2023 Team Outlook

[BCHoopster]

If you think Oso only "dunked"

Not sure what you watched last year

Ok, how was his shot from 10 feet?  He got some layups, did not show me anything outside 5 feet.  Decent passer, can roll to the basket.  This is a new era of basketball,
I want my center to do more than that.  If he could rebound like Pat Smith, then fine, but he does not have the instincts yet to go after the ball.  Saw many good block
outs, but has to retrieve the ball.  Hope he proves me wrong, as in the Big East you need a center.  This is why I see Gold, Wrightsil, and Omax getting solid playing time,
if not Gold then Joplin.  Did he outplay any centers last year?  Not in my mind, plays way to soft.  Really is a wing in body type, playing center.

[jfp61]

Ok, how was his shot from 10 feet?  He got some layups, did not show me anything outside 5 feet.  Decent passer, can roll to the basket.  This is a new era of basketball,
I want my center to do more than that.  If he could rebound like Pat Smith, then fine, but he does not have the instincts yet to go after the ball.  Saw many good block
outs, but has to retrieve the ball.  Hope he proves me wrong, as in the Big East you need a center.  This is why I see Gold, Wrightsil, and Omax getting solid playing time,
if not Gold then Joplin.  Did he outplay any centers last year?  Not in my mind, plays way to soft.  Really is a wing in body type, playing center.

Yes, about half of them. Including our starting center. Oso was the only marquette player to get to the FT line at a decent rate. It resulted in having a 124.4 eff on 14% usage. He had a top 150 block %. He was the only top 500 offensive rebounder on Marquette all year. He was the second best +- player on Marquette. And had the second best RAPM on the team.

Being worse than Kalkbrenner and Sanogo doesn't make you a bad center.

Big East Centers by RAPM
Kalkbrenner, Ryan   7.1
Nunge, Jack   6.8
Sanogo, Adama   6.3
Croswell, Ed   5.1
Dixon, Eric           4.9
Ighodaro, Oso   4.3
Yetna, Alexis   4
Anei, Yor           3.3
Watson, Nate   2.4
Kuath, Kur   2.2
Freemantle, Zach   1.8
Nyiwe, Esahia            1.6
Johnson, Brandon   1.5
Soriano, Joel   1.4

[MU82]

Did he outplay any centers last year?

Well, for starters, Oso had a 4-game stretch in January where he averaged 14 ppg on 78% shooting against Kalkbrenner, Watson, Wilson and Anei.

I don't think too many people here are saying Oso is gonna be the Big East's next dominant big man. But he showed some potential during was essentially his freshman season, had some nice contributions to an NCAA tournament team, sealed one win with a block at the buzzer, put up 16-6 against Providence, blocked out well, and hopefully is working hard this offseason to get better.

I'd agree that his body type is not "ideal center" material, but there aren't many true centers anymore. I'd also agree with anybody who says we need better play at the 5 ... and every other position.

It will be interesting to see how Shaka handles the 5 this coming season.

[BCHoopster]

I would say Oso showed great improvement from his Freshman to Sophomore year, but being so slim he had trouble guarding maybe the top 8 centers last year.  If he can take the next step, he might be adequate. He only averaged 3.3 rebounds a game, hope he doubles that.  He is the quickest center in the league, if he had an outside shot, he will be able to get past all the centers in the Big East, blow bye.  Time will tell but for MU to be good he will have to defend, and not be so soft.

[Daniel]

I would say Oso showed great improvement from his Freshman to Sophomore year, but being so slim he had trouble guarding maybe the top 8 centers last year.  If he can take the next step, he might be adequate. He only averaged 3.3 rebounds a game, hope he doubles that.  He is the quickest center in the league, if he had an outside shot, he will be able to get past all the centers in the Big East, blow bye.  Time will tell but for MU to be good he will have to defend, and not be so soft.

I think defense can be taught - so most players can get better.   But can that aggressive in-your-face defense be taught or iis that part of character already there or not?  That is a question that mystifies me lol

[GoldenEagles03]

I'm more concerned with scoring from the guard spots.

I think Kolek playing off the ball will help, but Kam is the only proven guy to go out and get a bucket and he is a below the rim guy 100% of the time that is looking to score away from the hoop. We need a guard that can go get a bucket from anywhere on the floor, not necessarily above the rim, but at the rim.

