Fulce, Otule, & Big East play

[mutodd5]

Obviously, we're a guard dominant team and very good in the 1-4 positions.  The 5 will be the spot we have matchup problems with during Big East play, and I think that just having 3-4 bodies that can rotate in will help.  Before having Otule available, we had 10 fouls to give between Burke and Hazel.  We now get 15 with Otule and that will make a huge difference in the Big East.  I wouldn't be surprised if Otule starts being the first sub for Burke in the next 2-3 weeks instead of Hazel, but time will tell.

What killed us in the game vs Tennessee was that we didn't have enough fouls to give in a game where some bad calls were made.  That will happen and we have to be able to overcome it.  The mere availability of Fulce and Otule give us another 10 fouls that we haven't had available to us.  Additionally, if they can start by giving the 6-7 minutes as Buzz suggests, hopefully others won't commit "tired" fouls as players tend to commit more fouls that could be avoided when they are gassed.

Overall, if everything works out, we can end up with this rotation by the end of the season:

1-Guard - Dominic James (first sub Mo Acker)

2-Guard - Jerel McNeal (first sub Jimmy Butler and Mathews moves over to the 2)

3-Wing - Wesley Mathews (first sub Jimmy Butler)

4-Forward - Lazar Hayward (first sub Joe Fulce)

5-Center - Dwight Burke (first sub Chris Otule)

Remaining bench:
David Cubilan
Pat Hazel
Ryan Frozena

Overall, I think the team laid out above can be very competitive in the Big East.  We'll obviously have trouble with taller centers, but last year in the Sweet 16, we took it to the twin (7'0") towers of Stanford with Ousmane instead of Otule and Mbakwe instead of Fulce.  I'm not saying that Otule is as good defensively and rebounding as Ous was, but he can improve in those areas.  He definitely seems to have more offensive upside than Ous ever did.  (Don't get me wrong, I loved Ous!!!) 

Just my $0.02.  Thoughts?

[NCMUFan]

Having a deeper bench and a bench where the talent/output does not drop a lot is always invaluable.  Fouls while it is nice to have a lot of players to take them are always a negative thing.  Eventually they do put people on the bench and gives the opponents a lot of literal freebies while taking no time off the clock.

[Tulsa Warrior]

Hazel has earned PT.  Great hands.  Good quicks.  Undersized but makes up somewhat with grit.  As a player I'm seeing some deveopment.  Not a star but a Pat Smith type for those who go way back in Marquette basketball history.

[nyg]

The real problem is getting any type of point production from the center position. While fouls to give will be up now, that is more less productive issue.  Here are some statistics from Burke's performance to date:

Has taken 11 field goal attempts all year.
Has made 5 field goals all year.
Has taken 2 shots in the last 7 games.

That relates to no offensive rebounds and put backs.  Yes, people will say his role is defense, rebound and leave scoring to others, but that will not get it done in BE.  Not just to give fouls, then have Hazel and Otule come in and give fouls and then have Fulce give fouls.  Having 10 additional fouls to give, along with 10 from Burke and Hazel, is not a real optimistic view on things, but I see your point. Without any type of offensive production, any, from #5 spot, we will have major problems with the BE elite teams.

It will take some time for Otule and Fulce to get in game shape, lets see how they don on the road against an ACC team.

[CTWarrior]

Yes, people will say his role is defense, rebound and leave scoring to others, but that will not get it done in BE.  

In addition, Burke doesn't defend or (especially) rebound very well.  Not much you can do about it, though.  He's got to play and Otule and Hazel will have to back him up and do the best they can.  We don't need our bigs to win games, after all.  We just need them to keep from being dominated so badly that our main four guys can't make up the difference.

The other thing is that, as much as I like him, Lazar is not an effective 4 when matched up against high D-1 power forwards.  You can say that we're set at positions 1-4, but what those four guys are really is a point guard and three small forwards.  A true two guard can run the offense in a pinch and neither Matthews nor McNeal can really do that for more than a couple possessions, and a true 4 can post up on most anybody in college and Hayward can't do that.

The best hope we have is that the influx of Otule and Fulce will mean that our interior people can keep from being dominated the same way guys like Grimm and Barro kept us from being dominated in the past so that James and the the three wings can win games.

[Pardner]

Here is what I liked about Otule yesterday--and it wasn't anything he did, it was what WCU did when he was in the game:  they paid attention to him, freeing up our other four guys.  In the 1st Jerel was leading a break-out opportunity.  Chris was running out the break.  Two WCU defenders split and went with Chris and Jerel found a seam right to the basket.  

Every time on O, Chris was working to establish a post position--forcing WCU back on defense as now we have a deep threat on O--and leaving open jump shots for our guards.  Even when he wasn't in the game, Buzz stressed running the O through the paint yesterday (vs. UT where they forced our O out)--we had  a 80+% assist to FG made ratio vs. WCU).  Is it a surprise we had our best fg shooting night?  Or that Pat, Jimmy, Joe were all of a sudden very active inside?  

The strength of this team is so much better when we can stretch the offense.  With Joe and Chris back, we have more folks playing in position off the bench that can help Buzz do this, and a couple more ways to free up the Fan Four.  Otherwise, we we are just the last three years like vs. UT.

And yes, these guys are raw and rusty.  But, we can only get better by getting our inexperienced bench more experienced.  

