[Paint Touches] Hater's Guide to MU 2023

[PaintTouches]

To offset some of my homer-ness, I dove into some of the potential pitfalls awaiting Marquette this season.

http://painttouches.com/2022/10/25/the-bearish-2022-23-marquette-preview/

The hole Justin leaves is much bigger than PPG.

[wadesworld]

To offset some of my homer-ness, I dove into some of the potential pitfalls awaiting Marquette this season.

http://painttouches.com/2022/10/25/the-bearish-2022-23-marquette-preview/

The hole Justin leaves is much bigger than PPG.

Dude was a stud, but some think we won't miss him.  He was one of two or three players who was Big East starting caliber talent on the team last year.  And we lost one of the two others as well.  We will need some MAJOR steps by multiple players, and a couple young guys greatly exceeding expectations, to make any noise this year.

[tower912]

So...
Young
Skinny down low
Poor rebounding
Needs to replace a crap ton of minutes and scoring.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Anyone who thinks we are a better team without Lewis is delusional. That being said, I think this year's team will be about as good as last year's team, if not a little better. If Lewis had stayed (assuming he didn't still tear his ACL), I think we would have ended up a top 15 team.

[Uncle Rico]

Anyone who thinks we are a better team without Lewis is delusional. That being said, I think this year's team will be about as good as last year's team, if not a little better. If Lewis had stayed (assuming he didn't still tear his ACL), I think we would have ended up a top 15 team.

His body language being gone is worth an extra two wins

[rocky_warrior]

Wow, I'm already a skeptic and that article depressed me.  I think I need the bullish case sooner than later 

[bilsu]

The team can actually be better, but not have as good of a record. I just do not know, if we can have a run against Big East's top teams like we did last year.

[tower912]

I feel like the separation between the floor and the ceiling are farther apart for this team than any MU squad I can remember.   The floor is a record similar to Shaka's year two record at Texas.  The ceiling is 23 regular season wins plus a couple in the postseason.

[Newsdreams]

COLE Patrol lives!

[MU82]

The team can actually be better, but not have as good of a record. I just do not know, if we can have a run against Big East's top teams like we did last year.

I agree that it's unrealistic to think we again will have the kind of run that includes two wins vs. Nova and other great victories against good teams.

But it's quite realistic to think that we can finish better and avoid losing again to the likes of DePaul and Butler down the stretch.

We Are Marquette!

[Shooter McGavin]

That article was depressing.  Now we need the optimistic article.

[MU82]

The article underscored the importance of Oso this season. He needs to be a good last line of defense, needs to stay out of foul trouble, needs to do the things on offense that Shaka claims he can do.

I agree with the many that Kolek is our most important player. But Oso is #1B.

[panda]

I feel like the separation between the floor and the ceiling are farther apart for this team than any MU squad I can remember.   The floor is a record similar to Shaka's year two record at Texas.  The ceiling is 23 regular season wins plus a couple in the postseason.

Agree - there is a ton of talent on this team but I think it's unrealistic to expect massive jumps from several players to get to that 23 win point. I still think we're a year away from getting back to the crean/buzz level of consistent tournament expectations.

[WhiteTrash]

Do we have any red shirt freshmen shooting guards from Chicago that tore it up in practice?

[dgies9156]

Ya'll all assume there will be no improvement or growth in what's here.

I prefer to think we have a team that can do what we need it to, period.

Maybe I see things with blue and gold glasses but I'm optimistic our guys can and will step up.

[rocky_warrior]

Ya'll all assume there will be no improvement or growth in what's here.

Said...nobody...

[muwarrior69]

To offset some of my homer-ness, I dove into some of the potential pitfalls awaiting Marquette this season.

http://painttouches.com/2022/10/25/the-bearish-2022-23-marquette-preview/

The hole Justin leaves is much bigger than PPG.

Maybe change your title from Hater's to Pessimist's. No one here hates's MU basketball just because Paint Touches doesn't paint a rosy picture for the coming season.

[The Sultan]

Dude was a stud, but some think we won't miss him.  He was one of two or three players who was Big East starting caliber talent on the team last year.  And we lost one of the two others as well.  We will need some MAJOR steps by multiple players, and a couple young guys greatly exceeding expectations, to make any noise this year.

