Goodman Insider Article on weak PGs

[BubbaWilliams]

It's difficult to win a national title without a quality point guard. Peyton Siva led Louisville a season ago, and Marquis Teague was a first-round pick on Kentucky's loaded national title squad in 2011-12. UConn had Kemba Walker, Ty Lawson led North Carolina to the title in 2008-09 and Kansas had a pair in Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins.

Let's face it: You aren't cutting down the nets without a high-level point guard. Just look at North Carolina when the Tar Heels lost Kendall Marshall a couple of seasons ago. They didn't have a shot.

Teams that don't have to worry at all about their point guard situations in 2013-14: Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Gonzaga and Notre Dame. I'm not concerned about Kentucky, Florida and Syracuse -- even though all three will likely have freshmen at the controls.

It's time to take a look at quality teams that have question marks at the position, and we start with a program that could wind up cutting down the nets if the point guard spot is solidified.


Marquette Golden Eagles

Junior Cadougan was underrated and underappreciated. Marquette fans already understood that, but the rest of the country will see it this season. Cadougan just ran the team and also provided terrific leadership and poise. The Golden Eagles lost a bunch from last season, but they still have big men Davante Gardner and Chris Otule, along with talented wing Jamil Wilson and a highly touted freshman class.

One of those freshmen is Duane Wilson, a local product who will likely secure the starting spot over junior Derrick Wilson. Duane Wilson is an athletic scoring point guard who should have a stellar career at Marquette, but the question is whether he'll be ready as a freshman.
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He has MU listed third in the article.

[ChicosBailBonds]

It's difficult to win a national title without a quality point guard. Peyton Siva led Louisville a season ago, and Marquis Teague was a first-round pick on Kentucky's loaded national title squad in 2011-12. UConn had Kemba Walker, Ty Lawson led North Carolina to the title in 2008-09 and Kansas had a pair in Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins.

Let's face it: You aren't cutting down the nets without a high-level point guard. Just look at North Carolina when the Tar Heels lost Kendall Marshall a couple of seasons ago. They didn't have a shot.

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He has MU listed third in the article.

It's a guards game

[Lennys Tap]

It's a guards game

It's a crapshoot.

[ChicosBailBonds]

It's a crapshoot.

Even more so if you have don't have great guards.

[Lennys Tap]

Even more so if you have don't have great guards.

So if you have crappy players or are a crappy coach it's a real crapshoot! Crap!

[tower912]

Willie clearly has a beef with this guy.    Go get him, willie!    Don't let him get away with this weak crap.   Only bigs matter!

[Aughnanure]

Seriously? Cadougan was never that good. Acting like he's irreplaceable is ridiculous.

[Boone]

I hope we can do better than a 23% 3-pt. shooter, whose A/T ratio was a sub standard 1.5:1.

[Sunbelt15]

Seriously? Cadougan was never that good. Acting like he's irreplaceable is ridiculous.

And who's doing that?

[Aughnanure]

And who's doing that?

Goodman.

"Junior Cadougan was underrated and underappreciated. Marquette fans already understood that, but the rest of the country will see it this season." - pretty much insinuates it.

[Benny B]

Seriously? Cadougan was never that good. Acting like he's irreplaceable is ridiculous.

Tell that to UCONN.... hahaahhahahahahahahhahahhahahah.

[MU82]

Goodman.

"Junior Cadougan was underrated and underappreciated. Marquette fans already understood that, but the rest of the country will see it this season." - pretty much insinuates it.

Hmmm. I see the words "underrated" and "underappreciated." Nowhere in there do I see the word "irreplaceable."

There are lots of underrated players in all of sports who are not irreplaceable. If Goodman meant that Junior was irreplaceable, he would have said so.

I don't disagree with a single word Goodman wrote until the last graph. My eyebrows did raise a little at the casualness with which Goodman stated Duane's likely ascension over Derrick. If only.

Lots of us expect another deep tourney run. Some here are talking about the Final Four. And a few especially giddy Scoopers have mentioned the national title and seemed perfectly serious doing so.

Look at the list of NCAA title-winning PGs in Goodman's article. And we could go back for another decade or four and keep doing the exercise. Can even Derrick's biggest proponents suggest he has shown one iota of evidence of belonging in that category?

Either Derrick better improve significantly (a possibility perhaps, as guys do improve), Duane better get plenty of PT or fans better start ramping down expectations. We need a PG at least as good as the underrated -- but very replaceable -- Junior Cadougan.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Lots of us expect another deep tourney run. Some here are talking about the Final Four. And a few especially giddy Scoopers have mentioned the national title and seemed perfectly serious doing so.

Look at the list of NCAA title-winning PGs in Goodman's article. And we could go back for another decade or four and keep doing the exercise. Can even Derrick's biggest proponents suggest he has shown one iota of evidence of belonging in that category?

Either Derrick better improve significantly (a possibility perhaps, as guys do improve), Duane better get plenty of PT or fans better start ramping down expectations. We need a PG at least as good as the underrated -- but very replaceable -- Junior Cadougan.

Agree completely.  We go as far as our PGs take us.  Still my biggest concern for this year bar none.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Agree completely.  We go as far as our PGs take us.  Still my biggest concern for this year bar none.

Ehhh.

I'll still say outside shooting. Derrick is fine if several other guards and switchable knock down a lot of 3's.