Oso was better than Kur a lot of the time last year anyways and adding Gold, Wrightsil, Itejere AND sliding OMax and Joplin into the Justin role should be able to replace a lot of what we had last year from the 4/5.

There is a Darryl sized hole missing from the guard spot which is the missing piece at the moment.

[tower912]

Candidates include Stevie, EE, Kam, Chase.

[GoldenEagles03]

Stevie looks like a linebacker right now. He's going to be a pest defensively on ball handlers.

[MU82]

Kam is the only proven guy to go out and get a bucket and he is a below the rim guy 100% of the time that is looking to score away from the hoop.

Kam did take 143 shots from 3-point range vs. only 52 2s last season, but that's pretty far away from being a guy who only looks to take 3s. I remember a few aggressive drives by him, including one very exciting foray to the hoop that resulted in a beautiful up-and-under reverse.

So he obviously is capable of taking the ball to the rim, and maybe he'll do so more often if he earns an expanded role. His shooting percentage from 2-point range was more than 100 points higher than Kolek's and only a few points lower than Justin's.

I do agree with you that we don't have a guy right now who has proven to be capable of doing what Morsell did last season. Of course, a year ago, we didn't know that Morsell would be capable of taking over some games with his mid-range shooting; he was a non-scorer in 4 years at Maryland.

[JTJ3]

Stevie looks like a linebacker right now. He's going to be a pest defensively on ball handlers.

Wow youre right about the linebacker comment.  Will not be surprised if he is one of the 3 starting guards next year due to his defense and energy.

[bilsu]

Oso teamed up with Kolek to score on moves to the basket. I am not sure what Oso can do offensively, if you take the ball out of Kolek's hands.

[GoldenEagles03]

Kam did take 143 shots from 3-point range vs. only 52 2s last season, but that's pretty far away from being a guy who only looks to take 3s. I remember a few aggressive drives by him, including one very exciting foray to the hoop that resulted in a beautiful up-and-under reverse.

So he obviously is capable of taking the ball to the rim, and maybe he'll do so more often if he earns an expanded role. His shooting percentage from 2-point range was more than 100 points higher than Kolek's and only a few points lower than Justin's.

I do agree with you that we don't have a guy right now who has proven to be capable of doing what Morsell did last season. Of course, a year ago, we didn't know that Morsell would be capable of taking over some games with his mid-range shooting; he was a non-scorer in 4 years at Maryland.

I didn't say he only shoots 3s I said he plays below the rim. Even when he drives he primarily throws up a floater, which is fine, but he's not playing above the rim and because of that he's only going to be taking layups if they are wide open. Chase Ross is the one guard that can do that, but I'm not sure how much time he'll get in his 1st year.

[JakeBarnes]

I didn't say he only shoots 3s I said he plays below the rim. Even when he drives he primarily throws up a floater, which is fine, but he's not playing above the rim and because of that he's only going to be taking layups if they are wide open. Chase Ross is the one guard that can do that, but I'm not sure how much time he'll get in his 1st year.

EE can also do that.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Kam did take 143 shots from 3-point range vs. only 52 2s last season, but that's pretty far away from being a guy who only looks to take 3s. I remember a few aggressive drives by him, including one very exciting foray to the hoop that resulted in a beautiful up-and-under reverse.

So he obviously is capable of taking the ball to the rim, and maybe he'll do so more often if he earns an expanded role. His shooting percentage from 2-point range was more than 100 points higher than Kolek's and only a few points lower than Justin's.

I do agree with you that we don't have a guy right now who has proven to be capable of doing what Morsell did last season. Of course, a year ago, we didn't know that Morsell would be capable of taking over some games with his mid-range shooting; he was a non-scorer in 4 years at Maryland.

Kam attempted 73% of his shots from behind the arc.  Highest ratio on the team.

He also had a meager 18 free throw attempts.  Of scholarship players, only Joplin had fewer.  If you go by free throw rate, Kam was worst on the team.

So, saying Kam was a 3 point specialist last year is accurate.  Hopefully he expands his scoring repertoire this year.

[jfp61]

Kam attempted 73% of his shots from behind the arc.  Highest ratio on the team.

He also had a meager 18 free throw attempts.  Of scholarship players, only Joplin had fewer.  If you go by free throw rate, Kam was worst on the team.

So, saying Kam was a 3 point specialist last year is accurate.  Hopefully he expands his scoring repertoire this year.

