[Cracked Sidewalks] New Trio of Guards Needs the Minutes

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

New Trio of Guards Needs the Minutes

Written by: jpudner@concentricgrasstops.com (bamamarquettefan1)

With Mo Acker gone, I believe we are going to be spending some time next year yelling at the TV after turnovers by Junior Cadougan, Darius Johnson-Odom and Dwight Buycks.  We’ve been spoiled by DJ taking care of the ball the past four years, and Mo did a great job down the stretch of not turning the ball over to give us a chance right up until the final seconds of the Missouri game.

That being said, I think it was much better to have Mo go out with his final days being a great job of filling in after DJ broke his foot, because looking at his per minute averages, the alternative was going to be to end up riding out almost all of his senior season from the bench.

Buzz is obviously a number-cruncher, and the more I looked at the per minute averages, the more it was apparent that there was no reason to have Mo eat up minutes rather than have Cadougan, Johnson-Odom and Buycks go through their growing pains in non-conference play.

Offensive bad news - Losing Acker will cause MU turnovers

Acker’s turnover percentage (21.1% this year, 21.3% career) was a little high.  Granted, we were spoiled by DJs improvement in lowering his turnover percentage every year from 18% (freshman year), to 17.4%, 16.5% and finally 15.9% this year.  Based on scouting reports, it sounds like Cadougan, Johnson-Odom and Buycks are all going to be turnover prone, so let’s start getting the turnovers out of their system with minutes from Day 1 and hope they all make the same kind of improvement throughout their careers that DJ did.

Offensive good news - New Guard Trio will get to the hoop

By all accounts, the new trio all have quick first steps and can get to the hoop.  Mo’s lack of ability to get to the hoop to produce either baskets or assists would have made it difficult to play him.  

- ASSISTS.  While no one will match DJs incredible assist ratios (30.6% of MU baskets resulted from DJ passes while he was on the floor, 31.1% career), Mo was at point his passes led to less than one in five of MUs baskets (19% last year, 18% career).  So Mo really didn’t have the ability to create baskets, which will be even more important in trying to build the big guys confidence next year.

- SHOOTING.  After his phenomenal freshman season, DJ shot a very frustrating 40% from the floor his final three seasons (452 of 1132).  However, Mo was a MUCH WORSE SHOOTER, hitting only 35% of his shots (156 of 444) in his 3-year career (including Ball State).  

Even if Mo had stayed on the team, I believe Buzz could have only put the new trio on the court as much as possible to drive, shoot and dish.  Yeah, the turnovers will come, but the big guys will improve quicker as the new trio draws defenders away and dishes inside.  

Defensive Bad News - Losing Acker will cost MU steals

We have been incredibly spoiled by the steals the Three Amigos have piled up the last four years, and Mo would have cut our losses some with a lot of steals.  In his three seasons, he stole the ball 3.1% of opponents' trips down the court, which was only slightly lower than DJs 3.5%.  So next year’s team, and possibly the next four years, MU will be a much worse team in one of the four main factors that determine who wins games â€" the team with the lower turnover percentage each game.

Defensive Good News - New Trio needed to stand up to rigors of Big East defense

As I detailed in a column late in the season, DJs defense his final season was without comparison.  While only 5-11, his muscular 185 pound frame and incredible speed and vertical simply shut down almost every Big East guard.  At 5-8/165, Mo just couldn’t physically matchup with opposing guards and required too much help.

Even AP ALL-AMERICAN Jerel McNeal (sorry, I just like typing that out any chance I get) was a great off-ball defender, but really had trouble matching up physically on ball with the likes of Flynn and Price.

I am truly excited that the new trio weighs in at 6-2/205 (Johnson-Odom), 6-3/185 (Buycks) and 6-2/220 (Coudougan), and appear to all be such physical players able to play their position.

In short, DJ was a poor shooter (40% final three years), but made up for it by being absolutely dominant in all other aspects of the game; assists, turnovers, steals, physical defense and penetration.  We could more than live with DJ's shooting.  With Acker’s other limitations, he had to be a very good shooter to merit any minutes on the court next year, and the fact is he was a much worst shooter (35% in three years) than even DJs last year (38%) would have made it tough to justify playing him at all.

In the end, it simply made no sense to have Mo on the court this year.  I don’t know if MU will finish 12th or 13th in the Big East, as some predict for this year, or repeat the shocker of 2006 by having the freshman gel by the end of the year so that they can make the NCAA tournament.

