Bitchin' Kamar-o

[Mods, Delete me please. 8/26/2020]

Studio guy said it: still waiting for Markus to make his teammates better.
Not gonna happen, Markus isn't that kind of player.  And it's going to be a problem come March. 

[tower912]

Announcers were then talking about all the things he does to make his teammates better.   6 assists in the first half.   Taking away help and creating space for others.   

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Studio guy said it: still waiting for Markus to make his teammates better.
Not gonna happen, Markus isn't that kind of player.  And it's going to be a problem come March.

Butler game had 2 versions of Markus - Selfish and the Distributor.

MU way more potent when MH is distributing and more fun to watch. 

 

[CTWarrior]

Studio guy said it: still waiting for Markus to make his teammates better.
Not gonna happen, Markus isn't that kind of player.  And it's going to be a problem come March.

It was weird, the studio crew had Markus selfishness as their announcing game plan from the start.  Before the game when talking about Anim they said Howard does not make his teammates better and Donny Marshall basically said the Hausers left because of his ball dominance.  Then they backtracked a touch daying it was a fine line when you are such a good scorer etc.  They mentioned it again at halftime and said they should take him off the ball and though I did not watch the post game, from the comments here they were on the topic again.

[tower912]

MU way more potent when MH is distributing and more fun to watch. 

Hey, we agree on something.   

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Hey, we agree on something.

I think we also agree that we both want to see MU succeed.  We just go about it in different manners.  My way is the Bill Belichick way.  Nothing is good until it's perfect.  I'm a total Red Ass. 

[Goose]

I did take note when Lavin said MU was one trick pony. Howard has to make better decisions and make other guys better. I had turned the corner a tad after St. John game, but I find him to be frustrating to watch at times.

[CTWarrior]

I did take note when Lavin said MU was one trick pony. Howard has to make better decisions and make other guys better. I had turned the corner a tad after St. John game, but I find him to be frustrating to watch at times.

I've been saying it since his sophomore season.  He is alternatively thrilling and infuriating to watch.  There is nothing more fun to watch than when he gets on a roll and goes into video game mode.  There is nothing more frustrating to watch than when he has stretches like the end of the game last night.  Even though he stopped scoring after getting hit on the head, he was still helping by drawing attention and letting the other guys get theirs.  But his taking back over at the end was very costly, and frankly, I think he does that because that is what Wojo wants him to do.

[tower912]

Yeah, I got the sense that Wojo handed him the ball with about 3 minutes to go and said get me a win.   

[Mods, Delete me please. 8/26/2020]

Announcers were then talking about all the things he does to make his teammates better.   6 assists in the first half.   Taking away help and creating space for others.

How about taking away help and then shooting thru 6-8 outstretched arms, at key moments in the game ? 6 assists yesterday doesn't mean he's a distributor.  Him driving and finding Sacar for a baseline 3 is the exception, not the rule. Listen, I get it.  He's a special scorer, we will never see this again at MU probably in our lifetimes.  I'm glad he's here, but I'm not seeing a deep run in March.  That's the direction Wojo decided to take this team.  Live and die w Markus Howard. 

[Goose]

CTWarrior

Problem with me is that the video game mode was not always needed. The Buffalo game last year was turning point for me. Great performance, but at what expense?
I never have got why a guy shooting on every possession for a period of time is good basketball. Furthermore, how many possessions has he taken 2,3 or 4 shots?

[hairy worthen]

I did take note when Lavin said MU was one trick pony. Howard has to make better decisions and make other guys better. I had turned the corner a tad after St. John game, but I find him to be frustrating to watch at times.

Howard is a phenomenal player when he gets others involved and doesn't force it. If he is going off for 40 or 50 it is fun to watch, but I'm not sure it is the best for the team. The thing is Wojo has had 3.5 years to coach him to be an effective team player with varied success.

[Goose]

hairy
I have read about the greatness of Howard for two year years on here and cannot completely disagree, but I have never seen a great player at MU being more polarizing to fanbase. He is a great scorer with a very long leash and that is it to me.
After last season I noted a lack of system in the Wojo era and I still think only system is having a chucker. Starter with Carlino and the trend has continued. Hard to be consistent team when that is your game plan.

