St. John's game thread

[GooooMarquette]

Its weird how people like to point out the Freshman's improvements, but think that someone, who could very well end up being the all time leading scorer in program history can't improve.  Is Markus as good of a true point as Rowsey right now? Absolutely not.  However, when Rowsey is playing to distribute, he is by far the best PG we've had since Dom.  Everyone expects the Freshman to continue to grow, but think that Markus can't.  Last offseason he developed the floater, why do people think that he can't improve his ball handling/vision?  There have certainly been times that Rowsey was a bad distributor, and clearly Wojo has gotten him to change his game. He is still a high volume shooter, but he has vastly improved his passing.  Why would we believe that Wojo can't get the same out of Markus.  There's a lot of talk about the improvements of Sacar, Matt, and Theo, so the ability to develop players is clearly there on Wojos part.  I realize that he hasn't shown it a ton yet as a PG, but does anyone really believe that Markus won't improve as an upperclassman?  Keep in mind that traditionally the biggest jump for players is from Sophomore to Junior year, or second year in the program to third year, see Sacar this year.

I never said that Markus can't improve, and certainly don't think that. In fact, I fully expect a hard-working kid like Markus to get better every season.

That said, I still see Greg as the more likely point next season for a couple of reasons. 
  (1) While he has his TO difficulties now, he is playing with an injured thumb on his dominant hand. His PG skills are likely already better than what he has shown, so he may not be as far away as we think.
  (2) It was clear coming into this season that we needed a PG. Neither Andrew nor Markus had shown them last season...so if Markus was going to work on his PG skills, he could have focused on that last summer. I have no idea if he did, but the opportunity was already there.

So yes, I expect that Markus will improve in many ways over the next two seasons...including as a passer and ballhandler. Still, of the two, I see Greg at the 1 and Markus at the 2.

[Floorslapper]

Love Greg Elliott as a prospect, but do not see him as a PG at any point in his career.  Greg shows great North/South/straightline speed, but I do not see Greg being laterally quick.  Ideal PG's can attack a defense and collapse a defense through both lateral quicks and straightline quicks.

Hard for a guy with Greg's build to be laterally quick.  As he gains strength, he will improve in this area.  Greg is the perfect wing/slasher, who can be capable to fill in as an emergency type of PG. Don't doubt the thumb is a factor for challenging Greg's ballhandling at present, yet a healed thumb won't affect his lateral quickness.

[Its DJOver]

I never said that Markus can't improve, and certainly don't think that. In fact, I fully expect a hard-working kid like Markus to get better every season.

That said, I still see Greg as the more likely point next season for a couple of reasons. 
  (1) While he has his TO difficulties now, he is playing with an injured thumb on his dominant hand. His PG skills are likely already better than what he has shown, so he may not be as far away as we think.
  (2) It was clear coming into this season that we needed a PG. Neither Andrew nor Markus had shown them last season...so if Markus was going to work on his PG skills, he could have focused on that last summer. I have no idea if he did, but the opportunity was already there.

So yes, I expect that Markus will improve in many ways over the next two seasons...including as a passer and ballhandler. Still, of the two, I see Greg at the 1 and Markus at the 2.

I have been high on Greg being the PG of the future for a while now.  I think it is a pretty big gamble to assume that you're getting a grad transfer next year and DJ Carton in 2019.  Could it happen? yes, but I'm not holding my breath. 
I think his height will be able to make up for the fact that he doesn't have the handling skills yet, and yes, we haven't yet seen him run point with two healthy hands.  As the roster stands right now, I agree that our best line-up would have Greg at the 1, Markus at the 2, but Markus sliding into the 1 when Jamal, or Sacar (who should be first off the bench) come in.

[Its DJOver]

Love Greg Elliott as a prospect, but do not see him as a PG at any point in his career.  Greg shows great North/South/straightline speed, but I do not see Greg being laterally quick.  Ideal PG's can attack a defense and collapse a defense through both lateral quicks and straightline quicks.

Hard for a guy with Greg's build to be laterally quick.  As he gains strength, he will improve in this area.  Greg is the perfect wing/slasher, who can be capable to fill in as an emergency type of PG. Don't doubt the thumb is a factor for challenging Greg's ballhandling at present, yet a healed thumb won't affect his lateral quickness.

