Joker Scared Me

[Dr. Blackheart]

Greg cant dribble and falls over every time the wind blows. Would rather see 10 minutes of Sy as long
as he just looks to distribute and not shoot 3s

Greg was a +10 tonight. Glue guy

[PGsHeroes32]

Greg cant dribble and falls over every time the wind blows. Would rather see 10 minutes of Sy as long
as he just looks to distribute and not shoot 3s

Right now that distribution is going to the other team.

He botched a 1 foot handoff to Cain tonight....

[TVDirector]

How many time this year has 6'11 Garcia been blocked/stripped on a shot?
Has got to change if he's going to be an inside/outside threat. 

Otherwise a win is a win. 

[Mutaman]

Never met anyone who's a big fan of bossa nova before, And he mentioned it twice.

[Autoengineer]

It feels like it. The turnovers were there last year, but so was the confidence and the vision to the point where you could see him preparing to make a pass before he even received the ball. He had a look of a future savvy guy. This year, it's just turnovers without any confidence.

How awful was that last Marquette offensive set.  Symir loses the ball....runs and grabs it and takes a shot only to be blocked causing a layup the other way.   That was ugly.   

[Autoengineer]

How many time this year has 6'11 Garcia been blocked/stripped on a shot?
Has got to change if he's going to be an inside/outside threat. 

Otherwise a win is a win.

Theo too.  The coaches need to fix whatever is going on there.   

[CountryRoads]

How awful was that last Marquette offensive set.  Symir loses the ball....runs and grabs it and takes a shot only to be blocked causing a layup the other way.   That was ugly.

Would love to see a list of players who have forgone their senior year of high school to play college ball. Worked pretty well for Markus but Sy doesn't look like he will be effective at this level from what I've seen. However, he should really just be a freshman in his 5th college game. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the point guards who are very limited offensively but I am sure they fit in some systems.

[brewcity77]

How awful was that last Marquette offensive set.  Symir loses the ball....runs and grabs it and takes a shot only to be blocked causing a layup the other way.   That was ugly.

The one where Jefferson ran up from behind and picked his pocket was bad too. It was so easy, just no court awareness.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Theo too.  The coaches need to fix whatever is going on there.

When bigs dribble too much other than to gain body/space advantage, they lose their advantage and become bad guards. The Dancing Bear was excellent at this s. Theo has improved but that is the majority of his turnovers this year versus moving screens. Garcia will learn as he has been scouted.

[MU24]

It would have been nice for this game to showcase a offense that resembled anything, but its a work in progress. The team is trending up. Gonna be some rough ones here and there but a W is a W.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Would love to see a list of players who have forgone their senior year of high school to play college ball. Worked pretty well for Markus but Sy doesn't look like he will be effective at this level from what I've seen. However, he should really just be a freshman in his 5th college game. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the point guards who are very limited offensively but I am sure they fit in some systems.

IIRC, Torrence skipped his prep year rather than his senior year of HS.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Torrence has had a rough start to the season. I agree with what others have said about his confidence. I think he will ultimately develop into a nice PG. It was limited attempts but he did shoot 37% from distance last season. If that shot starts to fall it will open some other options up for him.

I almost said this after the Badger game, but didn't because of his game winning play, but Justin Lewis needs lot of work on defense. He's a good help defender but on his own man he is too often flatfooted and I've seen multiple posts work around him with ease. He's got the tools and will get there, just needs the experience.

[Heisenberg]

This team has to get more comfortable playing fast, or learn how to actually control the tempo.

Didn't they do that with Bucky on Friday?

Why can't the answer be this was a trap game they slogged through as they think about going to LA tomorrow?

[MUCam]

Torrence has had a rough start to the season. I agree with what others have said about his confidence. I think he will ultimately develop into a nice PG. It was limited attempts but he did shoot 37% from distance last season. If that shot starts to fall it will open some other options up for him.

I almost said this after the Badger game, but didn't because of his game winning play, but Justin Lewis needs lot of work on defense. He's a good help defender but on his own man he is too often flatfooted and I've seen multiple posts work around him with ease. He's got the tools and will get there, just needs the experience.

I agree with this. I am not ready to sail his ship. In some ways he reminds me of Junior Cadougan - at least a young version of Junior. I am not sure how they line up statistically, but he has a similar game in my mind.

If those three's start falling, things will change a bit.

[mileskishnish72]

Wojo was amped up during that one time-out. He was livid about the lack of defensive intensity, and he should have been. That was no "cuddle.

I bet he was saying something more pointed than "Play harder."

[Uncle Rico]

About what I expected.  Coming off an emotional win with a trip to LA in the offing, figured this would be one of those games.

