Not surprised

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Is anybody else not surprised at how well guys, particularly Sam, played last night?

Howard is a scoring machine, but I do think he shoots entirely too much and his dominating of the ball and poor decision making negatively affects the other guys on the team. Is he, at times, a great scorer? Of course. Is he a great guy to play with? That's debatable.

I believe Sam Hauser is a potential all Big East type player and has been for a couple years. But our guards (including Rowsey last year) do not put him in a position to succeed all the time. Is that on Sam? Wojo? Howard? I don't know the answer. I just think Howard is a huge conundrum...fun to watch, maybe not so fun to play alongside.

That was a cohesive, unselfish team that won last night.

By the way, Sacar is about as unappreciated a Marquette player as we've had in a long, long time. He brings it every single night.

[Goose]

IMO, the Hauser boys were licking their chops when Howard went down. There have been several times over the past month that I have felt Sam is frustrated with Howard and high shot output. Late in the Buffalo game it looked like when Sam got the ball he was going to pass it to anyone but Howard. No doubt in mind that Hauser boys are legit college big time college players.

[The Lens]

I've long held the belief that Markus is not selfish, he just doesn't know how to play otherwise.  He is what he is; an incredible scorer with limited court vision, below average handles and not much of a defender.  But all that being said there seems to be an incredible bond between Howard and the Hausers.  I've heard he's the 3rd brother, spends a lot of time in Stevens Point, etc.  I don't get the sense the team minds Markus being Markus.   

It's great to see others shine, but a truly deep run is going to require some Howard magic.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I've long held the belief that Markus is not selfish, he just doesn't know how to play otherwise.

This is a great way to put it. It's "his game."

I actually think Wojo has tried his damnedest to change it, even benching him at times last year, but a leopard can't change its spots.

[LloydsLegs]

I think that the Hausers love playing with Markus.  And vice versa. 

It also can be true that Sam enjoyed the opportunity to be the first option last night.

[Goose]

Guys

I do not think the Hauser's have any negative feelings towards Howard. My feeling is simple, all guys want the ball. From time to time, the Hauser's get shutdown on the offensive side of the ball, by a teammate, and getting frustrated would be normal, IMO. By not means do I think there is bad chemistry.

[BubbaWilliams]

IMO, the Hauser boys were licking their chops when Howard went down. There have been several times over the past month that I have felt Sam is frustrated with Howard and high shot output.

That's just silly. As soon as the clock went to 0, Sam ran straight to Markus and they gave each other a big hug. It was a beautiful sight.

[Goose]

Bubba
Read my last post.

[PGsHeroes32]

Yeah I'm not buying it.

Sure, Sam probably wants the ball more and I've even said we should run through him more.

But there's definitely no real animosity. Those guys are best buds.

It was great seeing Sam as the go to guy and relish the role(all though I didn't like that we had him wasting shot clock to do a Markus chuck at the end of it). Sometimes in games Sam doesn't seem 100% aggressive. It was great to see that when he needed to be the guy, he did it

[MU82]

So, just for clarification, are a few of y'all saying we're a better team without Markus?

[tower912]

Wojo has tacitly addressed this.  Paraphrasing.. we have a thick playbook.  But when Markus gets that look in his eye, we throw out the playbook.   

You do that for a transcendent scorer.  Last night, they went back to the playbook, ran the sets, and played ball.  Celebrate that the team stepped up and took a big step forward.  Don't invent a rift that doesn't exist in nature.

[NickelDimer]

I'm not surprised that Sam's production sky rocketed with MH's absence, but I put his lack of production while Markus is on the floor more on Sam than Markus. He defers too often. Hopefully last night was a big reminder for himself that if he's aggressive good things happen

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

So, just for clarification, are a few of y'all saying we're a better team without Markus?

No

[StillWarriors]

I've long held the belief that Markus is not selfish, he just doesn't know how to play otherwise.  He is what he is; an incredible scorer with limited court vision, below average handles and not much of a defender.  But all that being said there seems to be an incredible bond between Howard and the Hausers.  I've heard he's the 3rd brother, spends a lot of time in Stevens Point, etc.  I don't get the sense the team minds Markus being Markus.   

It's great to see others shine, but a truly deep run is going to require some Howard magic.

The challenge for Markus in my view is figuring out when to share the ball. He has a unique ability to create shots that most guys can't. On top of that, he hits a good percentage of the shots he takes. I don't remember the exact quote, but a NBA player once said the most amazing thing about Jordan is not the 35 pts he scores a night, its the fact he can get free to get up the number of shots he is able to despite everyone trying to shut him down. I'm not comparing Markus to Michael obviously, but I think there is a learning process in terms of not every shot you "can" take being a shot you "should" take. I have seen numerous times this year where Sam in particular is spotted up in a corner wide open and Markus either takes a tough shot or pounds numerous dribbles trying to probe the D and get a challenged layup. Sam has shown frustration at that at times, but at the same time Markus often hits those tough shots so to me it's an ongoing process for Markus to make decisions on the fly rather than being one track minded at times not out of selfishness, but just being focused on what he is trying to create. The multiple weapons we have with quality spot up shooters is a huge strength of the team that we probably could utilize a little more, but Markus is so good at times it almost becomes irrelevant in those instances.

