MUScoop
MUScoop => Hangin' at the Al => Topic started by: tower912 on November 07, 2022, 09:41:48 PM
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1. I think Tyler's starting role is safe for now.
2. Oso and Kolek are the anchors.
3. Kam, Stevie, and Omax are better.
4. 3-2 zone to protect Oso.
5. Teams are going to attack Oso to get him in foul trouble. And they are going to post up Sean every chance they get. The other coaches aren't dummies.
6. Make lay ups and this is a laugher a lot sooner.
7. Now we know why Shaka said that fans need to be patient.
8. Gold-Keeyan is going to be an ongoing issue. All we can do now is hope they improve quickly.
9. Can't have Oso, Omax, and Stevie all in foul trouble at the same time.
10. Who will be the guy to get the big run-stopping basket this year?
11. A win is a win. Huzzah.
Brian Butch: 'teachable moments'
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We clearly have a top 4.
With Oso and TK being the most important.
Omax D and ability to get to line and make them is huge and so is Kams scoring pop.
Today Stevie and Chase were the best of the rest by a wide margin.
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Chase Ross is gonna play more than I thought. He has the active hands on defense that Shaka loves.
Rough night for Jop. Hopefully that turns around quickly because we will need his shooting.
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12. Wrightsil is the backup center.
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I just don't see all the talent that people think there is. Some athleticism? Yeah. Talent? Lacking, in my eyes.
Also, I think Shaka's got his work cut out for him. We need to press to create transition opportunities. But we don't have the back end defenders to stop easy baskets when the press is broken. And high major teams don't typically press like this because players are now so skilled that they can break the press easily and end up with layup lines.
I see Kam as a real talent. I see Oso as very talented, but if he's in foul trouble against Radford I'm not sure he's going to be able to stay on the court enough against high major teams. And I'm holding off on putting all my eggs in his basket until I see him break down a competent defense. It was a good start for him though.
Beyond that, not sure what we have. In my eyes, to get where we need to be we need major talent upgrades. OMax is the type of guy we need to be a 20-25 minute max effort, 5th offensive option guy. Not a 30-35 key cog. Kolek is very crafty with the ball and creates opportunities for guys, but he needs to be able to score or high level teams will just stay home and beg him to shoot. And we should be bringing in top grad transfer talent (like a Morsell). Not sure I see much contributions coming from Writsil.
Lack of size and lack of shooting is not a good recipe.
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12. Wrightsil is the backup center.
12a. We have no backup center (yet)
2. Oso and Kolek are the anchors.
+20
I know the other guys will play better than tonight, but they need to, because the Kolek and Oso show won't work against good teams. I'll take the win.
13) the Highlight videos proved correct. I don't think we missed an uncontested dunk.
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This proves the need for exhibition games
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1. I think Tyler's starting role is safe for now.
2. Oso and Kolek are the anchors.
3. Kam, Stevie, and Omax are better.
4. 3-2 zone to protect Oso.
5. Teams are going to attack Oso to get him in foul trouble. And they are going to post up Sean every chance they get. The other coaches aren't dummies.
6. Make lay ups and this is a laugher a lot sooner.
7. Now we know why Shaka said that fans need to be patient.
8. Gold-Keeyan is going to be an ongoing issue. All we can do now is hope they improve quickly.
9. Can't have Oso, Omax, and Stevie all in foul trouble at the same time.
10. Who will be the guy to get the big run-stopping basket this year?
11. A win is a win. Huzzah.
Brian Butch: 'teachable moments'
The turns were the biggest issue tonight as well as Oso's foul trouble. We play a click too fast imo. You can see we have a lot of quality players, I think there were some nerves tonight. But in our h-c offense, we have to have a more diversified attack. Kolek is not going to be able to break down defenses and zip one handed dimes consistently vs top tier teams. Kam needs to be our show closer as well. He started off great but didn't do much after the first 10 mins. Sean Jones will get there.
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This proves the need for exhibition games
No, it doesn’t.
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Mitchell was very good tonight despite a few out of control plays.
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No, it doesn’t.
18 turnovers, 45.8% FG% and 26% from three, getting beat again in transition points say differently.
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Joplin is gonna be annoyingly inconsistent all year. Sean Jones playing poorly was the only surprise, but he is a freshman. Make your layups and we’re good.
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Score +1 for the COLE’s and Moper’s - that was ugly.
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I just don't see all the talent that people think there is. Some athleticism? Yeah. Talent? Lacking, in my eyes.
Also, I think Shaka's got his work cut out for him. We need to press to create transition opportunities. But we don't have the back end defenders to stop easy baskets when the press is broken. And high major teams don't typically press like this because players are now so skilled that they can break the press easily and end up with layup lines.
I see Kam as a real talent. I see Oso as very talented, but if he's in foul trouble against Radford I'm not sure he's going to be able to stay on the court enough against high major teams. And I'm holding off on putting all my eggs in his basket until I see him break down a competent defense. It was a good start for him though.
Beyond that, not sure what we have. In my eyes, to get where we need to be we need major talent upgrades. OMax is the type of guy we need to be a 20-25 minute max effort, 5th offensive option guy. Not a 30-35 key cog. Kolek is very crafty with the ball and creates opportunities for guys, but he needs to be able to score or high level teams will just stay home and beg him to shoot. And we should be bringing in top grad transfer talent (like a Morsell). Not sure I see much contributions coming from Writsil.
Lack of size and lack of shooting is not a good recipe.
Dude - It's Game 1, of Year 2 of the Shaka regime. There is a lot of talent on the roster. Chase Ross will be a fantastic player over his career. Sean Jones will be too. Kolek, OMax and Oso are a very good core 3. Stevie played very well tonight.
R-E-L-A-X. Not sure how you were so confident handing out that advice in the early Wojo years, but are in COLE and MOPE mode this early on this team?!
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18 turnovers, 45.8% FG% and 26% from three, getting beat again in transition points say differently.
No, it doesn’t. They could just as easily have the same performance after kicking a cupcake’s ass in an exhibition. Shaka said the competition level at the scrimmage is higher. The difference is not having the crowd.
It doesn’t prove anything.
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Dude - It's Game 1, of Year 2 of the Shaka regime. There is a lot of talent on the roster. Chase Ross will be a fantastic player over his career. Sean Jones will be too. Kolek, OMax and Oso are a very good core 3. Stevie played very well tonight.
R-E-L-A-X. Not sure how you were so confident handing out that advice in the early Wojo years, but are in COLE and MOPE mode this early on this team?!
You see talent. I see a lot of guys who play hard but are limited.
Put Stevie on Villanova and he's a 15 mpg defensive hound.
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No, it doesn’t. They could just as easily have the same performance after kicking a cupcake’s ass in an exhibition. Shaka said the competition level at the scrimmage is higher. The difference is not having the crowd.
It doesn’t prove anything.
Sure.
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Joplin is gonna be annoyingly inconsistent all year. Sean Jones playing poorly was the only surprise, but he is a freshman. Make your layups and we’re good.
We need Joplin and Wrightsil to contribute consistently to reach our ceiling.
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Sure.
It’s your opinion, nothing more.
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Sure.
Good point. A tune up against carroll college definitely would’ve alleviated the majority of our mistakes today.
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Wrightsil
I've learned over the years to not judge transfers too early. I I think wrightsil will eventually get there. But tonight didn't give me optimism for early production (and shaka essential said not to expect that)
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You see talent. I see a lot of guys who play hard but are limited.
Put Stevie on Villanova and he's a 15 mpg defensive hound.
