JJJ SOTG

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Honestly, I forgot about Rowsey's shot from the X. That almost makes me want to change my vote to JJJ. That was a DUMB DUMB shot.....so glad he made it.

[CTWarrior]

These 5 guys all had great stat lines.  We've given SOTG for less than what any of these guys did last night.  But my vote is:

1.  Rowsey
2.  JJJ
3.  Reinhardt
4.  Howard
5.  Hauser

Together those 5 had 73 points, shot 64% from the floor, 57% from 3, 83% from the line, had 16 assists, 14 rebounds, 6 steals and 6 turnovers. 

Divide those numbers by 5 and that is a great night from somebody.  And we had 5 of those somebodies last night.

[SlowJoe]

JJJ

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Jjj, Rowsey, and Reinhardt all played SOTG worthy.  I'm fine with any of them winning.

3 SOTG worthy performances; no wonder we won!

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Maybe the toughest call of the season since not just two but THREE worthy candidates. All played great but the one with the fewest warts was KR. Certainly no issue with any of the three.

[DoggyDaddy]

I  saw NO hero ball, therefore a team SOG is my vote.

If there is need for a team sometimes this would be great example from which to start.

[fjm]

JJJ
ROWSEY
KR

Any of those 3

[tower912]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400919741

Just looking at stats isn't going to help.     A whole bunch of candidates.   

[Herman Cain]

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400919741

Just looking at stats isn't going to help.     A whole bunch of candidates.

JJJ did a lot of things not in the stats. He had a number of deflections etc, a lot of very good passes where guys missed the shot etc was playing the role the coach wanted him to and the team did very well when he was in the line up. The biggest tip off was at the end of the game when he had a wide open lane to the goal and he kept dribbling to run clock out per the plan. He was studworthy.

[GoldenDieners32]

Did everyone see how deep AR pulled up from in the first half?!?! that was crazy

[skianth16]

I think last night was JJ's most complete game of the season. And beyond that, his attitude and willingness to play as a teammate were just great. It would be great to see this again on Saturday for Senior Day.

As a side note, I had assumed that his game last night might have had something to do with his benching against X a couple of weeks ago. Per Matt's article in the MJS, JJ didn't even know he was going to be benched for that game. Given that I already questioned Wojo's relationship with JJ, this only seems to confirm that there's bad blood. I think that's a bad move by any coach to bench a kid with no warning, but hopefully these two have moved past that moment.

Link to today's article - http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2017/03/01/marquette-95-xavier-84-big-step-toward-ncaa-berth/98546150/

[fjm]

I agree about last night being Jjj's most complete game this year.

This site trashes JJJ when he doesn't have 25pts 5 assists and 3 steals.
We had abnormal JJJ standards coming into the season after the end of last year.
Hook him up with the coveted SOTG

[lurch91]

JjJ, AR and KR are all worthy by their contributions last night.

Loved how KR was able to abuse X on the high screen on multiple possessions (I think 3-4 possessions in a row).  AR was in a zone, the weakside help and steal under the basket and the rebound/timeout were just great plays.

But JjJ played a terrific game.  He made a few mistakes, but when he drove the basket, if he didn't have a shot, he kept his dribble.  He didn't go airborne only to get blocked or made a terrible pass-into-a-turnover. 

[Norm]

JJJ should have gotten SOTG. More complete game form start to finish than Rowsey, more of an impact over 40 minutes. Rowsey had a good second half. JJJ good the whole game.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Rocky hates the popular vote, or something like that.

[Lighthouse 84]

Did everyone see how deep AR pulled up from in the first half?!?! that was crazy

gosh, I think everyone missed that. What happened?

[MarquetteDano]

Rocky hates the popular vote, or something like that.

This is what happens when the OP puts the name of the player on the title of the thread.  We screwed ourselves!

[jsglow]

As was stated, we had fully 3 stud worthy candidates.

[Herman Cain]

This is what happens when the OP puts the name of the player on the title of the thread.  We screwed ourselves!

I agree with this analysis .

[GooooMarquette]

As was stated, we had fully 3 stud worthy candidates.

Yep.

I voted Rowsey, but certainly would have understood JJJ or Reinhardt.  I don't get how people who voted for JJJ seem to think the other two weren't also deserving.

[warriorchick]

Honestly, I forgot about Rowsey's shot from the X. That almost makes me want to change my vote to JJJ. That was a DUMB DUMB shot.....so glad he made it.

He was feelin' it, baby!  Get out of his way and let the man do what he do!!!!

[bilsu]

This game shows how good MU can be when both JJJ and Katlin play well within the system.

[MU82]

I think last night was JJ's most complete game of the season. And beyond that, his attitude and willingness to play as a teammate were just great. It would be great to see this again on Saturday for Senior Day.

As a side note, I had assumed that his game last night might have had something to do with his benching against X a couple of weeks ago. Per Matt's article in the MJS, JJ didn't even know he was going to be benched for that game. Given that I already questioned Wojo's relationship with JJ, this only seems to confirm that there's bad blood. I think that's a bad move by any coach to bench a kid with no warning, but hopefully these two have moved past that moment.

Link to today's article - http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/marquette/2017/03/01/marquette-95-xavier-84-big-step-toward-ncaa-berth/98546150/

Good comment, and thanks for the link.

Here's JJJ in the article:

"I wouldn't say I had to do something big, but I just knew we had to leave here with a W," Johnson said, mentioning that at the time he didn't know he was going to sit for Marquette's home game against Xavier. "It hurt me when I didn't get to play so I just had to bounce back with this one. ...

"Actually, before the game (a coach) said if we win this game we're in the tournament, so I locked all the way in. I was in my own zone today. That's all it was."

Given JJJ's response on the court since the benching, especially last night, I'd say Wojo's tactic worked quite well.

The most difficult part of coaching is not the X's and O's. It is managing egos. It is know that each player responds differently to situations. It is putting each player in the best position to succeed, not just on one possession or for one game but for the entirety of a season. It is knowing which buttons to push for each player.

I believe Wojo knew exactly what he was doing with the way he handled the JJJ situation, and I applaud him for pushing the right buttons.

Would JJJ have played the way he did last night had Wojo not benched him in the first game? We'll never know. What we do know is that JJJ did play that way last night after having been benched for the first game.

[Bocephys]

Good comment, and thanks for the link.

Here's JJJ in the article:

"I wouldn't say I had to do something big, but I just knew we had to leave here with a W," Johnson said, mentioning that at the time he didn't know he was going to sit for Marquette's home game against Xavier. "It hurt me when I didn't get to play so I just had to bounce back with this one. ...

"Actually, before the game (a coach) said if we win this game we're in the tournament, so I locked all the way in. I was in my own zone today. That's all it was."

Given JJJ's response on the court since the benching, especially last night, I'd say Wojo's tactic worked quite well.

The most difficult part of coaching is not the X's and O's. It is managing egos. It is know that each player responds differently to situations. It is putting each player in the best position to succeed, not just on one possession or for one game but for the entirety of a season. It is knowing which buttons to push for each player.

I believe Wojo knew exactly what he was doing with the way he handled the JJJ situation, and I applaud him for pushing the right buttons.

Would JJJ have played the way he did last night had Wojo not benched him in the first game? We'll never know. What we do know is that JJJ did play that way last night after having been benched for the first game.

Is mind games now a positive?

[Loose Cannon]

Is mind games now a positive?

Think Advertising.