Why is Blue playing?

[LON]

What does this have to do with anything? You think all he's going to be for four years is a guy who is athletic, hustles and plays good defense?  I think that right now, he more than makes up for a lack of one on one offense with those things. 
Is it enough? Enough for what? Even if he never developed a better offensive game (which he absolutely will, and fwiw needs to take open threes in the flow of the offense as he's a guard) would it be worth it to have him on the team? Absolutely.  Enough to get PT? Absolutely, look at some of the guards we've had over the past few years who brought little on ball offense but were important contributors.  I just don't get what you are trying to say here.

Dude's a troll, and has an established schtick.  It's not worth your effort picking apart his whining.

[Stretchdeltsig]

It's hard to understand how a good athlete can lose his shooting touch.  Blue has no feel for scoring. 

[kmwtrucks]

I think Vander brings some deflections, and rebounds and hustle and energy and all that rubs off on your team.  D James went through
periods where he did not shoot with confidence, it happens. I missed most of the 1/2 half but I thought Blue was a Big part of the comeback with rebounds, and his lenght and speed with the press.  Also a nice dish to Crowder for a rare 1/2 court easy bucket.   

[wesmat23]

Go Vander go.  I'd like to see him avoid the three's but he should take the ball to the hoop when it is there. His three ORBs last night were huge -- esp his ORB and assist to Fulce late in the 1H to cut the lead to 9.  I was pleased to see Buzz leave Vander out there to play through some mistakes, and for Blue to have the aggressiveness and confidence he'll need to succeed going forward.  He didn't shoot well but contributed to a win.  He'll be very good next season and beyond.

I was thinking the same thing. I agree with you 100%. Buzz sees his effort especially on D. He's still learning on the offensive end. Def. needs to work on shooting technique but I think that will be done over this summer. He will be a force next year for sure. Team USA coaches hand picked him from thousands of high schoolers. I think they can evaluate talent!!!!

[avid1010]

I think Buzz was trying to lose the game so he played Blue for all those minutes.  Clearly Buzz is known for giving too many minutes to undeserving freshman, and his rotations stink, as evident by the fact that we never make the NCAA tourney, and our offensive efficiency is crap.   You know all that subbing he does results in players not being able to find a flow, and results in a terrible shooting percentage for the team.  It's rather obvious that we should rely on DJO, Buycks and JC for all our minutes at guard because no one on this site ever has issues with JC's game.  It's not like MU needs to worry about foul trouble at the guard spot (because DJO never lets that happen), and we clearly don't need to get Blue minutes with the thought of him needing to be a leader at the guard spot next year. 

[Jam Chowder]

I know the mods aren't real big on intervening in things, but can we please change the title of this thread? It's embarrassing that it shows up at the top of the list every time I log in. I would be downright ashamed if anyone close to Vander or another player were to see that on here. It presents a terrible and classless image of the Marquette community.

Vander is a freshman. Most freshmen aren't going to be game changers their first years, and that's fine. Plenty of other posters have shown that he is not statistically behind many of his peers. Give the kid a break. We got spoiled with the impact the 3 amigos had their frosh year. The kid will be fine, and shows all the to be a great player eventually.

[rocky_warrior]

Bah - the title itself is pretty tame.  "Why is blue playing?"....

..."when he has 4 fouls"
..."I thought he had a concussion"
..."when he could be dominating?"

Yes, some things in the thread are crazy and embarrassing, but as a whole, it's a decent discussion.  In case you want my opinion, I was yelling at the TV for him to stop shooting last night.  But overall, I though he brought some energy and leadership we needed, exactly when MU needed it.

[ErickJD08]

I know the mods aren't real big on intervening in things, but can we please change the title of this thread? It's embarrassing that it shows up at the top of the list every time I log in. I would be downright ashamed if anyone close to Vander or another player were to see that on here. It presents a terrible and classless image of the Marquette community.

Vander is a freshman. Most freshmen aren't going to be game changers their first years, and that's fine. Plenty of other posters have shown that he is not statistically behind many of his peers. Give the kid a break. We got spoiled with the impact the 3 amigos had their frosh year. The kid will be fine, and shows all the to be a great player eventually.

WHY IS HE PLAYING? 

How is that ripping on the kid?  I think he is going to be good... GOING TO BE.  He isn't now.  And that's ok.  I am a little disappointed because most kid's with that ever rare 5th star are pretty polished.  But that's ok.  The question still stands.  Why is he playing?  He was getting lay ups swatted into the 8th row.  He was travelling, turning the ball over, shooting poor shots.  If Buzz was telling him to do those things, shame on Buzz because the kid is not ready.  But if he was doing those things on his own, then Buzz should have yanked him.  So again, why was he playing?  That's all the thread is about. 

