2020-2021 Season

[willie warrior]

Theo, Jamal, and Greg will all be in their 4th years in the program.  I expect them to all play like Seniors. 

I'm looking for more consistency from Brendan - he needs to play at a consistently high level, and next year he'll be a pretty experienced and mature Junior, so I don't think that's an unrealistic expectation. 

Symir will no longer be a Freshman, so there's that.  He could make a notable jump. 

Then there's Koby.  As a few have said above, he's going to be a key to the season.  We need him to get comfortable and play with confidence.  If he can do that, it'll help A LOT.

Who knows what the Freshmen will contribute?  Dawson should get lots of minutes, and we'll need him to score.  Beyond that, there's a good amount of talent and potential, but I don't really know how much to expect from them right away.

I'm probably overly optimistic, but I'm looking for a Top 50-type team that finishes smack-dab in the middle of the Big East.

Yup. More mediocrity from Wojo

[Badgerhater]

Is there a single player on next year's team that projects to the NBA at this time?

That most certainly can change, but seeing that in the current roster.

I see a lot of nice role players but no go to options who can carry a team.  MileHope I am wrong.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Is there a single player on next year's team that projects to the NBA at this time?

That most certainly can change, but seeing that in the current roster.

I see a lot of nice role players but no go to options who can carry a team.  MileHope I am wrong.

I could see Garcia appearing on some draft boards but other than him no. I do think Cain and Bailey are both the kind of players that could pull a Juan Anderson or Dwight Buycks and shock us all by getting a cup of coffee a few years after graduating. If we land Mane, he is already on draft boards.

[wadesworld]

Garcia will get there at some point. Wouldn't be surprised to see either of the other freshman make the NBA either.

[panda]

Garcia will get there at some point. Wouldn't be surprised to see either of the other freshman make the NBA either.

How many of their games have you seen?

[curbina]

The last two years MU basketball ended with a regular season collapse.  Furthermore, Wojo has yet to record a victory in the NCAA Tournament. I find it difficult to understand why any good high school player would want to commit to the MU basketball program with Wojo as head coach.

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

The last two years MU basketball ended with a regular season collapse.  Furthermore, Wojo has yet to record a victory in the NCAA Tournament. I find it difficult to understand why any good high school player would want to commit to the MU basketball program with Wojo as head coach.

It's mostly about how the athlete connects with the coach and other players on the team. 

[mug644]

The last two years MU basketball ended with a regular season collapse.  Furthermore, Wojo has yet to record a victory in the NCAA Tournament. I find it difficult to understand why any good high school player would want to commit to the MU basketball program with Wojo as head coach.

Perhaps some good high school players feel that they could be a piece of the puzzle that brings things together for getting some wins in the NCAA tournament.

[HutchwasClutch]

Perhaps some good high school players feel that they could be a piece of the puzzle that brings things together for getting some wins in the NCAA tournament.

Perhaps, but then we host several recruits on our senior day. And do we show well, maybe even win?  No, we get humiliated by a team that was generally mediocre down the stretch, yet lit us up. 

[Elonsmusk]

As the roster stands now I see a starting lineup of:

Koby
Greg
Brendan
Dawson
Theo

With Cain, Symir, and the two frosh getting a lot of minutes. Dexter is a question mark, if he is ready to play then one of the two non-Garcia frosh get redshirtted.

Still lots of questions with this roster. Do we land Mane? Do we go after another Jayce Johnson type to back up Theo? Can Koby get his head on straight? Will Brendan become consistent? Can Theo and Greg get/stay healthy? How big of a freshman to sophomore jump will Symir have? What does Dexter bring to the table? Could Cain have a JJJ like senior year? Are the frosh ready? How much if any Ewing theory will play into this team?

I think next season has the widest range of possibilities of any Wojo team to date. I can see the pieces coming together for a high seed in the NCAAs and I can see an absolute trainwreck that finishes below .500.  This is the first season where Wojo's seat has any legitimate warmth. He'll need to show a lot more than he did to end this last season.

So you can see a high seed in the NCAA's or train wreck sub .500 team next year. Bold prediction cotton.