Needed to pump the brakes on Justin and tonight showed they'll be some lows with the highs and that's to be expected.  He's not a compete player yet.  Same holds true with Dawson but getting them these minutes bodes well for the future.

[MUfan12]

Didn't they do that with Bucky on Friday?

For the first time in many seasons, their tempo actually helped us.

MU seems far more comfortable with a slower pace so far. And I'm fine with that, there's lots of ways to win.

[The Big East]

Didn't they do that with Bucky on Friday?

Why can't the answer be this was a trap game they slogged through as they think about going to LA tomorrow?

Our opponent  was a mid major D1 Program. These no fan settings, give the underdog a little bit of a boost. So taking that into consideration, the fact they kept it close but we pulled away at the end is not surprising.

The kids on our team  all played hard, which is all that can be asked. Some kids played well and some didn't. Next game, our entire team will have to  play hard and play well to win.

[Dr. Blackheart]

For the first time in many seasons, their tempo actually helped us.

MU seems far more comfortable with a slower pace so far. And I'm fine with that, there's lots of ways to win.

MU's fastest tempo game was OSU. UCLA plays slower so that's a matchup plus (342th fastest team).

[dgies9156]

Theo too.  The coaches need to fix whatever is going on there.

It is simple.

Theo is best when he turns and shoots the ball. When he puts the ball on the floor, bad things happen.

Playing Center 101 teaches CENTERS DO NOT DRIBBLE!!!! They shoot, pass and play defense.

Theo is big and strong. His strength is grabbing the ball and jamming the ball and everything touching it past the rim and down the net. Every now and then, he's able to do his best Markus Howard shooting imitation.

[Chili]

It is simple.

Theo is best when he turns and shoots the ball. When he puts the ball on the floor, bad things happen.

Playing Center 101 teaches CENTERS DO NOT DRIBBLE!!!! They shoot, pass and play defense.

Theo is big and strong. His strength is grabbing the ball and jamming the ball and everything touching it past the rim and down the net. Every now and then, he's able to do his best Markus Howard shooting imitation.

Markus Jackson would like a word with you. #pointcenter

[Markusquette]

I agree with this. I am not ready to sail his ship. In some ways he reminds me of Junior Cadougan - at least a young version of Junior. I am not sure how they line up statistically, but he has a similar game in my mind.

If those three's start falling, things will change a bit.

For a PG he doesn't have a great handle. He seems worried to even dribble a lot with his left hand. His shot mechanics are also quite poor. Nice to see him drive and score an and-1 last night.

So far he has not played too well. Last night he casually brought the ball up and had no clue the Phoenix player was right behind and he stole it. Wondering if Stevie Mitchell has what it takes to beat him out next year. Frankly, I hope so. But I also hope Sy proves me wrong.

[PJDunn]

The season is young. Symir showed flashes of being a solid point guard last year, and I expect/hope that he is will be a solid contributor this year. Koby is best off the ball and DJ needs a back-up.

[Its DJOver]

Sy will be fine.

https://painttouches.com/2019/12/09/symir-torrence-sets-the-table-for-whats-to-come/

1.) Freshman comes in with little to no expectations.
2.) Freshman shows flashes in limited minutes while not even appearing on oppositions scouting report.
3.) Board falls in love with Freshman. (We are here)
4.) Expectations get raised for the now/soon-to-be Sophomore
5.) Player doesn't develop at the pace that many want, partially because of raised expectations, partially because of appearance on scouting report.
6.) Board falls out of love with player.
7/1.) New Freshman comes in with little to no expectation.

Don't get me wrong, I like what I've seen out of Sy, but this is the place where people wanted Derrick over Junior.  Then wanted Duane over Derrick.  Slightly overshadowed by Henry, but Haani had a very solid Freshman campaign, when expectations were raised/scouting report that he could only go left, well...

Flashes are great, but Sy has still only played 63 minutes of college basketball.  Let's either temper expectation and be pleasantly surprised, or not dismiss him if he can't immediately live up to the upcoming raised expectations.

You may now resume your praising of Sy and begin your ripping of me.

Sy is currently on step 5, it seems like Stevie is getting an early start on step 1.

Also, small sample size, but his TO% has dropped from last year to this year while his assist% has stayed consistent.

[JakeBarnes]

Sy will be fine. He's rushing his shot a little and not letting the game come to him. The team is struggling with identity a bit, but the identity may just be "anyone will step up at any given time."

That said, nice to see strong leadership last night from Kobe. I realized I haven't actually heard him talk much before, but in the postgame interview he came off as a great kid that wants to win here.