UWM game thread

[DJO's Jaw]

I have no clue how UW-M is supposed to be this year, but Sammy looks reaaaal good. Who knows, maybe he's the better Hauser brother. Although if you ask Bucky fans, we only recruited him to get Joey.

They were last place in the Horizon League going into their conference tournament last year, so they're probably not stellar.

[rocket surgeon]

Haanif not yet cleared to play.

ohhh...never mind, but thanks

[PGsHeroes32]

They were last place in the Horizon League going into their conference tournament last year, so they're probably not stellar.

They did win it tho

[DJO's Jaw]

They did win it tho

Nope, lost in the championship game. But they did make a bit of a run, you're right.

[PGsHeroes32]

Nope, lost in the championship game. But they did make a bit of a run, you're right.

Dammit forgot they lost that game late.

[Herman Cain]

Game tracker showing Sam with double double now 27/10

[DJO's Jaw]

Sandy Cohen and some of his UWGB teammates were at the game. I saw a group of them as I was leaving the Al.

[dajudge]

Game tracker showing Sam with double double now 27/10

My son was right
Sam is going to play in the nba
Joey’s commitment looks pretty solid (not that anyone thought it wasn’t!!!)
Sat behind he and his family
Decked out in mu shirt
He and his mom into it
John and Cain are going to contribute significantly this year

[MUdmb]

Just back from the game, some observations and mostly they echo was has been said before...

They didn't get killed on PnR which was refreshing to see.  Eke got burned once late but generally coverage was much better.  Blitzed a bunch of screens and it delayed ball reversal and they covered the roller and/or post entry.  Granted it was UWM however they were talking much better and I think the team defense on PnR wont be a disaster like last year.

Elliot, Cain, and John will all contribute....

John is already a grown arse man.  He rebounds with authority and refuses to get pushed around.  In the second half there was a chippy play underneath and there was no doubt John wasn't going to get the short end of the stick.  He already reminds me of an old school Big East Power Forward. Yes some rough edges, but he will be a 4 year player and a very good one at that.

Elliot and Cain both bring length and bounce that this team has missed for a while. Elliot just seems to have a high IQ and when his physical strength catches up it will be fun to watch.  Cain fouled out but a few calls were ticky tack especially the offensive charge after he collected a rebound and attempted to draw contact going back up.  He did drill a 3 as well. Both players got to the rim. 

Hauser...wow...he will never be the tallest, quickest or strongest player.  However if anyone has a higher basketball IQ please show him to me.  Always in the right place at the right time, combine that with his extremely high level skills and he is just as fun of a player to watch as MU has had in a long time.

I think this team might lose some games it should win however when they get to full strength this is going to be a fun season.

[Logi4three]

Theo is a man around that rim. Can’t believe he is a freshman.

Anyone see what happened to Rowsey with 2:25 left in game? Looked like he stubbed his toe. They briefly looked at him on the bench, but then ducked underneath and was noticeably limping. He came back and seemed fine, but didn’t see him walk in or leave after the game.

[Tums Festival]

Final score?

[Herman Cain]

Final score?

Here is the final Game Tracker, with stats, 78-63.
http://www.gomarquette.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mbaskbl.html?event=1579890&school=marq&sport=mbaskbl&camefrom=&startschool=&

[LoudMouth]

Final score?

78-63 good guys

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I have no clue how UW-M is supposed to be this year

Middle of the pack Horizon team.  200 to 250 KP team. Call them a solid but not challenging buy game

[MUEng92]

Ok.  I was going to share my update on qg and timing of his announcement.   But I will hold that for now.

Sooo...we were just kidding right? At least I was kidding...

[naginiF]

MU 3-12 inside the arc. Miss Luke already.

Careful.....after Mr. Sand Knit gets done berating Herbalife Gran Canaria fans for liking Luke's abilities he's coming after you.   

