John Dawson versus Providence

[NersEllenson]

Dawson again flashed his potential and good feel for the game last night.  Had a couple of really clever drives into the lane for nice pull up 13 footers that he drained.  Yes, he fouled Cotton shooting a 3...pretty tick tack call, and then got called for an absolute phantom foul in overtime guarding on the right wing...no turnovers last night.

His 2nd basket showed a great jump stop/hop to clear the defense, and then square up solidly off of 2 feet...was an illustration of why I think he's got a really nice upside.  Not enough guys use the jump stop/hop to clear a defender, land squarely and elevate into a jumper or layup.

His longest stint of playing time last night was 2:18 seconds....and I stand by my position that it is really hard for any basketball player to do really well in such short stints...Mayo started slowly last nigh...but then his talent eventually kicks in...know the same would hold true for Dawson.  Here is +/- from last night...which again is a marginal indicator and not end all be all..

http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2014/03/04/marquette-80-providence-81/plus_minus

[ATWizJr]

I was impressed by Dawson last night and agree that, in light of the need for production from the pg spot, he should get a lot more PT.  6 points, 3-5 shooting, no turnovers, in 13 minutes and he looked pretty comfortable on the floor.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Agreed but lets keep the focus on Dawson here and just look at his positives. I dont think he was awful on defense either. Held his own against Cotton.

[tower912]

The good and the bad of Dawson was revealed in back to back possessions.    Possession 1, nice slash through the zone for a lay up.   Possession 2, flushed with success, he goes one-on-one too early in the possession, takes a contested pull up in the lane, leaving Davante throwing his arms up in frustration as he was wide open under the basket.    I thought Dawson did fine.   He's a freshman.  

[MU82]

Dawson again flashed his potential and good feel for the game last night.  Had a couple of really clever drives into the lane for nice pull up 13 footers that he drained.  Yes, he fouled Cotton shooting a 3...pretty tick tack call, and then got called for an absolute phantom foul in overtime guarding on the right wing...no turnovers last night.

His 2nd basket showed a great jump stop/hop to clear the defense, and then square up solidly off of 2 feet...was an illustration of why I think he's got a really nice upside.  Not enough guys use the jump stop/hop to clear a defender, land squarely and elevate into a jumper or layup.

His longest stint of playing time last night was 2:18 seconds....and I stand by my position that it is really hard for any basketball player to do really well in such short stints...Mayo started slowly last nigh...but then his talent eventually kicks in...know the same would hold true for Dawson.  Here is +/- from last night...which again is a marginal indicator and not end all be all..

http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2014/03/04/marquette-80-providence-81/plus_minus

Going forward, I'm still not sure if he will be good enough to get significant playing time ahead over Duane and all of the highly rated freshmen who will be coming in the next two years. There's just not enough info yet.

Having said that, I can't argue with a single thing you say here, Ners. It's one thing for Buzz to unflinchingly stay with Derrick when he's doing a little something offensively; it's another to stay with Derrick when he is an offensive train wreck, as has been the case the last two games. (IMO, Derrick did play one of his better defensive games last night, though.)

[Silkk the Shaka]

Flip the PG minutes to 27 for Dawson & 13 for Derrick (no way that game goes to OT otherwise) and we win by 5+ in regulation. As with @GTown, That was a good matchup for John, bad matchup for Derrick. John was feeling it, Derrick wasn't. C'est la vie. Hope things shake out differently next year at the position.

Edit to clarify: I like Derrick and think he has a role on this team. I just think it should be more of an Otule role, with Dawson/Duane/Fillintheblank playing a Davante role. I think Derrick would relish the thought of coming in for 8-12 minutes and harassing the opposition's PG on D, making hustle plays, etc. without having to be relied on to generate any offense whatsoever, wearing out the other PG for the Davante-PG to take advantage of when he comes back in. That role has value. He is miscast as a 30+ mpg PG right now.

I also think he could be the team leader in that role by being vocal at practice and giving max effort at all times. It doesn't need to be that it equates to 30+ mpg on the floor in game time.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

(IMO, Derrick did play one of his better defensive games last night, though.)

I dont know about that...I do think that Derrick is a pretty good defender but Cotton was taking him to school last night. Not just by scoring but the ability to drive and find an open man.

[NersEllenson]

The good and the bad of Dawson was revealed in back to back possessions.    Possession 1, nice slash through the zone for a lay up.   Possession 2, flushed with success, he goes one-on-one too early in the possession, takes a contested pull up in the lane, leaving Davante throwing his arms up in frustration as he was wide open under the basket.    I thought Dawson did fine.   He's a freshman.  

Think you are referring to overtime?  Perhaps John missed Davante on the 2nd shot he took in overtime - which was pull up midrange shot he'd made 2 of 2 times earlier in game, although the degree of difficulty slightly more on the one in OT.

Regardless, that he missed it - is it not at minimum nice to have a PG on the floor that WANTS and is willing to shoot??  That was OT on the road in a hostile enviornment, and Dawson was looking to be a playmaker.  I can live with the missed mid-range shot in OT, as it was an aggressive and confident play.

Lastly, when you are wanting SO badly to play in games, and stay in games...it does add an element of I need to be perfect out there...and being tight.  I almost didn't want Buzz to put John in at one point in OT after he'd been on bench for 3 minutes...to run 1 offensive possession - it is just such a hard way to play...which is why you see virtually NO coaches doing this whole offense/defense thing to the extent Buzz has this year.

[slack00]

MU had a foul to give right before halftime and Dawson let Henton go right by him and hit the buzzer beater 3.  A point guard should know the situation.

[chapman]

MU had a foul to give right before halftime and Dawson let Henton go right by him and hit the buzzer beater 3.  A point guard should know the situation.

Kind of like gingerly walking the ball up the floor in a tie game with under 10 seconds left?

[Silkk the Shaka]

MU had a foul to give right before halftime and Dawson let Henton go right by him and hit the buzzer beater 3.  A point guard should know the situation.

It was a 2 not a 3, but I agree. However, Dawson's positives far outweighed his negatives last night.

[CTWarrior]

I dont know about that...I do think that Derrick is a pretty good defender but Cotton was taking him to school last night. Not just by scoring but the ability to drive and find an open man.

Disagree vehemently.  Cotton scored at most 2 FGs while Derrick was guarding him.  Providence scored 1.49 pts/min while Derrick was in the game and 2 pts/minute when he wasn't, roughly 35% more.  He was very good on defense.  Problem is that his offense was wretched.  As good as his defense was, his offense was that bad and then some.

I think it was obvious watching the game how much trouble Cotton was having just getting the ball when Derrick was guarding him. 

[BlindboyPatSmith]

The good and the bad of Dawson was revealed in back to back possessions.    Possession 1, nice slash through the zone for a lay up.   Possession 2, flushed with success, he goes one-on-one too early in the possession, takes a contested pull up in the lane, leaving Davante throwing his arms up in frustration as he was wide open under the basket.    I thought Dawson did fine.   He's a freshman.  

This....oh so much THIS

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I liked a lot of what I saw from Dawson last night. The drive off the screen from Davante was a thing of beauty. Not to mention that entry pas he had late in the game for the easy davante lay up.