Depending on what you mean by "MAJOR steps," I don't really agree with this. We need players to improve. We need newcomers to step up. Neither one of these needs to be dramatic to "make noise."

[wadesworld]

Depending on what you mean by "MAJOR steps," I don't really agree with this. We need players to improve. We need newcomers to step up. Neither one of these needs to be dramatic to "make noise."

If Kam Jones is going to be a First Team All Big East (or even Honorable Mention All Big East) player, I would consider that a MAJOR step up.  If Tyler Kolek develops into a 35%+ three point shooter/45% overall shooter, I would consider that a MAJOR step up.  If OMax becomes more than a straight line driver and shoots over 35% from 3, I would consider that a MAJOR step up.  If Joplin can become good enough defensively to play 25+ MPG and still be a net positive, I'd consider that to be a MAJOR step up.  If Stevie can be a net positive on the offensive end I would consider that to be a MAJOR step up.  If Oso is really going to be the college basketball version of Nikola Jokic I would consider that a MAJOR step up.

There are a lot of players who have proven to be role players on this roster.  It takes a MAJOR step up for role players to become "dudes" on a quality team.  You need at least two to be a Tournament team, and more than that to make a run at a top 3 conference finish or better/NCAA Tournament run.  I haven't seen any of them yet.  I think there's potential for a number of guys to be that, but they'll need to take MAJOR steps to make it happen.

[Its DJOver]

There are question marks to be sure.  The number one concern was, and this article certainly reinforced, rebounding. 

While there is certainly going to be individual improvement on the offensive end, no one has been the center of the opposing teams scouting report before.  Last year, the number 1, 2, and 3 concerns for other teams was Justin.  Darryl was next, and the only returning players that likely had any significance on the scouting report were Kam being a three point specialist, and Kolek being a pass first PG. If Kam's gonna have the other teams best defender on him whenever he's in the game, he needs to show that he's evolved his offensive arsenal.

[Jockey]

Depending on what you mean by "MAJOR steps," I don't really agree with this. We need players to improve. We need newcomers to step up. Neither one of these needs to be dramatic to "make noise."

I pretty much agree. If most of the guys take a step forward - very possible, even likely since there are so many young guys - we will be OK.

If only a couple up their game from last year, it will be a long winter.

[PointWarrior]

If you put a COLE and a Moper in a blender....

[Newsdreams]

If you put a COLE and a Moper in a blender....

COPER!

[brewcity77]

If Kam Jones is going to be a First Team All Big East (or even Honorable Mention All Big East) player, I would consider that a MAJOR step up.  If Tyler Kolek develops into a 35%+ three point shooter/45% overall shooter, I would consider that a MAJOR step up.  If OMax becomes more than a straight line driver and shoots over 35% from 3, I would consider that a MAJOR step up.  If Joplin can become good enough defensively to play 25+ MPG and still be a net positive, I'd consider that to be a MAJOR step up.  If Stevie can be a net positive on the offensive end I would consider that to be a MAJOR step up.  If Oso is really going to be the college basketball version of Nikola Jokic I would consider that a MAJOR step up.

There are a lot of players who have proven to be role players on this roster.  It takes a MAJOR step up for role players to become "dudes" on a quality team.  You need at least two to be a Tournament team, and more than that to make a run at a top 3 conference finish or better/NCAA Tournament run.  I haven't seen any of them yet.  I think there's potential for a number of guys to be that, but they'll need to take MAJOR steps to make it happen.

I think you view pretty small improvements as major steps up. What Justin did was a major step up. If Kam does what he did last year but in 28 mpg, he'll be right around that honorable mention point without much improvement. TK upping his 3PFG% to (checks notes) exactly what it was the year before isn't a major step.

I know this article was exactly what you've been salivating for, but none of these guys have to become Justin for this team to be successful.

[wadesworld]

I think you view pretty small improvements as major steps up. What Justin did was a major step up. If Kam does what he did last year but in 28 mpg, he'll be right around that honorable mention point without much improvement. TK upping his 3PFG% to (checks notes) exactly what it was the year before isn't a major step.

I know this article was exactly what you've been salivating for, but none of these guys have to become Justin for this team to be successful.

Right. Kam wasn't good enough to play 15 MPG. It's not like he was behind a 3 amigos back court. Him "just being what he was in double the minutes" isn't just some minor step.