There’s plenty of talent. Whether it leads to consistent production and how long it takes to develop is the question.
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You see talent. I see a lot of guys who play hard but are limited.
Put Stevie on Villanova and he's a 15 mpg defensive hound.
I see a team with no Seniors. Three Juniors. I see a lot of upside in Ross, Jones, Gold, Stevie, and Kam. Radford started 4 seniors and a Junior. They have some talent.
We were careless and out of control at times, yet when the lead got cut to 3, we were able to lock down defensively and stretch it out to 19. Granted, we finished poorly.
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I've learned over the years to not judge transfers too early. I I think wrightsil will eventually get there. But tonight didn't give me optimism for early production (and shaka essential said not to expect that)
He looks a lot smaller than his advertised 6’7.
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I've learned over the years to not judge transfers too early. I I think wrightsil will eventually get there. But tonight didn't give me optimism for early production (and shaka essential said not to expect that)
Edey is an enormous problem.. I think we need ZW to at least guard a bit at the 5. Baylor obviously is also worrisome.
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It’s your opinion, nothing more.
I listed the ragged stats. It’s not an opinion. Nervous players, many playing their first game in front of the largest crowd of their lives versus a team of D1 veteran transfers included a McDonald’s AA. Joplin is lights out in a closed gym at U of C, yet wasn’t even close once tonight.
I got a great idea, let’s play our next game in the Al versus preparing for the big boys (now that’s an opinion). Now what’s your “nothing more” than your usual response to over shout a poster?
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Don't want to read too much into the first game of the season but those BEast coaches are paid a lot more $$$ than us to know ball. Maybe they actually know what they're talking about when it comes to predicted BEast standings.
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Don't want to read too much into the first game of the season but those BEast coaches are paid a lot more $$$ than us to know ball. Maybe they actually know what they're talking about when it comes to predicted BEast standings.
Well..Creighton got put to the test by a bunch of skinny white guys from St. Thomas in their 2nd year in D1. So. There's that. I believe Creighton was picked first in the Big East coaches poll?
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Good teams are going to take away the Kolek/Oso two man game. Shaka may have found something with Ross tonight.
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Don't want to read too much into the first game of the season but those BEast coaches are paid a lot more $$$ than us to know ball. Maybe they actually know what they're talking about when it comes to predicted BEast standings.
This astounding logic is popped the moment I point to those coaches putting us 9th last year as well.
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Well..Creighton got put to the test by a bunch of skinny white guys from St. Thomas in their 2nd year in D1. So. There's that. I believe Creighton was picked first in the Big East coaches poll?
Well... As I said, don't want to read too much into one game, but, folks here have been singing Joplin's praises offensively for a while now, as well as talking about how Sean will be a 20 mpg player, and they just combined to go 1-9 from the field with 6 TOs. Will they get better, sure, will they get better to be difference makers this season, that remains to be seen.
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Good teams are going to take away the Kolek/Oso two man game. Shaka may have found something with Ross tonight.
Shaka said Ross is a blend guy..he can play with a lot of people. Watching him tonight, he's as composed of a freshman at MU as I recall watching since Sam Hauser. Ross made a lot of winning plays tonight, without needing to shoot a lot. Joplin on the other hand? 18 empty minutes.
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Can not wait to see how they guard Zak Edey, Oso is a nice player, showed tonight on the offensive end he can be good, but defensively he is just to small. Trying to understand the best Shaka could find is an undersized player in Wrightsil when he needed a physical body. This team will have to shot the 3 better if they want to win. Like Ross, he really can play D.
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This astounding logic is popped the moment I point to those coaches putting us 9th last year as well.
I guess we'll find out. I will say that last year's team had significantly more size than this years, and they were still a bad rebounding team.
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Didn't beat the spread = loss, SAD
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I see a team with no Seniors. Three Juniors. I see a lot of upside in Ross, Jones, Gold, Stevie, and Kam. Radford started 4 seniors and a Junior. They have some talent.
We were careless and out of control at times, yet when the lead got cut to 3, we were able to lock down defensively and stretch it out to 19. Granted, we finished poorly.
To your point on Radford starting mostly upperclassmen. I’m curious to see how they do against other high majors. They seemed to hit quite a few contested 3s and have some decent talent (someone has to say it every year when we barely win against a low major). They have ND next. Will be curious how they do against them. I feel like this will be a better win than we think, especially as it was our first game. (Again I know this is complete rationalization for a closer than it should have been win.)
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I listed the ragged stats. It’s not an opinion. Nervous players, many playing their first game in front of the largest crowd of their lives versus a team of D1 veteran transfers included a McDonald’s AA. Joplin is lights out in a closed gym at U of C, yet wasn’t even close once tonight.
I got a great idea, let’s play our next game in the Al versus preparing for the big boys (now that’s an opinion). Now what’s your “nothing more” than your usual response to over shout a poster?
I’m doing nothing more than disagreeing with something you claim is a fact. We can agree they played poorly. But there’s no discernible way to prove an exhibition against a garbage team would have led to them not crapping away a 21 point lead in the final 5 minutes.
Shaka disagrees with you as well. I think I’ll trust his judgment on this over yours.
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Well... As I said, don't want to read too much into one game, but, folks here have been singing Joplin's praises offensively for a while now, as well as talking about how Sean will be a 20 mpg player, and they just combined to go 1-9 from the field with 6 TOs. Will they get better, sure, will they get better to be difference makers this season, that remains to be seen.
Yeah..personally I haven't seen it with Joplin, yet Shaka is high on him and he's supposedly had a very good summer/fall. Sean Jones will be fine! It was his first D-1 game and you could see he was pressing and that the nerves were on overdrive.
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++ After calling the TO when Radford pulled to 53-50 with 13:30 left, Shaka turned up the defense with Oso, O-Max, Ross, Stevie and TK on the court. We then went on a 16-0 run over the next 6 minutes or so. Several steals, a couple 10-second calls, a couple blocked shots, game essentially over!
++ Oso, O-Max and Kam each got nicked up. Kam got off to the hot start but then was flexing his back repeatedly midway through the first half and I don't think he scored another point. Oso was short on 2 FTs after seemingly hurting his right elbow. O-Max looked like he tweaked a hammy but he came back in shortly thereafter and seemed fine. Obviously, MU fans hope they're all OK.
++ Ross looks like a "Shaka player." Long, active, disruptive. Even hit a 3. Nice debut, better than I expected considering that he wasn't the freshman folks were talking about all offseason.
++ Way too many TOs, mostly because we often got going too fast -- Sean, Stevie, O-Max, etc. And for all of the talk about our pressure D, Radford had more points off TOs than we did. But it's the first game and I think some of that will calm down.
++ Oso is our only irreplaceable player because of his height, length and skill set, as well as our lack of a backup 5. We were killing them on the boards ... until he had to sit down with fouls. In addition to being our only height, he plays decent help defense, and he is good with the basketball. If I'm coaching against Marquette, one of the main things I want my team to do is get Oso in foul trouble. It's my biggest concern about our team.
++ Needed more from Joplin. Obviously, just Game 1, so we'll see.
++ Solid all-around games from O-Max, Stevie and Kolek, though Kolek's shooting wasn't pretty. His last 3 try almost broke the backboard.
++ Kolek, Stevie and Kam combined for 21 rebounds -- nice work, and we'll need that kind of effort from them on the boards all season.
