Marquette freshmen

[brandx]

What's amazing about Dawson and Derrick is that, if you extrapolate Dawson's stats to match Derrick's minutes (admittedly, not exactly apples to apples), they're virtually identical in several areas.

Derrick (in 350 minutes): 56 FGA, 49 asts, 49 rebounds, 18 TOs, 9 steals

Dawson (extrapolated to 350 minutes): 54 FGA, 49 asts, 40 rebounds, 18 TOs, 9 steals

Another case of a useless stat.

Derrick has played a lot of minutes against some good teams. Most of Dawson's minutes were against cupcakes. The stat insinuates that if Dawson plays well against Grambling and Derrick plays poorly against Ohio State that Dawson is better.

[MerrittsMustache]

Not going to argue with that. I had said that it wasn't apples to apples and that I wasn't trying to prove anything, one way or the other with the extrapolations. I just found it interesting. Maybe you don't. That's fine.

[brandx]

Not going to argue with that. I had said that it wasn't apples to apples and that I wasn't trying to prove anything, one way or the other with the extrapolations. I just found it interesting. Maybe you don't. That's fine.

I think Dawson is a typical freshman - looks lost a lot of the time, but has shown he may be a player down the road. And since Derrick is so offensively challenged, the comparison may have still looked similar even if JD had played against some of the better teams.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm okay with how Buzz run things. He plays the players that he thinks will help us win right now. But there is a legitimate concern that this could negatively impact future recruiting. Opposing coaches will be whispering in our targets ears, "Look, the #27 kid in the nation didn't start over former walk on." But if Buzz is the coach I think he is, I'm sure he let our recruits know his system and warn them that they probably won't start and have to earn their minutes.

It's a risk I'm willing to live with

[GGGG]

I'm okay with how Buzz run things. He plays the players that he thinks will help us win right now. But there is a legitimate concern that this could negatively impact future recruiting. Opposing coaches will be whispering in our targets ears, "Look, the #27 kid in the nation didn't start over former walk on." But if Buzz is the coach I think he is, I'm sure he let our recruits know his system and warn them that they probably won't start and have to earn their minutes.

It's a risk I'm willing to live with

I think pretty much every coach plays to win now.  TC didn't play the amigos because he wanted to develop them.  He played them because they were the best he had.

[Jay Bee]

Before you make that jump, I did leave out points and FG% where, believe it or not, Derrick has a significant advantage.

Derrick: 63 points, 39.3% shooting

Dawson (extrapolated): 27 points, 16.7% shooting

Obviously shooting % doesn't change when extrapolating and Dawson would presumably get better looks playing extended minutes (i.e. higher FG%), but he has yet to prove that he can score (6 points in 78 minutes and 8 of his 12 FGA are 3s). Also, worth nothing that Derrick has shot nearly 45% since the OSU game (1-9 prior to that).

You'd also need to consider that Dawson doesn't really run the point when he's in the game and Derrick is a better defender. I wasn't necessarily trying to prove anything, one way or the other with the extrapolations. I just found it interesting.

Derrick's usage & offensive rating: 14%; 100 ORtg
Dawson's: 11%; 71 ORg.

[MU82]

I think pretty much every coach plays to win now.  TC didn't play the amigos because he wanted to develop them.  He played them because they were the best he had.

This.

If Buzz thought playing all of his youngest players and benching all of his seniors/juniors would help him win, that's exactly what he'd do. People act as if Buzz had Derrick Rose at Memphis he wouldn't play him. It's funny. He even played an ineffective Vander nearly half of every game as a freshman because he thought Vander was the best option for those minutes.

Buzz himself talked openly and repeatedly about his appreciation for Derrick last year, even saying Derrick "deserved" to start over Junior. But whom did Buzz start and play the majority of the minutes? The player he thought would help Marquette win.

Coaches want to win. Period.

[bilsu]

This.

If Buzz thought playing all of his youngest players and benching all of his seniors/juniors would help him win, that's exactly what he'd do. People act as if Buzz had Derrick Rose at Memphis he wouldn't play him. It's funny. He even played an ineffective Vander nearly half of every game as a freshman because he thought Vander was the best option for those minutes.

Buzz himself talked openly and repeatedly about his appreciation for Derrick last year, even saying Derrick "deserved" to start over Junior. But whom did Buzz start and play the majority of the minutes? The player he thought would help Marquette win.

Coaches want to win. Period.

I think Buzz, like most coaches, focus on the next game. Skip past Samford and I would think Buzz correctly sees the current lineup is the best chance to beat Creighton. However, I believe MU's best chance to make NCAA tournament is to win the conference tournament. I suppose you can say I given up on the regular season, while Buzz has not. I would think Buzz would start JJJ and Burton, if his goal changed from winning the next game to winning the conference tournament. At least that is what I would do. I would never start Dawson over Derrick.