John Fanta at MU practice

[shoothoops]

Not sure if posted elsewhere, but John Fanta has been in town for a few days w/MU Volleyball and MU hoops. He covers the Big East.

He has been tweeting all day at Marquette practice, showing video, etc for those interested.

@john_fanta

[Herman Cain]

Big Fan of John Fanta

https://twitter.com/John_Fanta/status/1176608142089687041

[NickelDimer]

Like this
https://mobile.twitter.com/John_Fanta/status/1176542077347389441

[4everwarriors]

Useta bee a fan of orange Fanta soda, hey?

[NickelDimer]

Nah doc, grape's where it's at

[jesmu84]

 

Early look at Marquette's starting 5:
Markus Howard
Koby McEwen
Sacar Anim
Brendan Bailey
Theo John

#mubb

And...

Marquette assistant Stan Johnson was working through Marquette's new-look offense to kick off today's practice session, and it is different. Increased focus on entry passes and paint touches. Jayce Johnson will be vital, and can create shots for others out of the paint. #mubb

[lawdog77]

]call me crazy, but I like that starting 5 more.than.last.years.

[Lennys Tap]

Like this
https://mobile.twitter.com/John_Fanta/status/1176542077347389441

Evidently Markus didn't get Chico's "Crap Shoot" memo.

[Marcus92]

Great notes from Fanta, encouraging comments about newcomers Koby (said he stands out, versatile player) and Jayce (can create offense passing out of the post).

[willie warrior]

Useta bee a fan of orange Fanta soda, hey?

Nah  too carbonated.

[IrwinFletcher]

]call me crazy, but I like that starting 5 more.than.last.years.

You are crazy.

I know we are all hurting a bit from Sam bolting, but lets not diminish how good he was.

[GooooMarquette]

Useta bee a fan of orange Fanta soda, hey?

I was watching a documentary of the "cola wars" between Coke and Pepsi, and learned the interesting origin of Fanta.

It was created by a Coke subsidiary in Nazi Germany, when Coke was prohibited from exporting its syrup to Germany. The German manager improvised by making a fruit flavored drink using whatever leftover fruit he could find (mostly apples). The name was based on the German word 'fantasie' for the imagination they used to solve the problem. After the war, Coke acquired the trademark and developed new flavors, with Orange being the most popular.

Oh, and it's cool that John Fanta is covering MU practices....

[Dr. Blackheart]

You are crazy.

I know we are all hurting a bit from Sam bolting, but lets not diminish how good he was.

I too feel it is a better starting line up, mainly because it is more balanced. Of course, MU will miss the Hausers, but they were the same players on the floor and neither were great at creating their own shots. This also created problems on defense. Sacar was forced to play the 2 which is not his natural position and Markus was forced to be the PG. Theo was usually in foul trouble two minutes into the game which brought in out of position Ed who was recovering from surgery. And, the bench didn't give consistent minutes which put a heavy toll on the starters. Yes, MU was a great trey shooting team.

Now, Wojo has much more quality depth in their natural positions which gives him match-up flexibility. Starting two combo guards, one who is 6'4" on defense who can be the primary ball handler. Guard bench depth strong, especially with Greg.  The 3 is Sacar, with Greg, Bailey or Cain to slip in depending on the hot hand. 4/5 is Theo, Jayce, Ed or Bailey depending on the match up.

So, yes I think the starting line up could be better than last year because of match-up flexibility. While we shouldn't be butt hurt over the departures, let's not also pretend that last year's line up didn't have some major flaws too.

[Pakuni]

Useta bee a fan of orange Fanta soda, hey?

[Marcus92]

I know we are all hurting a bit from Sam bolting, but lets not diminish how good he was.

I think you can both acknowledge how good Sam was -- and still think this year's team has the potential to be better.

Sam was key in helping Marquette to 24 wins, a second place finish in the Big East (just one game behind Villanova) and the highest seed in the NCAA tournament since 2013. Yet his teams also got blown out in their only two appearances in the Big Dance and lost 6 of 7 at the end of last season.

Let's start with Sam's strengths.

He was on the floor constantly, one of the best shooters in the country, MU's best defensive rebounder (19.5 DR% per KenPom) and a strong passer (14.5% ARate) who took care of the ball (11.9% TORate) and played good positional defense. To say his game was efficient (123.7 ORtg) would be an incredible understatement.

At the same time, Sam's offensive game was one-dimensional. Well over half his shot attempts were threes. He made more threes than he did two-point field goals. So he almost never got to the free-throw line (a FTRate of just 20.9% last season, worst on the team). He contributed next to nothing on the offensive glass (3.7 OR%). This contributed to the team's imbalance -- it was threes or nothing. If we were hitting, look out. If not, uh-oh.