++ Creighton, favored to win the Big East and a 25-point favorite over St. Thomas, struggled for much of the night before winning by 12. Oklahoma blew a 14-point lead and lost to Sam Houston State. UNC-Wilmington made UNC sweat. #14 TCU needed a great rally to beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 1. So I'll take the win.
++ Can't go undefeated unless you win the first one!
BOX SCORE:
https://gomarquette.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2022-23/radford/boxscore/9322
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If Radford wound up with all this great upper class talent, including a former burger boy, why can’t, say, Marquette get that type of transfer?
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To your point on Radford starting mostly upperclassmen. I’m curious to see how they do against other high majors. They seemed to hit quite a few contested 3s and have some decent talent (someone has to say it every year when we barely win against a low major). They have ND next. Will be curious how they do against them. I feel like this will be a better win than we think, especially as it was our first game. (Again I know this is complete rationalization for a closer than it should have been win.)
I agree. They hit some really tough contested 3's and mid range twos. Oddly the one guy who got off for them and hit some of the tough ones was a freshman - Giles.
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First game of the season isn’t a test of the team. Games are closer than they should be. Nerves are higher and coach is tinkering with line ups he likely won’t play regularly.
Blowing out a lower opponent might be fun for us to watch but I am sure the coaching staff is working certain areas for future growth.
What is for certain is Emarion unfortunately won’t see much playing time until after the non-conference season at best.
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Shaka said Ross is a blend guy..he can play with a lot of people. Watching him tonight, he's as composed of a freshman at MU as I recall watching since Sam Hauser. Ross made a lot of winning plays tonight, without needing to shoot a lot. Joplin on the other hand? 18 empty minutes.
I agree with a lot of your points and I believe this team has some talent but we're really thin up front. The question is can we play four guards in significant stretches and what is our best Osoless line-up? I actually thought Ross looked comfortable out there on both ends of the floor. Very composed.
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First game of the season isn’t a test of the team. Games are closer than they should be. Nerves are higher and coach is tinkering with line ups he likely won’t play regularly.
Blowing out a lower opponent might be fun for us to watch but I am sure the coaching staff is working certain areas for future growth.
What is for certain is Emarion unfortunately won’t see much playing time until after the non-conference season at best.
Are you aware he’s hurt and might redshirt?
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Are you aware he’s hurt and might redshirt?
Look at when he is expected to be back at the earliest and ask the question to yourself.
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By the way, their Pitt/Murray State/Nova transfers shot a combined 9/32 and 3/13 from 3. 8 rebounds and 2 assists between them.
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Was 4ever in the student section with the Crean Big Head?
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Look at when he is expected to be back at the earliest and ask the question to yourself.
It would likely be well after the conference season ends and he’s more likely to redshirt than not considering his injury and the depth in the backcourt. Apologies for giving you the benefit of the doubt when it turned out your post was just dumb.
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If Radford wound up with all this great upper class talent, including a former burger boy, why can’t, say, Marquette get that type of transfer?
Believe we swung and missed on a couple. Another big body would have been helpful for this team this year. However, Shaka's overriding strategy and theme are to invest in the players in the program and give them the opportunity to develop/get additional playing time. His style of wanting to play fast isn't very conducive to brining in a bulky big, however.
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It would likely be well after the conference season ends and he’s more likely to redshirt than not considering his injury and the depth in the backcourt. Apologies for giving you the benefit of the doubt when it turned out your post was just dumb.
Says the guy who couldn’t put two and two together.
What you said about his injury is true and can be summed up with “at best”. The only certainty with this line up is he, unfortunately, won’t be in it. Everything else is just keyboard coaches’ opinion about a one sided game.
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Believe we swung and missed on a couple. Another big body would have been helpful for this team this year. However, Shaka's overriding strategy and theme are to invest in the players in the program and give them the opportunity to develop/get additional playing time. His style of wanting to play fast isn't very conducive to brining in a bulky big, however.
Our backup 5 didn't need to be a "bulky big." With the right skill set, a body type similar to Oso or Kuath would have worked. Even a Jayce Johnson or Matt Heldt type to alter a few shots, grab a few boards and commit a few fouls would have been fine.
With all those transfers out there, I'm surprised (and a little disappointed) that Shaka didn't get one. We'll be holding our breath on Oso's foul situation all season.
It's OK to be super happy that Shaka is our coach, and to praise him for his good work, but still wish he had brought in some more of what we needed.
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Our backup 5 didn't need to be a "bulky big." With the right skill set, a body type similar to Oso or Kuath would have worked. Even a Jayce Johnson or Matt Heldt type to alter a few shots, grab a few boards and commit a few fouls would have been fine.
With all those transfers out there, I'm surprised (and a little disappointed) that Shaka didn't get one. We'll be holding our breath on Oso's foul situation all season.
It's OK to be super happy that Shaka is our coach, and to praise him for his good work, but still wish he had brought in some more of what we needed.
I think we have to wait and see what Zach brings to the table. He's a little smaller and lighter than I hoped but clearly Shaka likes him. Let's just see how he plays after s few more games.
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I thought there was more good than bad tonight. Radford hit some tough-ass shots, and MU missed bunnies and open threes. Still, it was a few really bad minutes from being a 25 pt win.
Gotta have more from Jop. And Wrightsil was surprisingly shook. Hopefully it was first night jitters for him.
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I think we have to wait and see what Zach brings to the table. He's a little smaller and lighter than I hoped but clearly Shaka likes him. Let's just see how he plays after s few more games.
Fair enough. Based on what Shaka had said just a few days ago about Wrightsil, he was about what I expected in Game 1. Could be several weeks before he's ready to contribute much. We'll see.
I thought there was more good than bad tonight. Radford hit some tough-ass shots, and MU missed bunnies and open threes. Still, it was a few really bad minutes from being a 25 pt win.
Gotta have more from Jop. And Wrightsil was surprisingly shook. Hopefully it was first night jitters for him.
Agree about Joplin. Re Wrightsil, see above.
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Fair enough. Based on what Shaka had said just a few days ago about Wrightsil, he was about what I expected in Game 1. Could be several weeks before he's ready to contribute much. We'll see.
Agree about Joplin. Re Wrightsil, see above.
We desperately need both of these guys to contribute. I don't see our other 5's doing a whole lot this season. Essentially Shaka chose ZW to help mitigate the loss of JLew. No one expects him to be a 1st team BEast guy but he can't be a complete non factor. I fully expect Jop will be better than we saw tonight. It nothing else Wrightsil has to rebound and defend. If he's simply not BEast caliber it would be a monumental disappointment.
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It nothing else Wrightsil has to rebound and defend.
He didn't get back after OMax hit a three, and gave up a layup. Immediately got hooked and sat the last 14 minutes.
Lots of lessons to be learned for a few guys tonight. I know with the NET margin carries weight, but they might learn more from tonight than a blowout.
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I thought there was more good than bad tonight. Radford hit some tough-ass shots, and MU missed bunnies and open threes. Still, it was a few really bad minutes from being a 25 pt win.
Gotta have more from Jop. And Wrightsil was surprisingly shook. Hopefully it was first night jitters for him.
I agree. I’m not down on this team at all after that game. There were a lot of positives. I worry about the front court depth like everyone else though that will be the Achilles heal this season.
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And next year unless he gets enough kids to leave to get a big. Is idea of recruiting skinny bigs will not work in the Big East!
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And next year unless he gets enough kids to leave to get a big. Is idea of recruiting skinny bigs will not work in the Big East!
It will be interesting to see Itijere’s development over the course of this season. He may test Shaka’s loyalty.
