Otule's Block

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

I'm hearing about Otule's big block but can't find any footage of it anywhere.  Can anyone help?

[GGGG]

It was about a minute to go...one of their guards (Scoop Jardine??) drove the lane.  I thought CO was going to let him go, but he uses his length perfectly to block his layup without fouling.  I actually "yelped" I was so excited about it.  The crowd gave him a nice ovation too.

[mikem91288]

Play of Otule's Career? I think so

[warriors1991]

I said to my buddy at the game "that is how a big man can help us impact the game down the stretch."
It was a great block and good body control to not foul Scoop.

Nice to see that Buzz has been reading muscoop, finally listening to all of us who have been saying we can't go completely 'small' all the time down the stretch. We need some inside help against all these Beast teams.

[chren21]

I said to my buddy at the game "that is how a big man can help us impact the game down the stretch."
It was a great block and good body control to not foul Scoop.

Nice to see that Buzz has been reading muscoop, finally listening to all of us who have been saying we can't go completely 'small' all the time down the stretch. We need some inside help against all these Beast teams.

Absolutely. Like Mac early in his career. Made the defense as a whole much better just being there.

[El Duderino]

Watching Otule this year, by far the thing i've been most impressed with overall is his timing as a shot-blocker.

Obviously a big man needs a certain amount of height/length to be effective at blocking shots or altering shots, but timing is so crucial and that's something a big guy generally has or he doesn't, less so than being a skill that a coach can teach it.

Come next season if Otule can stay healthy, i see him developing into a pretty impact-full defensive presence for the majority of games. Unfortunately for Marquette right now, Chris had spent most of the last two years watching basketball because of injuries instead of refining his abilities. He just needs consistent good health so he can grow overall as a player.

[OhioGoldenEagle]

It was a huge defensive play.  Would have been an uncontested layup if not for Chris sliding over and a one possession game with under a minute to play.......and we all know how those 1 possession games turn out.  I agree, it was his "career play" thus far.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Marquette is a much better team with Otule in the line up.  His key block of Jardine's layup showed why.  Otule changes the game flow for other teams.  Glad to see him get a lot of minutes.  Hope he continues to get 30 minutes per game. 

[Norm]

I don't mean to be a downer, but outside of the blocked shot at the end, I'm not sure Otule had that great of a game. He missed several shots where he was 1 foot from the basket, and Syracuse scored a ton of points in the paint. He has improved, but he still really struggles to keep up against Big East competition.

[MarquetteDano]

I don't mean to be a downer, but outside of the blocked shot at the end, I'm not sure Otule had that great of a game. He missed several shots where he was 1 foot from the basket, and Syracuse scored a ton of points in the paint. He has improved, but he still really struggles to keep up against Big East competition.

Otule must have been very lucky then since his +/- for the game was behind only to Crowder and DJO.  Otule was +10 for the game and his RR was +14.

[VwArrior1]

I don't mean to be a downer, but outside of the blocked shot at the end, I'm not sure Otule had that great of a game. He missed several shots where he was 1 foot from the basket, and Syracuse scored a ton of points in the paint. He has improved, but he still really struggles to keep up against Big East competition.

I see where your coming from, but IMO I look no further than Rick Jackson's 4 rebounds to guage Otule's effectiveness.  He averages 12 a game, good for 3rd in the nation.  What I saw was him clearing out the lane for Jae and Jimmy to grab the rebounds and I can live with that.  Any offense is a bonus.

[Marq]

Otule is not as bad as everyone makes him out to be. Sure he has A LOT to work on like his hand eye coordination but, A lot has to do with how our other players fail to feed the post. There are numerous times this season where otule has gotten great position down low and our guards/wings have failed to feed him the ball. It seems like early in games they make it a priority to get him the ball early, but then we seem to get away from that after awhile.

[GuyIncognito]

Honestly, we're lucky they didn't call the foul. He got a lot of body, but I'll take it.

[mviale]

Honestly, we're lucky they didn't call the foul. He got a lot of body, but I'll take it.

Thank goodness most games are not officiated like the ND game.