[tower912]

I agree that Markus has a long leash, perhaps too long.    I disagree that Wojo doesn't have a system.    I have seen too many nice plays drawn up that get lay ups for JjJ, Haanif, Sacar (when he chooses to go to the basket), Koby.     Last night, that strong side three man game with Theo setting the high pick, Koby driving and Sacar set up in the corner while Markus was parked on the weak side preventing help was a really nice look.      As the season has gone on, I have been noticing much better picks, more players using them, high low pick action, Markus setting picks, etc.    It actually fills me with hope for next year, assuming the freshmen can pick it up.    Other than Markus in the last 3 minutes of regulation, there were very few bad shots last night.   MU got all the looks they wanted and missed some really easy ones.    Koby and Sacar simply have to get better at finishing at the rim and not dodging contact. 

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

hairy
I have read about the greatness of Howard for two year years on here and cannot completely disagree, but I have never seen a great player at MU being more polarizing to fanbase. He is a great scorer with a very long leash and that is it to me.
After last season I noted a lack of system in the Wojo era and I still think only system is having a chucker. Starter with Carlino and the trend has continued. Hard to be consistent team when that is your game plan.

On the flipside, it makes appealing to top recruits who want to be showcased.  If Wojo could instill discipline in the backcourt, you'd have 2x more conference wins this year + Howard would be a better overall player.  It's just sad to see that Discipline is the issue.  It's a very correctable trait, especially when you have a guy for almost 4 years.  MH isn't some one and done here. 

[cheebs09]

Markus has hurt himself like Davison from UW with constant flopping. Part of Markus' layup motion is falling on the ground. I think it hurts his ability to get calls.

That being said, they should have reviewed him getting hit in the head. Although, Theo probably could have gotten an F1 for poking the guy in the eye.

[NickelDimer]

I can still see an open Sam Hauser waving his hands vs SH as Markus throws up another missed shot at the end. You can almost trace his decision to transfer back to that sequence.

For as great as Howard is, and his greatness is undeniable, he's not clutch. The shot he took considering score and time was inexcusable. Wojo still hasn't figured out how to effectively coach offense in end of game situations   

[TSmith34, Inc.]

1. Howard insisting on being the reason we win or lose instead of it being a team win or loss.  I put the blame on him & Wojo.  He does not know when to stop chucking on games he doesn't have it.  That's on him during the game, and on Wojo for not correcting it AT ALL in 3.5 years.  For anyone who watched it, I thought the postgame comments about this from FS1 were fair and spot on.  If I'm the guy who was WIDE OPEN in the corner while Markus is hoisting a contested 3 in front of two defenders several feet behind the line with 10 seconds left and us down one, I'm getting on the bus annoyed after this game. 

Or writing a letter and entering my name in the transfer portal.

[CountryRoads]

I can still see an open Sam Hauser waving his hands vs SH as Markus throws up another missed shot at the end. You can almost trace his decision to transfer back to that sequence.

For as great as Howard is, and his greatness is undeniable, he's not clutch. The shot he took considering score and time was inexcusable. Wojo still hasn't figured out how to effectively coach offense in end of game situations

I sadly agree. He's actually the 4th player on the roster that I'd want with the last shot. The shot Howard took at the end of regulation was inexcusable. It was pretty similar to the seton hall shot but even had more time this time to make a play.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

It was weird, the studio crew had Markus selfishness as their announcing game plan from the start.  Before the game when talking about Anim they said Howard does not make his teammates better and Donny Marshall basically said the Hausers left because of his ball dominance.  Then they backtracked a touch daying it was a fine line when you are such a good scorer etc.  They mentioned it again at halftime and said they should take him off the ball and though I did not watch the post game, from the comments here they were on the topic again.

We better send the posse over to the studio so they can start seeing the light.

In all seriousness it was weird and Marshall seemed to shock himself that it all came out that way.  It does however tell a you a little bit about what other coaches are saying. 

