The perfect 10 man MU roster for 2021?

[MuggsyB]

I'm not asking for the 10 best players.  But more if you could construct a team with today's game and rules among the all-time great MU players who would you choose?  I will defer to the experts.

[bilsu]

Chones, Lucas, Ellis, Toone, Lackey, Meminger, Tatum, Butch Lee, Whitehead, Walton. I would  take these 10 guys even with a 3 point line.

[The Sultan]

Chones, Lucas, Ellis, Toone, Lackey, Meminger, Tatum, Butch Lee, Whitehead, Walton. I would  take these 10 guys even with a 3 point line.

No Wade?  Cmon...

[🏀]

No Wade?  Cmon...

Wasn't that good, didn't play in the Mecca, wouldn't be able to handle the atmosphere.

[JWags85]

No Wade?  Cmon...

Putting together this list with modern rules and gameplay and not including Wade and a career 42% 3P shooter who is the leading scorer in BEast history is some nonsensical "back in my day" blue and gold colored glasses.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Chones, Lucas, Ellis, Toone, Lackey, Meminger, Tatum, Butch Lee, Whitehead, Walton. I would  take these 10 guys even with a 3 point line.

Unpopular opinion, but those guys at their prime would not beat most MU teams from the past two decades. Just like science and technology have come a long ways since the 70s, so has athletics. The players are bigger, stronger, faster, the coaches understand the game better, athletic training/coaching/nutrition are at entirely different levels. Kids are in youth leagues from the time they are 3 learning the game. It's why comparing players from different eras doesn't work. Those 10 were more dominant at their time than any other MU players have been at theirs besides Wade and maybe Jae.

[BCHoopster]

Missed George Thompson, maybe the most exciting player in MU history

[JWags85]

Missed George Thompson, maybe the most exciting player in MU history

No offense to another MU great, but Thompson was a 6'2 player who did the majority of his work inside.  He would be wildly ineffective in today's game.  Sure he could jump, but there are 6'6-6'8 dudes who can get up with the same vertical.  The game has changed a ton in the last 50 years.

[MuggsyB]

Novak?  Seems like a lock for today's game.

[Nukem2]

Unpopular opinion, but those guys at their prime would not beat most MU teams from the past two decades. Just like science and technology have come a long ways since the 70s, so has athletics. The players are bigger, stronger, faster, the coaches understand the game better, athletic training/coaching/nutrition are at entirely different levels. Kids are in youth leagues from the time they are 3 learning the game. It's why comparing players from different eras doesn't work. Those 10 were more dominant at their time than any other MU players have been at theirs besides Wade and maybe Jae.

Yeah, judge players by their time/era.  Crossing multiple generations is just too hard to compare.  Give guys/gals their due when they played. 

[Marquette4life]

Pure pg with scoring ability (shooting), Carton , cain (Coming back for 5th), lewis, garcia   mitchell, torrence, elliott, Aidoo, Jones,  transfer scoring combo guard

[GooooMarquette]

If I was building a team to actually win games instead of serve as an 'all-star team' (Muggsy's proposal), I would probably include a couple of guys who would not be considered among the top 10-15 players in MU history, but were excellent at a specific aspect of the game that might be needed in a particular situation.

Two that come to mind are a lockdown defender, and a designated press-breaker. Maybe guys like Michael Wilson and Tony Miller. I get that a number of the players in question can handle the ball and play defense, but I think it would help any team to have guys who can come off the bench and do this as their specialty.

[MuggsyB]

Could we conceivably go with:

Meminger
Wade
Lee
Tatum
Chones
Lucas
Novak
Butler
Crowder
Matthews


I like our three guard line-ups.  Would Chones and Lucas be able to extend their range?  Or would it matter?

[BCHoopster]

Could we conceivably go with:

Meminger
Wade
Lee
Tatum
Chones
Lucas no
Novak
Butler
Crowder
Matthews


I like our three guard line-ups.  Would Chones and Lucas be able to extend their range?  Or would it matter?

Hard for me to take BonEllis off the team, MU went to 2 final 4 teams with him, great team player

[Johnny B]

Chones, Lucas, Ellis, Toone, Lackey, Meminger, Tatum, Butch Lee, Whitehead, Walton. I would  take these 10 guys even with a 3 point line.

absurd beyond belifef.
one of the goofiest posts ive seen on here. crazy dumb

[MuggsyB]

Hard for me to take BonEllis off the team, MU went to 2 final 4 teams with him, great team player

I'm just thinking about today's game...maybe we axe a perimeter player for Mr. Ellis.

[dgies9156]

Unpopular opinion, but those guys at their prime would not beat most MU teams from the past two decades. Just like science and technology have come a long ways since the 70s, so has athletics. The players are bigger, stronger, faster, the coaches understand the game better, athletic training/coaching/nutrition are at entirely different levels.

To your point, I was looking at a photo of our 1975-1976 team the other day and was amazed by the ordinary look of their stature. Even our guards today are more muscular than our power forwards and centers were a generation ago.

Poor Bo Ellis, with his physique, would get broken in half today. He had a physique much like Osa does today. That's the big reason Bo only spent a few years in the NBA.

If those guys were playing today, Jerome Whitehead would look more like Theo. I don't even want to imagine what someone like Maurice Lucas or Bob Lackey would look like. Those guys were enforcers then....

