Exploitation of a Markus

[skianth16]

The continued unappreciation of Markus Howard amazes me.

I go very back and forth with him at times, often even within the same game. His ability to score is incredible. He makes some of the hardest shots in basketball look so easy. And his defense has really gotten better over the years, which I give him a ton of credit for. He's often super active off the ball too, which takes a ton of effort and yet he's still playing the most minutes on the team.

The downsides are real too, though. Too many of his passes are forced or not timed well, resulting in turnovers or disruption of the offense. The same thing is often true of his ball-handling; he gets his pocket picked more often than most guys who handle the ball as much as he does. Some of those tough shots he gets praised for making are also just plain bad shots, and  missing those shots can look like he's playing undisciplined basketball. And when we rely on Markus so heavily, some of these negatives feel amplified, especially in close games.

[lawdog77]

We must have been watching different games.

I would agree he held his own, but only in respect to his offensive abilities offsetting his defensive liabilities.

I am certainly not suggesting that the loss was all on Markus, but PCs exploitation of him on defense was a considerable factor.

I count one time he was beaten in the half court.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPf0zt9UNio

Edit. twice. Once on a push off and the other didnt get through a screen.

[WhoaJoe2020]

I count one time he was beaten in the half court.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPf0zt9UNio

Edit. twice. Once on a push off and the other didnt get through a screen.

Is that 4 minute highlight reel supposed to be your supporting evidence?

I was not referring to Markus being beat off the dribble, I was referring to him being isolated in the post. It didn't happen as much later in the game so I don't know if Wojo made an adjustment on defense or if PC was running something different on offense. PC also exploited him on offensive rebounds for several second chance baskets.

[The Sultan]

I go very back and forth with him at times, often even within the same game. His ability to score is incredible. He makes some of the hardest shots in basketball look so easy. And his defense has really gotten better over the years, which I give him a ton of credit for. He's often super active off the ball too, which takes a ton of effort and yet he's still playing the most minutes on the team.

The downsides are real too, though. Too many of his passes are forced or not timed well, resulting in turnovers or disruption of the offense. The same thing is often true of his ball-handling; he gets his pocket picked more often than most guys who handle the ball as much as he does. Some of those tough shots he gets praised for making are also just plain bad shots, and  missing those shots can look like he's playing undisciplined basketball. And when we rely on Markus so heavily, some of these negatives feel amplified, especially in close games.

If he could only be perfect!

[lawdog77]

Is that 4 minute highlight reel supposed to be your supporting evidence?

I was not referring to Markus being beat off the dribble, I was referring to him being isolated in the post. It didn't happen as much later in the game so I don't know if Wojo made an adjustment on defense or if PC was running something different on offense. PC also exploited him on offensive rebounds for several second chance baskets.

that was every Providence score. Not once was he posted up for a basket,. In fact he was rarely ever in the pain, much less exploited.  I thought he played a pretty good defensive game.

[WhoaJoe2020]

that was every Providence score. Not once was he posted up for a basket,. In fact he was rarely ever in the pain, much less exploited.  I thought he played a pretty good defensive game.

I didn't say he was posted up. He wound up isolated in or near the paint due to whatever Providence was running and guys made easy shots over him. They also got several offensive rebounds over him for second chance baskets. I stated that Wono must have made an adjustment and I believe I saw Markus switching up top later in the game rather than staying on one guy. Never the less, his lack of size was and will likely continue to be exploited.

[lawdog77]

I didn't say he was posted up. He wound up isolated in or near the paint due to whatever Providence was running and guys made easy shots over him. They also got several offensive rebounds over him for second chance baskets. I stated that Wono must have made an adjustment and I believe I saw Markus switching up top later in the game rather than staying on one guy. Never the less, his lack of size was and will likely continue to be exploited.

Providence made ONE shot over Markus. In my opinion, he was not exploited on the defensive end. They were physical with.him when we were in offense.

[skianth16]

If he could only be perfect!

Oh, I'd definitely like him more then!

The things he struggles with, are things you don't typically see as weaknesses in all-conference types of guys, let alone All-Americans, though. That's why I find him frustrating at times. Overall, he's a ton of fun to watch, and I know I'll find myself reminiscing the Markus Howard era in years to come.

[WhoaJoe2020]

Providence made ONE shot over Markus. In my opinion, he was not exploited on the defensive end. They were physical with.him when we were in offense.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

I do challenge you to go back and watch his defensive performance in the Villanova game and then watch his performance in the Providence game.
I'm not going to because I already focused on Markus' defense in both games live. I can't comment on the Creoghton game because I haven't seen it.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

It should be a crime.

I have this bad habit of focusing on Markus when he's on defense more than when he's  on offense.

In the Villanove game he more than held his own most of the game.

In the Providence game his lack of height was repeatedly exploited.

I didn't get to see the Creighton game so I can't comment on what happened there.

Cooley definitely had a plan to take advantage of Markus and now everyone else has video of it to study. Maybe he studied video of the Creighton game. I don't know.

What I do know, is that it happened too often and led to way too many easy baskets for Providence. It seemed like Wojo made some adjustment so Markus wasn't getting caught down low in a mismatch as much later in the game, but he was still out of position for defensive rebounds which he is generally very good at securing. This led to several offensive put backs by Providence.

Any feedback on Markus' defense in the Creighton game would be appreciated, as well as thoughts on how he and  the team match up defensively in upcoming games.

The really stupid posts flood out after a loss.  But hey kudos to Cooley for being the first coach to try to iso Markus.  Its amazing we havent seen it before.

[WhoaJoe2020]

The really stupid posts flood out after a loss.  But hey kudos to Cooley for being the first coach to try to iso Markus.  Its amazing we havent seen it before.

My point wasn't that it hasn't been done before..... It was that it was really glaring at times in the PC game and I wondered about the Creighton game. Villanova wasn't able to do it which made me wonder what Providence did differently. It's also why I asked about the Creighton game. I wanted to know if  Markus had held his own defensively in that game. Dumb I know, but I'm still curious. No one has answered my Creighton question yet.

[WhoaJoe2020]

that was every Providence score. Not once was he posted up for a basket,. In fact he was rarely ever in the pain, much less exploited.  I thought he played a pretty good defensive game.

That was helpful but incomplete, offensive rebounds and attempts where shooting fouls occurred were not included. I guess it's hard to explain just from seeing a 4 minute clip. I also didn't realize how many times Markus got stripped for fast breaks. Maybe that was skewing my opinion. Thanks for the link though.