Our second best player

[tower912]

As one example, how on earth can Theo be shooting only 45.5% (0-3 Saturday) when he never shoots further than two feet from the hoop?!?

That one is easy.   He needs surgery on his right hand.   

[panda]

That one is easy.   He needs surgery on his right hand.

It's pretty crazy he's still playing. The injury is taking a ton away from his game.

[MU82]

MU82

I noted Koby not wanting to pass the ball to Howard a few games ago. No idea if a chemistry problem or Koby feels he is a better option for the team to score.

I'll have to watch for that in the future. I noticed it at SH but not earlier, and I didn't read very many threads the last several days.

As for Lenny's OP ... it appears that Bailey is turning into this team's second-best player. Solid defensively, grabs some tough boards, obviously worked on his shot. Looking forward to him getting even batter.

That said, I agree with those who said, "Whoever is on between Bailey, McEwen and Anim."

[Elonsmusk]

I wonder if his improvement in part is due to coaching....nah...100% not because of coaching.

Could be. Also could be that he's fully burned the rust off from the Mormon mission. Could be he's 22 years old. Could be he wasn't very good last year and didn't have a long way to go to improve. Could be that he's a talented former Top 100 recruit and son of a successful NBA player. Could be that this roster isn't very talented after Markus.

And it could be coaching. Yet we have little evidence of player improvement during Wojo's tenure.

[Markusquette]

Playing together certainly helps. But our team lacks that year over year cohesion, partly by design. Wojo has regularly gone after transfers. That's been a key part of his recruiting strategy. As a result, we've often been in a position where the team may not be as cohesive as a team without transfers.

But college basketball is full of teams that have transfers and younger guys needing to adapt to a new style and new teammates. It's rare to have a 3 Amigos type class where the core of the team is used to playing together for most of their career.

I really viewed the age/experience of our team as an asset this year, but things aren't quite clicking like I had hoped just yet. Maybe some of the older guys will have a moment soon in which they realize this might be there last shot to make some noise in the NCAA, and that lights a fire in their bellies to make a push down the stretch. Fingers crossed!

Yeah I definitely agree with you there. I think unfortunately some of the experience has not carried over as we expected with transfers. I think that's part of a problem when some guys move to a power conference. Some can handle it like Rowsey, but others take a long time to adjust or never really do. You see teams with just as much turnover that continue to play extremely well.

Unfortunately some of the players this year lack the x-factor to make them key contributors. I don't particularly feel like many of the guys have a fire lit under them right now. Koby seems to play more frustrated than aggressive. Greg and Markus have heart. But nobody can play scared an expect to win.

[MU82]

Could be. Also could be that he's fully burned the rust off from the Mormon mission. Could be he's 22 years old. Could be he wasn't very good last year and didn't have a long way to go to improve. Could be that he's a talented former Top 100 recruit and son of a successful NBA player. Could be that this roster isn't very talented after Markus.

And it could be coaching. Yet we have little evidence of player improvement during Wojo's tenure.

Markus, Sam, Sacar, Rowsey, JJJ, now Bailey (among others) ... none of them improved?

Or they simply improved despite being de-motivated by the coaching staff?

We need a scorecard to keep track of who improved because the coaches worked with them and who improved despite the coaches working hard to ruin them.

[Cheeks]

Could be. Also could be that he's fully burned the rust off from the Mormon mission. Could be he's 22 years old. Could be he wasn't very good last year and didn't have a long way to go to improve. Could be that he's a talented former Top 100 recruit and son of a successful NBA player. Could be that this roster isn't very talented after Markus.

And it could be coaching. Yet we have little evidence of player improvement during Wojo's tenure.

Why of course.  Players that don't improve = coaches.  Players that do improve = something other than coaching.  Got it.

[WhoaJoe2020]

I agree that actual game experience as a unit matters. But we're halfway through the season. If Marquette is going to find a way to consistently play better as a team, it's now or never.

I agree. My response was intended to dispel the notion that the guys we have playing now have the same level of experience Sam had, and Joey would have had if they had returned. The fact is, we would have had 4 guys playing together who averaged 30 minutes a game, and all were key players in their roles. Now we have two. If Wojo can somehow get the Hausers replacements to replicate Sam and Joeys contributions to the team, not only should he not be fired..... He should be named coach of the year.

That last part was hyperbole, but not by much.

[Elonsmusk]

Markus, Sam, Sacar, Rowsey, JJJ, now Bailey (among others) ... none of them improved?

Or they simply improved despite being de-motivated by the coaching staff?

We need a scorecard to keep track of who improved because the coaches worked with them and who improved despite the coaches working hard to ruin them.

Markus, Sam, Rowsey, all came into MU really well prepared and elite shooters. JJJ? 5 star recruit. O-Rating as fresh was virtually same as that as a Junior Senior. Had a horrendous first year under Wojo, not surprising. Greatly underperformed his talent.

Sacar?  Yes. He's a nice player who has made incremental progress over his 5-years at MU.

Players should get better over time while in a program, yet I'd say largely player development has been poor under Wojo.

[MU82]

Markus, Sam, Rowsey, all came into MU really well prepared and elite shooters. JJJ? 5 star recruit. O-Rating as fresh was virtually same as that as a Junior Senior. Had a horrendous first year under Wojo, not surprising. Greatly underperformed his talent.

Sacar?  Yes. He's a nice player who has made incremental progress over his 5-years at MU.

Players should get better over time while in a program, yet I'd say largely player development has been poor under Wojo.

Dribble.

Now you're seeing why some of us don't like this place after losses.