Bottom line: It was a different world but if the guys from our 1970s era teams were around today, they would do what they would have to so that they were as good now as they were then! Marquette would STILL be Number 1.

[The Sultan]

Yeah, judge players by their time/era.  Crossing multiple generations is just too hard to compare.  Give guys/gals their due when they played. 

The whole point of the topic is what roster you would build for 2021.

[tower912]

So, 3 point shooters, versatile wings, and mobile bigs.

[willie warrior]

Chones, Lucas, Ellis, Toone, Lackey, Meminger, Tatum, Butch Lee, Whitehead, Walton. I would  take these 10 guys even with a 3 point line.

Not a bad list. Hard to set at 10. Would have to include guys like Kojis and Geo. Thompson, and Wade. Larry McNeil  Tony Mueller, Mandy Johnson, Diener also deserve mention.

[MU82]

The whole point of the topic is what roster you would build for 2021.

Yes. It was funny the way it devolved almost immediately to something else.

Still ...

Those who think an all-Marquette-history team would actually be worse than any of Wojo's teams - or even any of Buzz's or Crean's teams ... hmmm.

Dang - I did it, too!

OK, the perfect roster for 2021 involving those who actually are eligible to still be playing college ball rather than Dean Meminger's corpse ...

DJ, Garcia, Lewis, Elliott, Mitchell, Aidoo, two "D and 3" wings with good height (6-5 to 6-8) who can really shoot, a competent backup combo guard, and another big. If Akanno and Oso have great offseasons of improvement, maybe they can fill those last two slots. Otherwise, Wojo will really have to work the transfer market hard.

All, of course, assumes Wojo's return. If he is dumped, it's a moot point because all but a couple of the first 6 players I mentioned will likely end up at other schools.

[oldwarrior81]

assuming we're using these guys as collegians and not what they became in the pros...

under today's rules I find a spot for Travis.  Remember this guy was a 43% 3pt shooter his last couple seasons.  ditto, Novak.

a few stats from their top MU season

Meminger 21.2 ppg, 3.6 ast, 4.0 reb
Diener 19.7 pts, 7.0 ast, 45% 3pt, 88% ft
Butch  19.6 pts, 3.8 reb, 4.9 ast, 88% ft
McNeal  19.8 pts, 4.9 reb, 3.9 ast, 2.2 stl, 40% 3pt
Wade  21.5 pts, 6.3 reb, 4.4 ast, 2.5 stl
Tatum  18.3 pts, 7.0 reb, 1.9 ast
Novak  17.5 pts, 5.9 reb, 47% 3pt, 97% ft
Ellis  15.6 pts, 10.5 reb, 2.2 ast
Chones  20.6 pts, 11.9 reb, 1.6 ast, 57% fg
Lucas  15.8 pts, 10.9 reb, 2.5 ast

Based on his senior season, I end up with McNeal over DJO for the final perimeter spot.  Also considered Tony Smith, but it's hard to judge how good he really was at Marquette with his supporting cast.
Butler and Matthews have turned in solid NBA careers.  But I went with the collegiate Wade/Tatum combo on the wing.

Bo was an extraordinary defender, and such a leader. With the three bigs already on the roster, I'm not sure we'd need inside depth with Crowder. Novak would get those minutes at the 4.  Although Lazar made my short list to with his ability to stretch the floor, as well as bang inside.

[The Sultan]

assuming we're using these guys as collegians and not what they became in the pros...

under today's rules I find a spot for Travis.  Remember this guy was a 43% 3pt shooter his last couple seasons.  ditto, Novak.

a few stats from their top MU season

Meminger 21.2 ppg, 3.6 ast, 4.0 reb
Diener 19.7 pts, 7.0 ast, 45% 3pt, 88% ft
Butch  19.6 pts, 3.8 reb, 4.9 ast, 88% ft
McNeal  19.8 pts, 4.9 reb, 3.9 ast, 2.2 stl, 40% 3pt
Wade  21.5 pts, 6.3 reb, 4.4 ast, 2.5 stl
Tatum  18.3 pts, 7.0 reb, 1.9 ast
Novak  17.5 pts, 5.9 reb, 47% 3pt, 97% ft
Ellis  15.6 pts, 10.5 reb, 2.2 ast
Chones  20.6 pts, 11.9 reb, 1.6 ast, 57% fg
Lucas  15.8 pts, 10.9 reb, 2.5 ast

Based on his senior season, I end up with McNeal over DJO for the final perimeter spot.  Also considered Tony Smith, but it's hard to judge how good he really was at Marquette with his group of teammates.
Butler and Matthews have turned in solid NBA careers.  But I went with the collegiate Wade/Tatum combo on the wing.

Bo was an extraordinary defender, and such a leader. With the three bigs already on the roster, I'm not sure we'd need inside depth with Crowder. Novak would get those minutes at the 4.  Although Lazar made my short list to with his ability to stretch the floor, as well as bang inside.

Why no Markus consideration?

[Galway Eagle]

If you take Markus you need Mac down low to make sure that whoever spends the game driving by Markus doesn't get an easy lay up.

[oldwarrior81]

If I went 12 deep, I would actually consider adding Markus, but only as a specialist.  They're aren't many that can get 10+ points in a hurry.

Even Sam Hauser should be considered as a shooter that could at least take up space on defense.