Bullish on Next Year

[GGGG]

If you look at the way Duke plays lately, and I'm assuming that Wojo has similar philosophies, they love to go small.  And at times this year Marquette has looked great when they have gone small.  (The home game v. Butler for instance.)  I think while Wojo wants a PF of some type, I think he would be fine with four guard line ups with many scoring options.

[MUfan12]

If you look at the way Duke plays lately, and I'm assuming that Wojo has similar philosophies, they love to go small.  And at times this year Marquette has looked great when they have gone small.  (The home game v. Butler for instance.)  I think while Wojo wants a PF of some type, I think he would be fine with four guard line ups with many scoring options.

They looked great playing small when Henry was the big. Luke and Heldt can't replicate that versatility.

[HoopsterBC]

If you look at the way Duke plays lately, and I'm assuming that Wojo has similar philosophies, they love to go small.  And at times this year Marquette has looked great when they have gone small.  (The home game v. Butler for instance.)  I think while Wojo wants a PF of some type, I think he would be fine with four guard line ups with many scoring options.

It is fine to go small much like Villanova, but small with MU next year is very small.  Physically Carter, Johnson, Wilson, Cohen do not scare me at all as these 4 players
are not physically tough at all.  Oh I forgot, Rowsey, now there is a speciman.  They need a 6'7" Faisal Abraham type, this will be a telling off-season for Wojo, if he can
get that player he is moving forward, if not, another challenging year.  He can offer any grad student minutes immediately much less an incoming frosh, so that has to
present some interest from somebody.  I say he finds somebody.

[GGGG]

They looked great playing small when Henry was the big. Luke and Heldt can't replicate that versatility.

Agreed. 

[esotericmindguy]

Except that everyone on the floor for Duke can shoot the 3. And not 34% shooters, 42% shooters. Until Marquette has at least 2 guys that can do that, the small ball won't work.

In college basketball, even pros now, you need knock down 3 point shooters. Carlino was nice for a year, but I can't think of the last one before him. Wisconsin consistently has those guys.

[GGGG]

Except that everyone on the floor for Duke can shoot the 3. And not 34% shooters, 42% shooters. Until Marquette has at least 2 guys that can do that, the small ball won't work.

Right.  Which is why they went out and got guys like Haanif, Rowsey, Hauser and Bailey, and have completely revamped JJJ's shot. 

[goldeneagle91114]

Except that everyone on the floor for Duke can shoot the 3. And not 34% shooters, 42% shooters. Until Marquette has at least 2 guys that can do that, the small ball won't work.

In college basketball, even pros now, you need knock down 3 point shooters. Carlino was nice for a year, but I can't think of the last one before him. Wisconsin consistently has those guys.

Before Carlino it was DJO, before DJO it was the "midgets", before that it was the Trio. I can keep going if you would like.

[HoopsterBC]

Except that everyone on the floor for Duke can shoot the 3. And not 34% shooters, 42% shooters. Until Marquette has at least 2 guys that can do that, the small ball won't work.

In college basketball, even pros now, you need knock down 3 point shooters. Carlino was nice for a year, but I can't think of the last one before him. Wisconsin consistently has those guys.

Totally agree, yesterday was a perfect analysis, open 3's early and often, they were at the end of game like 2-16 or so and this has happened numerous times.  The 4 I listed above do not have any consistency from 3 land.  They might once in awhile but not like Bluitt or Macara, X has a chance to win it all.   Rowsey and Howard plus Hauser might be a nice combination of shooters, but will they be able to defend anybody?

[keefe]

Our guards.
TC ranks 6th in the BE for A/T, 3rd in steals as a freshman.
JJJ can dominate for stretches, as the season wore on the length of those stretches increased.
HC keep up the confidence in his game, and he will be awesome.
Du is extremely talented, he will be as good as he wants.

Down low
Fish...  Stay out of foul trouble, I'm happy
Heldt, made some great strides, looking forward to his Jr year.
Sandy, needs to find a way to be an offensive factor again.  Others took some leaps past him, but he has the talent to do more.

I like what we got.

http://www.bigeast.com/documents/2015/11/15/1516MBBStats.pdf

We lose our best once in two decades player to the NBA

We go from a team of freshmen to a team of sophomores and freshmen

We will likely lose some of our limited experience to transfer

We still do not have a legitimate PF

We showed no empirical evidence of improving over the course of the year



Marquette has gone from being a top tier Big East program to a mediocre bottom of the league team that is no where near being ranked in the polls much less getting invited to compete for the National Championship.

Looking at the muscle movement that will occur between now and next November is not encouraging. The University invests heavily in its basketball team. It has every right to expect more.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

We lose our best once in two decades player to the NBA

We showed no empirical evidence of improving over the course of the year

Marquette has gone from being a top tier Big East program to a mediocre bottom of the league team that is no where near being ranked in the polls much less getting invited to compete for the National Championship.

Looking at the muscle movement that will occur between now and next November is not encouraging. The University invests heavily in its basketball team. It has every right to expect more.

I think we definitely improved this year - but we never became the 'tough out' night in and night out that I expected us to become at this point in the year.  That being said having a young team makes it a really tough season to be too judgmental.  There is a lot to like - namely skill development and recruiting.

My opinion is next year is really important for Wojo.  He may have all the time/support in the world to rebuild things the "right way" - but I imagine another season like this one would be a blow to the fan base and the coffers.  Momentum is hard to recapture - think of this, a whole class of MU fans are basically reliving the equivalent of the Deane years (worse actually).  Need to get people excited again.

Need a big (hopefully experienced) body to rebound | Teach some defense | get an experienced coach for the bench.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Me too.

