Pro-Am round 2

[QuetteHoops]

I watched him play again today and like I said after the first set of games he will be the starting PG. He was very, very good today. His shots were falling and still showed a great floor game. Obviously, the defense isn't what it will be once Big East play rolls around but I don't think we should worry about him not being a scoring threat.

This is the only game I was able to watch so I don't have much more to add. But I did see Gardner and he was better today then he was last week I still think he has a ways to go in terms of conditioning but his touch around the glass is something that Marquette hasn't seen from a big man in a long time.

[wadesworld]

Who's "he?"

[Blackhat]

Pro Am Notes:

*Jamil Wilson= Real McCoy.   

This kid is the most physically gifted player MU will have since D Wade.  Was popping pull up j's, put back dunks, left handed finishes off drives...Wilson has it all.   The only question is if he is mentally tough, pulled out for a few minutes with an injury but then hopped back in, just something to watch for.

....You make room for a Jamil Wilson. 

*DJO and Buycks are playing on a whole other level...don't know if it's the shaky d but these guys are really shining in this forum.   D Buycks seems like a whole other player and looked pretty good running the point.

 Though I think Cadougan is still best as our point...he has a cerebral aspect to his game and played very well again today.

*Jamail Jones is a 3 line drifter right now.   Problem is he wasn't hitting for most of the night...needs to add the explosive aspect to his game like he did on national tv and not be a wanna be Dell Curry.

*Vander Blue has all the talent in the world but his confidence seems to be down a notch right now.  Was streaky shooting tonight and he shoots from a low slot, we will see if that causes him problems, needs to refine his shot.

*My opinion on Gardner hasn't changed.   Will be a large liability on D and rebounding in Big East play, not very mobile vertically or laterally.  Great touch but hard for him to get off his shot.   Will add this positive sidenote though, if he can continue to knock down the 10-14 footer he may be useful on offense.

* Erik Williams had a thunderous dunk but seemed pretty irritated by his lack of opportunities.  Is very well put together and is making progress.

Word of the night is TALENT.   That's the word I kept thinking. 

We've got a boat load of talent on this roster boys.

It's a matter of if Buzz can get them to play fundamentally sound on O and D.

[MUUWUWM]

Who's "he?"

Junior

[QuetteHoops]

Yes, sorry I am still new to making threads I thought I included his name in the title I meant Junior.

[Clam Crowder]

dont know if this vid has been posted but look at how quick DJO is in this video and Erik also looks much improved
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGn3yjMuUak

[bilsu]

Reggie Smith and Butler did not play tonight. Wilson has tremendous ability, but he got dominated two possessions in a row down low by Gardner. Matchup between DJO and Buyckes easily won by Buyckes. In the two quarters I watched of this game DJO's three point shot was not falling. DJO drives with strength and needs his three point shot to set up his drives, while Buyckes drives with quickness that cannot be stopped without team defense. Cadougan looked good today and had several baskets. Blue and Smith are fighting it out for the fourth guard spot. It is hard to judge players in these games because these games are all about offense, but playing time will come down to who can play defense and team ball. Offensively, it is hard to believe that Buyckes does not start. Otule looked good, but if he is 6'11" 260 lbs, than Chris Grimm is 7'0 280. Gardner will probably improve more than any other player on this team from October 15th thru March 15th.

[BCHoopster]

Jamil Wilson will take the place of Jimmy the following year and either be as good as
Jimmy if not better.  Taller, more physical version of Jimmy.  Unless Crowder is that good,
I see the starting line-up to be:

Cadougan
Buycks
DJO
Butler
OTule

I would not be surprised if Fulce starts either, you can tell the difference between seniors and
freshman, big time.  First off, you can see what a few years in the weight room have done to the
older players, plus maturity.  Williams looks to me that he will be deserving some time, and probably
Blue.  Crowder I will hold judgement on as JC kids can either turn out to be like Fulce or Butler the
first year, as I believe DJO is not the norm.  Most JC kids have no idea how to play D. All three of those
JC kids early in there career did not know how to play D, particularly against Big East talent.

I do believe MU has more talent from one to twelve than I can remember.  Besides Blue, the other freshman
will have to sit and learn.  Not even sure Blue is ready. 

[Josey Wales]

Like the guy above me said, HUGE difference between the newcomers and the returners. Does anyone know why reggie and jimmy didn't play? I really wanted to see reggie. BTW Jimmy was a great (and funny) coach from the sideline.

Here is my quick rundown.

I watched most of the Buycks/DJO matchup, and Buycks was a superstar. Keep in mind that this kind of playground basketball suits him perfectly, but he had it all. He was sinking 3's, jumpers, driving the lane with ease, and finishing with explosive dunks and athletic finishes. He had this one drive where he drove the middle of the lane, dribbled between two defenders, and exploded up for a sweet one handed dunk, looked like a wade move. His team beat DJO's by 20-25 points.

DJO has all the same talent, but his shots just weren't falling today. He wasn't making a ton of three's, and he got blocked a couple times on drives. Towards the end he was trying to carry his team too much, and getting very frustrated it seemed. With that said, this is about as negative as I could possibly be on the guy, he is a phenomenal player.

Ewill looked very explosive around the hoop this year. He had some nice blocks and dunks. He didn't really look for his shot very often though.

Joe Fulce looked great. He had some very athletic finishes around the rim, and hit some threes. I could really see him starting.

