Point Guard...

[wadesworld]

...is the least of our worries.  Derrick is tough.

[tower912]

Best player on the floor for MU in the first half.   

[LloydMooresLegs]

+1

[wadesworld]

Best player on the floor for MU in the first half.   

Yup.  And he did it all with 2 fouls early on.

[Slim]

He only has one foul. I think that 2nd moving screen call was on DG

[jesmu84]

Dawson would have had a triple double by now.

[PGsHeroes32]

Best player on the floor for MU in the first half.   

I would say mayo then Derrick. His d was suspect for a bit.

[MU82]

Best player on the floor for MU in the first half.   

Unfortunately, the game is two halves, and Derrick was not one of the better players on the court after halftime. Went scoreless, missed layups, wasn't close on a wide-open 5-footer, fired a complete scud of a 3-point attempt, had to be taken out of the game late (again) because he can't shoot. Every time I think, "You know, he's improving," there's a stretch like, well, pretty much the entire second half, when SDSU finally figured out that you simply don't have to defend Derrick outside the lane.

I don't think he was our main problem tonight -- we had far too many missed FTs and dopey turnovers -- but when your PG can't hit anything outside of 3 feet and the opposing PG lights us up, well, the PG matchup was a pretty big problem for Marquette.

[MUfan12]

MU82- I find myself agreeing with you more often than not, but you're leaving out that he hurt himself early in the second half. He lost that half step that got him to the hoop in the first half.

Not quite fair to compare the two directly.

[Lennys Tap]

MU82- I find myself agreeing with you more often than not, but you're leaving out that he hurt himself early in the second half. He lost that half step that got him to the hoop in the first half.

Not quite fair to compare the two directly.

Looked like he pulled a groin muscle. Before that he was (by far) our best player. Without him, the game was over at halftime. Your post is a much appreciated bit of sanity on what has become an increasingly deranged board. Thank you.

[MUrugger]

Kinda tired of reading here that point guard "is the least of our problems."  We gotta lot of problems, but I can't remember a point guard with more problems in 40+ years of watching MU bball.  Can't shoot, can't dribble left, doesn't make free throws, doesn't set up teammates where they want/need the ball, barks at them after he makes mistakes.  What does he bring?  Seriously?  I remember his defense being touted too.  Haven't seen it.    

Did see this coming though.  Thought that with Blue, Mayo, and the freshman guards, the ways that Wilson could hurt us would be masked.  Now he is fully exposed.  In my view, Derrick W has never lived up to any of the hype that might have been thrown out there about him, not that a many of us believed in any of it once our eyes told us otherwise.  Was supposed to be a lock-down defender if nothing else.  He's not that by any stretch.

Marquette has had a deep history of diminutive point guards: DJ, Mo Acker, Cordell Henry, Cubillian, Cadoughan, Aaron Hutchins...to name just a few.  They all could play though.  Haven't seen him play for a nanosecond, but this old Warrior can't wait for the the Duane Wilson era to begin--it won't be soon enough.  

[forgetful]

Derrick is a mixed bag.  First half he had success taking it to the hoop when his defender completely leaves him to double the post or cover other shooters.  Allowed some easy layups.  

That said, his defense was pretty bad in the first half and he had 3 TOs with only 2 assists.  If Cadougan had done that this board would have been screaming for his head.

2nd half was bad, hopefully because of his groin.

Problem is we can't feed the post and have no driving lanes, because the defenders are not respecting him as a PG.  He also has poor court vision.

He is a serviceable PG, but probably the worst starting PG we have had in at least 2 decades.

[tower912]

Once again, he was the best MU player on the floor in the first half.   After his fall, he lagged.   Jamil, CO, and Davante (forgiven due to illness) were far larger problems.  Juan and STjr were bigger problems.   

[WarriorFan]

5.5ppg, 4.4apg, and (amazingly) 4.3rpg along with stifling defense and no foul trouble (for a guy that used to hand-check like he was in euro-league). 

Junior's junior year:  6.3/5.4/2.1.  So, half a basket and one assist better than DW in his first year as a starter.


Best stat:  DW shoots BETTER than Junior did!

I also wish he was more aggressive, but if you told me at the beginning of the year we'd get these stats from DW I'd take it!