[brewcity77]

You realize that VB has probably played against more top 10 teams this year than Henry or Miller saw in their careers.

This years SOS = 34, RPI = 58

Cordell Henry's Freshman year
1999 = SOS 109, RPI = 130

Tony Miller's Freshman year was 1992 and I cannot find SOS and RPI but I'll guess that it was NOT as good as Henry's first year.

From the MU wiki about 1992 - Marquette played top-25 opponents five times, only managing one victory against DePaul. However, that was Marquette's first victory over a ranked opponent since January 28, 1984, ending a drought of 15 consecutive losses against ranked opponents over the previous eight years.

---

We forgot who much worse the competition was back then.  As the Wiki says, in 1992 (Tony Miller's freshman year) we played 5 ranked teams, winning one.  From 1984 to 1992 (8 years), we played just 15 ranked opponents.

Just this year, depending on how things work out, we could play as many as 17 ranked opponents BEFORE the BE and NCAA tourneys.  That is more than some decades!

Miller and Henry freshman years never saw anything like VB is seeing this year.  Henry and Miller never had to defend the national POY like VB might have done (and will do again!) in Uconn's Kimba Walker.

+1

One of the few sensible posts in this thread.

[warthog-driver]

I am amazed at people who would never ever be asked to put on the Marquette uniform take the piss out of a kid like Vander Blue. A group of us were in flight suits and leather flight jackets drinking in a bar in Seattle. A woman with dread locks and braided arm pit hair came up to us and berated us for "Bombing Mosques, Hospitals and Schools..." One of my guys replied, "Sister, only when I see some wings on your chest will I feel you have the right to challenge my flying a jet in combat."

I love guys who sit in a Lazy Boy and critique these kids.   

[avid1010]

WHY IS HE PLAYING?  

How is that ripping on the kid?  I think he is going to be good... GOING TO BE.  He isn't now.  And that's ok.  I am a little disappointed because most kid's with that ever rare 5th star are pretty polished.  But that's ok.  The question still stands.  Why is he playing?  He was getting lay ups swatted into the 8th row.  He was travelling, turning the ball over, shooting poor shots.  If Buzz was telling him to do those things, shame on Buzz because the kid is not ready.  But if he was doing those things on his own, then Buzz should have yanked him.  So again, why was he playing?  That's all the thread is about.  

I believe BMA posted something a few years back about 5 stars really not meaning a player was polished at all...and how off the high school rankings really are.

Out of curiousity, I wonder how many fans that are saying Vander shouldn't be playing were also the ones complaining that Mello should be getting more minutes.  Not many college teams play only three guards during the course of a game...maybe there's something to believing that Vander has to play some minutes this year and we're lucky he's able to add something to the team defensively as our other freshman that plays clearly struggles in that area.

[dw3dw3dw3]

I am pro-Blue (in his freshman year) in certain situations where we have multiple other offensive threats on the floor. I am surprised a lot though of his lack of feel for taking it to the rim. The outside shot missing is a little more common and almost expected out of a 2 guard freshman. He definitely seems almost like Maymon (although Maymon was getting swatted by dIII teams) in that he's always been able to just speed by or jump over people on the way to the rim in the past. I wonder if this has to do with his lack of AAU experience, it seems like he didn't play much after his Junior year.

If you compare him to Mcneal as a freshman, both didn't have a jump shot, but it seems Jerel definitely had much more composure and ability to finish against taller/stronger competition. In high school Jerel played against better competition and was on one of the top AAU teams in the country.

In the end, I think it is unfair to judge his future from what you are seeing now. This summer is going to tell a lot about his development ability. If he is special, we will see a huge difference. I would be shocked and disappointed if he didn't come out with an overhauled shooting form next season.   

[muchamps]

I'm sorry, he was an absolute liability in every way tonight. I don't like to question these kids, but what was he doing with the ball tonight? I don't understand our rotation at all.

Liability, not quite, he had several rebounds and a steal/deflections.
But I think there maybe something wrong with his eyesight, his shot is so bad. Seriously, his eyes should be checked.

[bamamarquettefan]

As painful as the jumper was to watch, I really thought Blue contributed well in the comeback, and is going to be needed more if we are going to press more.

I believe he and Buycks are the only two guards we have that can deny opposing guards as they try to get to the hoop.  DJO and Junior can harass on D, but they just don't seem to be able to square someone up and everytime someone goes by either of them the half court defense is exposed.