Feels good to be the hunted

[DoctorV]

Losing always stinks.

Marquette has played two brutal halves, both on the road against good teams, and has two losses to show for it.

Somehow though, my main takeaway from this seasons non-con slate is that damn, it feels good to be the hunted.

That's a change in the Shaka era, it's new and shiny. In my lifetime, Marquette has never been the hunted. Marquette has never been that team that shows up to every arena and is that teams biggest, or one of the biggest, games of the season.

It means we've made it. It's not one good season, or one great season and another with a nice run, it's several consecutive very good seasons where now everyone knows who you are, and that you're a force to be reckoned with, and that makes you the hunted.

That is where Marquette is under Coach Smart.
Don't get this twisted though, they haven't accomplished the main goal yet, haven't gotten near close enough to it. Additionally, the top of the mountain is a much more challenging place to be than at the base trying to make the steep climb up, so the work is just getting started. Wait until this team travels on the road in the BE and every opponent gives them their best shot... Despite the non-con results of BE squads, I really think these guys have their work cut out for them on the road in conference.

Regardless, losing stinks, but being the hunted feels really damn good.

A few quick hitters on tonight and overall, things that stood out.

The good:
- We saw the Chase that will be the star of the show next season. He won't be close to what Kam is, but his table will be set, and this is the stuff we will see more of from him. Some of those defensive plays are amazing.
- 1H Benny, nice. Hit some shots, was aggressive and attacked a bit, played within himself.
- Zaide very good defensively, makes a difference on that end.

The bad:
- It's been on my radar that Stevie has been a bit Jekyll and Hyde this season, unusual for our beloved senior. Maybe it's because he's having better offensive "good" games this year, but he was off today and has been not as elite defensively at times. Unexpected and I'm sure there's some "ive worked my butt off for 3+ years defensively" in there, but he's been a bit more up and down than I'd expect

- Kam sitting is two fold.
A) He has to figure that out, for obvious reasons because
B) Marquettes back-up pg options at this current time are a big problem.
Tre and Damarius aren't there yet, and Stevie/Chase can't handle it without another ball handler. A healthy SJ22 will make a difference here.

- Rebounding, and getting bullied inside.
2H Ben brutal. It stood out to me that when Shaka decided he had to go to someone instead of Ben, in a game that MU was getting bullied inside, he went with Royce.
That doesn't inspire confidence in what we heard in the offseason about Caedin, so that's probably one of the biggest concerns from tonight.
Royce is a good player, but he seemed not ready for that moment on the road in a tough atmosphere, despite having a good outing at ISU.
The fact that Shaka is having to bypass his upperclassman big and go straight to the true frosh, who's pretty undersized in there, to carry the weight in a massive moment this early is an eye opener and needs to be figured out. Jop could've helped more inside today too...

Maybe it's just me, but the non-con felt pretty long this year and I'm ready for BE ball.
Big week to start, take care of business at home and steal one away at Cintas, against a X team that I think will have a better season than their early results have shown.
I'd call that game a top 5 win opportunity in the conference slate, since I think that Xavier will finish in the top 4.
UConnx2, @X, Creighton, StJ will be the 5 best resume builder conference game wins imo.


We have any big hunters in scoop?

[MuMark]

Stevie has been dealing with some sort of injury per Shaka.......nit sure what it is but that could be a factor.

But yeah he had a rough one tonight.

[WolfganghisKhan]

We went into the year with a big question mark at big and it still remains. The rest I'm not worried about. Still need SJ as a ball handler when Kam commits dumb fouls.

[NCMUFan]

The scary part about tonight is this looked remarkably like a Wojo and Markus team.

[tower912]

It is fun to be the hunted when you are the road runner or the hunter is Elmer Fudd.

[4everwarriors]

Goin' to be this way until Shaka takes a couple of his scholarships and recruits some size and bulk in the middle, instead of an abundance of wings. When they get abused in the paint, its an L, hey?

[Billy Hoyle]

Caedin is what he is: a big bodied project who Big West teams weren't sold on. His ceiling is Jamil Lott or Dwight Burke. I'd prefer Royce in there to try and get some rebounds.

[DoctorV]

Docs not wrong.

Get abused, take the L, bring the aircraft carrier!

Just kidding on the last part but the get abused take the L part is accurate.

Don't think Shaka will ever recruit "size and bulk," not really his style. I think the bulkier/badder versions we will see are of the Caedin variety, and he's not playing yet.

Otherwise, we will see many more of the Oso, Benny, Kur, Josh Clark types- skinny and lengthy, or pick and pop.

Main issue I see is that we thought we had a massive logjam at the 5- we used to think Amadou was a 5 but apparently he's a redshirt 4 or "wing"- and now Caedin projects more as a project, albeit a project that has shown some skill.