Didn't see too much of the other game, but from what I saw Jamil is awesome when he tries hard, and Junior looked really good, hitting a three and making a layup and nice passes, and I didn't really notice Jamil that much.

Devonte is a no show on defense (buzz will coach him up), but offensively he really impressed me. Especially on one play where he got a defensive rebound, dribbled the length of the court, then pass-faked to the right and finished with a layup all in one motion, very impressive for a man of that size.

During the second round of games, I watched about half of each.

Vander has so much talent, and is exceptional at driving to the hoop, passing, and defending; but someone really needs to teach this boy how to shoot. He missed so many jumpers, and had a strange, chest-low shot.

It was good seeing Barro again, he has gained some weight. After one nice play he had the whole stadium started yelling oooooouussssee

Wesley really dominated the game he was in (obviously), it is really cool he came back for this. He stayed after signing autographs.

Otule was very disappointing to me after all those reports we've been hearing. But I have to keep in mind that these games don't favor bigs. He still looks really weak in his lower body, and I will be surprised if he is starting during the big east season. It looked like devonte is better offensivly, and ewill is better on D.

After seeing this my lineup would be.

Buycks (lock)
DJO (lock)
Jimmy (lock)
Fulce (maybe crowder, he is the enigma)
Caddy

[Blackhat]

I believe Jimmy and Smith had minor injuries they were taking care of. 

[avid1010]

Interesting comments on Wilson.  The Butler comment seems off, IMHO.  Right now Wilson doesn't do one thing as well as Butler.  He's probably more athletic, but that's about it.  That being said, he was impressive.  His strength was going to the hoop, but he didn't go as strong as Butler.  His mid-range game and 3 point shooting didn't impress.  More than a few airballs.   Right now, he couldn't put up the numbers Butler did to save his life, and while Butler can guard bigger guys and quicker guards, Wilson is too weak to play down low.   If he works at it, ceiling is the limit, but his head has to be in the right place.  Seemed to be the best athlete on the court.  Was great to see Wes...who was a man among boys.  Wasn't impressed with any of the freshmen, but I feel that every year until a few games into the season when they seem to put it together. 

[bilsu]

Wilson has the best basketball body on the team. He appears to be able to do anything with ease. However, he reminds me of Bernard Toone. Great body, great talent, who could do things so easy that he relied on talent instead of hard work. Toone perferred to stay on outside instead of mixing it up. Wilson seemed more interested in playing point guard than playing inside. The kind of player that will drive a coach absolutely nutts. There is a reason he did not play the last few games at Oregon. A redshirt year might be the best thing for him. Jones also wants to play outside and take threes. Wilson at this point is a level above Jones. The one that starts next year will be the one that learns to do what Buzz wants.

I think Buzz's opening starting line up will be designed for the best results in the CBE. Buzz will go for expeience so the three seniors will start. Both Duke and Gonzaga have a lot of size so Otule will start. Hard to imagine DJO not starting.

By Big East time Crowder and Cadougan could work their way into starting line up.

[john_cocktoasten]

It seems hard to judge anyone's defensive skills in these games because their is no D being played.

[MUUWUWM]

Smith had an allergic reaction to something he ate and Jimmy has a broken finger, nothing serious out 2-3 weeks or so.

[NersEllenson]

I think Buzz's opening starting line up will be designed for the best results in the CBE. Buzz will go for expeience so the three seniors will start. Both Duke and Gonzaga have a lot of size so Otule will start. Hard to imagine DJO not starting.
By Big East time Crowder and Cadougan could work their way into starting line up.

Might be the understatement of the year - about DJO!  Also, who do you think will run the point in the CBE - if not Junior?  Saw one post above that thought Buycks played some point and looked good doing it - is that your opinion as well?

[avid1010]

It seems hard to judge anyone's defensive skills in these games because their is no D being played.

Correct, but I think you can tell if a player is naturally aggressive/physical or a bit weak.

Wilson has the best basketball body on the team. He appears to be able to do anything with ease.

Would you say he has a long way to go in terms of his strength, and that his outside shot (set and off the dribble) needs a great deal of work?

[Djames4president]

Wilson just looked better than everyone out there.  Plus his hot pink Nike's made him seem like he could jump out of the gym; which i think he did on a tip slam where his hand was over the box on the backboard.  He looked strong and his shot was falling for the most part.

Someone mentioned EWill's thunderous dunk earlier.  To clarify that, it was a gi-freaking-normous baseline tomahawk form out side the lane.  It got me on my feet.

[DJO's Pump Fake]

Djo's windmill dunk and jamil wilson's alley oop from half court were the highlights from this morning.

Also Vander had 31 points in his game.

Junior will be the starting of after watching him play this morning.

[YoungMUFan4]

Pro Am Day 2 (Friday Night) Highlights ft. Wilson, Cadougan, Gardner and Jones

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/mR7xf-RI1xI&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/mR7xf-RI1xI&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;fs=1</a>

[HoopsMalone]

Junior looks quick

[YoungMUFan4]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/D0v-VwL-VeM&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/D0v-VwL-VeM&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;fs=1</a>

[Tigidal]

Great vids YoungMUFan4... Thanks for posting.

[willie warrior]

Thanks for the video.

Wilson looks good.

Gardner does not look overweight.

Where the hell is the defense in this League?

[Brewtown Andy]

Where the hell is the defense in this League?

Who cares?

[willie warrior]

Who cares?

If defense does not matter in this league, then throw out all the moves and stats, because they too do not matter.