Markus Howard Injury - What it shows about the team

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Tonight's game was truly physical, a Big East Classic in terms of the aggressiveness on defense.  Xavier should have won the game but was atrocious at the free throw line the whole game.  They matched up well with MU and were able to stifle their defense much of the game.  The interesting thing was when Howard went out with the elbow to the nose.  Anim and McEwen took over.

Anim and McEwen seem to be different players when Howard isn't on the court.  They become more aggressive and can hit some very difficult shots.  This is startling though, as it points out a huge flaw in coaching.  This flaw is:

Why can't Wojo get all 3 to play simultaneously? 

It seems when Howard is on the court, Anim + McEwen tend to fade.  This shouldn't be occurring and rather, all 3 should be playing off of each other - making each other better by generating more open looks for each other.  If this happened, MU would be much tougher to beat but a lack of continuity exists.  Again, shoddy coaching holds the talent on this team back. 

Good Win Tonight, but much more work to do. 

[🏀]

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Tonight's game was truly physical, a Big East Classic in terms of the aggressiveness on defense.  Xavier should have won the game but was atrocious at the free throw line the whole game.  They matched up well with MU and were able to stifle their defense much of the game.  The interesting thing was when Howard went out with the elbow to the nose.  Anim and McEwen took over.

Anim and McEwen seem to be different players when Howard isn't on the court.  They become more aggressive and can hit some very difficult shots.  This is startling though, as it points out a huge flaw in coaching.  This flaw is:

Why can't Wojo get all 3 to play simultaneously? 

It seems when Howard is on the court, Anim + McEwen tend to fade.  This shouldn't be occurring and rather, all 3 should be playing off of each other - making each other better by generating more open looks for each other.  If this happened, MU would be much tougher to beat but a lack of continuity exists.  Again, shoddy coaching holds the talent on this team back. 

Good Win Tonight, but much more work to do.

[Johnny B]

When will know something. Injury happened 2 hour ago

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

[Dr. Blackheart]

Phew.  Bring on DePaul

https://mobile.twitter.com/BenSteeleMJS/status/1222749193539850242

[WhoaJoe2020]

It shows you were wrong about everything you ever posted.

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

It shows you were wrong about everything you ever posted.

Lol, it further underlines my point.  There's a total lack of continuity on offense.  It should be much more dynamic than it is.....

I'm trying to figure out who took the elbow tonight, you or Howard?

[BM1090]

Lol, it further underlines my point.  There's a total lack of continuity on offense.  It should be much more dynamic than it is.....

I'm trying to figure out who took the elbow tonight, you or Howard?

18th best offense in the country after tonight.

[WhoaJoe2020]

Lol, it further underlines my point.  There's a total lack of continuity on offense.  It should be much more dynamic than it is.....

I'm trying to figure out who took the elbow tonight, you or Howard?

Which point is that??????

The one at the top of your head or the one at the top of your dunce cap.

[MU82]

18th best offense in the country after tonight.

If we had any other coach than Wojo -- Anybody! Even the mom who coaches her 8-year-old daughter's team! -- we would have the No. 1 offense. Or even better!

[Cheeks]

I feel sorry for you.

[Afroman]

The other night, Giannis sat out out and Khris Middleton stepped up and scored 51 points and Eric Bledsoe had 34. When Giannis is on the floor, those two slide into their No. 2 and No. 3 roles. There is only one ball.

[MU B2002]

Phew.  Bring on DePaul

https://mobile.twitter.com/BenSteeleMJS/status/1222749193539850242

Redacted. 

[zcg2013]

If it was truly just that, why wasn't he in the "yes high 5" video?

He was sitting in the middle...

[war1980rior]

I think Sacar said it best in his post game interview.  Next man up.  He said (paraphrasing), Markus is the focus and when he's out, next man up.  He was very casual about it and indicated he feels it's best for the offense to run through Markus until he's out.
 
We'll really miss Sacar next year!  Very level headed (guess that's why he doesn't post here ...).   

[real chili 83]

Tonight's game was truly physical, a Big East Classic in terms of the aggressiveness on defense.  Xavier should have won the game but was atrocious at the free throw line the whole game.  They matched up well with MU and were able to stifle their defense much of the game.  The interesting thing was when Howard went out with the elbow to the nose.  Anim and McEwen took over.