[MerrittsMustache]

Derrick gets a bad rap from MU fans. Is he going to be the star of the team and an all-conference performer? No, but he has definitely stepped up his game, especially since the OSU game. Over his last 4, Derrick is shooting 50% from the floor, 71% from the line and averaging 10 points, 4.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds and only 1.8 TOs. Obviously that's a small sample size, but those are very good numbers for a PG.

Same goes for Jake. If he scores 7 ppg and shoots 36.6% from 3 for the season, I'd be very pleased. Both Jake and Derrick have raised their games this season.

[GGGG]

Kinda tired of reading here that point guard "is the least of our problems."  We gotta lot of problems, but I can't remember a point guard with more problems in 40+ years of watching MU bball.  Can't shoot, can't dribble left, doesn't make free throws, doesn't set up teammates where they want/need the ball, barks at them after he makes mistakes.  What does he bring?  Seriously?  I remember his defense being touted too.  Haven't seen it.   

Did see this coming though.  Thought that with Blue, Mayo, and the freshman guards, the ways that Wilson could hurt us would be masked.  Now he is fully exposed.  In my view, Derrick W has never lived up to any of the hype that might have been thrown out there about him, not that a many of us believed in any of it once our eyes told us otherwise.  Was supposed to be a lock-down defender if nothing else.  He's not that by any stretch.

Marquette has had a deep history of diminutive point guards: DJ, Mo Acker, Cordell Henry, Cubillian, Cadoughan, Aaron Hutchins...to name just a few.  They all could play though.  Haven't seen him play for a nanosecond, but this old Warrior can't wait for the the Duane Wilson era to begin--it won't be soon enough. 

Hype?  Where the f*ck was the Derrick Wilson hype on this board?  If anything, the guy has been unfairly trashed.

Can't shoot?  He has the same shooting percentage as JJJ and Todd Mayo, and nearly a full ten percentage points better than Jake Thomas...you know...our "shooting guards."

Can't defend?  Open your eyes.  I thought the "lockdown defender" title was always a bit too much, but he is generally where he needs to be when he needs to be there.  Light years ahead of Junior Cadougan in that regard.

[Benny B]

Hype?  Where the f*ck was the Derrick Wilson hype on this board?  If anything, the guy has been unfairly trashed.

Can't shoot?  He has the same shooting percentage as JJJ and Todd Mayo, and nearly a full ten percentage points better than Jake Thomas...you know...our "shooting guards."

Can't defend?  Open your eyes.  I thought the "lockdown defender" title was always a bit too much, but he is generally where he needs to be when he needs to be there.  Light years ahead of Junior Cadougan in that regard.

Tesify.

[CTWarrior]

DeWilson has been a different player in the Western time zone.  He has been much more aggressive the past 4 games.  His lack of a jump shot coupled with his lack of creative passing ability are problematic, but he's a plus defender and as long as he can take it to the rim 5 times a game and make something happen he will be OK.

If you look at basketball as totalling up the contributions of each position and comparing it to the contributions of the opponent at those positions, we are going to lose the battle at PG more often than not.  But we knew that going in, and it shouldn't keep us from being a successful team.  We lost a good chunk of those battles last year, too.  We've got to win those other battles where we expect to win, particularly at the PF and C spots. 

The two biggest reasons we lost last night was our inability to keep SDSU off the offensive boards and our poor FT shooting.  Gardner being under the weather may have had a lot to do with both of those things.   I'm not a big DeWilson supporter, but poor PG play is not the takeaway lesson from last night's loss.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

He's a role player.

That's not a problem.

The real problem is that MU has too many role players right now.

Jamil, Juan and Todd flat out need to be better. We've seen flashes out of each... but they just need to be better. When they play well, then Derrick fills his role perfectly. When they play poorly, then Derrick is exposed.

[jesmu84]

Kinda tired of reading here that point guard "is the least of our problems."  We gotta lot of problems, but I can't remember a point guard with more problems in 40+ years of watching MU bball.  Can't shoot, can't dribble left, doesn't make free throws, doesn't set up teammates where they want/need the ball, barks at them after he makes mistakes.  What does he bring?  Seriously?  I remember his defense being touted too.  Haven't seen it.    