[Loose Cannon]

Wojo has tacitly addressed this.  Paraphrasing.. we have a thick playbook.  But when Markus gets that look in his eye, we throw out the playbook.   

You do that for a transcendent scorer.  Last night, they went back to the playbook, ran the sets, and played ball.  Celebrate that the team stepped up and took a big step forward.  Don't invent a rift that doesn't exist in nature.

Plus Tax.

[MU82]

Lotsa Scoopers clamor for Wojo to sign 5-stars. What do they think most 5-stars like Markus (who might have been a 5-star if he hadn't reclassified and certainly plays like a 5-star now) and Henry do? They dominate the basketball. They didn't become 5-stars by setting screens and handing the ball to teammates. That's what Heldt and Derrick Wilson are for. You want a 5-star, you have to expect him to play like a 5-star.

Markus is who he is. A ball-dominant, shoot-first PG. When he is in a zone, he is going to keep firing -- and thank goodness.

[wadesworld]

So what you're saying is when one star on a team goes down other people produce more?  Well damn!  That's crazy!

You don't just assume, "Well, Markus is out, subtract his 26 points plus the 8-16 points we'd get from his turnovers from our final score."  Opportunities open up for other players when a star goes down.  That's the least surprising thing ever, so no, I don't think anyone is surprised.  When Giannis is out guys like Bledsoe, Brogdon, Middleton, and Lopez have the opportunity to step up.  That doesn't mean Giannis makes Bledsoe, Brogdon, Middleton, and Lopez worse, it just means they might score a bit less, but also score more easily when Giannis is in.

That game is never in doubt if Markus plays last night.

[MU82]

That game is never in doubt if Markus plays last night.

This. We'll never know, of course, but I'm guessing we win by 10+ if Markus is 100%.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

I think to say MU is a better team without Markus is foolish.  What i think could be said is if Markus had better court vision and a little more willingness or ability to pass we may be even better. 
Often times, Markus has wide open teammates, especially in PNR situations, yet forces up a difficult shot.  As was demostrated last night, the roller, theo, is often absolutely wide open for dunks on those situations.  A few more pasees gets everyone involved and helps engage his teammates offensively and defensively.
Now when Howard is going off its one thing, but on the other 10 games this year or the 7-28 nights, maybe kicking to a Hauser or even looking at a roller would make us a better team in my opinion.
If we had a compitent second ball handler looking to facilitate and Marcus off the ball i think we are a better offensive team.  But that is not who we are this year.

[MUfan12]

I'll be totally honest, I had a similar thought last night after the game.

Markus was really forcing things at the end of the Hall game, and put the blinders on a little bit. It'll be good for him to know that his guys are capable of making winning plays, and that he doesn't have to do it all.

[Lennys Tap]

This. We'll never know, of course, but I'm guessing we win by 10+ if Markus is 100%.

Obviously we're a better (and more dangerous) team with Markus. With him in the lineup we can (not should, but can) beat anyone. Without him, several teams would be out of our reach.

The most likely scenario last night is the one you propose - with Markus, we cruise. But every once in a while bad Markus shows up and he's a net negative - so there is a scenario (5-22 fg, 5 TOs) where Markus plays last night and we lose. Unlikely, but possible.

[Cheeks]

So, just for clarification, are a few of y'all saying we're a better team without Markus?

We are a better team when all are involved, which has been my comments for the last few months.  We would be lights out if you could cut Howard's shots by 20% and distribute them to the others.

[muwarrior69]

What this game revealed is that even if a team can shut down Markus we can still win.

[MUfan12]

What this game revealed is that even if a team can shut down Markus we can still win.

If they shut Markus down and he still dominates the ball, MU is probably gonna lose.

[avid1010]

IMO, the Hauser boys were licking their chops when Howard went down. There have been several times over the past month that I have felt Sam is frustrated with Howard and high shot output. Late in the Buffalo game it looked like when Sam got the ball he was going to pass it to anyone but Howard. No doubt in mind that Hauser boys are legit college big time college players.

I've observed the same thing out of Sam and Joey.  They've both let Markus know when they were open and he missed them, and I'm sure that plays out in the film room with the team as well. 

Last night was the most enjoyable MU basketball I've watched in a long time.  That said, I thought the first half of the Hall game was a great half of basketball by MU, and Markus looked as close to a scoring PG as I've seen from him...in the 2nd half it was a regression.  If Markus can play like he did in the first half of the Hall game...MU is going to be tough.