Props to WOJO!

[Galway Eagle]

MU last ranked during Buzz's final year.  11/25/13; ranked #25 and dropped out after a loss to San Diego State.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/marquette/2014-schedule.html

I had the right team and conference but wrong team

[MU82]

please remind me when Haanif ?exceeded? expectations Freshman year?  Against the cupcakes maybe but I still have Iowa emblazoned in my brain.

8 on 4-5 shooting in 35 strong mins in upset at Wis.

17 vs Seton Hall.

16 on 5-7 shooting in upset at #8 Providence.

15 vs St. Johns.

17-6-3 in 38 mins at #6 Nova.

14 at St Johns.

21 at #6 Xavier.

21-6 in 43 mins in double OT win over #20 Prov.

17 on 7-13 in 31 strong mins vs #1 Nova.

15 on 5-6 shooting in a 1-point win vs Georgetown.

19 vs. St. Johns in BET.

14 vs #5 Xavier in BET.

I don't know about you, but going into his freshman year, I didn't expect all of that, so he definitely exceeded my expectations.

Maybe you expected a freshman who wasn't being recruited by every national power to come in here and do stuff like score 21 pts in back-to-back games against ranked Big East teams and to score 17 twice against Nova, but I sure didn't.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Congratulations to So no for a great win.  He blended the players well and ran the right defenses to control the game.

[rocky_warrior]

Congratulations to So no for a great win.  He blended the players well and ran the right defenses to control the game.

I'm guessing auto-correct got in the way of "Congratulations to Wojo for a great win..."

[TheyWereCones]

Sacar reminds me of Todd Townsend.

That's actually a really interesting comparison, if Sacar can prove that he can hit an open 3 occasionally.  Seems like Townsend always hit like one per game.  Sacar has looked terrible from 3 this year, both from a statistical standpoint and via the eye test.  His shot looks like a brick...nothing soft about it, and I think he's shooting like 7% from 3, with his only make on a 3 that hit the front of the rim, bounced straight up, and somehow found the net.

[Dr. Blackheart]

8 on 4-5 shooting in 35 strong mins in upset at Wis.

17 vs Seton Hall.

16 on 5-7 shooting in upset at #8 Providence.

15 vs St. Johns.

17-6-3 in 38 mins at #6 Nova.

14 at St Johns.

21 at #6 Xavier.

21-6 in 43 mins in double OT win over #20 Prov.

17 on 7-13 in 31 strong mins vs #1 Nova.

15 on 5-6 shooting in a 1-point win vs Georgetown.

19 vs. St. Johns in BET.

14 vs #5 Xavier in BET.

I don't know about you, but going into his freshman year, I didn't expect all of that, so he definitely exceeded my expectations.

Maybe you expected a freshman who wasn't being recruited by every national power to come in here and do stuff like score 21 pts in back-to-back games against ranked Big East teams and to score 17 twice against Nova, but I sure didn't.

His conference Orating was a below average 95.4 in Year 1 and 93.8 in Year 2.  His turnover rate was a whopping 25% both years in conference.  His usage rate was higher in Year 1 thus his points, although his EFG% was higher but still partisan. All in all, he didn't exceed expectations whereas as these Frosh are.

[jsglow]

Finally got to this after traveling yesterday.  I think 82's analysis is spot on.

[Nukem2]

That's actually a really interesting comparison, if Sacar can prove that he can hit an open 3 occasionally.  Seems like Townsend always hit like one per game.  Sacar has looked terrible from 3 this year, both from a statistical standpoint and via the eye test.  His shot looks like a brick...nothing soft about it, and I think he's shooting like 7% from 3, with his only make on a 3 that hit the front of the rim, bounced straight up, and somehow found the net.

As stated before, Sacar needs to get some air under all of his shots.  Sacar is much more athletic than Townsend was.

[MU82]

His conference Orating was a below average 95.4 in Year 1 and 93.8 in Year 2.  His turnover rate was a whopping 25% both years in conference.  His usage rate was higher in Year 1 thus his points, although his EFG% was higher but still partisan. All in all, he didn't exceed expectations whereas as these Frosh are.