He has the second best shot quality points per attempt on the team only behind Oso. He doesn't need to adjust attempts at all relative to the rest of his teammates.

[MU82]

So, saying Kam was a 3 point specialist last year is accurate. 

I wouldn't disagree, and I never suggested otherwise.

I didn't say he only shoots 3s I said he plays below the rim.

OK, thanks for amplifying the distinction. But one could say that about how many college guards -- 80% of them? 90%? 95%? More? Who was the last Marquette guard who played even 10% of his game "above the rim"? Wade?

Even Dennis Rodman played below the rim, and he might have been the best pound-for-pound rebounder in basketball history.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

He has the second best shot quality points per attempt on the team only behind Oso. He doesn't need to adjust attempts at all relative to the rest of his teammates.

I'm not saying Kam should shoot fewer 3s. I'm saying he should round out the rest of his offensive game.  Being able to create high quality 2s and more free throws would make him a more a better offensive weapon.

His 3 point rate would naturally decline in this scenario. 

[MU82]

I'm not saying Kam should shoot fewer 3s. I'm saying he should round out the rest of his offensive game.  Being able to create high quality 2s and more free throws would make him a more a better offensive weapon.

His 3 point rate would naturally decline in this scenario.

Is it possible that Shaka didn't want Kam to "round out his game" last season? I absolutely don't know the answer to that question -- just speculating, based on what we saw, that maybe Shaka wanted him to space the court by hanging out at the line vs. getting into the areas where Morsell, Lewis and O-Max worked. Then again, Elliott seemed to have the freedom to drive, sometimes to good results (including FTs), sometimes not.

If Kam has that in his game, I'd like to think he'll be encouraged to do it this season.

[BCHoopster]

Is it possible that Shaka didn't want Kam to "round out his game" last season? I absolutely don't know the answer to that question -- just speculating, based on what we saw, that maybe Shaka wanted him to space the court by hanging out at the line vs. getting into the areas where Morsell, Lewis and O-Max worked. Then again, Elliott seemed to have the freedom to drive, sometimes to good results (including FTs), sometimes not.

If Kam has that in his game, I'd like to think he'll be encouraged to do it this season.

Needs to get quicker to get to the hole, not sure how you work on that, except get stronger. 

[GoldenEagles03]

I wouldn't disagree, and I never suggested otherwise.

OK, thanks for amplifying the distinction. But one could say that about how many college guards -- 80% of them? 90%? 95%? More? Who was the last Marquette guard who played even 10% of his game "above the rim"? Wade?

Even Dennis Rodman played below the rim, and he might have been the best pound-for-pound rebounder in basketball history.

10%? That ridiculously high.

You don't have to be above the rim all the time but when you're not capable your shots are always going to come away from the rim unless they are wide open, that's the point I was trying to make.

DJO, Vander Blue, Sacar, Carton, Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler are a handful of names who were at least capable of playing above the rim and didn't shy away from getting there.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Is it possible that Shaka didn't want Kam to "round out his game" last season? I absolutely don't know the answer to that question -- just speculating, based on what we saw, that maybe Shaka wanted him to space the court by hanging out at the line vs. getting into the areas where Morsell, Lewis and O-Max worked. Then again, Elliott seemed to have the freedom to drive, sometimes to good results (including FTs), sometimes not.

If Kam has that in his game, I'd like to think he'll be encouraged to do it this season.

I don't think Shaka wanted Kam to force drives and take a bunch of midrange shots, if that's what you mean.

[MU82]

You don't have to be above the rim all the time but when you're not capable your shots are always going to come away from the rim unless they are wide open, that's the point I was trying to make.

DJO, Vander Blue, Sacar, Carton, Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews, Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler are a handful of names who were at least capable of playing above the rim and didn't shy away from getting there.

That's fair.

I don't think Shaka wanted Kam to force drives and take a bunch of midrange shots, if that's what you mean.

Yes, that's what I mean. We'll see if Shaka encourages Kam to take it to the hoop more this season.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Stevie looks like a linebacker right now. He's going to be a pest defensively on ball handlers.

Just saw that video. Stevie got jacked!

[PointWarrior]

But Scoopers told me Todd Smith is not doing his job...

Stevie looks like a linebacker right now. He's going to be a pest defensively on ball handlers.

[Dr. Blackheart]

But Scoopers told me Todd Smith is not doing his job...

Scoop knows all!