Look to the left on this page, last place fellas!

[NersEllenson]

This is where I disagree with you. What talent is on the roster this year? Where is it?

We have 8 players which I would categorize as follows:

2 (Juan and Derrick) who are overmatched at this level of competition, and never should have been recruited to this high of a level. Both are high character, max effort guys, but neither have any business being high minute players on a good team.

3 (Carlino, Duane, Luke) who are legitimate high major starters, but 2 of them have less than a year of college basketball experience.

2 (Sandy and JJJ) who are wildcards, they have potential and could end up being good players with time but are clearly not there yet. Each have things they need to work on to develop into legitimate high major players.

1 (Taylor) who is playing badly out of position and I'm not quite sure how to categorize. Sure looked like a high major player year 1. Wasn't good at all year 2. Has shown that he could be a contributor if playing his preferred position in year 3, but nothing is guaranteed with him. Injuries may have robbed him of a better career.

How can you look at this roster and say we've badly underachieved? Buzz completely whiffed on the 2011 and 2012 recruiting classes, and it's left us in a situation where we have significantly less talent than every team in our league, minus DePaul and Creighton. It's been frustrating as hell to be a MU fan this year, but it's not because we're underachieving. We have very limited talent.

So which players get the most playing time??  The first two most overmatched on your list.  See a disconnect?  (Though Juan does have some value, and would be an effective player for 20 minutes a game on a winning team.)

And again, Wojo lost Burton and Dawson.  Few would debate Burton was a talent.  I believe Dawson was also a good talent/prospect but Wojo refused to give him any playing time, yet Buzz did give him quite a bit of run as a freshman in non-conference.  Highly unlikely Dawson regressed.

We don't have to be 8strong.  Wojo lost buy in from two players.

JJJ is a Top 30 player.  He started the season off getting big minutes, and then it's been all over the board for him.  How can you expect any kind of consistent performance when your minutes are all over the place?

Carlino has been a Top 10 player in Big East play and is a Top 10 player in the conference.

Duane will be All Big East first team freshman.

Luke is a serviceable big.

I'm sorry, I simply don't see what we had going into the year being a 3-10 outfit and most likely end up being a 4-14 Big East team.

[willie warrior]

Do you really think Carlino was at his best with the ball in his hands vs. off the ball working off screens?

If you read any of my past posts, I have said reduce Derrick's minutes to say 20, take those reduced minutes and give to Carlino/Duane at the point, and give their time away from 2G to Sandy and JJJ. No, Carlino is not the best with the ball in his hands--but guess what--that is Wojo's philosophy at crunch time, any way. He plays point and has played point. And to make it even more clear--if you have Duane at the point and Carlino at the 2G and Sandy/JJJ at the third Guard/Swing, you have more scoring options and 3 point options out there than with Derrick at PG.

This would also give everybody involved a better idea if Duane can effectively play the point and needed development time. What if we do not land a proven PG for next year? He may be better suited at the 2G but we will have lots of people at that position for next year anyhow: Sandy, Duane, JJJ, Cheatham. What is the harm at doing this for the last few games anyway, to find out?

If you have 120 minutes to split at three guards, and 40 at the point, by reducing Derrick's minutes to 20 or so:
PG Derrick 20-22 minutes; Duane 10 plus minutes; Carlino, the remainder
Other 2 G's: Carlino 25-27 minutes; Duane: 25 minutes; Sandy/JJJ remainder.

You get more offense, development of Duane, JJJ and Sandy, and a more definitive glimpse whether Duane would be effective. If it does not work for Duane at PG, you have lost nothing.

I am guessing that with Duane's talent and athleticism he would be able to handle PG. While still young, he may have some struggles along the way, but certainly nothing like Derrick had.

[Texas Western]

If you read any of my past posts, I have said reduce Derrick's minutes to say 20, take those reduced minutes and give to Carlino/Duane at the point, and give their time away from 2G to Sandy and JJJ. No, Carlino is not the best with the ball in his hands--but guess what--that is Wojo's philosophy at crunch time, any way. He plays point and has played point. And to make it even more clear--if you have Duane at the point and Carlino at the 2G and Sandy/JJJ at the third Guard/Swing, you have more scoring options and 3 point options out there than with Derrick at PG.

This would also give everybody involved a better idea if Duane can effectively play the point and needed development time. What if we do not land a proven PG for next year? He may be better suited at the 2G but we will have lots of people at that position for next year anyhow: Sandy, Duane, JJJ, Cheatham. What is the harm at doing this for the last few games anyway, to find out?

If you have 120 minutes to split at three guards, and 40 at the point, by reducing Derrick's minutes to 20 or so:
PG Derrick 20-22 minutes; Duane 10 plus minutes; Carlino, the remainder
Other 2 G's: Carlino 25-27 minutes; Duane: 25 minutes; Sandy/JJJ remainder.

You get more offense, development of Duane, JJJ and Sandy, and a more definitive glimpse whether Duane would be effective. If it does not work for Duane at PG, you have lost nothing.

I am guessing that with Duane's talent and athleticism he would be able to handle PG. While still young, he may have some struggles along the way, but certainly nothing like Derrick had.

Completely agree with this.