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I actually though Ben played well in his few minutes. He certainly defended a lot better than I expected him to and liked his fight to force the jumpball. That attitude will earn him minutes.
Kam looked really good to start the game than it looked like he tweaked something in his back and it held him back the rest of the game
Kolek was overlooking to pass, needed him to call his own number a few more times but some of those dimes were pretty
Sean got a little too excited in his first game, will also need to get better at working around screens, they were coming after him defensively.
The defense was very good. I sweat that 40 of their points were long contested twos. Felt like we really didn't give up any easy buckets in the half court. I am concerned about our transition defense. We don't have a good back line of defenders to erase our mistakes and there were multiple times that we didn't stop the ball in the transition, leading to an attempt at the rim.
Offensively, the major concern is the turnovers. Can't give up 18 to Radford and expect to win. Hoping that is just first game rust that will be shaken off. Sean Jones by himself had four turns.
Ultimately, this was a 21 point blowout with under 6 minutes left. Team lost focus and took their foot off the gas too early. Shaka needs to correct that.
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Game one and the team got a win. Winning is a good thing . Coaching staff will use the film to make corrections and move on to Game Two.
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There was a lot of positive moments, but the turnovers were an issue. Radford was not a bad team. They hit some tough shots, kept fighting, and had some nice moments, too.
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I actually though Ben played well in his few minutes. He certainly defended a lot better than I expected him to and liked his fight to force the jumpball. That attitude will earn him minutes.
Kam looked really good to start the game than it looked like he tweaked something in his back and it held him back the rest of the game
Kolek was overlooking to pass, needed him to call his own number a few more times but some of those dimes were pretty
Sean got a little too excited in his first game, will also need to get better at working around screens, they were coming after him defensively.
The defense was very good. I sweat that 40 of their points were long contested twos. Felt like we really didn't give up any easy buckets in the half court. I am concerned about our transition defense. We don't have a good back line of defenders to erase our mistakes and there were multiple times that we didn't stop the ball in the transition, leading to an attempt at the rim.
Offensively, the major concern is the turnovers. Can't give up 18 to Radford and expect to win. Hoping that is just first game rust that will be shaken off. Sean Jones by himself had four turns.
Ultimately, this was a 21 point blowout with under 6 minutes left. Team lost focus and took their foot off the gas too early. Shaka needs to correct that.
Some great points, Wiz.
What do you mean by, "I sweat that 40 of their points were long contested twos"?
Re Kolek, there were 2 times I remember talking to the TV screen saying, "You gotta shoot that." And when he took the quick 3 after an offensive rebound with a full shot clock and about 3-4 minutes left, I said: "No, don't shoot that." Played a really good floor game until he followed his teammates' lead and made two bad passes near the end. He was really good on D, too, especially during our run.
I hope Kam's OK. Backs are tricky things.
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There was a lot of positive moments, but the turnovers were continue to be an issue. Radford was not a bad team. They hit some tough shots, kept fighting, and had some nice moments, too.
FIFY
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Just glad they won.
Improve and move on.
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Just glad they won.
Improve and move on.
Unacceptable COLE statement
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I thought there was more good than bad tonight. Radford hit some tough-ass shots, and MU missed bunnies and open threes. Still, it was a few really bad minutes from being a 25 pt win.
Gotta have more from Jop. And Wrightsil was surprisingly shook. Hopefully it was first night jitters for him.
Why is that?
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Why is that?
Because Marquette stinks
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Remember Coach Wooden's phrase "play quick but don't hurry?" In a quest to play quick, I saw a lot of hurrying last night. Over-dribbling. Bad passing. Missed lay-ups.
Young teams do this a lot, but eventually they will figure this out.
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Because Marquette stinks
We won't beat Depaul.
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18 turnovers, 45.8% FG% and 26% from three, getting beat again in transition points say differently.
You do realize they played two closed door exhibitions right?
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To the folks who are certain that a 97-48 public exhibition win over the Sisters of the Poor would have been better than closed scrimmages against good D1 teams ...
How do you know that if we walloped the Sisters of the Poor at Fiserv instead of scrapping against Mizzou for a couple hours, we wouldn't have lost yesterday due to lack of having been tested against good competition?
To point at last night's sloppy play and say, "Because no exhibitions" ... well, my freshman Logic prof might have taken issue with that.
Now, maybe there's a way we could have done both closed scrimmages and a public exhibition, and sure, that might have worked best of all. I don't know if that would have been possible or not.
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This astounding logic is popped the moment I point to those coaches putting us 9th last year as well.
Well we played like the 9th placed team at the end of last season. Perhaps making the NCAA and winning one or two is the best we can hope for.
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To be fair, I did not see much of the game, but what I did see was an improvement over opening night is last year. I think the returning guys improved, were more poised and it looked like a group that has played together before. Like TAMU, I really liked our D, but have the same concerns he noted. Overall, from what I saw, a decent opening night.
I noted after the practice that I liked Ross quite a bit and think he will get minutes this year, maybe more than I thought even a couple of weeks ago. As for Joplin, I am not going to get too worried over his performance last night. The real silver lining to me, we have a lot of guys that can step in and get minutes when needed.
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Game one and the team got a win. Winning is a good thing . Coaching staff will use the film to make corrections and move on to Game Two.
Pretty sure sane rational posts like this are against the TOS of scoop!
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To be fair, I did not see much of the game, but what I did see was an improvement over opening night is last year. I think the returning guys improved, were more poised and it looked like a group that has played together before. Like TAMU, I really liked our D, but have the same concerns he noted. Overall, from what I saw, a decent opening night.
I noted after the practice that I liked Ross quite a bit and think he will get minutes this year, maybe more than I thought even a couple of weeks ago. As for Joplin, I am not going to get too worried over his performance last night. The real silver lining to me, we have a lot of guys that can step in and get minutes when needed.
Yeah cant worry about Jop after one game.
This team has 4 guys that will be relied on heavily and to beat good teams will probably need 3 of those 4 to be good nightly.
Then we have a lot of guys who can step up and provide support when needed. Last night it was Ross and Stevie. Next game it might be SJ and Jop. So long as we can consistently get good contributions from 2 of the "best of the rest" the potential is there.
A lot of unknowns but the options are there.
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Yeah cant worry about Jop after one game.
This team has 4 guys that will be relied on heavily and to beat good teams will probably need 3 of those 4 to be good nightly.
Then we have a lot of guys who can step up and provide support when needed. Last night it was Ross and Stevie. Next game it might be SJ and Jop. So long as we can consistently get good contributions from 2 of the "best of the rest" the potential is there.
A lot of unknowns but the options are there.
I didn't think Joplin played with a great deal of energy last night. Floated around the perimeter, took his usual top of the circle 3s, didn't make an impact defensively, etc. We will know more by the end of the month, but the energy level needs to come up.
This team has a lot of options at the guard spot, but I feel it is going to be difficult not to have Stevie out there a good percentage of the time. He makes things happen. Gets deflections, 50/50 balls, rebounds well for his size.
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The guards took care of the rebounding last night.
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I didn't think Joplin played with a great deal of energy last night. Floated around the perimeter, took his usual top of the circle 3s, didn't make an impact defensively, etc. We will know more by the end of the month, but the energy level needs to come up.
This team has a lot of options at the guard spot, but I feel it is going to be difficult not to have Stevie out their a good percentage of the time. He makes things happen. Gets deflections, 50/50 balls, rebounds well for his size.
Agreed about Stevie he uses his body so well.