Let's get more specific. What KenPom ranking do you expect next years team to finish within 10 spots.

I'll project 50-60.

I think any notion of a high NCAA seed is pure fantasy. If we couldn't achieve that with Markus Howard, not sure how you see that being a possibility next season?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Ners, that wasn't a prediction, it was a general statement about the question marks surrounding next season's roster. Part of those question marks are about adding more pieces to the roster, so I'll chime in with a predication once those specific questions are answered. I've made preseason predictions every year of the Wojo era, until this year I was within two seed lines every time....and tourney got cancelled this year so my streak continues!

If I had to make a prediction now, the high seed would not be the one I go with. That depends on a couple of things happening including landing Mane, another Jayce Johnson type, and some significant Ewing theory developments from the returning players. Certainly not probable, but in the realm of possibility.

The other thing I would point out is the composition of the Big East will be different. As things stand now, we will be very top heavy with Villanova and Creighton set to dominate the rest of the league. I see Georgetown, St. John's, and DePaul returning to the basement with Providence (mass graduations/no recruiting class) and UConn (not very good in worse conference) joining them. That leaves Butler, Marquette, Seton Hall, and Xavier to fight it out in the upper middle. I think the two that rise to the top of that group will end being solid tourney teams and the other teams will be living that bubble life. Each group is experiencing significant losses (Baldwin/McDermott, Howard/Anim, Powell/Gill/McKnight, Goodin/Jones) and is bringing in unknowns to replace them (#29 class, #14 class, Takal Molson, #17 class).

[shoothoops]

Who is Torrence going to defend? He had trouble guarding anybody this year and Wojo had to take him out, secondly did you ever see him make a move to the hoop? Sure he will make a few threes when open but can he create his own shot, not sure yet

Often times the largest improvement time for college players is between year one and year two. Symir was also supposed to be a high school Senior this past year.

I would agree that MU needs more and better guards for next year in addition to Symir. I believe Symir will be much improved.

[WhiteTrash]

So you can see a high seed in the NCAA's or train wreck sub .500 team next year. Bold prediction cotton.

Let's get more specific. What KenPom ranking do you expect next years team to finish within 10 spots.

I'll project 50-60.

I think any notion of a high NCAA seed is pure fantasy. If we couldn't achieve that with Markus Howard, not sure how you see that being a possibility next season?

It's great that some fans think we could make the NCAA (agreed that a high seed is pure folly). Most fans over rate their team, but that's part of being a fan. I think it is fair to say that there are about 150 fan boards that are predicting their team will be in the NCAA next year. We all know how that will work out.

Depending on transfers, in and out, and additional recruits, I put MU's ceiling at the NIT and the floor below .500 (maybe 3 BE wins). Without adding a good PG, I think it will be a trainwreck.

[HutchwasClutch]

Often times the largest improvement time for college players is between year one and year two. Symir was also supposed to be a high school Senior this past year.

I would agree that MU needs more and better guards for next year in addition to Symir. I believe Symir wilp be much improved.

Symir is very talented. Without a doubt, I think he can and will be a very good PG.  He had many good flashes in very limited chances. And excellent point he wasn't even supposed to be at MU this season.  He made freshman mistakes that Wojo wasn't patient enough to let him play through, while more experienced guys made the same or worse mistakes, or just plain showed zero ability (Cain, McEwen prime examples). But Symir brought things to table, like playmaking and setting up others, that no one else was capable of doing. 

It was a generally wasted year for him, which is too bad, but he will be very good. 

[79Warrior]

IMO if we land Mane, i think we should be top 25 to start the season, at least close to the top 25 if not ranked

Highly unlikely this is a Top 25 team preseason. A bunch of heralded but unproven Freshmen players does not scream Top 25.

[WhiteTrash]

Highly unlikely this is a Top 25 team preseason. A bunch of heralded but unproven Freshmen players does not scream Top 25.

Projecting MU in the Top 25 anytime next year seems to be laying the foundation for firing Wojo since MU will not sniff the Top 25 and you can justify firing him for underachieving.

No unbiased basketball expert can argue MU will be better next year than it was this year. Anyone who predicts this is either a crazy MU fan or has alternate agenda.

