Jami, Davante, Mayo it's time to make a run.

[mattyv1908]

I think Buzz knew coming into the season that Jamil and Gardner would be key to the season.  I think he now knows Mayo is his third guy to get things done.  While Gardner has lived up to expectations, Jamil has been spotty and Mayo has had to work through his off court issues with the team.  I think all three are beginning to feel the urgency of the moment and are responding.

Jamil Wilson - What does this game look like without his opening run?  Throw the +/- numbers out the window for anyone other than Jamil and Gardner.  Our starting five benefited hugely from his opening spurt.  Great rebounding, great shot recognition and I didn't feel he settled for more than one jump shot.

Devante Gardner -  A slow start turned into a really good game from the big man.  Great free throw shooter.  I still don't know how he doesn't get more touches early in the possession.  Our offensive droughts occur when he doesn't get consistent looks.

Todd Mayo - Thank you Buzz for keeping him on the floor even when he was not scoring early.  He's a great free throw shooter, our best penetrator, an underated defender and got guys good shots that for the majority of the game were not converted.  Crucial in the second half getting to the rim while being fouled and converting the free throws.


MUScoop, it's these three that will either take us to the NCAA's or see us in the NIT.  Thanks for three solid games from our most important players.  Let's get to 7-5 Saturday against a quality opponent in Xavier.

For what it's worth regarding Dawson.  While he did show us many times tonight he's a freshman, he had to (due to Wilson's foul trouble) close the half and I feel like he was the unlucky recipient of the usual Marquette dry spell offensively.  It happens every game regardless of who's running the point (or on the court for that matter).

Our best five on the floor for offense (as a unit).

D Wilson
Thomas
Mayo
J Wilson
Gardner

Our best five on the floor for defense (as a unit).

D Wilson
Mayo
Anderson
J Wilson
Otule

Situational players should be Burton, Dawson, and Johnson

WTF is Steve Taylor?  Is his knee acting up again?  He had a great game followed up by inconsistent performances.  Could use him moving forward if he's healthy.

SOTG is an obvious Jamil Wilson.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Agreed. Only changes is Davante not Devante

And I think our best defensive unit includes Jake. He takes out Mayo when we are guarding bigs and he takes out Anderson when we are facing a three guard lineup

[PGsHeroes32]

We need to roll with Jamil, Todd and Ox.

I don't think it's any coincidence that we shot so well at the line in a game where Mayo and Ox lived at it. Jamil's overall ft numbers are still not where they should be but hes got good form and still among our best.

I really believe that as soon as we are in the bonus in the second half of games...its gotta be Ox, Jamil, Jake and Todd pretty much for the rest of the game.

[mattyv1908]

Agreed.

To further drive that point home, Gardner and Mayo are our two best players at getting to the basket and to the foul line.  It's no coincidence we shot as many free throw attempts tonight.  In prior years we dominated at the charity stripe even though we were undersized.  This year our back court is not a dynamic scoring unit.  The one guy who can consistently get to the rim is Mayo.

And get Gardner an early touch other than at the top of the key in every possession as often as possible.  Good things happen when he gets touches.

[Earl Tatum]

We recruit JJJ, Taylor, Dawson and they get benched or don't perform. Burton at times with his shot selection.
All players hyped up to be great their first year or so. Hell, with the playing time they get we won't get any recruits, even Stone.  And yes, I want Ellenson instead of Stone. HE plays hard in all facets of the game.

[Windyplayer]

And yes, I want Ellenson instead of Stone. HE plays hard in all facets of the game.

Thank you for your off-topic, unsolicited opinion and for emphasizing that Ellenson is in fact a male. 

[mattyv1908]

While we can have a valid debate over early playing time for the freshman during the non conference portion of our schedule and Buzz's philosophy on that, it's irrelevant at this point.

Dawson wasn't as highly touted coming in.  Duane Wilson was expected to make an immediate impact.  Dawson has been thrown into the mix earlier than intended with the Wilson injury and the Blue defection to the NBA.

Right or wrong, our upperclassmen need to lead this team at this point in the season, hence the emphasis on the names in the title of this post.  If these three can consistently show up and play for the remaining games on the schedule we can make a late surge into the tournament.  They have the talent to do so but they still need to do it every game.

[Mods, Delete me please. 8/26/2020]

At the beginning of the season I expected we'd see these 3 names taking up a bulk of the space in that SOTG box over there to the left.   The fact that they only have (soon to be) 7 instead of 12 is a big reason we've struggled. 

[tower912]

At the beginning of the season I expected we'd see these 3 names taking up a bulk of the space in that SOTG box over there to the left.   The fact that they only have (soon to be) 7 instead of 12 is a big reason we've struggled. 

Correct.   If those 3 played as consistently well all season as they have the last couple of weeks (SJU notwithstanding), a whole bunch of other conversations never would have happened.  If those 3 had been a consistent core all year, the only question would have been how to Tetris the rest of the parts around them.     It is absolutely vital we get >45 PPG out of the 3 of them combined from here on out. 

[Dawson Rental]

The 2013-14 season so far in a nutshell:

Marquette's three most important players are arguably its three most inconsistent players.