Marquette allowing 59.8% of 2-pointers - 9th worst in country

[Vander Blue Man Group]

The weaknesses have been covered here.  A lot of it is related to limitations of the personnel.  Some of it is scheme. 

Howard and Rowsey are small and have trouble keeping their man in front of them but they need to be on the floor for their offense.  How can we hid their shortcomings? 

Sam seems to be ok defensively but I don't see him as a difference maker on that side of the floor.  And obviously he needs to play big minutes as well. 

Heldt has size but he's not particularly mobile and isn't much of a rim protector.  I'm sure Froling will help as another large body but I don't think he has a reputation as a rim protector.  If Theo can stay on the floor and improve as the season goes on that will help. 

I think Sacar has some potential defensively.  I thought he looked pretty good at times last night but just had some pretty tough shots hit against him  This is an area where will miss HC on the wing.

Elliott clearly has length and wants to play defense.  I think he can be a stopper as soon as next year.  Cain has potential as well.  They both need to get stronger.  However, you can't really expect too much from freshman on the defensive end.   

So what do we do to hide our deficiencies to at least try to improve a bit?   

[Silkk the Shaka]

I think that's a bit unfair.  MU was #274 defending the three last year.  Much better this year.  It's the 2pt defense that's killing us, #343 (worse than last year #225).  Despite all this, our overall defense so far is marginally better at #137 vs #165.  There's a the chance that Heldt and John improve, and Froling helps all those numbers.

Plus Cain & Elliott are long, athletic, and have the highest steals rates on the team by a decent margin. Thier increased PT should help on top of what you noted.

[Dr. Blackheart]

MU has crossed the Mendoza Line on defense. Now #158 in overall defense (KPom), despite a pretty good effort today versus UGA. Just continue to get killed in the paint.

[GE911]

I remember when a former coach use to talk about “Turkeys”. I don’t know if this team has had one all year.