[Big Papi]

Having the 2 extra bodies in Fulce and Otule does two things.  First it minimizes the amount of minutes our players have to play out of position.  That is huge.  Especially when you consider that at one point in time against Dayton we had Acker at 1, Cube at the 2 and DJ at the 3.  Granted it was one moment in time and it is a radical example to make a point but for most of this season we consistently play players out of position.

The second is that we can't have the Big 4 play 35 plus minutes a game when we get into conference play.  All of those games are tough and without Fulce and Otule, one can see the big 4 playing a lot of minutes due to the drop off in talent.  Now with Fulce you have the potential of him subbing the 2, 3, 4 and 5 spot depending on matchups were Matthews, McNeal and Hayward can get a few less minutes with a smaller talent drop off.  Butler can then slide more towards the 2 and 3 (his more natural position) instead of the 3 and 4.  And Otule gives you height and some flexibility in matchups during the course of a game.

I prefer we don't foul an additional 4-10 times a game but I do get your point.  McNeal probably is not in the game to pick up his 3rd foul against Tennessee with Fulce available.  That could have been huge considering we were down 2 late in the game with McNeal not being able to be aggressive at all.

[mviale]

Overall, I think the team laid out above can be very competitive in the Big East.  We'll obviously have trouble with taller centers, but last year in the Sweet 16, we took it to the twin (7'0") towers of Stanford with Ousmane instead of Otule and Mbakwe instead of Fulce.  I'm not saying that Otule is as good defensively and rebounding as Ous was, but he can improve in those areas.  He definitely seems to have more offensive upside than Ous ever did.  (Don't get me wrong, I loved Ous!!!) 

Just my $0.02.  Thoughts?

Dude it is not the french Ous, but the Ooze! Get it right when speaking of alums

[Badgerhater]

The most significant thing that Fulce and Otule bring is the ability for the rest of our players to play more minutes at their natural positions and not have to cover down on the next higher position.....2 playing the 3 and the 3 playing the 4, etc.  MU can hang with big teams and give them fits the more its players can play at their natural positions.  When MU gets into trouble is when it has to cover down due to foul trouble or having to overplay some of its key players.  Essentially, roster flexibility allows you to play your tempo and type of basketball (which improves your chances of winning significantly) more than a team that doesn't have that flexibility.

[MUWarrior06]

Don't kid yourself thinking Otule will be the first sub for Burke. Hazel is by far a better player both offensively and defensively. Putting in Otule against Big East opponents playing like he did last night would be a HUGE liability. I don't care how tall or big you are, if you are lost on defense and not much of an offensive threat you will be a liability.

Straight from the coach's mouth- Otule gives us the inside presence to at least be a threat to go down low.

I do not think he will be a solid defensive tool for us in the Big East... he looked more lost on defense than he did on offense. That cannot happen with the dominant big guys we'll face in the conference. He gives us depth at a position we sorely need, but he is in no way the savior, and is light years behind Ooze. More upside, yes, but don't kid yourself thinking he'll have an impact like Ooze did.

[MUWarrior06]

In addition, Burke doesn't defend or (especially) rebound very well.  Not much you can do about it, though.  He's got to play and Otule and Hazel will have to back him up and do the best they can.  We don't need our bigs to win games, after all.  We just need them to keep from being dominated so badly that our main four guys can't make up the difference.

The other thing is that, as much as I like him, Lazar is not an effective 4 when matched up against high D-1 power forwards.  You can say that we're set at positions 1-4, but what those four guys are really is a point guard and three small forwards.  A true two guard can run the offense in a pinch and neither Matthews nor McNeal can really do that for more than a couple possessions, and a true 4 can post up on most anybody in college and Hayward can't do that.

The best hope we have is that the influx of Otule and Fulce will mean that our interior people can keep from being dominated the same way guys like Grimm and Barro kept us from being dominated in the past so that James and the the three wings can win games.

This is by far the best analysis in here on these 2 players.

This team looks solid 1-4, especially with how Hayward has been playing, but Hayward looks like a great 4 against a team like Western Carolina, but against a team like UConn he will look like a 3 pretending to play 4.

I think one thing CTWarrior misses here is that Aker is capable of running the offense as well. Now, he's not much better than Matthews, but I'd be more confident in a lineup with him at point and Matthews still at the 2/3 than Matthews to the 1 and bringing in Butler for the 3. Just takes away one of our best scorers and puts him at PG.

I think the last paragraph of the above quote hits it right on the head. Fulce and Otule give us the inside presence to at least keep defenses honest. This would free up the perimeter players to do their thing.

[bilsu]

Hazel has earned PT.  Great hands.  Good quicks.  Undersized but makes up somewhat with grit.  As a player I'm seeing some deveopment.  Not a star but a Pat Smith type for those who go way back in Marquette basketball history.

Assuming no more injureis, he will not being playing at all at the end of the season. He looks okay against the bunny teams, but does not contribute against teams like Dayton and Tennessee.

[muwarrior87]

Assuming no more injureis, he will not being playing at all at the end of the season. He looks okay against the bunny teams, but does not contribute against teams like Dayton and Tennessee.

while this is true when he is playing the 5, with Chris and Joe back, once they have worked off most of their rust and get more comfortable, I could see Pat getting more minutes as the 4 instead, a much more natural position for him.