Theo's health

[cheebs09]

Ben Steele

@BenSteeleMJS
·
15m


With Theo John having surgery, here are updates on other Marquette injuries: Greg Elliott (right ankle) had surgery in April and Koby McEwen (right thumb) has rehabbed and will not have surgery. All players expected to be ready for whenever season starts. #mubb

That’s good to hear. A little surprised on Koby.

[MU82]

Goo, apparently you haven’t had the displeasure of visiting dodds’ board. He can’t go for more than a sentence w/o chalking up poor performance to any imaginable malady. As if MU is the only team that’s ever experienced an injury or ache and pain

Dodds might think he's part of the team, but he isn't. GOO specifically was talking about Wojo and his assistants, I think.

Ben Steele

@BenSteeleMJS
·
15m


With Theo John having surgery, here are updates on other Marquette injuries: Greg Elliott (right ankle) had surgery in April and Koby McEwen (right thumb) has rehabbed and will not have surgery. All players expected to be ready for whenever season starts. #mubb

Good to hear all are on the mend. I assume Koby got a significant amount of medical advice, and sometimes surgery isn't the best course of action.

[Badgerhater]

Totally agree with this, and thanks for all the info.

Still, if this year's version of Jayce dropped in our laps, he would be most welcome.

Let’s redefine from is big to plays like a big and creates a presence like one.

[Uncle Rico]

Bold prediction: Theo is the most improved player in the Big East next year

[GoldenEagles32]

Theo doesn’t have to wear his brace on his wrist anymore it looks like on his instagram story. Says “big day” and it’s a picture of him holding his wrist brace

[franklinjerry]

Unbold prediction: Theo is the same player he's been the past three years. (And that's not bad!)

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Unbold prediction: Theo is the same player he's been the past three years. (And that's not bad!)

If the hand is healthy, I think we'll see him be a little more aggressive around the hoop than he was last season.  But generally speaking, I agree.

Still don't quite understand why Wojo didn't pursue a grad transfer or waiver big.  I think relying on Theo to both stay healthy and be able to stay on the court for anything more than 20 minutes a game is a mistake.  But I guess the staff is cooling rolling with the young guys as backup 5s. 

[mileskishnish72]

Gotta pretty much agree across the board, 5J. I'm hoping whatever was done will allow him to hold onto the rock better.

[Its DJOver]

Theo would have had no problem seeing more minutes last year, except for the first half of the year we were running three bigs, and the second half, Jayce was playing well most games.  Also while it seems like Theo's hand/wrist have been hurt a lot, it hasn't caused him to miss any games, and mostly affected his offensive game.  Considering his impact is mostly defensively, I'm not overly concerned.  I expect to see Theo getting between 25 and 30 mpg.  Rolling with the Freshman for 10-15 isn't a problem IMO.  The larger concern is depth in 21-22 once Theo leaves.

[swoopem]

If the hand is healthy, I think we'll see him be a little more aggressive around the hoop than he was last season.  But generally speaking, I agree.

Still don't quite understand why Wojo didn't pursue a grad transfer or waiver big.  I think relying on Theo to both stay healthy and be able to stay on the court for anything more than 20 minutes a game is a mistake.  But I guess the staff is cooling rolling with the young guys as backup 5s.

Speaking of him being aggressive by the rim, did anyone else notice how he’d always grab the net when going up for a block? I can’t believe he never got called for it. Seemed like he did it multiple times a game.

[We R Final Four]

Theo would have had no problem seeing more minutes last year, except for the first half of the year we were running three bigs, and the second half, Jayce was playing well most games.  Also while it seems like Theo's hand/wrist have been hurt a lot, it hasn't caused him to miss any games, and mostly affected his offensive game.  Considering his impact is mostly defensively, I'm not overly concerned.  I expect to see Theo getting between 25 and 30 mpg.  Rolling with the Freshman for 10-15 isn't a problem IMO.  The larger concern is depth in 21-22 once Theo leaves.

An expectation of up to 30 mpg for Theo? Wow—-I have seen Theo play every game of his college career and I would be absolutely shocked if TJ got 30 mpg.

[Its DJOver]

An expectation of up to 30 mpg for Theo? Wow—-I have seen Theo play every game of his college career and I would be absolutely shocked if TJ got 30 mpg.

Who else gonna play?

To be fair, I said 25-30, and I don't think a 4-9 mpg bump is that large considering Jayce's 15 mpg, and Ed's 12 mpg are both gone.  I know everyone expects big things from the Freshman, but throwing them into the deep end from the get go is how you get February level Joey.

