20-7

[tower912]

MU's current record against teams not seeded 1-2 in the NCAA tournament.    Which says to me...
1.   MU is a good but not great team.
2.   MU's schedule was tough
3.  0-6 against 1-2 seeds.   All of whom are significantly more experienced and deeper.   
4.   MU was not that far away.     Considering the roster composition....

[GGGG]

The one thing the bad announcers said last night that was actually good was that you have to get old to win in college basketball.  (Unless you are full of one and dones.)

This team needs to get older.  It needs to mature physically and have more experience. 

[MU82]

Nice, optimistic post.

I agree that we are not far away.

Get the defense to at least the median point among P6 teams and get better with experience, and that will get us darn close to where we need to be. I've also been part of the "we need better PG play" crew, too.

[tower912]

The Big East is not a league for freshmen.     

[Goose]

Good news, the team will be a year older next season. I will be anxious to see how that plays out. IMO, the experience thing has been Wojo's talking point all season and the announcers ran with it. Again, good news is next year will be one year closer to not being too young. My only issue on the entire discussion comes down to talent. At this point I simply do not see the talent level being able to compete with 1-2 seeds next year. I get guys get better, but few get more talented.

[tower912]

I see young, skinny talent.  In the next year or two, that becomes experienced, more muscular talent.   The Big East is a grown assed man league.   That Marquette was 9-9 in with by far the youngest team in conference.

[Goose]

Tower

I also see skinny, young talent, just not the level of talent many feel is there. The young guys are fine, but not much above fine IMO. They have played over thirty games and I have not seen major strides for the most part. Just curious, of the three young guys, does anyone feel they will be first team BE in three years? Howard had a big time scoring year and was second team, I believe.

[Marcus92]

Nice, optimistic post.

On MUScoop, that's the kind of post that gets beaten up in a dark alley and left for dead.

[tower912]

Tower

I also see skinny, young talent, just not the level of talent many feel is there. The young guys are fine, but not much above fine IMO. They have played over thirty games and I have not seen major strides for the most part. Just curious, of the three young guys, does anyone feel they will be first team BE in three years? Howard had a big time scoring year and was second team, I believe.

I see players who, as seniors could be similar to Seton Hall's seniors, minus Delgado.  Mix in Joey and Bailey and Eke.... get some guards.

[MUfan12]

I also see skinny, young talent, just not the level of talent many feel is there. The young guys are fine, but not much above fine IMO. They have played over thirty games and I have not seen major strides for the most part. Just curious, of the three young guys, does anyone feel they will be first team BE in three years? Howard had a big time scoring year and was second team, I believe.

Cain has made the biggest strides. Brain still moves faster than his feet sometimes, but he's much better than he was early in the season.

He's got the best chance to be an all-league guy, I think.

[tower912]

Goose, despite all you didn't see, Marquette is 20-7 against non 1-2 tourney seeds.  So either there is some talent, Wojo is a wizard, or all of college basketball is lousy.

[GooooMarquette]

Tower

I also see skinny, young talent, just not the level of talent many feel is there. The young guys are fine, but not much above fine IMO. They have played over thirty games and I have not seen major strides for the most part. Just curious, of the three young guys, does anyone feel they will be first team BE in three years? Howard had a big time scoring year and was second team, I believe.

Greg and Jamal are skinny. Theo definitely is not.

Jamal has show the most improvement, and therefore would seem the safest bet for all-BE. But Greg has been playing with one thumb so it’s hard to judge.

Whether or not Theo makes it to all-BE level, he will be a great asset because of his size.

[DCHoopster]

Cain has made the biggest strides. Brain still moves faster than his feet sometimes, but he's much better than he was early in the season.

He's got the best chance to be an all-league guy, I think.

I do not see it, better players in the league.  I can not see Cain even being the best player on MU.  Right now he travels a couple of times a game.
Looks like he is unsure what to do.  Not sure he can put on the weight to get stronger, his shoulder width is tiny.  He might be out-recruited next
year with Joey, will have to fight for time next year.  It is unusual for a player to be better from the 3 then the free throw line but he is right now.
Up to him to grow his game.

[wadesworld]

The freshman class is exactly the type of class you need to become a great college basketball team.  Do I think any of them become First Team All Big East?  No.  Do I think they will need to be First Team All Big East?  No.  I think they need to be tenacious, athletic complimentary players to the two classes that sandwich them, which each have players that I think could and/or will become First Team All Big East players in the future (Sam and Markus in the sophomore class, with Morrow and Sacar as great complimentary player to those two in that class, and Joey and Bailey in the class behind them).

You aren't going to get First Team All Big East players in every single class.  What players are First Team All Big East from Xavier's junior class?

Wojo's biggest issue has been his inability to keep classes like the freshman class together and in the program for four years.  If he can do that with these freshman we'll be in great shape going forward, assuming the addition of a ball handler along the way.