Silly me. I just looked at a 3.5-star freshman regularly scoring 15-21 points against ranked teams and thought, "Wow, he's doing better than I expected."

I shoulda gouged out my eyes and had somebody read me advanced stats.

[GGGG]

His conference Orating was a below average 95.4 in Year 1 and 93.8 in Year 2.  His turnover rate was a whopping 25% both years in conference.  His usage rate was higher in Year 1 thus his points, although his EFG% was higher but still partisan. All in all, he didn't exceed expectations whereas as these Frosh are.

Interesting because we had one poster declaring he was going to be a "stud" after his freshman year.  But he didn't "exceed expectations???"

• Second best eFG% team since the Midgets.  Cheatham will be a stud.
• Worst rebounding team in at least 15 years. Need to correct that. Missed Teve.
• Played too fast and too loose at the guard position.  Haanif is not a PG, but Traci looks like he is the guy.
• This roster was not built to be physically Big East ready. A bigger if for next year too as it stands today.
• Hank lived up to his billing.  He will be missed.
• J3 most improved. Needs to play every possession on D
• Other freshmen played like freshmen but showed signs
• Luke, Du, Sandy, and JJJ (earlier) were shrinking violets at times, and SOTG at others.  Need consistency and strength.

Grade C:  At this point, out of NIT. Saw progression and growth in last quarter of season. Roster was built for finesse in a physical league. Depth hurt with so many youngsters so whiffing on graduate big body transfers hurt when Teve left that would have protected Luke and Henry, and helped us on boards. That said, Wojo is 4 out and 1 in on offense, and I think that scheme hurt MU on the O boards more than anything. With such poor offensive rebounding to go with all the turnovers, this team gave back too many possessions. The shooting was better than us fans have seen, and so generally has the defense.  Good road wins for the Thanksgiving tournament and Madison.  Not as good at home as we needed to be.  Growing pains gave us high and lows, but good memories.  We get a reset here in NYC.

[real chili 83]

I bet it'll get bumped this weekend when we win @ Butler Friday night.

Nope.  Won't bump it till we beat X and CU

[Lennys Tap]

I think Haani's problem is that he was a highly skilled player coming in, but didn't have a lot of upside.  He is a below the rim player, not very quick, and with an inconsistent outside shot.  I mean, what was he going to become?  Maybe a better shooter, but that didn't seem to happen.

Elliott, Cain, John and Sacar have legitimate upsides that I can see.

I agree with this analysis. And Haani wasn't really that good as a freshman. He has 2 guys (Henry and Luke) who occupied other team's rim protectors and gave him driving lanes wide enough for a truck. Without Henry, Cheathm's drives usually resulted in a wild miss or an easy blocked shot.

[MU82]

I agree with this analysis. And Haani wasn't really that good as a freshman. He has 2 guys (Henry and Luke) who occupied other team's rim protectors and gave him driving lanes wide enough for a truck. Without Henry, Cheathm's drives usually resulted in a wild miss or an easy blocked shot.

I didn't say Haani was "really that good." I said he exceeded expectations. I expected very little out of him, as is the case with most freshmen.

For example, I had much higher expectations for JJJ when he was a freshman, and a top-30 recruit IIRC. I also had much higher expectations for Vander, a 5-star.

Haani was rated what, around 80-100? I hoped he'd be good. I didn't expect him to score 21 in back-to-back games against ranked teams - no matter who was on the court with him.

I mean, Vander had some pretty good players on the court with him, too!

Really not trying to be argumentative here. Just saying Haani exceeded my expectations. Maybe others simply had higher expectations for him, though I don't know why they would.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Interesting because we had one poster declaring he was going to be a "stud" after his freshman year.  But he didn't "exceed expectations???"

So how does "Grade C "= Exceed Expectations? Haani was good, had potential, but in retrospect, fell short.  I await your analysis just like your Wojo defense of his New Age defense this year. 

