who else can score?

[tower912]

Since I could not watch the game, in the first half, did anybody throw their hands in the air or obviously pout when they didn't get the ball?

[jsglow]

Since I could not watch the game, in the first half, did anybody throw their hands in the air or obviously pout when they didn't get the ball?

No.  They marveled at the fact that Markus was in 'can't miss' mode.  He did have 1 or 2 possessions where he needed to get rid of the ball to teammates and turned it over when he didn't in a timely fashion.  He wasn't hogging.  He just wasn't creating for others.  It's something he continues to need to improve on.

Here's one thing that I really, really liked.  MU had multiple guys start the offense.  Often, Markus was in the corner as the designated shooter.  Now admittedly they need to clean up the turnovers.

[skianth16]

Yeah, this is a funny discussion. I get it's loyola-MD, but he made a lot of well-contested shots last night. When Markus is in god-mode (and he will be some nights) no one else should touch the ball.  But we already knew that.

The big question mark is what happens when he's "ordinary". Can the other guys step up? Will Markus share it with them? That's why the Hauser's left and what will determine the course of the season. We didn't learn anything more about that last night, but we probably will soon.

The bolded above is the topic of the thread. And it's a fair point after last night. This was a big question mark coming into the season, and after last night's game, the question remains.

As usual, we saw flashes of good things from several guys, but overall there were definitely a lot of kinks that were in the process of being worked out. I love Theo's confidence and ability to own the paint. Koby had some nice passes and seems to have good vision. Greg's outside shot looked pretty good. But we had way too many turnovers, a few ugly possessions/bad passes, some bad stretches of defensive effort.

So all in all, pretty typical first game, but with a big matchup coming next week, we'll need to have a more balanced output from the guys who aren't on the All American list.

[MUDPT]

I also don't think we showed much of our offensive sets last night. Lots of dribble weave at the top with a high screen. Rightfully so, less for our opponents next week to scout.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

How did Symir look?  I see TOs and PFs in the box, but curious of the overall assessment for those that could watch the game.  He is the only real PG on the team IMO so hoping he can develop quickly.

[The Sultan]

Symir looked good in small doses but he's not going to be a point guard on this team.  Maybe next year.

[wadesworld]

Symir has, by far, the tightest handle of Koby, Markus, and Symir (and Sacar, but I don't think he'll play much, if any, point guard this season).  He has good court vision.  But he's not really a threat to score at all.  He'll have limited minutes.  Other than Symir the guards were so loose with the ball I was at times wondering if the ball was overinflated.  Marquette's guards dribble very high, and the ball just bounces away from them at times.

[Its DJOver]

I'm not exactly sure what was wrong with first half Markus anyway.  When he's not hitting his shots, I get why you don't want him to bomb away.  But when he's hot, why wouldn't you want him shooting?  They scored 44 points and were up by nearly 30 at half.

Just to clarify, I didn't have a problem with most of his 1st half shots.  If he's hitting he should and does have the ultimate green light.  I do however think that kind of workload is unsustainable, and even if he's hitting he'll eventually wear down as the season progresses.

[NWarsh]

Just to clarify, I didn't have a problem with most of his 1st half shots.  If he's hitting he should and does have the ultimate green light.  I do however think that kind of workload is unsustainable, and even if he's hitting he'll eventually wear down as the season progresses.

True, and I think that is why I was encouraged to see so many sets where Markus was not the primary ball handler.  That shuold help with load management as the year goes on.  Like many here the turnovers concern me still as too many times our guards drove into the lane out of control.  Credit to Loyola-MD for having quick hands in there, but we need to do a better job of recognizing that and driving under control to a jump stop before trying to kick it out.  It is game 1, the coaching staff and players will learn from the film and we will see improvement.

[The Sultan]

Yeah I was hoping to see a little more action toward the basket.  But we will see as the season progresses.