If/when they don't... then Derrick will be exposed like Junior was (at times).

[Aughnanure]

Hmmm. I see the words "underrated" and "underappreciated." Nowhere in there do I see the word "irreplaceable."

There are lots of underrated players in all of sports who are not irreplaceable. If Goodman meant that Junior was irreplaceable, he would have said so.

I don't disagree with a single word Goodman wrote until the last graph. My eyebrows did raise a little at the casualness with which Goodman stated Duane's likely ascension over Derrick. If only.

Lots of us expect another deep tourney run. Some here are talking about the Final Four. And a few especially giddy Scoopers have mentioned the national title and seemed perfectly serious doing so.

Look at the list of NCAA title-winning PGs in Goodman's article. And we could go back for another decade or four and keep doing the exercise. Can even Derrick's biggest proponents suggest he has shown one iota of evidence of belonging in that category?

Either Derrick better improve significantly (a possibility perhaps, as guys do improve), Duane better get plenty of PT or fans better start ramping down expectations. We need a PG at least as good as the underrated -- but very replaceable -- Junior Cadougan.

Then why will the rest of the "country see it this season"? That seems to say we'll be significantly worse off this year, to the point that it will be obvious to casual fans.

If you average D Wilson's numbers out he would be about equal to Cadougan's assist total, plus significantly more steals and better D.

[Golden Avalanche]

I thought Goodman was writing Marquette would be better now that they got rid of their weak PG.

[MU82]

Then why will the rest of the "country see it this season"? That seems to say we'll be significantly worse off this year, to the point that it will be obvious to casual fans.

If you average D Wilson's numbers out he would be about equal to Cadougan's assist total, plus significantly more steals and better D.

The only reason Goodman might even be slightly insinuating Junior is irreplaceable is because we don't have a guy who is obviously ready to replace him.

Michael Jordan was irreplaceable. Olajuwon was irreplaceable. Larry Bird was REALLY irreplaceable for Indiana State.

Bill McCaffrey was the No. 2 scorer on Duke's '91 national title team. He then transferred. He was eminently replaceable because Duke had better players available to take his spot, and Duke won another title.

[LAZER]

Agree completely.  We go as far as our PGs take us.  Still my biggest concern for this year bar none.

I agree with the idea, but Cadougan's 6.75ppg 1.25ast in '13 tourney suggest MU did fine with mediocre PG play.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I agree with the idea, but Cadougan's 6.75ppg 1.25ast in '13 tourney suggest MU did fine with mediocre PG play.

I would say Junior's play against Davidson (poor performance) is one of the reasons we were lucky even to survive that game.  0 Assists in 27 minutes and 4 points.  Not good....no wonder Buzz said how lucky we were to win that game.  He's right.

[The Lens]

The nice thing about this MU team...IF we get solid guard play, the bigs are a given (assuming no injuries). This team can definitely make noise in March.

[BubbaWilliams]

DerWil may not be flashy, but he's tough and has shown he won't turn the ball over. I think if he can bring it up court, we'll be more than alright.

[MerrittsMustache]

DerWil may not be flashy, but he's tough and has shown he won't turn the ball over. I think if he can bring it up court, we'll be more than alright.

Derrick has proven to be a very good back-up PG. He takes care of the ball and plays solid D. That's all he's been asked to do at this level. He's never been asked to score or make plays offensively so we don't really know if that's in his repertoire. Personally, I think that if he played 20-25 minutes a night, puts up 6 points, 3 assists and shoots around 30% from 3, Marquette will be in good shape.

[Benny B]

DerWil may not be flashy, but he's tough and has shown he won't turn the ball over. I think if he can bring it up court, we'll be more than alright.

I know you're pronouncing it "DARE-wil," but it looks too much like "DUHR-wil."

[MU82]

Derrick has proven to be a very good back-up PG. He takes care of the ball and plays solid D. That's all he's been asked to do at this level. He's never been asked to score or make plays offensively so we don't really know if that's in his repertoire. Personally, I think that if he played 20-25 minutes a night, puts up 6 points, 3 assists and shoots around 30% from 3, Marquette will be in good shape.

This is exactly right. Derrick has done pretty much exactly what he's been asked to do. This year, he will be asked to do much more if he is the starter.

At the bare minimum, today's high-major PG must be able to break down a defender and get into the lane. That is one of the main ways an offense gets open outside shots and high-percentage interior opportunities.

I agree wholeheartedly with the Derrick proponents who say we don't need him to score double-digits. But I disagree with those who think all he has to do is be able to advance the ball past midcourt and then pass to a wing 35 feet from the basket, as he has done so far in his career. Any decent walk-on can do that.

A winning high-major program needs a PG who can create for himself and others. This isn't rocket science. Just look at the most successful programs the last decade or more.

It is very reasonable for a national journalist to take a look at Marquette's team and say, "They can be very good, maybe even great, if somebody steps up to play PG at least as well as Cadougan did."

[Benny B]

I agree wholeheartedly with the Derrick proponents who say we don't need him to score double-digits. But I disagree with those who think all he has to do is be able to advance the ball past midcourt and then pass to a wing 35 feet from the basket, as he has done so far in his career. Any decent walk-on can do that.

How soon we've forgotten the "No Diener, No Chance" sign.