[brewcity77]

Post game thoughts:

• Defense was better. Quicker closeouts, better pick and roll, but what stood out was active hands. Guys routinely had their hands up, which took away passing lanes. One deflection that stood out was by Rowsey, his back was turned and he never saw the ball, but he deflected it out of bounds because his hands were up. Took away an easy layup.
• Sam is so smart out there. In the right place for rebounds, knows when to pass and when to shoot. It's hard to believe Joey could be better.
• Theo will frustrate us some this year. A bit reckless with fouls, then draws one and clanks two FTs. His shot generally needs work, he just has too strong a touch (FT and from the field). But he's a grown man, will be tough in the post, and when he's on, will be tough to stop. And once he gets done experience...
• Rowsey is unquestionably the point guard, Markus is the shooting guard. AR always brought it up. When he went out late, Elliott took over PG duties, though Howard was on the bench.
• Eke is all arms and legs out there. Great frame to add weight, but I expect little this year.
• Elliott and Cain will play, but they look like subs. Quick hands, athletic, but neither is polished. Greg in particular may have been trying too hard. I don't think the time is now for either of them.
• The offense couldn't buy a bucket early. Defense kept us close enough early so once the shots did fall, we quickly tied it then took the lead.
• Anim needs polish, but does a lot of nice things. Good defense, quick and rangy.
• We finished poorly in traffic. I think much of that was young guys playing a bit out of control, but it was new guys too. Part of it was trying to be fancy, but we didn't do a good job anticipating the contact and dealing with it.
• Sam is the leader on this team. On the court, he led the huddle while also pointing out defensive assignments for the freshmen.

[wadesworld]

First and foremost thanks to We R Joey 2MU for the great tickets.

Wojo coaches the team extremely hard and demands a lot out of them.

Sam might need to play 39 MPG in the BE this year. I said after the Vandy game last year he’s our next NBA player and everything I’ve seen since then has only further confirmed my thought. My only question now is whether we get 4 years out of him. Also, if Grimes were to commit he could beat Sam to the NBA. The guy does everything right on both sides of the floor. He can guard everything from the 1-4 well enough. He’s starting to put the ball on the floor. He’s a more dynamic, slightly shorter Novak.

Howard and Rowsey can shoot the ball. At times I thought they passed up on some opportunities to shoot it to put the ball on the deck. Neither looked great trying to finish among the trees in my opinion.

Theo is a man. He was the best true big by a decent margin for MU. He will get a lot of run this year.

Elliot is long and gets at you defensively. He seemed to have understood the defensive concepts pretty well given he has only been in the program for a few months. He will contribute.

Eke and Cain were both thinking about what they should be doing more than just playing it seemed. The athleticism and length is impressive. I don’t expect much of a contribution this year.

Heldt works hard and is a big body.

I was hoping to see more out of Anim based on the comments from the open practice. He wasn’t bad but he didn’t stand out to me. Definitely athletic enough and strong enough. He’ll certainly contribute but maybe not as much as it seemed.

The communication and defensive rotations seem to be much better already. The added length definitely seems to leave less open court on the floor. The staff was getting on the team to push the ball up the court on every defensive rebound.

Depth might be an issue. I think you need 2 of Sam, Rowsey, and Markus on the court at all times. When only one or none of them were on the court things got pretty sloppy.

Please join the MU family QG. With you, the sky is the limit.

I think I had the wrong guy pegged as BD. Seemed to be too busy keeping the younger kids around him entertained than would allow to have posted as much on Scoop. Though not certain.

[warriorchick]

Post game thoughts:

• Defense was better. Quick 5er closeouts, better pick and roll, but what stood out was active hands. Guys routinely had their hands up, which took away passing lanes. One deflection that stood out was by Rowsey, his back was turned and he never saw the ball, but he deflected it out of bounds because his hands were up. Took away an easy layup.
• Sam is so smart out there. In the right place for rebounds, knows when to pass and when to shoot. It's hard to believe Joey could be better.
• Theo will frustrate us some this year. A bit reckless with fouls, then draws one and clanks two FTs. His shot generally needs work, he just has too strong a touch (FT and from the field). But he's a grown man, will be tough in the post, and when he's on, will be tough to stop. And once he gets done experience...
• Rowsey is unquestionably the point guard, Markus is the shooting guard. AR always brought it up. When he went out late, Elliott took over PG duties, though Howard was on the bench.
• Eke is all arms and legs out there. Great frame to add weight, but I expect little this year.
• Elliott and Cain will play, but they look like subs. Quick hands, athletic, but neither is polished. Greg in particular may have been trying too hard. I don't think the time is now for either of them.
• The offense couldn't buy a bucket early. Defense kept us close enough early so once the shots did fall, we quickly tied it then took the lead.
• Anim needs polish, but does a lot of nice things. Good defense, quick and rangy.
• We finished poorly in traffic. I think much of that was young guys playing a bit out of control, but it was new guys too. Part of it was trying to be fancy, but we didn't do a good job anticipating the contact and dealing with it.
• Sam is the leader on this team. On the court, he led the huddle while also pointing out defensive assignments for the freshmen.

