Why did MU Lose?

[chapman]

The best three players tonight were Todd, Deonte...and Gardner.

fify

[Rudy]

Kinda glad Jamil is gone.  Hate to say it but the kid never was a winner.

That is just obnoxious. He was a winner last year. Davidson game and Butler game. Maybe you could say he was not "the man" this year...but to say he never was a winner is just plain wrong.  

Jamil is more of a complementary player. He is a glider. He does not have the ability to get around his defender. He can post and make some nice turnarounds and jump hooks. This is not a slam on our guards, but we don't have a Semaj Christian or Bryce Cotton or Chapman or Rysheed Jordan or Billy Garrett, Jr., so he is not getting unobstructed cuts to the basket or tip jams when the point guard gets free. He is being defended for 40 minutes a game...

But he defends well, rebounds well, makes clutch shots and usually makes clutch free throws. He did not last night. His little shot in the lane to get back to 1 down late in the game was a nice shot.

The only things that really bothered me about his play this year is were his early commitment to jumping on defense and a mindless turnover here and there. Committing to the jump too soon took him out of the game a few times this year.

We were lost defensively without him out there this year. He does a wonderful job of help and recover and rebounds well and generally covers much more than his guy. We are going to miss that a lot next year...unless our new bigs are able to impersonate Jim Mclvaine or Chris Obekpa when someone gets beat. The only other player on the team capable of anything near what Jamil provides on the defensive end is Juan Anderson. I am hoping he gets his offensive mojo back because he can certainly help if he does.

I am going to miss Jamil Wilson tremendously. We did not have all the offensive weapons we needed this year and Jamil's game suffered because of it.

[77ncaachamps]

Don't blame Derrick for Jake's terrible performance.  Derrick had all 5 of those assists and only 1 TO.  Jake - 0 assists and 2 TOs.  But of course it's easier to criticize Derrick if you lump his stats with Jake's.

And did you notice that we had a 7-point lead when Derrick went out with his second foul in the first half...and then trailed by 2 at halftime?  Probably not.  People are so used to bashing our starting PG that they don't even notice when we start out ahead and then hit a roadblock when he sits.

I suppose it was Derrick's fault when Jamil missed those two FTs that were created by Derrick's aggressive drive.

The best three players tonight were Todd, Deonte...and Derrick.

I'd be content with a starting PG who scores 2 PTs all game, controls tempo, distributes, and plays D as long as we win.

But that hasn't happened consistently this season.

And if I'm content with that, then I expect more from the other starters: Jake, Jamil, and Chris.

And that hasn't happened often this year.

[willie warrior]

fify

Yup, and Gardner hardly ever got the ball in the low post because they were tripling down low.

[Blackhat]

Don't get me wrong, Jamil had some game that will be somewhat missed depending on Burton's development,  but he never had a killer/competitor's instinct to take his superior athleticism and dominate...saw too much of the smiling/awe shucks crap from him in crunch time.