Most surprising moment this year

[#UnleashSean]

Note 1: I probably missed some moments. Feel free to add them.
Note 2: These are moments that I thought Scoop overall found surprising. Not what I found to be surprising necessarily.

[PGsHeroes32]

Rowsey talent.

He was one I didn't want to be a priority scholarship. I was wrong.

He takes some maddening shots when in heat check mode but his overall ability to score and insane ability to draw a foul shooting a 3 is awesome.

Howard was also a bit of a surprise simply because 54% from 3 is GOD-like.

[DJO's Jaw]

Easily the Nova game. We were down by 17 in the second half in that game!

[YoungMUFan4]

Easily the Nova game. We were down by 17 in the second half in that game!

Easily this.  Also missing 6/8 FT down the stretch and still coming back

[cheebs09]

One of my most surprising things was rebounding. We had some issues but not near the level I worried about. Sam especially rebounded well towards the end I thought. He seems to have the skill of being able to nticipate where the ball is going as he always seemed to be in the right spot.

[The Lens]

I voted Traci's transfer. I said last year during the Henry Hoopla that Traci would end up being Wojo's most important recruit.  I was obviously wrong.  I thought he was this generations Tony Miller. 

He left us with a glaring hole at PG, hope that gets solved, soon.

[GooooMarquette]

I voted the Nova win.  We have more Final Four appearances than wins over current #1 teams.

[bilsu]

I voted Traci's transfer. I did not see that coming.

[MU82]

Big picture, I'd go with win over Nova. Even with 3 mins left I thought we had little to no chance to win - and I am the eternal optimist.

When Hauser grabbed that final rebound, I kissed my wife and said, "We had NO business winning that game ... but we did!"

That game gave us all permission to really believe MU could dance again. There were bumps in the road to get to the dance after it, but that win paved the way.

On a smaller basis, Rowsey's first left-handed 4-point play was absolutely amazing. One of those, "Did I really see what I just saw?" things. Had to watch the replay a jillion times!

But really, most of the individual stuff on that list was pretty darn surprising. I mean, I wouldn't have believed Heldt would start over a healthy Luke, that's for sure.

[Loose Cannon]

Big picture, I'd go with win over Nova. Even with 3 mins left I thought we had little to no chance to win - and I am the eternal optimist.

When Hauser grabbed that final rebound, I kissed my wife and said, "We had NO business winning that game ... but we did!"

That game gave us all permission to really believe MU could dance again. There were bumps in the road to get to the dance after it, but that win paved the way.

On a smaller basis, Rowsey's first left-handed 4-point play was absolutely amazing. One of those, "Did I really see what I just saw?" things. Had to watch the replay a jillion times!

But really, most of the individual stuff on that list was pretty darn surprising. I mean, I wouldn't have believed Heldt would start over a healthy Luke, that's for sure.

Seconded, it really was a good year.

[brewcity77]

I voted Nova, not that we won (picked that preseason) but rather how we won. For long stretches we just couldn't get over the hump, then we had six near perfect minutes. Just amazing.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I voted Traci's transfer. I said last year during the Henry Hoopla that Traci would end up being Wojo's most important recruit.  I was obviously wrong.  I thought he was this generations Tony Miller. 

He left us with a glaring hole at PG, hope that gets solved, soon.

Yah, who would want that Markus Howard guy. 

[#UnleashSean]

I disagree with the pg hole. I don't think we've seen better pg play since diener

[#UnleashSean]

Delete

[Dawson Rental]

I paused for a while over the Nova win, but I went with Heldt taking the starting center position from Luke. 

GooooMarquette's observation that MU has more final fours than wins over #1 ranked teams seems to suggest that that win would have been more surprising, but MU has had a lot more opportunities to get to a final four (every time we've made the NCAA) compared to opportunities to play the #1 ranked team.  You can pretty much expect a team to play above themselves at least once a season and beat someone they have little chance to beat.  And, conversely, you should expect an inexplicable loss about that often, too.  And those two possibilities are doubly true when you have a team where exceptional three point shooting anchors the offense.