Plus, as efficient as his offense was, Sam never exceeded 20% usage at Marquette. By KenPom's criteria, that made him a role player in the Marquette offense. His strength was as a spot-up perimeter shooter, not creating his own shot (either in the post or driving the lane). In transition, his only option was a pull-up three. This limited his contribution.

On defense, Sam was solid. Understood how help defense works, always aware of what was happening around him, knew where to be on the court, good post-up defender, could guard without fouling. But he was slow matched up against threes and could be exploited -- especially in space. I wouldn't call him a defensive liability. But I also don't think he was one of our five best defenders.

Which brings us to how MU could be better this season without Sam:

• Better team speed and athleticism
• Quicker, more versatile defense
• Greater backcourt depth
• Development by returning players
• More balanced offense
• Improved team dynamic

[Dr. Blackheart]

Ah, the Fantanas...whatever happened to them?

[Galway Eagle]

Ah, the Fantanas...whatever happened to them?

After that much Fanta I'd imagine diabetes

[brewcity77]

On defense, Sam was solid. Understood how help defense works, always aware of what was happening around him, knew where to be on the court, good post-up defender, could guard without fouling. But he was slow matched up against threes and could be exploited -- especially in space. I wouldn't call him a defensive liability. But I also don't think he was one of our five best defenders.

I think this is a good analysis of his defense. I always felt Sam was a good team defender, in that he understood the system and did what was required to be valuable on that end. He was not, however, a good individual defender. So if you have a good defensive team, Sam can be an asset, but if taken in isolation, he could be exploited.

I would compare that to Joey, who was neither a good team nor good individual defender. Joey was a liability in both regards because he didn't apply himself as well to the team defense concept. It's the reason that despite averaging fewer points, Sam was unquestionably a better player as a freshman than Joey was.

I think we stand to be much better on the defensive end with their departure because, at least on paper, we have the players who can excel both as individual defenders and within the team concept.

[muwarrior69]

I think this is a good analysis of his defense. I always felt Sam was a good team defender, in that he understood the system and did what was required to be valuable on that end. He was not, however, a good individual defender. So if you have a good defensive team, Sam can be an asset, but if taken in isolation, he could be exploited.

I would compare that to Joey, who was neither a good team nor good individual defender. Joey was a liability in both regards because he didn't apply himself as well to the team defense concept. It's the reason that despite averaging fewer points, Sam was unquestionably a better player as a freshman than Joey was.

I think we stand to be much better on the defensive end with their departure because, at least on paper, we have the players who can excel both as individual defenders and within the team concept.

...and perhaps score more points on transition than we have the last few seasons.

[duanewade]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ADXyu5ERSs&t=4s

[Marcus92]

Nice interview. Thanks for posting. Markus emphasized the same things that Wojo has so far: defense and balance.

[tower912]

It is desirable to have the best player and the coach on the same page.   

[Mr. Nielsen]

Useta bee a fan of orange Fanta soda, hey?

[Herman Cain]

I think you can both acknowledge how good Sam was -- and still think this year's team has the potential to be better.

Sam was key in helping Marquette to 24 wins, a second place finish in the Big East (just one game behind Villanova) and the highest seed in the NCAA tournament since 2013. Yet his teams also got blown out in their only two appearances in the Big Dance and lost 6 of 7 at the end of last season.

Let's start with Sam's strengths.

He was on the floor constantly, one of the best shooters in the country, MU's best defensive rebounder (19.5 DR% per KenPom) and a strong passer (14.5% ARate) who took care of the ball (11.9% TORate) and played good positional defense. To say his game was efficient (123.7 ORtg) would be an incredible understatement.

At the same time, Sam's offensive game was one-dimensional. Well over half his shot attempts were threes. He made more threes than he did two-point field goals. So he almost never got to the free-throw line (a FTRate of just 20.9% last season, worst on the team). He contributed next to nothing on the offensive glass (3.7 OR%). This contributed to the team's imbalance -- it was threes or nothing. If we were hitting, look out. If not, uh-oh.

Plus, as efficient as his offense was, Sam never exceeded 20% usage at Marquette. By KenPom's criteria, that made him a role player in the Marquette offense. His strength was as a spot-up perimeter shooter, not creating his own shot (either in the post or driving the lane). In transition, his only option was a pull-up three. This limited his contribution.

On defense, Sam was solid. Understood how help defense works, always aware of what was happening around him, knew where to be on the court, good post-up defender, could guard without fouling. But he was slow matched up against threes and could be exploited -- especially in space. I wouldn't call him a defensive liability. But I also don't think he was one of our five best defenders.

Which brings us to how MU could be better this season without Sam:

• Better team speed and athleticism
• Quicker, more versatile defense
• Greater backcourt depth
• Development by returning players
• More balanced offense
• Improved team dynamic

I agree with this analysis.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Useta bee a fan of orange Fanta soda, hey?

Nah! Was a big fan of the old Orange Crush in an ice cold glass bottle with the textured finish.