[Scoop Snoop]

So far very few here expecting a really good season. Too many "IF's" regarding returning players and additional new guys.

TAMU's comments about Marquette possibly being in the top half due to other teams he listed as losing a lot of talent may well be true but I really wish that Marquette's possible relative success was not so dependent upon other teams being down.

I admire Cooley and Ewing. Cooley turned around a team with a terrible start and got them to believe in themselves. Ewing took a severely crippled team that never, ever gave up under his leadership. And then there was Wojo.

I simply have no faith in his leadership or decision making skills and will be happily surprised if Marquette has a good season. I really love when I am wrong about my criticisms. All coaches need really good players to be successful but their coaching skills make the difference. Wojo needs a Dawson or a Mane or another Markus or rejuvenated returning players to bail him out. And there is the heart of the problem. 

[HutchwasClutch]

I will start this off with a bold prediction: Jamal Cain will turn himself into a prospect, career year next season

Yeah, you need to stay away from the bold prediction business as far as his prospect potential. And you didn't specify a prospect for what, NBA?

Given his MU career through three seasons, a career year is a very very low bar to clear.

[Warrior of Law]

Path to .500 in the BE includes Koby improving as a leader, Theo getting healthy, and BB becoming the 8th or 9th man. I have no idea what the coaches see in BB that warrants such minutes.  I'd rather develop young players for 2021-22 than give him more time.

[The Sultan]

Path to .500 in the BE includes Koby improving as a leader, Theo getting healthy, and BB becoming the 8th or 9th man. I have no idea what the coaches see in BB that warrants such minutes.  I'd rather develop young players for 2021-22 than give him more time.

Brendan Bailey may have played more than he deserved, but he will only be a junior next year.  Plenty of room for growth. 

[HutchwasClutch]

Jamal Cain moments this year that say it all: 

1) at Providence, 2nd half-  wide open corner three, passes up shot. Two or three dribbles, wide open again for 16 footer, passes up shot.  Passes to McEwen, stolen and dunk on other end. 

2). at DePaul, twice with the ball as shot clock expires.  Clueless both times as he made no attempt at getting a shot up.  First time, he ever so calmly through an entry pass into Jayce. 

These are just two examples of many of his total cluelessness out there. 

[BCHoopster]

Jamal Cain moments this year that say it all: 

1) at Providence, 2nd half-  wide open corner three, passes up shot. Two or three dribbles, wide open again for 16 footer, passes up shot.  Passes to McEwen, stolen and dunk on other end. 

2). at DePaul, twice with the ball as shot clock expires.  Clueless both times as he made no attempt at getting a shot up.  First time, he ever so calmly through an entry pass into Jayce. 

These are just two examples of many of his total cluelessness out there.

Totally agree, clueless when he puts the ball on the deck, no instincts, can shoot, did improve from last year, great athlete, role player at best.

[WhiteTrash]

Path to .500 in the BE includes Koby improving as a leader, Theo getting healthy, and BB becoming the 8th or 9th man. I have no idea what the coaches see in BB that warrants such minutes.  I'd rather develop young players for 2021-22 than give him more time.

Some could argue that that is the path to .500 overall.

I can't see any path to .500 in the BE after this years team failed to do so.

[jesmu84]

So far very few here expecting a really good season. Too many "IF's" regarding returning players and additional new guys.

TAMU's comments about Marquette possibly being in the top half due to other teams he listed as losing a lot of talent may well be true but I really wish that Marquette's possible relative success was not so dependent upon other teams being down.

I admire Cooley and Ewing. Cooley turned around a team with a terrible start and got them to believe in themselves. Ewing took a severely crippled team that never, ever gave up under his leadership. And then there was Wojo.

I simply have no faith in his leadership or decision making skills and will be happily surprised if Marquette has a good season. I really love when I am wrong about my criticisms. All coaches need really good players to be successful but their coaching skills make the difference. Wojo needs a Dawson or a Mane or another Markus or rejuvenated returning players to bail him out. And there is the heart of the problem.

Wojo's teams never, ever gave up.

[WhiteTrash]

Wojo's teams never, ever gave up.

Teal?
I hope.