Jamal Cain is all world this year

[FrennA]

Ok, fair enough.  However, Howard is just one compatible.  I recall several others leading Jamal in TO's and having a much longer leash.  Think Bailey, Joey Hauser, etc.  Regardless,  this has been discussed at length already.  The point is, Jamal was treated unfairly and Wojo was to blame.  Wojo couldn't coach.  Wojo played favorites and relied on his star players to win games.  That is literally how he coached.   Ie.  give Ellenson the ball and everyone else watch.  Give Howard the ball and every one else watch.  It was terrible!   Also, let's say Jamal was worse at TO's than I admit he was.  What about his slashing ability, 3 pt shooting, defense and most of all rebounding?  That dude soared for rebounds.  If he was such a TO liability, how do you not coach around that in order to capitalize on all his other strengths I mentioned?  The long and short of it was Wojo played favorites and was a horrible coach.  Apparently, I'm not the only one who felt that way.  I believe someone penned a letter about it.  Someone that was much closer to the situation than you or I. 

[MU82]

100% a valid point.  However, it is pretty rare to see a guy fall off so much from a promising freshman season to a sophomore one.  My feeling during Jamal's sophomore year was that Wojo started off with an ultra quick hook on Jamal and his performance steadily declined.  "Mind games" was meme'd here, but it just sucks as a player if you go out on the floor and know one mistake and you are coming out.  You play tight which ultimately leads to poor performance.  Bailey as a freshman got a longer leash and nearly 2x the minutes Jamal did as a sophomore.

I will totally agree that Wojo's "leash" was too short for Jamal as a sophomore. Most observers expected him to be a solid 20 mpg-ish sub but Wojo gave heavy usage to his starters, even after Joey hit the wall and even when Sacar was struggling. Maybe if Wojo had given Jamal more PT, Joey, Sam, Sacar and even Markus wouldn't have gotten so worn down as the season went on. A very legit criticism IMHO.

After that, though, Jamal's minutes more than doubled the next year and then went up 67% the following year, a pretty normal arc as a college athlete "figures things out."

So while I'll agree that Wojo probably did mess with Jamal's mind as a soph, the other 3 years of Jamal's Marquette career went about the way one would expect for most 3-stars who have definite strengths and weaknesses.

I'd also suggest that Jamal's Marquette experiences have contributed significantly to his break-out season at Oakland, and I think he made a very smart choice for himself.

[FrennA]

* comparable

[Uncle Rico]

Wonder how Jamal would have fared with Mike Deane as coach and John Dawson as his PG

[#UnleashSean]

I will totally agree that Wojo's "leash" was too short for Jamal as a sophomore. Most observers expected him to be a solid 20 mpg-ish sub but Wojo gave heavy usage to his starters, even after Joey hit the wall and even when Sacar was struggling. Maybe if Wojo had given Jamal more PT, Joey, Sam, Sacar and even Markus wouldn't have gotten so worn down as the season went on. A very legit criticism IMHO.

After that, though, Jamal's minutes more than doubled the next year and then went up 67% the following year, a pretty normal arc as a college athlete "figures things out."

So while I'll agree that Wojo probably did mess with Jamal's mind as a soph, the other 3 years of Jamal's Marquette career went about the way one would expect for most 3-stars who have definite strengths and weaknesses.

I'd also suggest that Jamal's Marquette experiences have contributed significantly to his break-out season at Oakland, and I think he made a very smart choice for himself.

Ugh, are the wojo supports still going on about "being worn down"? Hasn't it been proven time and time again that all the top teams were using 7 or 8 man rotations? None of them were "worn down"

[DoctorV]

There was a summer when Markus took "younger" Jamal under his wing and trained with him. Those two were very close. I remember thinking it was a strange connection since Jamal is more of a "big" but I remember reading an article about Markus saying that Jamal was going to explode onto the scene.

He didn't under wojo, but he is at Oakland. His coach there, who recently had Kendrick Nunn drafted and successful in the NBA (transferred over from UofI) has some connections in the NBA and is pushing for Jamal to get a look.

It is almost a guarantee that with the season he is having he will get a look, whether that is drafted or not I'm not sure but I would not be surprised if he was a second round pick.

He's got the NBA length and athleticism, we all know that. He's learning how to score at an elite level- albeit at a lower level- and who knows if that'll travel next level. He has a decent looking stroke and was a very good shooter at MU. Hes also active defensively and with his athleticism should continue to become a good rebounder.

Some added big boy muscle and some decent/average handle and as the game continues to slow down for him I see an NBA kid that could be effective off the bench and continue to grow into a usable piece.
Oh and he also seems like an awesome guy- like Greg he was also a team player and never seemed to complained despite always seeming to have a quick hook for his mistakes.

Lets go Jamal.

[NCMUFan]

Jamal got a lot of breaks at MU.
Transfer of the Hauser Brothers.
Quitting of Brendan Bailey.
Tooks him time to polish his game.
If he keeps polishing his game the sky is the limit.

[MU82]

Ugh, are the wojo supports still going on about "being worn down"? Hasn't it been proven time and time again that all the top teams were using 7 or 8 man rotations? None of them were "worn down"

Has nothing to do with "wojo supports." If you don't think Joey hit a wall, and that Sam and Markus were playing hurt, we'll agree to disagree; maybe Joey, Sam, Sacar and Markus all simply choked down the stretch, and their coach didn't know how to right the ship. I'm glad Wojo is gone and would have fired him halfway through last season.

[Elonsmusk]

Wonder how Jamal would have fared with Mike Deane as coach and John Dawson as his PG

#FinalFour

[GooooMarquette]

#FinalFour

Does the NIT count?

