Cadougan

[tower912]

I am convinced that it was the right choice for Junior to play this year.   90% of the time he has been out there, he has looked ok.   The only exception being against that press that ate him up.   The move to the hole yesterday that got slapped 3 rows deep was actually a really nice move.   He turned the corner on his defender and got to the rack effortlessly.....right before impact.  He has given Mo an extra breather and who knows what would have happened with Buycks ill.      And now he knows what the speed is going to look like, what he is going to need to do to his body to get better and with his body when he is on the floor.     Being a bit player now will pay dividends next year.     

[CTWarrior]

I hope you're right, but he hasn't been the difference in a game, and I hate that we threw away a year of his eligibility to drive home the point that he needs to get in better shape.

It's certainly not something I would call a mistake, though.  Cadougan, after all, should have the final say.  If he wanted to play and he was cleared medically, I think you have to let him play.  Don't think it was the best thing for Marquette basketball in a perfect world, though.

[Marquette65]

We all s/b very concerned for next year.  I really hope I'm wrong, but JC showed that he is not even close to being a BEAST point.  Yes, I realize injuries, prevented him from practice. playing etc. but when he was in, he was very over matched and looked completely lost.

Just go back to TD as a freshman.  Played about 10 min a game and had the usual freshman mistakes but also flashes of talent.  With JC, there have been NO flashes. 

We are going to be, very young at the point next year.  NOT GOOD 

[Norm]

Not sure what this year did for his confidence.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

PG is probably the biggest question mark for next year.  I too didn't see much from JC this year and look forward to him proving me wrong next year.

[mr.MUskie]

they mentioned during the game yesterday that he's --if my memory is correct-- been in 10 games, and played a total of 30 some minutes.  worth giving up a whole season for?  hard to justify.

[GOMU1104]

Junior Cadougan suffered one of the more gruesome injuries an athlete (or regular person) can suffer.

His performance thus far is not indicative of what he is capable of in good health and after going through a significant amount of practices. Do you guys realize how far behind he is?!?!?

Those of us who have seen Junior play when healthy, against very high level of competition know what he is capable of. He will be fine!!!!!

[deep vacuum]

I hope you're right, but he hasn't been the difference in a game, and I hate that we threw away a year of his eligibility to drive home the point that he needs to get in better shape.

It's certainly not something I would call a mistake, though.  Cadougan, after all, should have the final say.  If he wanted to play and he was cleared medically, I think you have to let him play.  Don't think it was the best thing for Marquette basketball in a perfect world, though.

I am not sure what everyone was expecting.  Buzz stated that he told JC, that if he came back he would be the difference in one game this year.  Were you expecting a game winning shot?  A steal with less than 3 seconds on the clock securing a hard fought win over a top 5 team?

Perhaps he did make a difference and it just isn't very noticeable to us fans.  An extra body during practice & a breather here and there for the starters who needed just a minute or so of rest as they went all out against much bigger BEAST opponents.  Perhaps with the razor thin margin for error that Buzz has repeatedly stated that this team operates with, that whatever JC did do on the court or in practice, allowed this team to win a few extra games that it might not have won without his contribution. NCAA bound vs. being an NIT team?

[Norm]

Here's Junior's stats for the year thus far:

Played in 11 games with no starts (did not play in 3 other games he suited up for) for 46 minutes, averaging 4.2 minutes in games played.

He was 0-7 from the field, including 0-2 from 3-point land, and 4-6 from the free throw line, for a total of 4 points and 0.4 points per game.

He grabbed 5 rebounds (1 offensive), had 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and committed 5 fouls.

Not a lot form the stat sheet this year, but if he learned how hard guards have to play in the Big East and saw how much determination Acker and Cubillan used to get their playing time, then it could help in the long run.

I would have preferred that he red shirt because of the injury, but it is what it is. Hopefully he surprises us all next year.

[tower912]

Look at how Buzz doled out minutes to Otule and Fulce when they returned from their injuries last year.    Nada.    The fact that Cadougan can miss 2/3 of the year (I am sure Buzz would say it is X practices), can come back from an injury that probably diminished some his explosiveness, and play minutes (granted, only a couple) every game says a lot.   Buzz is finding JC minutes when he can't find EWill minutes.   I predict Junior will be just fine. 

[bilsu]

To me it does not matter. Barring a major improvement he does not play next year anyways.

[mu_hilltopper]

The biggest help (although not needed to burn the redshirt) was that Junior was able to fill out the practice team.  At least the 7 rotation players got to play 5 on 5 in practice w/Junior.

Other than that .. Junior indeed looks like he's a work in progress .. he'll have until October, plus ~13 cupcakes to get BE ready.

[79Warrior]

To me it does not matter. Barring a major improvement he does not play next year anyways.