[MU82]

I think it's reasonable that even those who love watching Markus and appreciate everything he does can legitimately wonder if we will get enough scoring from guys not named Markus Howard.

Last night's game provided some encouraging signs -- Elliott's shot looked smooth, McEwen confidently stepped into a couple, Bailey hit one, etc. I agree the offense was fairly vanilla; no need to show a whole lot against LoyMd.

When Markus is in Insanity Mode, I want him to shoot every time. When there is a 75% probability that he'll hit a 3 and a 33-50% probability that any other Warrior will score from anywhere, it's pretty easy to do the math. But, as others have said, it's not humanly possible for him to be in that mode very often.

Most surprising thing to me was the two times Markus was left wide-open in the corner (after he already had hit a bunch of 3s). He missed the first and drained the second.

So I am hopeful, but still have the normal "fanly" concerns given how unproven (as consistent scorers) most of the players are.

These next two games will tell a lot, as Markus will be dogged by good defensive players both games, and Purdue and Wisconsin no doubt will dare every other Warrior to beat them.

As for Symir, I liked the way he stepped in to take two charges. Got one call, didn't get the other; frankly, I thought he should have gotten both. His handle looked good. Still, he's a freshman, and at this point he's clearly behind several others in the rotation.

[Marcus92]

KenPom has ranked Marquette among the Top 3 most efficient offenses in the Big East during each of the past three seasons. But that's only gotten us so far: 2 NCAA bids, but 2 early exits from the tournament.

Scoring is about the last thing I'm worried about. Turnovers were a big concern last season; MU was 7th in the Big East in taking care of the ball. That's got to improve if this team is going to take the next step. And while Marquette made a huge jump defensively, there's a big difference between having a Top 50 defense and one that ranks in the Top 25 or better.

If the defense improves and we can cut down on turnovers, this should be Wojo's best team yet.

[Jay Bee]

This.  The shooting was absolutely fine.  The turnovers and some shoddy second half D, not so much.

The 2FG shooting was not fine. Gotta be better. We weren't good last year.. last night was rough. Would love to see us at 51-52% for the year, but not sure it's doable

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

The 2FG shooting was not fine. Gotta be better. We weren't good last year.. last night was rough. Would love to see us at 51-52% for the year, but not sure it's doable

This was my big concern after watching last night. I was hoping that adding McEwen/Elliott/Symir plus growth from Sacar/Bailey/Cain would mean better slashing. Shooting under 50% inside the arc against the Greyhounds is not ideal. On the flip side, three point shooting looked better than I think most expected. Defense and rebounding were excellent. Some of that is on the opponent but I didn't see them getting many clean looks other than one ugly stretch in the second half. Excited what Jayce can add to this already solid unit.

[Marcus92]

Jay Bee, are you doing another preseason preview like you did last year? I really enjoyed that one.

[Jay Bee]

Jay Bee, are you doing another preseason preview like you did last year? I really enjoyed that one.

Thanks... with this lag between games I may get to it

[tower912]

Poorly worded question.  Everyone CAN score.   Will there be a consistent second option this year?  Or, who will fill Sam's role?

[lawdog77]

Poorly worded question.  Everyone CAN score.   Will there be a consistent second option this year?  Or, who will fill Sam's role?

I have confidence that it will be Koby. Some teams have one lockdown perimeter defendet. Very few have two

[Marcus92]

I had no issues with the shots Koby took last night. He was driving aggressively, and got good looks, but they just weren't falling. Led to several offensive boards and put-backs. Sacar took more shots than Koby. We'll have to see how that develops.

The offense should look a lot different once Jayce is back. Assuming he's fully healthy, I think he's our strongest option down low. Ed and Theo did some good work inside, especially Theo's pick and roll dunks. But from what I've seen, Jayce looks to be a stronger post-up player. Adding him to the mix could help open things up for drivers and outside shooters.

I'm not sure who's the best candidate for #2 scorer. Could be any one of those 3 (Koby, Sacar or Jayce), depending on matchups.