I agree with this analysis.

[21rooster]

My main takeaway: Theo John looked like the strongest 5 on the team, and it wasn't close.  The UWM big men could score at will when he wasn't in the game, but John's physicality took care of that.  It'll be interesting to see how he handles more skilled big men, but tonight was a great sign.  Based on this game alone, I think he'll be able he top frosh contributor this year.  He fits a need and looks like he's ready to contribute from the start. 

[TinyTimsLittleBrother]

I think I had the wrong guy pegged as BD. Seemed to be too busy keeping the younger kids around him entertained than would allow to have posted as much on Scoop. Though not certain.

Why are you trying to out him?  Don't screw this up.

[wadesworld]

Why are you trying to out him?  Don't screw this up.

I’m not. That’s why I didn’t say who I thought it was, and even if I had confirmed my suspicion I wouldn’t have posted who it was. Whoever it is has me stumped, because who I thought it was the entire time didn’t seem to be on his phone when BDs posts were popping up.

[moomoo]

For those not in attendance, here are the thoughts of the moomoo:

First and foremost, I get it. It’s a Horizon league team and it’s only one game—�but here it is.

Totally different vibe with this team. Much more vocal, much more passionate on defense, and much more unselfish.

Brace yourself, but we actually crashed the boards most of the night.

Theo is fierce. Loves to rebound on both ends and keeps it simple offensively.

Matt Heldt seems to struggle with his reaction time and as a result, did not impress. I still think his hard work, size and unselfishness will be very useful.

Howard and Rowsey. They seem to both drive more as opposed to settling for contested three point shots. It was a nice balance. And they both work so hard on both sides of the ball.

Sam is an amplified version of himself from last year. Bigger, faster and just better. Scary smooth and has intensity on rebounds unlike last year. I too saw Joey walking in. Sam looks like he has ten pounds of muscle on Joey now.

Sacar. Much better second half. He is so aggressive in every aspect of his game. And I hate to use the cliche of “he does things that don’t show up on the score card”, but he really does. Tough on D, goes hard on O.

Greg Elliot. I really like this kid. Rough shooting but he constantly attacked. Long arms was very disruptive.

Favorite moment from Greg came when 6foot 8 inch Vance Johnson was getting fresh with Theo John after the whistle. Theo and Vance were staring at each other and Greg was right there giving it to Lance with no one in between them. Tough kid.

Jamaal Cain. Has a nose for rebounds and likes to sky in for them. Nasty active on D too.

Ike Eke. Reckless (on a good way) and super quick in everything he does. So quick that a rebound that literally fell into his hands immediately fell out of them. Mark my words. He is going to frustrate the hell out of some big who is much more talented than him.  I hope it happens on December 9th.

Bottom line. I don’t care if it’s one game against a buy team. I like this new squad. A lot.

Ha parlato il moomoo.

The moomoo has spoken.

[Herman Cain]

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to play this game. It allowed the younger players to work through their first collegiate experiences in a cross town rival game. We still have the Northwestern secret scrimmage and the exhibition for the young guys to keep improving and building confidence. The emphasis on defense is going to pay off.  I am very enthusiastic about the coming season.

[MUfan12]

Some really optimistic posts, which is great, but I have some concerns.

I liked the PNR defense, but they gave up 60% 2FG, much of that coming at the rim. Still fouling a bunch as well, which I know is a point of emphasis from the staff.

A couple of things concern me offensively... first is the lack of a true point. It was ugly in the first 6 minutes or so, thankfully they were better in the second half. Second is finishing at the rim. The opportunities will be there, Theo had a bunch, as did Elliott. But will they be better against HM opposition? We'll see. I can see some bad scoring droughts if the threes stop falling.

Overall, they're about what I'd thought they would be at this point. Great chance to play a decent MM in front of a crowd, which will help them. Looking forward to seeing where they are a few weeks from now.