And sadly(not his fault) might be our second best player aside from Oso at the rim. He uses his body really well. Hopefully some other guys can take not cause thats something we need better at. If the second smallest guy on team can do it. Omax and TK gotta be able to as well.
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I hope Kam's OK. Backs are tricky things.
I was surprised he was kept out there given the amount he was wincing and clearly trying to stretch something out. He went from being aggressive and looking like he was going to put up 25 pts to a passive non-factor. We need a guy who can get his own points, and he seems to be that guy. Sure hope he is ok and something was just tight.
Sean Jones' performance was a bit disappointing given all the rave reviews he's been getting, but the mistakes he made all seemed to be a matter of first night nerves and moving too quickly. The positive is that the turnovers seemed to all be in situations where he was in position to get someone an easy bucket, and they were the type of play he will make routinely once comfortable rather than fumbling the ball, lobbing it too high, leading too much on a breakaway etc... There were enough flashes that I think he and Mitchell are going to be a fun and disruptive duo to watch.
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I actually though Ben played well in his few minutes. He certainly defended a lot better than I expected him to and liked his fight to force the jumpball. That attitude will earn him minutes.
Kam looked really good to start the game than it looked like he tweaked something in his back and it held him back the rest of the game
Kolek was overlooking to pass, needed him to call his own number a few more times but some of those dimes were pretty
Sean got a little too excited in his first game, will also need to get better at working around screens, they were coming after him defensively.
The defense was very good. I sweat that 40 of their points were long contested twos. Felt like we really didn't give up any easy buckets in the half court. I am concerned about our transition defense. We don't have a good back line of defenders to erase our mistakes and there were multiple times that we didn't stop the ball in the transition, leading to an attempt at the rim.
Offensively, the major concern is the turnovers. Can't give up 18 to Radford and expect to win. Hoping that is just first game rust that will be shaken off. Sean Jones by himself had four turns.
Ultimately, this was a 21 point blowout with under 6 minutes left. Team lost focus and took their foot off the gas too early. Shaka needs to correct that.
This is an accurate post. Kolek cannot get into the habit of looking for the one handed (potential highlight dime )whip or pocket pass when he has space to rise and fire. After about 30 mins of action Radford realized he was either going to look for the slip cutter or fling it to the corner. He has to be a threat to score against prime time competition. Additionally, our guards on their blow bys need to be more under control and use the shot fake more. Or go with power like OMax did on that baseline drive. We need to be stronger on our finishes in the paint and have better balance in lieu of kamikaze chaos.
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I think the most disappointing thing regarding TK
And hopefully it was due to SJ's first night jitters and Kam getting a little banged up.
But TK had to basically run the entire offense like he did most of last year which had him not in catch and shoot situations so any shot he did take was the rushed variety.
Love his passing, but would like some other guys help so that he can look for a good shot himself more.
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What do you mean by, "I sweat that 40 of their points were long contested twos"?
Ha, it was a typo. It was supposed to be "I swear...". Meaning that I don't get too worked up about an opponent hitting a lot of contested long two-pointers.
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This is an accurate post. Kolek cannot get into the habit of looking for the one handed (potential highlight dime )whip or pocket pass when he has space to rise and fire. After about 30 mins of action Radford realized he was either going to look for the slip cutter or fling it to the corner. He has to be a threat to score against prime time competition. Additionally, our guards on their blow bys need to be more under control and use the shot fake more. Or go with power like OMax did on that baseline drive. We need to be stronger on our finishes in the paint and have better balance in lieu of kamikaze chaos.
So the Kolek issues are the same ones that hurt MU at the close of last season. Teams figured out what TK likes to do, they took that away, and MU floundered.
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I think the most disappointing thing regarding TK
And hopefully it was due to SJ's first night jitters and Kam getting a little banged up.
But TK had to basically run the entire offense like he did most of last year which had him not in catch and shoot situations so any shot he did take was the rushed variety.
Love his passing, but would like some other guys help so that he can look for a good shot himself more.
That's a really good point. I think he's much better in catch and shoot than scoring off the dribble. Part of it is he looks rushed and off balance.
When Sean Jones figures it out he's going to be very formidable. You can see it but it will take some time. His quicks are very evident but once he understands how to change speeds, be more under control and see the floor, the floodgates will open. Our transition game should be pretty solid even though it wasn't good last night. I like Jones the Younger and Ross. Two solid athletes with excellent potential.
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So the Kolek issues are the same ones that hurt MU at the close of last season. Teams figured out what TK likes to do, they took that away, and MU floundered.
Wel you're right and Kolek and the coaching staff should be cognizant of this. Will they make the proper adjustments?
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I’m more optimistic about the team after watching the game last night than I was in the off-season.
They look like they will be very undersized and lacking in talent relative to other high majors, but I think they will win more games than they should based on team cohesiveness and coaching.
The biggest disappointment for me was Joplin as he looked like he had no confidence and I’m not sure what his role other than just shoot. Wrightsil is about what I expected and he looks way in over his head right now. Ellis is redshirting and Itejere looks like he is just going to get walk on minutes this year, so it’s safe to say that the guys Shaka brought in from Texas are off to a very slow start.
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You do realize they played two closed door exhibitions right?
SECRET
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OK, so I assume it has something to do with the Mustang Mach-E, but I still don't get the title...
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I’m more optimistic about the team after watching the game last night than I was in the off-season.
They look like they will be very undersized and lacking in talent relative to other high majors, but I think they will win more games than they should based on team cohesiveness and coaching.
The biggest disappointment for me was Joplin as he looked like he had no confidence and I’m not sure what his role other than just shoot. Wrightsil is about what I expected and he looks way in over his head right now. Ellis is redshirting and Itejere looks like he is just going to get walk on minutes this year, so it’s safe to say that the guys Shaka brought in from Texas are off to a very slow start.
If Marquette kept their large lead and won by 19 or more I think we'd all be sitting here raving about the night. One bad stretch dampened things a bit but overall I thought it was a great night.
The concerns are front court production behind Oso. I've seen Joplin enough to know he has more to give, we just have to see him know it too. Wrightsil will have more than what he showed last night because there is no other option. His skillset mirrors Oso in a lot of ways in a smaller body but he'll have to adjust to the pace. Gold didn't look out of place on the court and a lot of times that is encouraging enough for a Freshman in game 1.
The guard play looked great. The depth there is awesome and may get even deeper if Ellis chooses not to Redshirt.
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I'm concerned that most of the returners played the same way as last year.
Kolek is a great passer but scoring is still a question mark.
Kam is still heavily reliant on 3s. Seven 3FGA, two 2FGA, 0 FT.
O-Max is solid but still a low usage offensive player.
Oso is still a great finisher but has no jumpshot. And after all of the Point Oso talk, he had just 1 assist.
Stevie looked much better. The only starter that looked noticeably different.
Joplin still looks like a one dimensional streak shooter.
Newcomers have some potential but have a long way to go to be impact players. Ross played well and I'm curious to see more of him.
Too early to make a final judgment but really didn't see any unexpected growth. Steady improvement but that's about it.
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I think the only player on this team that has a chance to get more than a cup of tea in the NBA is Chase Ross.
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I think the only player on this team that has a chance to get more than a cup of tea in the NBA is Chase Ross.
Absolutely wild take
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I'm concerned that most of the returners played the same way as last year.
Kolek is a great passer but scoring is still a question mark.
Kam is still heavily reliant on 3s. Seven 3FGA, two 2FGA, 0 FT.
O-Max is solid but still a low usage offensive player.
Oso is still a great finisher but has no jumpshot. And after all of the Point Oso talk, he had just 1 assist.
