Is Jerel McNeal back on this team?

[🏀]

doesnt DJO average 18 ppg?

Yes and Yes. 

Jerel and DJO are two of the best players we have had on the roster in the past 15 years. Any argument otherwise is just out of frustration and emotion over a few losses.

Two best players that will never play in the NBA.

[avid1010]

there's a difference between rodney efford good and wesley mathews/jimmy butler good.  mcneal was a very good player for MU, but mathews had a greater effect on the game.  i think we saw jimmy pick up the slack from lazar very nicely...i don't think we're seeing that transition go as well for djo/crowder...i think that's because they're not as good.  that doesn't mean anyone is saying they're not good...

[Silkk the Shaka]

there's a difference between rodney efford good and wesley mathews/jimmy butler good.  mcneal was a very good player for MU, but mathews had a greater effect on the game. 

Said with the perfect hindsight of those guys making the NBA, with McNeal on the cusp.

i think we saw jimmy pick up the slack from lazar very nicely...i don't think we're seeing that transition go as well for djo/crowder...i think that's because they're not as good.  that doesn't mean anyone is saying they're not good...

Go back to posts last year as late as the first round of the Big East tournament.  People were saying the EXACT SAME THING about Butler.  Literally word for word.  "Hayward was able to take over for the Big 3, but Butler just isn't picking up the slack for Hayward like I thought he would."  Many posts about a "leadership void" because Jimmy didn't yell.  Then we win a big game against WVU and make the sweet 16, Butler gets drafted (with scouts praising his leadership skills), and all of a sudden the narrative changes completely on Butler this year.  I love it. 

We lost two ROAD games to top ten teams and people are already giving up on these guys.  Starting threads trashing DJO, Crowder and now strangely McNeal.  Do people not remember Marcus Jackson futilely trying to break a TCU press?  That wasn't that long ago folks.  Less than 2 full recruiting cycles.  All of these players you guys are trashing belong on the all-decade roster.  Not trying to singly you out avid1010, just think these threads are hysterical.

[wadesworld]

Jerel McNeal was a great player and did some great things. He was also one of the most frustrating players to watch that I have ever seen in an MU uniform. Him and DJO are the top 2 for me, by far. Extremely talented, which is why when they are shooting 1-11 as a senior on the road in the biggest game of the year with many more turnovers than assists it frustrates the hell out of me. Not to mention getting caught sleeping on D and giving up a backdrop layup in big moments (remember DJO let that happen at a HUGE moment at LSU). Horrible turnovers at horrible times are far too common. How many times did Jerel try to score on a fastbreak with 3 guys that had 6'+ in front of him and nobody along with him? How many times did he have a 2 on 1 opportunity and try to take it himself on a bigger defender and miss the contested layup, giving up the fast break opportunity? It happened multiple times a HALF and DJO does the same things. Games like Villinova have been far too often. Plays lights out and is the reason we're cruising for a half. Then jacks and jacks and jacks some more and is the reason the other team is back in the game. If I could get rid of him would I? Of course not. He's a great player. But his decision making and basketball IQ is lacking and he too often forces things rather than letting things come to him. It is excruciatingly frustrating to watch. That breakaway dunk he missed at Syracuse early on while we're down what? 6 points? Immediately following that they go on what? A 23-1 run or something? Lay the ball in, or even just dunk it with normal force, and don't get the crowd riled up and chances are they don't go +22 over the next 11+ minutes. His 1-11 shooting in the 1st half didn't help that cause either. He's a great player. He could be much better.

Edit: The missed dunk was probably very early into the 23-1 run or whatever it was.  So they were probably +16 or 18 after that over the next 10 or so minutes.  And the LSU backdoor led to a mid range jumper on the opposite side of the floor, not a layup.  DJO is also very fun to watch at times, no doubt about that.  But also frustrating at times.  Very frustrating.

[LA]

Said with the perfect hindsight of those guys making the NBA, with McNeal on the cusp.

Go back to posts last year as late as the first round of the Big East tournament.  People were saying the EXACT SAME THING about Butler. 

+1000

I mentioned it in another thread as well people had the exact same criticism of JFB. That checklist that someone else posted about an MU season is spot on. DJO is a stud, this team will rebound and be fine.

[NCMUFan]

My own two cents is that unless a team has any four scorers that can go off any particular game you have a severely limited team.  The great thing with the three Amigos and Lazar was even if DJ or Wes or Jerel or Lazar was having an off night, the other three could pick up the slack.  Now if you have only a team with two consistent scorers, well, you are much easier to shut down.  If Crowder and DJO are our only consistent scoring threats, we are in trouble.

Adding to that, the real solution is to get at least two of the following as serious scoring threats on any given night:  Mayo, Blue, Wilson, Gardner, Cadougan. 

With DJO and Crowder graduating this year, it is even more important the above pick up on scoring.