I expect HE to go pro. I expect MU to go hard after the best big men grad transfers that present themselves. And I expect Markus Howard to commit.

I then expect an 11-7 BE record, and back to the dance. I too, am bullish. Pretty damn bummed I have to watch another tourney without Marquette, but we made progress.

Thanks God opening day is around the corner.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Yes, that would be the dream scenario and I am sure the staff knows that Fischer experiences foul trouble and with Heldt the only bigman left, well....

Last night when Henry fouled out, leaving JJJ and Cohen up front, they are man handled by Reynolds and Farr.  It was really not fun to watch those two thin kids against grown men.

One question I have.  Is Anim that bad, because even with the foul issues experienced, Heldt being out, he basically saw no playing time.  Since BE play, Anim played a total of 30 minutes in 22 games. Even with Cohen having a bad BE season, Anim didn't see the floor.  Is Cohen that much better than Anim?

Sacar was a SG is Hs. To expect him to play minutes as freshman PF is a big time stretch. Don't see a clear path to minutes for him until his junior year, but think he'll be pretty good and hope he sticks it out.

[Henry Sugar]

We showed no empirical evidence of improving over the course of the year

In general, I agree with your skepticism of next year's optimism, and that MU should expect more for its investment.

However, I can and will show empirical evidence of improving over the course of the year.

[hdog1017]

Very bearish on next year assuming Wojo is still the coach

[CAGASS24]

We lose our best once in two decades player to the NBA

We go from a team of freshmen to a team of sophomores and freshmen

We will likely lose some of our limited experience to transfer

We still do not have a legitimate PF

We showed no empirical evidence of improving over the course of the year



Marquette has gone from being a top tier Big East program to a mediocre bottom of the league team that is no where near being ranked in the polls much less getting invited to compete for the National Championship.

Looking at the muscle movement that will occur between now and next November is not encouraging. The University invests heavily in its basketball team. It has every right to expect more.

this is garbage - these kids aren't assets in some f'ing corporation -

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We lose our best once in two decades player to the NBA

We go from a team of freshmen to a team of sophomores and freshmen

We will likely lose some of our limited experience to transfer

We still do not have a legitimate PF

We showed no empirical evidence of improving over the course of the year



Marquette has gone from being a top tier Big East program to a mediocre bottom of the league team that is no where near being ranked in the polls much less getting invited to compete for the National Championship.

Looking at the muscle movement that will occur between now and next November is not encouraging. The University invests heavily in its basketball team. It has every right to expect more.

What's gotten into you today Keefe? You're usually more level headed than this.

[KampusFoods]

Despite having mostly the same players, I think this team is gonna have a VERY different look next year. My honest opinion is that we'll have pretty similar results to this season. Bummer.

What intrigues/excites me is that, if we get Howard for next year, our 3 newcomers will almost certainly be our 3 best shooters. That's 3 new outside weapons that will change the flow of the offense and how teams have to defend us. Luke frustrated the crap out of me this year but I think he will benefit a lot from those additions (if Howard comes and if Hauser can defend well enough to get minutes).

Edit: I recognize you can put Cheatham in the "best shooters" category but he's a slasher first and doesn't shoot enough for me to put him in there.

[NavinRJohnson]

this is garbage - these kids aren't assets in some f'ing corporation -

Hahaha. The hell they aren't.

[statnik]

We were definitely closer to the bottom of the conference this year than the top, so I don't totally understand the optimism especially without Henry.

[Big Papi]

If HE leaves we will be status quo, similar to this year.  Improvements from returning players but lack of toughness, physical presence, height and knowing how to play lock down defense added to losing a stud like HE makes it extremely difficult to make the improvements necessary to make the NCAA tourney.  I am afraid this time next year we will be hoping to make the NIT.

Now if HE stays, we should make the tourney.

[KampusFoods]

We were definitely closer to the bottom of the conference this year than the top, so I don't totally understand the optimism especially without Henry.

On one hand "Everyone else is coming back!"

On the other hand "Everyone else is coming back....."

[keefe]

What's gotten into you today Keefe? You're usually more level headed than this.

I think I am being realistic, Aggie. I have long been a champion of the current staff but this past season was disappointing and I can't see how next year will be any better.

At best, Marquette is treading water and I think next year we actually regress.

Let there be no doubt: I care more about Marquette basketball than any other sports team (including Michigan football) but I do not see us making the progress we should reasonably expect.

Next year could be better but I am seeing more subtraction than addition.

[Marcus92]

Except that everyone on the floor for Duke can shoot the 3. And not 34% shooters, 42% shooters. Until Marquette has at least 2 guys that can do that, the small ball won't work.

That's part of what makes teams like Kansas and Michigan State so dangerous.

The Jayhawks have gone 270-633 (42.7%) from 3-point range this season — a 56.7% effective field goal percentage. Each of their top five scorers have taken 58 or more threes and made at least 40% of them. That's astounding. It's really tough to defend everyone everywhere on the court.

Michigan State doesn't have quite as many great shooters. But they have a couple who are off the charts. Their leading scorer Valentine hits 45.4% from three. Their second-leading scorer Forbes, has made a mind-boggling 50.5%. As a team, MSU knocks down 43.9% from 3-point range — a 56.5% effective field goal percentage.

Neither team has a dominant big man the likes of Henry. I'm glad we landed him, glad I got a chance to see him in person, wish that he decides to come back for one more year. But at the same time, you don't have to have All-Americans at the 4 or 5 spot to compete at the highest level of NCAA Division I basketball.

[MUfan12]

Let's wait until the roster is set before we start worrying about regression.

[BobWildLoyalist]

Sandy transfers and we pick up a Juco