So you've got Benny for 1,5 more seasons, fine, but next man up at the moment is a true frosh in Parham, who's good but not really a banger inside yet.
I will say he had a great defensive possession yesterday denying a bigger Dayton player in the post, so he's got fight in him, but it seems he doesn't want to be a 5 and prefers the 4 spot with Damarius at the 3.

So if you project something like SJ22/Nigel/Tre at the 1, Chase at the 2, DO at the 3, Parham at the 4, Benny at the 5 then you get thin pretty quickly down low. You're good backup up the 1-4 spots with several options- Zaide, the other two ones listed above, Miletic/Phillips/Stevens/Amadou- but the 5 falls to Caedin or Clark being ready for big time right away next season, even without considering an injury.

Of course there could be a move by one of the guys in those 2-4 spots, or even one of the backup 1s, to free another spot for seemingly Shaka's first ever transfer in big, and wouldn't that be somethin

[wadesworld]

I learned after year 1 not to worry too much about player development under Shaka. Until we aren't, I trust we'll be quite good as long as Shaka is here.

[K1 Lover]

I learned after year 1 not to worry too much about player development under Shaka. Until we aren't, I trust we'll be quite good as long as Shaka is here.

Amen.

[Newsdreams]

Docs not wrong.

Get abused, take the L, bring the aircraft carrier!

Just kidding on the last part but the get abused take the L part is accurate.

Don't think Shaka will ever recruit "size and bulk," not really his style. I think the bulkier/badder versions we will see are of the Caedin variety, and he's not playing yet.

Otherwise, we will see many more of the Oso, Benny, Kur, Josh Clark types- skinny and lengthy, or pick and pop.

Main issue I see is that we thought we had a massive logjam at the 5- we used to think Amadou was a 5 but apparently he's a redshirt 4 or "wing"- and now Caedin projects more as a project, albeit a project that has shown some skill.

So you've got Benny for 1,5 more seasons, fine, but next man up at the moment is a true frosh in Parham, who's good but not really a banger inside yet.
I will say he had a great defensive possession yesterday denying a bigger Dayton player in the post, so he's got fight in him, but it seems he doesn't want to be a 5 and prefers the 4 spot with Damarius at the 3.

So if you project something like SJ22/Nigel/Tre at the 1, Chase at the 2, DO at the 3, Parham at the 4, Benny at the 5 then you get thin pretty quickly down low. You're good backup up the 1-4 spots with several options- Zaide, the other two ones listed above, Miletic/Phillips/Stevens/Amadou- but the 5 falls to Caedin or Clark being ready for big time right away next season, even without considering an injury.

Of course there could be a move by one of the guys in those 2-4 spots, or even one of the backup 1s, to free another spot for seemingly Shaka's first ever transfer in big, and wouldn't that be somethin

Why you obsessed about player positions? Not the Shaka system.

[tower912]

Hamilton, Clark, and Amadou are all projects.  None played a ton of basketball.  None dominated at the high school level.   All have to learn to play at this level.  Itejere was the same and he left.  Oso was successful in high school, but played 38 minutes as a freshman before he got hurt.  Ben had never played against American bigs and was the first D1 player from the NBA Australia center.
   Projects don't always pan out.   Freshman bigs, unless they are 1-and-done caliber, always take time.   Progress is not on the schedule we would like or linear.

So here we are.  Once again down to the fundamental, existential question.  Do you trust Shaka and his coaches or not?

And, unless there are wholesale departures, do not expect much portal action.   The incoming player has to be good enough to make a difference and not want a bag drop.  Go ahead and thread that needle.

[DoctorV]

Of course I trust Shaka and co, and I get that his system is somewhat positionless.
I said before the season that if there is no drop off this year, after losing two NBA talents that were such a key to the success of the last few years, there is no reason to ever question Shaka and what he's trying to accomplish again (or at least in the next decade). If he can't make the FF by 2030 and beyond maybe I'll get squirmy.

I'm merely pointing out that what was a perceived jam at the 5 position, or the "big" or whatever you want to call it, doesn't have quite the jam anymore.
It has a few more questions than before.

I get that he can send Parham out there to play that spot, but my guess is that the man himself (Shaka) doesn't view that as ideal.

Discussing it doesn't mean I'm losing any sleep over it, just means I'm on a MUbb message board so it's worth discussing

[tower912]

Completely fair.  I assumed Ben would be a 28-30 minute pergame player this season.  I like a lot about Parham, but feel he is undersized at the 5.  He is also a frosh.  So much to learn.  Hamilton has to learn to trust his size, bang recklessly.  If he fouls out in 10 minutes, but they are 10 productive minutes on the defensive end and boards, cool.

[Markusquette]

Mitchell fell hard on his tailbone a couple games ago and again last night. Have to imagine that's the injury affecting him

[jesmu84]

Mitchell fell hard on his tailbone a couple games ago and again last night. Have to imagine that's the injury affecting him

How's your coccyx?

[BrewCity83]

Stevie also hurt (or aggravated) his shoulder in the UW-Madison game when an O-rebound got ripped away from him along with his arm.