Luke was a highly recruited center who had started from the moment he had become eligible to play at MU, a period of over two years.  Last year Heldt wasn't even Luke's primary backup and played largely garbage minutes.  Shortly before he got the starting nod, a poster here even called him a Division III center.  I can't think of a bigger upset in terms of a player taking over a starting spot since I began to follow MU basketball in the '75-'76 season, although I bet that that topic would itself make for a great thread.  Let's give Matt the proper props for an extraordinary achievement.

Matt would be doing better if he didn't have two surprises in contention - the other being his double double - splitting his vote.

Now if you're going for "What surprising moment made you happiest?", the Nova win would have to be the answer to that.

[muwarrior69]

Wait until tomorrow, April fools day, when we learn that Wojo and Stan are already in Indiana.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Starting no matta. Erik Williams started over Jae Crowder. Otule over Gardner. A coach can start anyone just to do something for strategy. Keep Crowder out of foul trouble. Otule for jump ball and early defense.

Heldt started over Fischer for a spark of hustle and toughness. Same with Wilson over Johnson.

Now, if Heldt statistically outperformed Fischer all year long that would be a huge surprise. But being a nominal starter does not. I've seen several nominal starters over the years.

[The Lens]

Yah, who would want that Markus Howard guy. 

Right now he's a 2.  I love him but that's what he is. 

[tower912]

To me, the second most surprising moment (I voted for the Villanova win) was when Wojo completely sat JjJ against Xavier.   

[DUNKS45]

I went with the Nova win also, but Rowsey winning the sixth man was a huge accomplishment this year. We knew he could score and hoped he'd help our shooting, but he was fun to watch. He won some games for us and was much better at going to the hoop as well.

[GooooMarquette]

Starting no matta. Erik Williams started over Jae Crowder. Otule over Gardner. A coach can start anyone just to do something for strategy. Keep Crowder out of foul trouble. Otule for jump ball and early defense.

Heldt started over Fischer for a spark of hustle and toughness. Same with Wilson over Johnson.

Now, if Heldt statistically outperformed Fischer all year long that would be a huge surprise. But being a nominal starter does not. I've seen several nominal starters over the years.

Yep.  And when you look at the games toward the end of the season when Luke's minutes were decreasing, the biggest factor was fouls, not Matt.  Like the 4-game stretch against X, SJU, PC and X - it would be easy to attribute Luke's <20 minutes in each to Matt...but just as easy to note that he had 5, 5, 5 and 4 fouls in those games.

Don't get me wrong - I am thrilled with Matt's development toward the end of the season, and look forward to a good two years.  But as Lazar notes, the starting was due to hustle.  The minutes were more due to Luke's fouls.

[Newsdreams]

Easily this.  Also missing 6/8 FT down the stretch and still coming back

Ft's no matta, doing JB's work

[wadesworld]

Right now he's a 2.  I love him but that's what he is.

Markus is as much a 2 as Travis "starting Final Four point guard/5 years in the NBA as a point guard" Diener was a 2.

[fjm]

Markus is as much a 2 as Travis "starting Final Four point guard/5 years in the NBA as a point guard" Diener was a 2.

Yeah I don't get this. We have a freshman PG that can SCORE! And since he can score he's a 2?

Are we only allowed to consider PG's as people who have more assists than points?

[CTWarrior]

Yeah I don't get this. We have a freshman PG that can SCORE! And since he can score he's a 2?

Are we only allowed to consider PG's as people who have more assists than points?

Put me in the camp of Howard being a 2.  To me, a PG looks to get everyone involved on offense, get the ball to people where they can do damage, and can be counted on as the main ball handler against a press.  That's not really Howard.  I think he's fantastic, but I just think of him as a 2 playing the point.   He's a PG only in the sense that he brings the ball up across half court a lot when he's in he game.