[Marquette84]

For the third straight game, MU played better with Otule in the game.

We were +10 with Otule in the game.
With Otule on the bench, Syracuse outscored us by 4.

Interesting to note that unlike the Louisville, @ND and UConn games, Buzz left Otule in the game at the end.  

People can complain about Otule's lack of individual production all they want--howver what they cannot deny is that MU is developing a pattern of outscoring their opponent when Otule is in the game, and being out-scoured when he is on the bench.

[Stronghold]

I'm still very excited that Otule is still only a sophomore.  Think he might develop nicely over the next 2 years.  Won't be a go-to guy on offense but atleast some kind of presence inside makes people alter the way they play.  And having him in the game allows guys like Jae to not have to play out of position at the 5 all the time.

[brewcity77]

I don't mean to be a downer, but outside of the blocked shot at the end, I'm not sure Otule had that great of a game. He missed several shots where he was 1 foot from the basket, and Syracuse scored a ton of points in the paint. He has improved, but he still really struggles to keep up against Big East competition.

Others have addressed this post, but I just can't resist. Syracuse's starting frontcourt (Jackson, Joseph, Melo) combined for 8 rebounds. Otule did his job in the post by keeping them off the boards. Granted, Crowder and JFB were the ones who got the rewards on the stat sheet, but CO was the reason the two of them combined for 15 boards. Otule is the guy who does the little things. He redirects shots, often leading to misses without getting blocks. He keeps opponents off the boards, often resulting in Marquette rebounds without actually getting the rebounds himself. He's simply one of those guys whose value you can't quantify in a box score. But make no mistake, he's one of the biggest reasons we won yesterday, and one of our keys to victory going forward.

He's sort of like Luca Brazzi in The Godfather. Maybe he's not the face of the family, but it was his actions that led to Vito Corleone getting contracts signed. Similarly for Marquette, Otule doesn't show up in the statsheets, but without him, we don't be Syracuse. It may not earn him SOTG, but it doesn't lessen his influence on the game.

[NickelDimer]

I've come to realize Otule's rebounding effort comes in the form of preventing his man from getting rebounds, much like he did Jackson.  It doesn't show in the box score but he does have an impact on rebounding.

[shaquilvaine]

Otule is definitely developing.  His injury might have been a blessing in disguise as it has allowed him more time to develop.  Areas he has improved... his shot blocking, his offensive game (he seals the defender really well and he tries to dunk all of the easy one as he didn't used to take it up strong) and his overall defense.  Where he still need to improve is his rebounding and ability to catch a pass in traffic.  Hopefully he keeps getting better and I think he will.

[warthog-driver]

And having him in the game allows guys like Jae to not have to play out of position at the 5 all the time.

This is perhaps Otule's most significant contribution. Word on the street is that Corey Crowder has been lighting up Buzz' personal cell phone with complaints about Jae playing out of position and that the offense should be running through Jae. We need Otule in so that Jae can take his natural and proper role as the team's 2.

[ErickJD08]

Otule is clear evidence that if you can't recruit a 5 star big, it doesn't mean you give up recruiting a big.  Otule was a project ever since he signed and Buzz and his staff have developed him into a productive player.  Maybe when other bigs around the country see how Buzz uses a big, a high level recruit will actually consider MU.

[Norm]

OK, I guess I don't closely monitor Otule enough to pick up all the positives that everyone here seems to see. I don't see all the shots he has redirected, maybe I'm just not noticing.

I really like Otule's hustle and he has improved since his freshman year, but I think he still struggles against BE play. Burke and Barro were far more effective, in my opinion. I noticed a lot of the dirty work that Chris Grimm did and the little things that helped MU. I'll have to watch Otule more closely the next couple games to catch what I'm missing.

[77ncaachamps]

That block was on his good eye side.

[Benny B]

That block was on his good eye side.

Chris Otule's weak eye is stronger than Chuck Norris.

[Stretchdeltsig]

I, too, like to watch Otule play.  He definitely makes Marquette a better team when he is on the court.  Hope Buzz continues to play him more each game and spell him with Gardner.  Our bigs will get better the more they play on the court.