Stevie looked much better. The only starter that looked noticeably different.
Joplin still looks like a one dimensional streak shooter.
Newcomers have some potential but have a long way to go to be impact players. Ross played well and I'm curious to see more of him.
Too early to make a final judgment but really didn't see any unexpected growth. Steady improvement but that's about it.
Improvement at there age is minimal, OMax will never be an Alpha Dog, he will score more just because Lewis and Morsell are gone, but he will never be a 15-16 point player. Kolek might be a good shooter in practice but once the lights are on, he has shown little. Ross impressed me, has above average quickness and plays intense D. Kam will never be a great defender. Oso is more confident, I am surprised he still does not have a jump shot. He stated in high school he played outside, curious how he scored then?
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Re returning players:
Oso looked MUCH better than last season. Quick, confident off the bounce, pulled up and made a nice pass instead of barreling into the defender for a charge, looked more for his shot, finished through contact a couple times, challenged shots without fouling. The only disappointments: two dopey fouls (especially his 4th), which we can't afford, and the missed FTs (though the last 2 obviously had to do with his elbow pain).
Stevie looked every bit a starting college guard, much more comfortable and confident than last season. A dogged defender who never seemed to get tired. Stepped right into a 3 and drilled it, too.
For all the talk of Kolek's improvement, pretty much the same Kolek showed up as last season's model. Passed on a couple chances to shoot floaters or stop-and-pops, bricked a catch-and-shoot 3 after an offensive rebound, and made two late turnovers, but he otherwise looked good on offense and effective on defense. Still, I'm greedy and hoping to see more with his shot to make defenders respect him.
Kam looked like the lead dog ready for an easy 20+ until he hurt his back. Something to watch.
O-Max was the exact same player as last season, and that's fine. Those hoping he'd pull a Justin Lewis ... it doesn't look likely, but he's still an athletic role player who defends hard and does a lot of things pretty well.
Too early to tell for Joplin. Anybody can have a bad game. I mean, if we're gonna go by a 1-game sample, he should never play again, so that's silly.
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Re returning players:
Oso looked MUCH better than last season. Quick, confident off the bounce, pulled up and made a nice pass instead of barreling into the defender for a charge, looked more for his shot, finished through contact a couple times, challenged shots without fouling. The only disappointments: two dopey fouls (especially his 4th), which we can't afford, and the missed FTs (though the last 2 obviously had to do with his elbow pain).
Stevie looked every bit a starting college guard, much more comfortable and confident than last season. A dogged defender who never seemed to get tired. Stepped right into a 3 and drilled it, too.
For all the talk of Kolek's improvement, pretty much the same Kolek showed up as last season's model. Passed on a couple chances to shoot floaters or stop-and-pops, bricked a catch-and-shoot 3 after an offensive rebound, and made two late turnovers, but he otherwise looked good on offense and effective on defense. Still, I'm greedy and hoping to see more with his shot to make defenders respect him.
Kam looked like the lead dog ready for an easy 20+ until he hurt his back. Something to watch.
O-Max was the exact same player as last season, and that's fine. Those hoping he'd pull a Justin Lewis ... it doesn't look likely, but he's still an athletic role player who defends hard and does a lot of things pretty well.
Too early to tell for Joplin. Anybody can have a bad game. I mean, if we're gonna go by a 1-game sample, he should never play again, so that's silly.
OMax had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and played the most minutes (30) on the team. Not sure why you label him as being "the same as last year".
Also, Kolek shot 1 3-pointer. Nothing to worry about yet with him. His shot will be fine. I also think it's encouraging that he looked so good distributing with what we thought would be limited scoring options around him.
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Last night exposed many things that bothered us as Warrior Fans. They're well documented in this string.
Reality: This is the first game against an experienced but not very good opponent. Other than practice, our team has had limited chance to play together. They are learning how to mesh. That's the point of early season games.
If we're making the same sloppy mistakes in mid-December, then we have problems and the expectation for a ninth place team is right on. But I watched Shaka coach last night and actually thought he had a good rapport with the team and more than once settled them down. I think we'll be fine. We did, after all, win!
Sometimes, a team gets sloppy because it is confident. Perhaps too confident.
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During last year's opener we beat SIU Edwardsville (ranked 314 by KenPom at the time) by 11. During that game we:
Trailed SIUE for 9 minutes and 3 seconds in the first 21 minutes of play
Were only up 1 at half
Never led by more than 13 (with 11:45 left in the second half)
This season we beat Radford (ranked 295 by KenPom at the time) by 10. During that game we:
Led coast to coast
Were up 8 at half
Led by 21 (with 5:48 left in the second half)
Went on a 16-0 run at one point (meaning in that short stretch we achieved a bigger lead than we did in the entire game against SIUE)
All that being said, I still don't think we played great but we played well. Just giving some perspective. I think Radford was a blowout against a cupcake where the team took their collective foot off the gas a little too soon. Hopefully Shaka corrects that moving forward because a Big East team would have completed the comeback.
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Absolutely wild take
21 D1 minutes played, what more do you need to see?
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TAMU
I have to admit, the opener last year scared me. IMO, last night was a noted improvement against a better opponent. It looked like a better team effort, better poise and confidence. That being said, they need to get better every week.
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OMax had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and played the most minutes (30) on the team. Not sure why you label him as being "the same as last year".
Also, Kolek shot 1 3-pointer. Nothing to worry about yet with him. His shot will be fine. I also think it's encouraging that he looked so good distributing with what we thought would be limited scoring options around him.
You seem to think O-Max played much better last night than he did in the second half of last season. I thought he looked like essentially the same player. Especially when compared to obvious improvement by the likes of Oso and Stevie. So I guess we'll agree to disagree. Please note that I also said he's "an athletic role player who defends hard and does a lot of things pretty well," just that I don't think he's gonna take a Lewis-ish leap. Would love to be wrong about that.
I thought Kolek played well and said so. I'm greedy. I want him to be more of a scoring threat because we'll need that for us to win some of our games. He was 1-for-5 from the floor and his wide-open 3 attempt was ugly. Saying I wish he'd be more of a threat doesn't equal "I hate Kolek."
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You seem to think O-Max played much better last night than he did in the second half of last season. I thought he looked like essentially the same player. Especially when compared to obvious improvement by the likes of Oso and Stevie. So I guess we'll agree to disagree. Please note that I also said he's "an athletic role player who defends hard and does a lot of things pretty well," just that I don't think he's gonna take a Lewis-ish leap. Would love to be wrong about that.
I thought Kolek played well and said so. I'm greedy. I want him to be more of a scoring threat because we'll need that for us to win some of our games. He was 1-for-5 from the floor and his wide-open 3 attempt was ugly. Saying I wish he'd be more of a threat doesn't equal "I hate Kolek."
To be fair, you just used quotes and that wasnt indicated by him. He just disagreed with your take on Kolek.
For the record, I do agree that Kolek for one game looked more of the same. Stated earlier in the thread that I hope it was more due to other factors though
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You seem to think O-Max played much better last night than he did in the second half of last season. I thought he looked like essentially the same player. Especially when compared to obvious improvement by the likes of Oso and Stevie. So I guess we'll agree to disagree. Please note that I also said he's "an athletic role player who defends hard and does a lot of things pretty well," just that I don't think he's gonna take a Lewis-ish leap. Would love to be wrong about that.