[Dr. Blackheart]

Silly me. I just looked at a 3.5-star freshman regularly scoring 15-21 points against ranked teams and thought, "Wow, he's doing better than I expected."

I shoulda gouged out my eyes and had somebody read me advanced stats.

Heaven forbid a journalist use "advanced stats"...oh the horror!

[MU82]

Heaven forbid a journalist use "advanced stats"...oh the horror!

Oh, I'll use advanced stats sometimes ... even though I'm no longer a journalist. Been retired for quite some time.

Look Doc, your comment was:

please remind me when Haanif "exceeded" expectations Freshman year?  Against the cupcakes maybe ...

I then proceeded to remind you, listing a dozen games that weren't against cupcakes in which Haani played anywhere from good to excellent.

Finally, I explained that I had not expected him to come in as a freshman, start every game, make the BE All-Freshman team.

He even played well enough that one highly intelligent observer opined that he "will be a stud."

Maybe this future "stud" only met your expectations as a freshman; he exceeded mine. Maybe you expected him to score 21 points in consecutive games against ranked teams and play very well in several other games against ranked teams; I didn't. Maybe you considered Nova, X, Providence, Seton Hall and F%cky to be "cupcakes" in 2015-16; I didn't.

You can keep trying to claim whatever you want, but I'm thinking the facts back up my thesis a little better than yours.

Anyway ... how 'bout that Wojo?

[GGGG]

So how does "Grade C "= Exceed Expectations? Haani was good, had potential, but in retrospect, fell short.  I await your analysis just like your Wojo defense of his New Age defense this year. 

Your grade was for the team, not for Haani.

And I find it really hard to believe that a guy you declared was going to be a "stud" didn't exceed your expectations as a freshman.  Face it, you are viewing Haani's freshman season in a different light due to the last season and a half.

Whether or not you are doing that subconsciously or intentionally is a question only you can answer.

[WarriorDad]

Good to see some guys jumping on the bandwagon finally, though I expect a loss or two will bring out the crazies again.

[WarriorDad]

Figured people would already be off the bandwagon, but this guy is great.  He has the youngest team in the third best conference in the country playing well and playing with anyone.  Butler is almost unbeatable at Hinkle.  As these guys get older, stronger, they will become wiser and better defenders.

Future is so bright.

[skianth16]

Figured people would already be off the bandwagon, but this guy is great.  He has the youngest team in the third best conference in the country playing well and playing with anyone.  Butler is almost unbeatable at Hinkle.  As these guys get older, stronger, they will become wiser and better defenders.

Future is so bright.

There's some truth to getting these young guys to compete, but there's also something to be said for this kind of second half collapse and having no answers for their offense. That wasn't because our guys are young.

[tower912]

There's some truth to getting these young guys to compete, but there's also something to be said for this kind of second half collapse and having no answers for their offense. That wasn't because our guys are young.

It kind of was.  Elliott on Martin.  The only non frosh or sophomore who saw significant time in the second half was Rowsey.

[mayfairskatingrink]

Figured people would already be off the bandwagon, but this guy is great.  He has the youngest team in the third best conference in the country playing well and playing with anyone.  Butler is almost unbeatable at Hinkle.  As these guys get older, stronger, they will become wiser and better defenders.

Future is so bright.

Wojo hasn't been able to teach defense to players of any age at MU.  At this stage, it's safe to say he cannot coach defense to the talent level he's recruiting.

[tower912]

Missed you Tuesday.

[Class71]

Wojo hasn't been able to teach defense to players of any age at MU.  At this stage, it's safe to say he cannot coach defense to the talent level he's recruiting.

Disagree.

[skianth16]

It kind of was.  Elliott on Martin.  The only non frosh or sophomore who saw significant time in the second half was Rowsey.

Do you think the GE vs. Martin mismatch was because of age/experience? I think the difference maker there is Martin's 40-50 pounds and extra height and length. Experience plays a role, but, to me, the physical differences are pretty tough to overcome, regardless of experience.