[MuggsyB]

Ok, fair enough.  However, Howard is just one compatible.  I recall several others leading Jamal in TO's and having a much longer leash.  Think Bailey, Joey Hauser, etc.  Regardless,  this has been discussed at length already.  The point is, Jamal was treated unfairly and Wojo was to blame.  Wojo couldn't coach.  Wojo played favorites and relied on his star players to win games.  That is literally how he coached.   Ie.  give Ellenson the ball and everyone else watch.  Give Howard the ball and every one else watch.  It was terrible!   Also, let's say Jamal was worse at TO's than I admit he was.  What about his slashing ability, 3 pt shooting, defense and most of all rebounding?  That dude soared for rebounds.  If he was such a TO liability, how do you not coach around that in order to capitalize on all his other strengths I mentioned?  The long and short of it was Wojo played favorites and was a horrible coach.  Apparently, I'm not the only one who felt that way.  I believe someone penned a letter about it.  Someone that was much closer to the situation than you or I.

I agree with you and on many occasions shared your sentiments.  I never understood why Jamal had such a short leash with Wojo.  It was unfair and I believe stunted his development.  He's also a great kid.  I wish he stayed this season bit wish him nothing but the best.

[WarriorFan]

I wish Jamal continuing success.

NBA??  who cares... I want to see him on next summer's TBT team!  He's exactly the type of young scorer they need!

[auburnmarquette]

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2021-12-05/7-mens-college-basketball-players-who-could-be-next-march-madness-breakout-star

I saw after posting that Andy Katz picked Jamal as one of 7 who could be this year's break out March Madness star and take Oakland in a run like Oral Roberts had last year. The argument about some players moving down a level is certainly valid, but in my ratings I do adjust precisely for defenses and offenses faced, so that does hold him down to 37th, but also he has faced Bama and wvu, and they've beaten ok state and Vermont, and it seems Katz saw enough to think he can play at that level in March.

My memory anecdotally was that he was really looking good against big east foes last year, and if you look at the screen shot from kenpom his numbers for conference play last year really look good and a lot closer to this years start. The other thing is he is sustaining the level of play playing 91 percent of the minutes which is hard to do. I remind people the year pistol Pete averaged 43 a game playing nonstop he did take 39 field goals a game - just to take an extreme case to note percentages drop off we you are out there the whole game (even Kobe became a below average player in games he had a huge number of minutes to play according to basketball on paper).

Mine of this is meant to argue on points made above on his earlier turnover rates etc, and this is still less than halfway through a season so who knows, but the numbers are quite remarkable and while it may have taken him until last year's conference play to figure it out I think he did close strong for us.

[Elonsmusk]

Jamal with another 23 and 11 boards and 160 O-Rating in 30 minutes the other night against 235 Youngstown State.

As his head coach said, Jamal was usually the best player on the floor in their non-conference schedule that ranked as the 9th most difficult in the country - wait until he gets in Horizon league play.  He's likely the MVP of that conference, and as his coach said, will get drafted. 

[The Sultan]

Is Jamal hurt or something?  Just noticed his minutes and production have decreased the last few games.  Though Oakland is still undefeated in conference.

[PGsHeroes32]

Is Jamal hurt or something?  Just noticed his minutes and production have decreased the last few games.  Though Oakland is still undefeated in conference.

I know at least one game was foul trouble. And I think he flat out didnt play against the random D2 team they played

[brewcity77]

I know at least one game was foul trouble. And I think he flat out didnt play against the random D2 team they played

He fouled out each of the past two games.

[Jay Bee]

Is Jamal hurt or something?  Just noticed his minutes and production have decreased the last few games.  Though Oakland is still undefeated in conference.

Foul trouble. Aggressive team def

[The Sultan]

I know at least one game was foul trouble. And I think he flat out didnt play against the random D2 team they played

He fouled out each of the past two games.

Foul trouble. Aggressive team def

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[brewcity77]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

You're welcome (but just for that one )

[Jockey]

Jamal with another 23 and 11 boards and 160 O-Rating in 30 minutes the other night against 235 Youngstown State.

As his head coach said, Jamal was usually the best player on the floor in their non-conference schedule that ranked as the 9th most difficult in the country - wait until he gets in Horizon league play.  He's likely the MVP of that conference, and as his coach said, will get drafted.

Kinda iffy on getting drafted, but I think he will play in the NBA. Great 3 point shooters who can run, rebound, and play 'D'  are always in demand. If he plays with the intensity of Juan Anderson, he will make it as a bench guy who is part of a rotation somewhere. Be a great fit for a team like Memphis.

[Elonsmusk]

Kinda iffy on getting drafted, but I think he will play in the NBA. Great 3 point shooters who can run, rebound, and play 'D'  are always in demand. If he plays with the intensity of Juan Anderson, he will make it as a bench guy who is part of a rotation somewhere. Be a great fit for a team like Memphis.

I think Jamal definitely can land on an NBA roster.  If he finishes strong, perhaps can get drafted.  His coach certainly will be in GMs ears.  Been a little surprised that he's struggled with this 3 point shot though this season at just 30.5%.  He'll definitely need so show better than that in pre-draft workouts etc.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Kinda iffy on getting drafted, but I think he will play in the NBA. Great 3 point shooters who can run, rebound, and play 'D' are always in demand. If he plays with the intensity of Juan Anderson, he will make it as a bench guy who is part of a rotation somewhere. Be a great fit for a team like Memphis.

IMO, Jamal is about 2.5 of those 4 things.

[Jay Bee]

From Jan 2 on...
103.4 ortg on 26.9% usage... 45.6% eFG thanks to 1/10 3FG. Monster assist rate of 3.1% (1 assist)

Has fouled out in last two... both close games.

Crown him!

[Mr. Nielsen]

Jamal Cain will be playing at the Arena on Thursday night.