I thought Kolek played well and said so. I'm greedy. I want him to be more of a scoring threat because we'll need that for us to win some of our games. He was 1-for-5 from the floor and his wide-open 3 attempt was ugly. Saying I wish he'd be more of a threat doesn't equal "I hate Kolek."
I agree with you on OMax and Stevie. I also lean your way on Oso, but he had an easy time with no one to defend him yesterday. He has added to his game with his ball handling, strength, and confidence. If he continues to play that way against better competition he will be the SOTG leader for the year.
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To be fair, you just used quotes and that wasnt indicated by him. He just disagreed with your take on Kolek.
For the record, I do agree that Kolek for one game looked more of the same. Stated earlier in the thread that I hope it was more due to other factors though
Yes, I did not mean to imply that he said I hate Kolek. It was the generic, "I hate so-and-so." Some people -- I'm not saying you or GE03) -- seem to equate gentle criticism of a player's game as the equivalent to "hating." I hate that!
Really looking forward to Purdue, the games in Ft. Myers, and the Baylor, Madison and ND games so we can get a better fix on where we stand before the BEast season begins.
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I’m not too worried about the disjointed team performance. First game of the season against a bad team isn’t a great read on team cohesiveness.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1CV_5Z2qxg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJDcPz7B37Q
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Think it should be noted that Oso played like 40 total minutes in year 1 with Wojo. Last year he played almost 600 minutes and shot 68% from the floor while demonstrating some unique skills he previously hadn't showcased. Yesterday he looked like our best player.
All that to say, Shaka finds ways to get guys to reach another level. I think with time Gold and Itejere can carve out a role and be good at it this season. Maybe it's only for 5 to 10 minutes, but learning to become good at what the team needs you to be good at is a realistic ask. I think that will come quicker for Wrightsil too who is older. Oso carried the weight yesterday because he had to. I think he'll have some reinforcements behind him as time moves along.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1CV_5Z2qxg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJDcPz7B37Q
This thing about the domino, there are 28 dominoes in a regular (double six) set. Si nothing special.
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21 D1 minutes played, what more do you need to see?
Chase's size and quickness reminded me of Matthews who is still playing for the Bucks. I can see Chase playing in NBA.
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Chase's size and quickness reminded me of Matthews who is still playing for the Bucks. I can see Chase playing in NBA.
Chase has more burst and bounce than Matthews, but Wes developed into a truly elite shooter. Would be tough for Ross to reach that level of shooter but I'd be all for it.
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You seem to think O-Max played much better last night than he did in the second half of last season. I thought he looked like essentially the same player. Especially when compared to obvious improvement by the likes of Oso and Stevie. So I guess we'll agree to disagree. Please note that I also said he's "an athletic role player who defends hard and does a lot of things pretty well," just that I don't think he's gonna take a Lewis-ish leap. Would love to be wrong about that.
I thought Kolek played well and said so. I'm greedy. I want him to be more of a scoring threat because we'll need that for us to win some of our games. He was 1-for-5 from the floor and his wide-open 3 attempt was ugly. Saying I wish he'd be more of a threat doesn't equal "I hate Kolek."
Agreed on your Omax take. He played decently yesterday but didn't do a single thing he wasn't already doing last year. Now it's the first game of the season so I'm not passing judgment yet, but I certainly didn't see anything beyond what we already know about him.
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Chase has more burst and bounce than Matthews, but Wes developed into a truly elite shooter. Would be tough for Ross to reach that level of shooter but I'd be all for it.
Matthews has stayed at NBA level because of his D
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Matthews has stayed at NBA level because of his D
In the NBA it's all about D.
Case and point Jamil Wilson's D is what got him out of the NBA
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In the NBA it's all about D.
Case and point Jamil Wilson's D is what got him out of the NBA
Lol nice
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In the NBA it's all about D.
Case and point Jamil Wilson's D is what got him out of the NBA
Beautiful work. No notes!
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In the NBA it's all about D.
Case and point Jamil Wilson's D is what got him out of the NBA
Nice
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Middle of the second half Shaka walked up to Kam who was sitting on the bench and said "do you want to play?" Kam nodded and Shaka said "then you have to guard somebody."
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Middle of the second half Shaka walked up to Kam who was sitting on the bench and said "do you want to play?" Kam nodded and Shaka said "then you have to guard somebody."
Mind games
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Middle of the second half Shaka walked up to Kam who was sitting on the bench and said "do you want to play?" Kam nodded and Shaka said "then you have to guard somebody."
I still worry it is going to be difficult to play Kam and Joplin at the same time for extended periods because of this.
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Mind games
Transfer alert
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Transfer alert
Playing mind games in the NIL era when Memphis can fire their money cannon at Kam is a bad idea. I fear Marquette is about to enter a Dukiet era
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Playing mind games in the NIL era when Memphis can fire their money cannon at Kam is a bad idea. I fear Marquette is about to enter a Dukiet era
Shaka Dukiet (stolen from Willie)
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Every time Uncle Rico and Newsy post together I think of Waldorf and Statler. In a good way of course.
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Every time Uncle Rico and Newsy post together I think of Waldorf and Statler. In a good way of course.
Fck I'm old but not that old. Now dgies yes, he is that old and bald.
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Re returning players:
Oso looked MUCH better than last season. Quick, confident off the bounce, pulled up and made a nice pass instead of barreling into the defender for a charge, looked more for his shot, finished through contact a couple times, challenged shots without fouling. The only disappointments: two dopey fouls (especially his 4th), which we can't afford, and the missed FTs (though the last 2 obviously had to do with his elbow pain).
Stevie looked every bit a starting college guard, much more comfortable and confident than last season. A dogged defender who never seemed to get tired. Stepped right into a 3 and drilled it, too.
For all the talk of Kolek's improvement, pretty much the same Kolek showed up as last season's model. Passed on a couple chances to shoot floaters or stop-and-pops, bricked a catch-and-shoot 3 after an offensive rebound, and made two late turnovers, but he otherwise looked good on offense and effective on defense. Still, I'm greedy and hoping to see more with his shot to make defenders respect him.
Kam looked like the lead dog ready for an easy 20+ until he hurt his back. Something to watch.
O-Max was the exact same player as last season, and that's fine. Those hoping he'd pull a Justin Lewis ... it doesn't look likely, but he's still an athletic role player who defends hard and does a lot of things pretty well.
Too early to tell for Joplin. Anybody can have a bad game. I mean, if we're gonna go by a 1-game sample, he should never play again, so that's silly.
Perfect example as to why we shouldn't judge anything after the first few weeks. OMax was the same player as last year (to some), last week. After his 31 point performance, he's now the teams leading scorer at 15.3 a night.
He and Joplin can easily replace what Justin brought in the scoring column and glass. I think Morsell is the guy we will miss the most because he had the experience and the ability to create a shot for himself and others late. Hoping Kam can be that guy, but he'll have to learn how to handle contact and physicality like Morsell did so well.
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Perfect example as to why we shouldn't judge anything after the first few weeks. OMax was the same player as last year (to some), last week. After his 31 point performance, he's now the teams leading scorer at 15.3 a night.
He and Joplin can easily replace what Justin brought in the scoring column and glass. I think Morsell is the guy we will miss the most because he had the experience and the ability to create a shot for himself and others late. Hoping Kam can be that guy, but he'll have to learn how to handle contact and physicality like Morsell did so well.
Against cup cakes, sure...
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Perfect example as to why we shouldn't judge anything after the first few weeks. OMax was the same player as last year (to some), last week. After his 31 point performance, he's now the teams leading scorer at 15.3 a night.