[Dr. Blackheart]

hairy
I have read about the greatness of Howard for two year years on here and cannot completely disagree, but I have never seensym a great player at MU being more polarizing to fanbase. He is a great scorer with a very long leash and that is it to me.
After last season I noted a lack of system in the Wojo era and I still think only system is having a chucker. Starter with Carlino and the trend has continued. Hard to be consistent team when that is your game plan.

Let's talk about this a little as I was going to bring this up the other day. Carlino, Henry, Katin, Rowsey, and Howard were all chucker first recruits. When we use the term chucker, it has a negative slang overtone, but what we are really saying is that they were high usage (shots) at some point in their careers. All but Henry were PGs at some point (Katin became more of a shooting guard/forward), and Henry was a point forward essentially.

Here is where we disagree:  It is intentionally his system to have a star player/shooter...and MU has indeed had some of its most efficient offenses in its history and in the country running the four out.

Here is where we agree: MU has had more team success when Wojo has scaled back and diversified the offense a bit away from these shooters, specifically Katin and Rowsey...and a bit when Sam was here. MU is 2-5 in Pomeroy A games this season, and Markus has been sub-100 Orating in every loss (with his always high usage).

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Some things.   1.   I was wrong about the time of the shot to the head.   15:44... 
The next 20 minutes of game play saw Markus make one shot.    I am sure it is just a coincidence.

I had no problem with how Markus was playing from 15:44 to about 3:00.  He missed some shots, sure, but they were in the flow of the game.  That happens. It all changed when he decided go completely away from what was working in the last 3 games and 37 minutes and try to take over the game, for no apparent reason. That was just terrible decision making.

[tower912]

Yup.

[skianth16]

I can still see an open Sam Hauser waving his hands vs SH as Markus throws up another missed shot at the end. You can almost trace his decision to transfer back to that sequence.

For as great as Howard is, and his greatness is undeniable, he's not clutch. The shot he took considering score and time was inexcusable. Wojo still hasn't figured out how to effectively coach offense in end of game situations

And that's exactly what Lavin was saying in the postgame show. I get that coaches want good shooters to keep shooting, but I'd like to see a few more "plan B" possessions from Markus when he's not feeling it. Passing up just a few more shots per game could have some big results.

There was a point late(ish?) in the second half when the announcers mentioned that Markus was x for 18, and I was thinking that seemed like a good pace. Something in the neighborhood of 20-24 shots is still a heavy workload but leaves something like 40 shots for the rest of the team. That seems like a reasonable balance.

At the end of the day, though, this all comes back to Wojo's inexperience and not being totally sure how to get the most out of his All American while still giving the supporting cast the opportunity to have important roles on a regular basis. He's put together some gameplans that do this really well, but too many late game scenarios rely solely on everyone else getting out of Markus' way.

I'd be curious to see usage rates for recent POY candidates, either conference or national, and compare to Markus this year. Is 40% noticeable higher than other stars?

[hairy worthen]

And that's exactly what Lavin was saying in the postgame show. I get that coaches want good shooters to keep shooting, but I'd like to see a few more "plan B" possessions from Markus when he's not feeling it. Passing up just a few more shots per game could have some big results.

There was a point late(ish?) in the second half when the announcers mentioned that Markus was x for 18, and I was thinking that seemed like a good pace. Something in the neighborhood of 20-24 shots is still a heavy workload but leaves something like 40 shots for the rest of the team. That seems like a reasonable balance.

At the end of the day, though, this all comes back to Wojo's inexperience and not being totally sure how to get the most out of his All American while still giving the supporting cast the opportunity to have important roles on a regular basis. He's put together some gameplans that do this really well, but too many late game scenarios rely solely on everyone else getting out of Markus' way.

I'd be curious to see usage rates for recent POY candidates, either conference or national, and compare to Markus this year. Is 40% noticeable higher than other stars?

Wojo inexperience? I am ok with Howard taking shots, lots of them even. He is the best shooter on the team The problem I have is taking bad shots or ruining the offense by trying to do it all himself.