However, in either case we need the new trio on the court as early and often as possible.  Maybe that means we will make the NCAA like in 2006, and maybe it means we will get eaten up by the Big East like the great 1991 freshman were â€" but have the minutes in to go onto great runs after next year.  However, in either case, MU is best served by having the new guard trio work out the kinks and take it to a new level as soon as possible.  

We may need Cube’s 3-pointers to loosen defenses, but by all accounts, the New Guard Trio gives us enough ability to dribble and get to the hoop.  

It makes sense to remember Mo as the guy who helped pull MU when all appeared lost after DJs broken foot, and do enough to get us within a few seconds of the Sweet 16.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2009/06/new-trio-of-guards-needs-minutes.html

[Nukem2]

I guess we'll just need to live with the TO's this year.  The Amigos did get better at ball protection as time went by, but they certainly had their share (particularly McNeal).  Those were easily offset by steals as Pudner points out.  We are now moving into uncharted territory.  Will be interstin to see how the new trio fares in these areas.  Could be a bumpy ride.

[muarmy81]

Let's be honest here,
I spent quite a bit of time yelling at the TV for stupid TO's even with the 3 amigos.  How many times did we give the ball back after trying to complete an alley-oop pass from half court?  McNeal was pretty careless with the ball, especially after DJ went down with injury this past season.  While he finished some tough shots, how many forces did he have that didn't go his way, especially on the fast break.  I think we lead the BE with turnovers off the break, especially with a 2-on-1 and we never give the ball up.  While the amigo's Positives obviously out-weighed their negatives I think we're using selective thinking when we remember how "well" they took care of the ball.

[Henry Sugar]

Last year, Marquette was the eleventh best team at protecting the ball.  In the country.

All four of the major contributors to the team were well better than average (20%).  Even the worst member of the team at protecting the ball (Acker - 21.1%) was only marginally worse than average.

http://kenpom.com/team.php?y=2009&team=Marquette

Protecting the ball was a definite team strength last year.

[bilsu]

He was referring to fast break turnovers. James was always generous in passing the ball on the fast break. In contrast McNeal would not passed the ball on the fast break and had several charges called on him when he should have passed it to someone else.

[Henry Sugar]

While the amigo's Positives obviously out-weighed their negatives I think we're using selective thinking when we remember how "well" they took care of the ball.

A fast break turnover is still just a turnover, right?  I merely pointed out that the team did an outstanding job of protecting the ball last year.

[muarmy81]

Well,
I also count those forced shots as part of taking care of the ball.  I agree that we did a good job but beyond DJ I think JM and wes had a lot of forced shots and turnovers considering they were 4 year starters.

[bilsu]

The ball was very rarely stolen from them, they were virually unpressable.

[bilsu]

Well,
I also count those forced shots as part of taking care of the ball.  I agree that we did a good job but beyond DJ I think JM and wes had a lot of forced shots and turnovers considering they were 4 year starters.

McNeal=Bret Farve A great player wo did not know when not to force a play.

[DaCoach]

I believe we'll soon realize that the incoming guards will not resemble our years with the Amigos. And a big part of that will be the addition of an inside game. Essentially our offense consisted of the three eventually taking the shot. Depending on the lineup, we may very well have 5 players on the court who can score beyond putbacks.

Defensively we should be able to have our guards turn over the defense to big men after they're beaten, which will probably happen more often than we're used to seeing.

Overall, I believe we'll enjoy the new offense and defense. And while the ride will be bumpy at times, the newcomers have good pedigree and athleticism, and, unlike past years, good size.

[77ncaachamps]

Different team, different skill sets, and perhaps a different style.

To expect the same results is asking too much of this team. But asking for improvement after mistakes as the season goes on is expected. I hope TO #s decrease as the BE season progresses.

[bilsu]

Different team, different skill sets, and perhaps a different style.

To expect the same results is asking too much of this team. But asking for improvement after mistakes as the season goes on is expected. I hope TO #s decrease as the BE season progresses.

You would think that would be the case, but the competition gets tougher and the team defenses improve as the season goes on. I really think this team is a weaker version of the Theabeats freshmen season at Uconn. I believe they went undefeated in non-conference play, finished 16-13 and did not get an NIT bid.