Anim and McEwen seem to be different players when Howard isn't on the court.  They become more aggressive and can hit some very difficult shots.  This is startling though, as it points out a huge flaw in coaching.  This flaw is:

Why can't Wojo get all 3 to play simultaneously? 

It seems when Howard is on the court, Anim + McEwen tend to fade.  This shouldn't be occurring and rather, all 3 should be playing off of each other - making each other better by generating more open looks for each other.  If this happened, MU would be much tougher to beat but a lack of continuity exists.  Again, shoddy coaching holds the talent on this team back. 

Good Win Tonight, but much more work to do.

Oh, it's you again.

[MU B2002]

He was sitting in the middle...

Hand up.  Couldn't see him.  My bad. 


Yes, just found the whole video.  Clearly there.  Although me to scrub my stupid question from existence.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I don't understand why people dismiss this. He ain't wrong. This game was similar to the one at Georgetown last year.

Howard is a great scorer. He's also the reason two starters walked away from the team after last season.

The rest of the team works just as hard as #0.

[damuts222]

I thought about this last night, Koby and Markus are used to being ball dominant players. This is fine when one is hot.

However, they have been running Markus off screens more frequently, with Koby running point. If Koby can hit the occasional outside shot and be more consistent game-to-game, it will be difficult to guard either 1 on 1. This will create more for everyone including Sacar. Either way we need more off the ball movement to the hoop by everyone, there tends to be too much ball watching. Some of this is due to the fact that Theo is a non factor on offense when setting picks.

[dgies9156]

Oh good grief... again!

Brother Glasses,  here's the issue about last night. Our team just lost its leading scorer. They were playing in a hostile arena on the road and the defense of Xavier was really tough.

WE FOUND A WAY TO WIN.

For all you Nojos out there, think about it. How many teams would have folded up and called it a moral victory when Xavier held on to win by 6 or 8?

Quite a few IMHO. Quite a few.

What kept us going last night was coaching and motivation. Period. Wojo pushed. Our guys pushed. We didn't play a great game and, yes, Xavier missed a bushel full of free throws. But we found a way to win.

Rather than looking for yet another way to bash our head coach and the team, let's celebrate what happened. Sure, we made mistakes and the game went longer than it should have lasted, but boy we played tough and hard and we won! They'll be enough time for bashing later.

Given the way we played defense, a certain Irishman is looking down from heaven and screaming, "attaboy!"

[jsglow]

Oh good grief... again!


WE FOUND A WAY TO WIN.

For all you Nojos out there, think about it. How many teams would have folded up and called it a moral victory when Xavier held on to win by 6 or 8?

Given the way we played defense, a certain Irishman is looking down from heaven and screaming, "attaboy!"

[KampusFoods]

Koby has had no shortage of opportunities to do well in the offense with Markus. In general he's been a bad to average shooter - with the exception of the final minutes of our last 2 games. He's also just an OK driver. Announcers called him out yesterday for continuing to pick up his dribble when he got in the  lane. He's an important piece and absolutely saved us last night. But his lack of production within the offense is not a product of the system or coach, as much as it is a lack of execution on his part.

Sacar was great last night in an increased role. He's generally great in his role every night. Nothing to see here but a guy stepping up when his team needed it.

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

I don't understand why people dismiss this. He ain't wrong. This game was similar to the one at Georgetown last year.

Howard is a great scorer. He's also the reason two starters walked away from the team after last season.

The rest of the team works just as hard as #0.

About 90% of the posters in here have no clue what I'm even talking about.  They're comfortable with their participation ribbons for "winning" even though there's a breakdown on offense.  It's so sad how mediocrity has permeated American culture.  Nonetheless, I will continue my symposium on pointing out the poor coaching methods of Wojo and eventually bring the "less fortunate" into the information age.

[jesmu84]

About 90% of the posters in here have no clue what I'm even talking about.  They're comfortable with their participation ribbons for "winning" even though there's a breakdown on offense.  It's so sad how mediocrity has permeated American culture.  Nonetheless, I will continue my symposium on pointing out the poor coaching methods of Wojo and eventually bring the "less fortunate" into the information age.

Ok, boomer