I'm curious to learn what position that you thought Greg played in high school?  I know the level of competition was lower, but with the frontcourt depth we have going forward Greg is only going to get minutes as a guard.

[Floorslapper]

I'm curious to learn what position that you thought Greg played in high school?  I know the level of competition was lower, but with the frontcourt depth we have going forward Greg is only going to get minutes as a guard.

Greg plays the 2.  Simple.  Markus at PG next year.  Same formula we are currently using with Markus sidelined, except next year you plug Markus into the current Rowsey role.

[Its DJOver]

Greg plays the 2.  Simple.  Markus at PG next year.  Same formula we are currently using with Markus sidelined, except next year you plug Markus into the current Rowsey role.

So your plan is to have Markus play 38 mpg with the depth we have.  Not happening unless there are multiple transfers out, and no grad transfer.

[Floorslapper]

So your plan is to have Markus play 38 mpg with the depth we have.  Not happening unless there are multiple transfers out, and no grad transfer.

My plan is that Markus is the primary PG.  NOT Greg.  Greg can fill a backup role to give Markus a breather for 5-10 minutes a game.  BUT, I do not want Greg running PG for 30 minutes a game. 

A grad transfer PG would be great, BUT, bring one in and the PT for Greg and Jamal will suffer.  Not sure I'd rock that boat as I want to see Greg and Jamal gain a lot more experience next year.  We should be really good next year.  BUT, the 2019-2020 team could be exceptional with Sam, Markus, Morrow, Sacar as seniors.  Greg, Jamal, Theo as HIGHLY EXPERIENCED Juniors.

This is could be a delicate roster management/player personnel issue once again.

[Its DJOver]

My plan is that Markus is the primary PG.  NOT Greg.  Greg can fill a backup role to give Markus a breather for 5-10 minutes a game.  BUT, I do not want Greg running PG for 30 minutes a game. 

A grad transfer PG would be great, BUT, bring one in and the PT for Greg and Jamal will suffer.  Not sure I'd rock that boat as I want to see Greg and Jamal gain a lot more experience next year.  We should be really good next year.  BUT, the 2019-2020 team could be exceptional with Sam, Markus, Morrow, Sacar as seniors.  Greg, Jamal, Theo as HIGHLY EXPERIENCED Juniors.

This is could be a delicate roster management/player personnel issue once again.

I guess we'll just agree to disagree about the PG situation concerning Markus and Greg.  Get as grad transfer and it won't matter.

As for the roster, what happens, happens.  Wojo will play the best players, and others may not be happy about it and transfer, the younger players may look and see that if they stick around they will be the stars of the show as Seniors.  We can't predict the pace of different players development, or how happy they are in a supporting role.  We can try, but we can't know for sure.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Don't think so.  But, he can definitely get down and slap the floor.

Then it's obvious he'll never know as much about coaching as you.  Or frozen yogurt.

[brewcity77]

I have been high on Greg being the PG of the future for a while now.  I think it is a pretty big gamble to assume that you're getting a grad transfer next year and DJ Carton in 2019.  Could it happen? yes, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think the grad transfer will depend on how much movement there ends up being, but I think we'll be as much a player for those guys as anyone. There are a lot of potential options out there.

As far as 2019, I don't think the staff is holding their breath either, which is why we are also in on Rocket Watts, Tyrese Maxey, Mario McKinney, and other guards. There are a lot of options in that class that we're looking at. I'd love Carton, but they are kicking a lot of tires.

[Its DJOver]

I think the grad transfer will depend on how much movement there ends up being, but I think we'll be as much a player for those guys as anyone. There are a lot of potential options out there.

As far as 2019, I don't think the staff is holding their breath either, which is why we are also in on Rocket Watts, Tyrese Maxey, Mario McKinney, and other guards. There are a lot of options in that class that we're looking at. I'd love Carton, but they are kicking a lot of tires.

I admit that you know much more about grad transfers than me, and Wojo has a good track record with them.

As for 2019, Carton is the only realistic target right now that I would feel comfortable giving the keys to day one, which is what would be the case if Markus and Greg both prove ineffective at PG next year (big "if" IMO).  Overall the future of PG situation isn't a huge problem, mostly because I believe that Greg will be able to get the job done, but with all of the other talent we should have in 18-19, and 19-20, and the PG position being the most important in the college game, a good to great PG is the only thing missing from a couple of very good teams in the near future.