Marquette NBA Thread

[BM1090]

Some love him, some hate him, and most are probably in between ... but Jimmy Butler is playing great and helping the Warriors a ton.

Yeah, it's a clear fit which is cool. One more interesting team in the West.

[Spotcheck Billy]

O-Max with 9-2-2 in 24 minutes vs. the Bucks tonight.

[MU82]

O-Max with 9-2-2 in 24 minutes vs. the Bucks tonight.

Who needs Luka, AD or Kyrie?!?!

[MuMark]

Tough news

https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1898143009453064387?s=61&t=6XPB8f4sAKmJIzxgMcsCjw

[tower912]

Damn.   





Did he fall on it?

[GoldenEagles03]

That sucks! He was playing a ton

[ATL MU Warrior]

Did he fall on it? 

Too bad, regardless of how it happened.

[PGsHeroes32]

That stinks considering how much PT he was gonna continue to get with the other injuries

[MU82]

Sam Hauser with career-high 33 points tonight, including seven 3s in one quarter.

[BE_GoldenEagle]

Longtime reader of Scoop, but decided to bite the bullet and make an account.

I've been doing a few NBA check-ins over at Paint Touches, so while we wait for Selection Sunday, check out this little update on Marquette players in the NBA.

https://painttouches.com/2025/03/15/marquette-in-the-nba-march-update/

Let me know if there is a better thread to be posting this stuff to!

[MU82]

Oso fell out of the Suns' rotation in mid-January, and either didn't play or barely played in the next 24 games, during which Phoenix went 10-14 to fall behind in the race for a play-in spot.

He has gotten back into the rotation the last 5 games, averaging 25.8 mpg. He's averaging 7.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.0 apg and 1.2 bpg. Had 11 points in one game, 9 rebs in another, 4 blocks in another, 4 assists in another.

The Suns are 3-2 in those 5 games and have crept back into the last play-in spot.

Included in an article in The Athletic was this:

Though Booker, Durant and Bradley Beal carry the most responsibility, the spark has come from two rookies and a newcomer. Rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro have bounced in and out of the rotation all season. This never made much sense considering both provide the energy and athletic ability Phoenix needs most. Dunn has been up and down with his 3-point shooting, but he's the Suns' most versatile defender.

Ighodaro, a springy, 6-foot-11 forward who was a plus-39 in 26 minutes against Toronto, operates under a mindset molded in college. At Marquette, the coaching staff graded players on "Energy Generated Behavior," which is just as it sounds. Chest bumps. High fives. Floor slaps.

"Energy matters," Ighodaro said. "I don't know how many points it's worth on the court, but it adds up."

[BE_GoldenEagle]

Oso just cleared out Lopez and Trent Jr. on a screen for the Suns game winner. He's been great the last stretch of games for Phoenix. He was a +39 the other day as well (edited: oops just seeing this mentioned above) and followed that up by playing 44 of 48 minutes in a win against the Cavs.

https://x.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1904391301371658342?t=h7KCTCA1G8KJlUkZYmzZKQ&s=19

https://x.com/realapp_/status/1901849369067884868?t=ngdGrNZ66MuMLXnkpiHU7g&s=19

https://x.com/DuaneRankin/status/1903306949195862364?t=iQ01UAr4V4DIkYVzHoHCBw&s=19

[wadesworld]

Oso just cleared out Lopez and Trent Jr. on a screen for the Suns game winner. He's been great the last stretch of games for Phoenix. He was a +39 the other day as well (edited: oops just seeing this mentioned above) and followed that up by playing 44 of 48 minutes in a win against the Cavs.

https://x.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1904391301371658342?t=h7KCTCA1G8KJlUkZYmzZKQ&s=19

https://x.com/realapp_/status/1901849369067884868?t=ngdGrNZ66MuMLXnkpiHU7g&s=19

https://x.com/DuaneRankin/status/1903306949195862364?t=iQ01UAr4V4DIkYVzHoHCBw&s=19

I love Oso.  But boy, if that "screen" is legal...

[muwarrior69]

Nice article on Ty.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/25/sports/tyler-kolek-gave-encouraging-glimpse-of-his-knicks-potential/

[JWags85]

Kolek has 16 assists (and 6 points) with zero TOs in 35 minutes over the last 2 games.  He's absolutely cooking in a distributing role out there in his limited minutes.  He's been lights out with KAT on the PnR.

[MuggsyB]

Kolek has 16 assists (and 6 points) with zero TOs in 35 minutes over the last 2 games.  He's absolutely cooking in a distributing role out there in his limited minutes.  He's been lights out with KAT on the PnR.

Bam.  Now he needs to develop a consistent J.

[BE_GoldenEagle]

https://x.com/BE_GoldenEagle/status/1904738169272389683?t=4L4XG4U1TnXc9GpHhtc2Gg&s=19

[MU82]

I love Oso.  But boy, if that "screen" is legal...

It was like every other uncalled moving screen in the NBA and college basketball. There's one on almost every play. It's very surprising the 1-2 times a game when one is called.

More importantly, it's great that Oso is playing in crunch time for a team fighting to get into the postseason. That's a lot of trust from his teammates and from Bud. He has earned it.

Great to hear TK finally getting some run from Thibs, too.

[tower912]

OMax was getting more minutes prior to his injury.  Good for all of them.

[MU82]

Thibs on TK: "He's a gym rat."

I mean ... duh.

[MU82]

Kam will soon be a former Marquette player in the NBA, so I thought this was as good a place to put mock draft stuff related to him ...

His months-long shooting slump appears to have hurt his standing in the eyes of observers, as he has fallen out of the first round of most mocks I've seen.

Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports updated his 60-player "big board," and had Kam at #53, saying:

Jones offers crafty combo guard skills with advanced shot creation and a blossoming playmaking feel. But his so-so athleticism and streaky shooting paint him as just a cog rather than the rare star upperclassmen set to enter the league.

O'Connor also provided a comparison or two for each player. For Kam it was
Donte DiVincenzo.

[The Sultan]

O'Connor also provided a comparison or two for each player. For Kam it was
Donte DiVincenzo.

That seems like a terrible comparison. DDV is very athletic and shot the ball way better from deep than Kam did in college. Furthermore DDV was never the primary ball handler at Nova.

[MU82]

That seems like a terrible comparison. DDV is very athletic and shot the ball way better from deep than Kam did in college. Furthermore DDV was never the primary ball handler at Nova.

I had the same thoughts about DiVicenzo's athletic ability. As for 3-pt shooting ... DDV's career percentage at Nova (.378) was not much better than Kam's career pct at MU (.366), but his final season (.401) was miles better than Kam's (.311). Kam did shoot .406 as a junior, so not sure if NBA types would say, "He's shot 40% so we think he can get there again if he doesn't have all the ballhandling duties" or if they'd say, "from 41% to 31% ... ugh!"

Anyhoo, I agree it wasn't a great comp.

[1SE]

Bam.  Now he needs to develop a consistent J.

Yeah - 2 for 13 from 3 over the last 7 when he's seeing significant minutes - hard to see how he sticks around in the association unless that turns around, no matter how many dimes he gives out - hope he find the shot.

[GB Warrior]

I'm guessing a team will see Kam as the off-ball shooting specialist and bank on traits that he showed when he wasn't the primary scorer and handler. Not sure that's a first rounder for an older senior but I think he'll get some run as a Malik Beasley if his junior shooting form returns