He and Joplin can easily replace what Justin brought in the scoring column and glass. I think Morsell is the guy we will miss the most because he had the experience and the ability to create a shot for himself and others late. Hoping Kam can be that guy, but he'll have to learn how to handle contact and physicality like Morsell did so well.
If he would have scored 10 points against Purdue, Marquette would be 3-0 with a big Q1 road win under its belt.
Let’s see if he can play well in Florida. When the offense stagnates he needs to use his abilities to try to get the team a much needed bucket.
You are correct though- OMax, Joplin and Kam can and will have to pick up the scoring load, especially if Tyler doesn’t average double digits.
I’d like to see Omax build his on the court rapport with Kolek some more, and Shaka to add some sets for the two of them like he has for Kolek/Oso. TyKo is a wizard with the ball and OMax is an awesome athlete and it would be a helluva one-two punch if Tyler could get BOTH Oso and Omax easy buckets at the hoop
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Perfect example as to why we shouldn't judge anything after the first few weeks. OMax was the same player as last year (to some), last week. After his 31 point performance, he's now the teams leading scorer at 15.3 a night.
He and Joplin can easily replace what Justin brought in the scoring column and glass. I think Morsell is the guy we will miss the most because he had the experience and the ability to create a shot for himself and others late. Hoping Kam can be that guy, but he'll have to learn how to handle contact and physicality like Morsell did so well.
I only said what O-Max looked like after one game, not even after the first few weeks; I didn't say, "And this is how he'll look all season." Indeed, I said we need more from him. Last night he gave us way more; against Purdue he gave us less. I hope to see more of the former and less of the latter the rest of the season -- maybe last night will be a huge springboard to excellence for him. I'd love nothing more to be the case.
I'm pretty sure we'll face tougher competition than LIU the rest of the way. And even if O-Max turns out to have been the most improved player in America, I'm pretty sure he won't shoot 91% from the floor and 100% from 3, as he did last night, for the rest of the season.
You're the one who thinks we're barely going to have a winning record. I'm guessing you didn't come to that conclusion because you think O-Max will be an All-Big East caliber player. Or maybe you think he'll be great and everyone else will suck.
Morsell's incredible -- and very un-Morsell-body-of-work-like -- start was vital to us getting off to a good start last season, but he disappeared for long stretches last season. Shaka had to bench him several times. Lewis and Kolek were the guys who led us during the 8-1 stretch that put us in the NCAAT, as Morsell averaged a fine but hardly earth-shaking 13 and 3. In one winnable game, we never got a shot off at the end because Morsell coughed up the ball. He was a good college basketball player; let's not put him on Mount Rushmore.
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I'm pretty sure we'll face tougher competition than LIU the rest of the way. And even if O-Max turns out to have been the most improved player in America, I'm pretty sure he won't shoot 91% from the floor and 100% from 3, as he did last night, for the rest of the season.
COLE
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Yeah, I am not reading much into OMax's performance against LIU. That was an exhibition game level opponent.
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Yeah, I am not reading much into OMax's performance against LIU. That was an exhibition game level opponent.
Yep. You see it all the time at all levels of basketball when you play a cupcake. Outstanding individual performances that are tantalizing but disappear against good opponents.
I’m hoping Omax has the breakout year many have predicted. That would be outstanding. But I’d feel a hell of a lot better about this team if Tyler Kolek could hit the three at a decent clip. His ability to score is the linchpin for better than expected success this season, IMO.
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Six more assists for Ighodaro. Is there another 5 in the country that will have more assists than him by the end of the year? I doubt it.
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If he would have scored 10 points against Purdue, Marquette would be 3-0 with a big Q1 road win under its belt.
Let’s see if he can play well in Florida. When the offense stagnates he needs to use his abilities to try to get the team a much needed bucket.
You are correct though- OMax, Joplin and Kam can and will have to pick up the scoring load, especially if Tyler doesn’t average double digits.
I’d like to see Omax build his on the court rapport with Kolek some more, and Shaka to add some sets for the two of them like he has for Kolek/Oso. TyKo is a wizard with the ball and OMax is an awesome athlete and it would be a helluva one-two punch if Tyler could get BOTH Oso and Omax easy buckets at the hoop
Marquette's gamelan against Purdue was perfect and OMax didn't play bad, they just didn't execute enough late. With Edey waiting near the rim OMax wasn't going to have a huge offensive day. They generated all the open looks they could ask for.
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Per Painter in his postgame presser, MU got all of the open looks they wanted. Purdue was cringing and hoping as all of the open 3's went up.
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Yeah, I am not reading much into OMax's performance against LIU. That was an exhibition game level opponent.
Yes LIU is lousy, but it was encouraging to see OMax knock down his threes. If him, Kam and Jop can do that at a decent rate, that’ll open up the paint for Kolek and Oso.
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Six more assists for Ighodaro. Is there another 5 in the country that will have more assists than him by the end of the year? I doubt it.
Was curious so I looked at assist leaders this season. Oso is currently tied for 7th in apg and tied for 2nd in total assists for starting 5s:
Aly Khalifa (Charlotte): 5.0 apg, 15 total
Jeff Woodward (Colgate): 4.5 apg, 18 total
Jalen Wilson (Kansas): 4.3 apg, 13 total
Kevin Cross (Tulane): 4.0 apg, 12 total
Daniel Deaver (Navy): 4.0 apg, 12 total
Max Fielder (Rice): 4.0 apg, 12 total
Oso Ighodaro (Marquette): 3.8 apg, 15 total
Nana Owusu-Anane (Brown): 3.8 apg, 15 total
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And even if O-Max turns out to have been the most improved player in America, I'm pretty sure he won't shoot 91% from the floor and 100% from 3, as he did last night, for the rest of the season.
O-Max is not even the most improved player on the team (I know you didn't say he was).
It is clearly Oso with Jop being 2nd.
I'll never say never, but I don't see a future NBA player with O-Max. The 2 things he has going for him are athletic ability - very good, but not elite - and the work ethic to get better. But there are guys like that everywhere.
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Was curious so I looked at assist leaders this season. Oso is currently tied for 7th in apg and tied for 2nd in total assists for starting 5s:
Aly Khalifa (Charlotte): 5.0 apg, 15 total
Jeff Woodward (Colgate): 4.5 apg, 18 total
Jalen Wilson (Kansas): 4.3 apg, 13 total
Kevin Cross (Tulane): 4.0 apg, 12 total
Daniel Deaver (Navy): 4.0 apg, 12 total
Max Fielder (Rice): 4.0 apg, 12 total
Oso Ighodaro (Marquette): 3.8 apg, 15 total
Nana Owusu-Anane (Brown): 3.8 apg, 15 total
Khalifa is a sophomore. If we end up with an extra scholarship, he might be worth a look as a transfer target.
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I have no idea how much improved Omax will be by the end of the season, but making shots would help a great deal. Last season, it took Lewis a handful of games to get comfortable making the three and the floodgates opened. If Omax starts making the three ball I think the conversation changes a great deal. It all comes down to the ball going in the basket. IMO, I had more confidence in OMax becoming an outside threat coming into this season than I did Lewis being a three point threat last season.
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I have no idea how much improved Omax will be by the end of the season, but making shots would help a great deal. Last season, it took Lewis a handful of games to get comfortable making the three and the floodgates opened. If Omax starts making the three ball I think the conversation changes a great deal. It all comes down to the ball going in the basket. IMO, I had more confidence in OMax becoming an outside threat coming into this season than I did Lewis being a three point threat last season.
Reasonable comparison, Goose.