Did see this coming though.  Thought that with Blue, Mayo, and the freshman guards, the ways that Wilson could hurt us would be masked.  Now he is fully exposed.  In my view, Derrick W has never lived up to any of the hype that might have been thrown out there about him, not that a many of us believed in any of it once our eyes told us otherwise.  Was supposed to be a lock-down defender if nothing else.  He's not that by any stretch.

Marquette has had a deep history of diminutive point guards: DJ, Mo Acker, Cordell Henry, Cubillian, Cadoughan, Aaron Hutchins...to name just a few.  They all could play though.  Haven't seen him play for a nanosecond, but this old Warrior can't wait for the the Duane Wilson era to begin--it won't be soon enough.  

These are wrong. IF you don't realize his defensive ability after last night, I don't know what to tell you. For the last 6-8 minutes Derrick was all over Thames. In fact, that's the reason Shepherd was shooting at the end (and how Jake got called for the 3pt foul) - Derrick had completely shut down they opposing PG and made it impossible for him to get the ball.

[BCHoopster]

He's a role player.

That's not a problem.

The real problem is that MU has too many role players right now.

Jamil, Juan and Todd flat out need to be better. We've seen flashes out of each... but they just need to be better. When they play well, then Derrick fills his role perfectly. When they play poorly, then Derrick is exposed.

That is exactly the problem, each individual brings something to the game, but not enough.  Derrick would be fine if the 2 guard and wing could shot the ball, but they can not.  Both games on the road, the other teams point guard has been the focal point of there team, and really beat MU.  The bottom line is the need for Duane Wilson to get healthy.  I am not saying he is the total answer until he gets going, but I saw enough of him to realized he can score a little bit.  Still a big jump to college ball, will he bring it every night, time will tell.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

That is exactly the problem, each individual brings something to the game, but not enough.  Derrick would be fine if the 2 guard and wing could shot the ball, but they can not.  Both games on the road, the other teams point guard has been the focal point of there team, and really beat MU.  The bottom line is the need for Duane Wilson to get healthy.  I am not saying he is the total answer until he gets going, but I saw enough of him to realized he can score a little bit.  Still a big jump to college ball, will he bring it every night, time will tell.

I hope you're right... but in my mind it might be easier to find production out of Jamil, Todd and Juan vs a true frosh. PG. Get those guys to produce, and then Derrick is fine. If those guys struggle, then Derrick will struggle.

[BCHoopster]

I hope you're right... but in my mind it might be easier to find production out of Jamil, Todd and Juan vs a true frosh. PG. Get those guys to produce, and then Derrick is fine. If those guys struggle, then Derrick will struggle.

Unfortunately, Jamil, Todd and Juan have had enough time to figure out they are not the answer.  Jamil to inconsistent, Juan brings nothing most of the time, and Todd, well is Todd, at
times good but most of the time, just average.  Duane could be special, has the offensive mind set, much like Deonte.

[madtownwarrior]

"Can't shoot?  He has the same shooting percentage as JJJ and Todd Mayo, and nearly a full ten percentage points better than Jake Thomas...you know...our "shooting guards."

A bit misleading...

The issue is he can't shoot more than 5 feet from the basket - defense sags off of him and then it's 4 on 5.

If teams sagged off of JJJ, Mayo or Thomas, they have the ability to step up and hit a outside shot.

[forgetful]

Everyone is talking about how improved D. Wilson has been the last few games, they fail to mention that a large reason that his scoring has been up is because of the change in defense towards him.  He is not guarded...his man is 6 feet away at the closest and is doubling the post to deny ball entry instead of focusing on Wilson.  The help defenders are offering no help and sticking with the shooters.

That means D. Wilson can drive uncontested and just has to get his shot off once in the lane.  I've never seen a defense guard a D1 PG in that way.  He better be scoring more, no one is guarding him.

People are calling for more production out of the wings, but they are not getting great looks, because there men never leave them.  They also can't get kick outs from the post (the best way for a jump shooter to get a good shot), because the post is being doubled by D. Wilson's man, even before the ball is getting into the post.  

There are a lot of problems with this team, inconsistent shooting, bad floor spacing, lack of leadership and bad PG play.  I'm not saying that D. Wilson shouldn't be playing, but he has been bad and the improvement is a reflection of how the defenses ignore him...aka not a threat.