And who plays at the point for us for the whole season? You think JC does not play?

[CTWarrior]

Those of us who have seen Junior play when healthy, against very high level of competition know what he is capable of. He will be fine!!!!!

I'm sure he will be fine.  It's just that I'd rather he was fine with four years of eligibility left instead of 3, given how not fine he is right now.

[jsglow]

I think next year's guard rotation will be interesting.  I think I see it being JC at the #1, DJO at the #2 and Blue at the #3 with DB and JF getting very significant minutes off the bench.  Jimmy and Crowder start up front.

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

Can someone save this thread in case Junior has his Joe Chapman moment and hits a key shot in our 1st round game that powers us to a W? 

[ChicosBailBonds]

To me it does not matter. Barring a major improvement he does not play next year anyways.

I assume you think Vander will play point next year?  I don't know.....point guard has me very concerned next year for all the reasons mentioned.  I hope JC recovers fully.  Even if he does, he seems to be the only true point guard on the team.

[LenBiasWindSprints]

Cadougan's our PG next year. I'm looking forward to watching him run this team.

[DomJamesToTheBasket]

Not sure what this year did for his confidence.

This is a good point that hasn't been brought up before.  He'll be fine,  but he would have had a lot more confidence going into next season had he taken the redshirt.

[Blackhat]

Wouldn't be surprised to see a modified style of our offense next year with Cadougan running the point.   Keeping the ball more in his hands to run things.

[GOMU1104]

This is a good point that hasn't been brought up before.  He'll be fine,  but he would have had a lot more confidence going into next season had he taken the redshirt.

Quite an assumption you are making. How do you figure that?

[Daniel]

1) The fact that the redshirt was lifted is behind us.  We don't know all the details behind the decision.  Maybe Junior told Buzz, hey coach - I'm not going to stick in college for 5 years.  Maybe he wanted to play this year, and medically was capable.  Doesn't matter.  He's here and Buzz has said he has been helpful.  Enough for me.

2) We have not seen enough of Junior to be making judgments about how he will perform in the future.  His injury was a MAJOR one.  I tore my achilles tendon and had surgery.  It is a long painful, hard working recovery and he did it ahead of schedule.  He missed, I think Buzz ssaid, over 70 practices.  Imagine that - and then get thrown in some BEast games for your first taste of D1 ball.  How can we judge what he CAN do next year at this point THIS year, considering all of the above.

I say, let's let him get fully rehabbed, get the conditioning in place, work hard over the summer, get to practice with the team for all of the practices, then let's see how he does.  He was highly recruited for a reason,

GO MARQUETTE!  Post-Season is still happening. . .

[96warrior]

We have not seen enough of Junior to be making judgments about how he will perform in the future.  His injury was a MAJOR one.  I tore my achilles tendon and had surgery.  It is a long painful, hard working recovery and he did it ahead of schedule.  He missed, I think Buzz ssaid, over 70 practices.  Imagine that - and then get thrown in some BEast games for your first taste of D1 ball.  How can we judge what he CAN do next year at this point THIS year, considering all of the above.

Agree, I don't think we've seen anything of Junior's full potential yet. This year might not have been huge in the confidence department but probably is a good wake up call as to what he needs to prepare for next year, especially absent the three seniors we'll lose after this season.

Just look to Butler for what a difference a summer makes. People on this board really like to jump to the worst case scenario with everything about this team, and I really don't get it. This team has given us no reason to. Next year everyone will be freaking out if Blue doesn't come out of the gate playing like Dominic James was in his senior year. Perspective, people. Patience.

[NersEllenson]

I think some MU fans are not seeing the big picture about Junior burning his redshirt by playing this year.  Due to Tom Crean never (and Deane/K.O to an extent) not being able to recruit back to back to back good classes - MU has always had a "scarity" view when it comes to these things, as though we won't be able to recruit another PG as good as Junior.  It should be evident by now that Buzz can flat out recruit, and next year's team likely will be the deepest and most talented MU has seen in some time...We've not even had to think about how minutes would need to be distributed among our players for practically 10 years...next season, think about it..how will minutes be divided?  Point is, to lose a player like Junior's "redshirt year," probably isn't as big of deal as it would have been historically.

[DomJamesToTheBasket]

Quite an assumption you are making. How do you figure that?

In his first year he is sitting on the bench the whole game while career role players are playing until their legs give out.....not exactly a confidence builder.....especially when you figure in what everyone was thinking his potential impact coming in was.  He had the potential to start his career next year as the starting PG,  instead he started it as a guy that might get into a game for a couple of minutes......... "Quite an assumption".......more like common sense.  He absolutely would have come into next season with more confidence had he taken the redshirt.

EDIT to say that I'm talking about Junior's confidence.  Not my confidence in his ability.