[Its DJOver]

I do not see it, better players in the league.  I can not see Cain even being the best player on MU.  Right now he travels a couple of times a game.
Looks like he is unsure what to do.  Not sure he can put on the weight to get stronger, his shoulder width is tiny.  He might be out-recruited next
year with Joey, will have to fight for time next year.  It is unusual for a player to be better from the 3 then the free throw line but he is right now.
Up to him to grow his game.

A freshman that has multiple travels a game.  Kinda like Matt and his multiple moving screens a game freshman year. That problem went away , I see no reason why Jamals won't too. What makes you think he can't put on weight? I would think thatd be the easiest thing to fix with his game. I also don't see him playing the same position as Joey, and he could very well be here after joey leaves, so I don't think being recruited over is a big problem.

[skianth16]

Cain has made the biggest strides. Brain still moves faster than his feet sometimes, but he's much better than he was early in the season.

He's got the best chance to be an all-league guy, I think.

This is exactly how I've felt about Cain. I think he's a good, versatile guy that will be a very strong two way player in a year or two. He obviously needs to bulk up a bit to be able to spend a little more time in the paint, but I think he's on a nice trajectory up. I can see him making an all Big East team by his junior or senior year.

[Newsdreams]

Goose, despite all you didn't see, Marquette is 20-7 against non 1-2 tourney seeds.  So either there is some talent, Wojo is a wizard, or all of college basketball is lousy.

Forget it we could be top 10 next year and he would find something to complain about.

[skianth16]

Greg and Jamal are skinny. Theo definitely is not.

Jamal has show the most improvement, and therefore would seem the safest bet for all-BE. But Greg has been playing with one thumb so it’s hard to judge.

Whether or not Theo makes it to all-BE level, he will be a great asset because of his size.

Does anyone know what the injury is that Greg's been dealing with? How limiting has it been? Is it more the actual injury that is likely affecting his play, or the brace he has to wear?

[tower912]

Wojo has said that Greg will probably need surgery after the season.  Guessing some kind of tendon tear.  IMO, If Duane and Hasn't had stayed, Greg would have red shirted and already had the surgery.

[MerrittsMustache]

Goose, despite all you didn't see, Marquette is 20-7 against non 1-2 tourney seeds.  So either there is some talent, Wojo is a wizard, or all of college basketball is lousy.

The 20-7 stat is fun but it's fairly empty. 15 of those wins and 3 of those losses came against teams that didn't make the tournament at all.

I'm not arguing that MU doesn't have talent or that they're "far away" but if MU wins one of those 6 games against 1-2 seeds, they'd be dancing.

[MUfan12]

I do not see it, better players in the league.  I can not see Cain even being the best player on MU.  Right now he travels a couple of times a game.
Looks like he is unsure what to do.  Not sure he can put on the weight to get stronger, his shoulder width is tiny.  He might be out-recruited next
year with Joey, will have to fight for time next year.  It is unusual for a player to be better from the 3 then the free throw line but he is right now.
Up to him to grow his game.

Here's what I see:

-Skinny kid who will bulk up with a full summer of weight training.
-Someone that still needs the game to slow down at times.
-Good outside shooter, who hasn't shot well in less than 1 FTA per game. That will improve.
-Excellent defensive awareness, with the length to be very disruptive in passing lanes and as a help defender at the rim.
-For a freshman, he has very good understanding of spacing and floor balance on the offensive end, and makes intelligent cuts to the basket.

You're right, it is up to him to improve. But he and Greg both have good understanding of the game, and the physical tools to be very good players.

[NCMUFan]

On MUScoop, that's the kind of post that gets beaten up in a dark alley and left for dead.

Marquette climb in the conference standings and individual guys making 1st, 2nd and HM Big East typically goes hand in hand.

[NickelDimer]

The difference in strength between a BE team and a Harvard was so incredibly noticeable last night. I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I should have. Being young (weak) is a huge detriment

[ZiggysFryBoy]

The 20-7 stat is fun but it's fairly empty. 15 of those wins and 3 of those losses came against teams that didn't make the tournament at all.

I'm not arguing that MU doesn't have talent or that they're "far away" but if MU wins one of those 6 games against 1-2 seeds, they'd be dancing.

And all of Villanova and X's wins came against tournament teams?  Everyone plays cupcakes and non-tourney teams.

The point is, MU did pretty good against everyone not named Nova, X & Purdue.  3 of the best damn teams in the country, but also half of our losses.

[tower912]

The 20-7 stat is fun but it's fairly empty. 15 of those wins and 3 of those losses came against teams that didn't make the tournament at all.

I'm not arguing that MU doesn't have talent or that they're "far away" but if MU wins one of those 6 games against 1-2 seeds, they'd be dancing.

So, Marquette is 5-4 against tourney teams other than 1-2 seeds.   That makes my argument fairly sound.