win tonight for Shaka and the boys mental health moving forward in the short term.

Need better than 2/14 shooting and 7 points off the bench. The inside presence is basically non existent as well. Ben scores most of his points from beyond the arc. Dayton has some big goon that's probably going to feast