[We R Final Four]

They will be creative out of necessity.
Because you don’t know who it is in early July, doesn’t mean that it’s TJ.
Fouls have been and will continue to be an issue for him.
Hey, I’d love to see 30 mpg.....but it ain’t happening captain.

[Its DJOver]

They will be creative out of necessity.
Because you don’t know who it is in early July, doesn’t mean that it’s TJ.
Fouls have been and will continue to be an issue for him.
Hey, I’d love to see 30 mpg.....but it ain’t happening captain.

Over-exaggerated issue based on Freshman and Sophomore year.  Theo averaged 5.2 fouls per 40 last year.  Not only was that better than Jayce, it was better than any season Jayce had.  Theo's fouls per 40 have steadily dropped every year.  If that continues to be the case, partially because he has even more experience about knowing when to go for a block and when not to (supported by his block numbers being down last year compared to his Sophomore year), as well as the idea that Wojo can and should tell him to hold back a bit because he would know that he doesn't have 2 proven high major players behind him, then there is no reason that he can't average 25-30 mpg.

Also, look at the games where he got his season low in minutes played bringing down his average. 7 minutes against StJ, 1 foul. 8 min @ CU, 0 fouls. Take those 2 out and he probably averages 22-23 mpg last year, a 2-7 mpg increase is even more plausible. Yes he did foul out 4 times during the year and have several others with 4, but the idea that he's always in foul trouble is way overblown.

[We R Final Four]

Never said ALWAYS in foul trouble.
We will see(hopefully) if TJ gets close to 30 mpg as you expect.
As I said, I don’t see it happening at all.

[bilsu]

Who else gonna play?

To be fair, I said 25-30, and I don't think a 4-9 mpg bump is that large considering Jayce's 15 mpg, and Ed's 12 mpg are both gone.  I know everyone expects big things from the Freshman, but throwing them into the deep end from the get go is how you get February level Joey.

You forget that he is going to be on the bench a lot in the first half with two fouls.

[Its DJOver]

You forget that he is going to be on the bench a lot in the first half with two fouls.

Define "a lot".  Theo had 14 games (roughly half) where he only had 2 fouls or less the entire game.  Again, his foul trouble's are overblown based on his Freshman and Sophomore year (when they were a much bigger problem).

[We R Final Four]

So, if TJ is the only 5....and therefore will be called upon to play significant minutes at that position.....your expectation of him to keep his fouls in check seems like a lofty goal.
If TJ plays 30 mpg, I would certainly think his D will suffer in order to keep him on the floor. We saw a less aggressive Theo at times last year when both he and JJ were accumulating fouls.

[Its DJOver]

So, if TJ is the only 5....and therefore will be called upon to play significant minutes at that position.....your expectation of him to keep his fouls in check seems like a lofty goal.
If TJ plays 30 mpg, I would certainly think his D will suffer in order to keep him on the floor. We saw a less aggressive Theo at times last year when both he and JJ were accumulating fouls.

That's certainly a possibility.  The question is, is Theo playing reserved D better than a Freshman going out there and being completely lost? 

Think back to Theo's Freshman year, he committed a ton of fouls in very few minutes.  Sophomore year he committed a ton of fouls in significantly more minutes.  JR year, minutes increased while fouls drop.  You know how scoop loves trends.  Predicting fouls to stay similar with an increase in minutes certainly seems to fit.

[bilsu]

Define "a lot".  Theo had 14 games (roughly half) where he only had 2 fouls or less the entire game.  Again, his foul trouble's are overblown based on his Freshman and Sophomore year (when they were a much bigger problem).

The amazing thing is once Morrow left, Theo stopped fouling. The only explanation I can see is he started playing less aggressively. It is hard to remember, but I think he started getting less fouls on sitting bad picks. I think Wojo told him to play less aggressively, when Morrow left.

[Its DJOver]

The amazing thing is once Morrow left, Theo stopped fouling. The only explanation I can see is he started playing less aggressively. It is hard to remember, but I think he started getting less fouls on sitting bad picks. I think Wojo told him to play less aggressively, when Morrow left.

This is my point exactly.  When the depth dropped, so did the aggressiveness. Now that the depth is even less, expect another drop (also consider that while Markus's bad D was another overblown issues based on years previous  DJ is bigger, stronger, and supposed to be a better defender, less penetration mean less times for Theo to go for the block and foul/be out of position).