Any Actual Thoughts from Open Practice?

[marqfan22]

Joplin was 6th man of the year in the Big East!

Joplin is a nice player but he is also limited athletically and is a turnover/defensive lapse waiting to happen.  At times he gets hot and is a game changer but most games he's just a nice guy to come off the bench to spell a stud like OMax. 

[lawdog77]

Joplin is a nice player but he is also limited athletically and is a turnover/defensive lapse waiting to happen.  At times he gets hot and is a game changer but most games he's just a nice guy to come off the bench to spell a stud like OMax. 

Bulletin Board Material

[PointWarrior]

Joplin was 6th man of the year in the Big East!

I think we will look back after the season  and say that was one of the dumbest posts of the year. 

[pbiflyer]

Theo John? Mike Kinsella might have a thing or two to say about that.

Get back to me when Mike shoots 75% from three point land for his career like Theo did. 

[Shooter McGavin]

I liked what I saw from Zaide. My biggest takeaway, I loved the excitement surrounding the program. Very nice turnout for a Wednesday at 5pm.

The kid just looks fluid and smoothe with everything he does on the court.  Love the upside of him.  Looks like he could be a high level player at the college level.  Hell of a get by Shaka.

[rgoode57]

For anyone to suggest that Stevie Mitchell not start is just silly. He is an all-around hell of a player and the kind of player you want on the floor as much as possible.

[brewcity77]

For anyone to suggest that Stevie Mitchell not start is just silly. He is an all-around hell of a player and the kind of player you want on the floor as much as possible.

I don't think it's silly. I think the reality is we probably have 6 starting level players, but only 5 will be on the floor for the opening tip. If what we saw from Chase at the open practice is indicative of who he will be in on a nightly basis, then he should be one of those 5. If that was an outlier performance then it could certainly be someone else. But if we're talking about someone not starting, there are 3 returning players that were between 16-24 mpg, and it's likely those three competing for two spots.

And I say that as a huge Stevie Mitchell fan who feels his contributions are routinely underrated.

[Jay Bee]

Good chance Stevie's minutes are pushed. He's gonna have to fight for PT. Whether it's 18 or 23 or 27, he'll be all in every second. Not a terrible thing that we have an improved Chase, year 2 & healthier Sean, and frosh ready to compete.

[MuggsyB]

Ross will not start.  He will be the 6th man, play 20+ mins a game. 

And ... I would say OSO takes less than 10 3 pt shots this year.  As someone said, he really looks ( literally ) uncomfortable shooting it.

Overall, prob the most athletic team I have seen at MU.

How does Ross look on the blowby dribble?  DId he drop any dimes?

[MuggsyB]

Good chance Stevie's minutes are pushed. He's gonna have to fight for PT. Whether it's 18 or 23 or 27, he'll be all in every second. Not a terrible thing that we have an improved Chase, year 2 & healthier Sean, and frosh ready to compete.

We're seriously loaded in the backcourt. I wouldn't be surprised if we see 4 guard line-ups in stretches. 

[StillAWarrior]

For anyone to suggest that Stevie Mitchell not start is just silly. He is an all-around hell of a player and the kind of player you want on the floor as much as possible.

I don't think it's silly. I think the reality is we probably have 6 starting level players, but only 5 will be on the floor for the opening tip. If what we saw from Chase at the open practice is indicative of who he will be in on a nightly basis, then he should be one of those 5. If that was an outlier performance then it could certainly be someone else. But if we're talking about someone not starting, there are 3 returning players that were between 16-24 mpg, and it's likely those three competing for two spots.

And I say that as a huge Stevie Mitchell fan who feels his contributions are routinely underrated.

Stevie Mitchell was my favorite player on the team last season. The "I'm not leaving" exchange with Boum stands as one of my all-time favorite Marquette basketball moments. Ever. Seriously.

And I don't think it's "silly" to suggest he might not start. Don't misunderstand - I think he likely will start and will be perfectly happy if he does. But this team has a lot of talent and a lot of guys who are going to earn minutes. I don't think it's unthinkable at all that Jop and/or Chase (or maybe even someone more unexpected) might get some starts this year. I trust that Shaka will start the guys who he thinks give the team the best chance to win.

[MU82]

starting no matta

[Uncle Rico]

starting no matta

Yuuuuuuuuuup

Multiple lineup options sounds like a heckuva problem.  Say what you will about Buzz but the way he substituted and used his roster was brilliant

[mug644]

starting no matta

Yes. And at the same time, Shaka used only 1 starting lineup for all 36 games last season. Along with being lucky that there were no injuries, maybe that's because Joplin and none of the freshmen really earned it. Yet maybe it could be that, again barring injury, Shaka likes having the stability and the accompanying clarity of roles that goes along with a consistent starting lineup.

[MuggsyB]

Yuuuuuuuuuup

Multiple lineup options sounds like a heckuva problem.  Say what you will about Buzz but the way he substituted and used his roster was brilliant

I think the real question is whether Chase, Stevie, or Kam can guard bigs vs certain teams and spell Jop at the 4?  Can they rebound well enough?  What I do know is I feel very good about our top 7 if we're healthy. 

[lawdog77]

starting no matta

To whom? I am sure many kids would get butt-hurt if their starting spot was taken away. Not sure if it applies here.

[Herman Cain]

There are 29 minutes to allocate from O Max to Chase,  Jop and The Freshman. Chase and Jop played meaningful minutes last season , so while their minutes can still go up , there is also still plenty of room for The Freshman to get some 4 minute segments .

Stevie operates at full intensity all game. I think he is at the max minutes his body ( or any body)can give at his extreme hard working style of play.

[tower912]

Several, if not most, of Omax's minutes are going to Ben and Jop.   I figure 28 for Jop, 21 for Ben, 5-6  for Amadou.   4 guards only for fouls, injuries, and the occasional match up.

[MU82]

To whom? I am sure many kids would get butt-hurt if their starting spot was taken away. Not sure if it applies here.

Absolutely, some basketball players take it very personally if they think they deserve to start but they don't get to. I was talking more about from the overall team perspective.

It didn't matter that John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, Vinnie Johnson, Jae Crowder and David Joplin came off the bench for their teams - they still contributed big to the team's success when they played, and they often (in some cases, usually) played more than the starter did.

One could argue that it made those teams better that such outstanding players didn't start. Individually, maybe it motivated certain players to play better.

After TK, Oso and Kam, MU will have a lot of switchable parts. Shaka can mix and match, go with the hot hand, turn up defensive pressure, go small, try to exploit certain matchups, whatever the game calls for.

starting no matta!

[Hards Alumni]

To whom? I am sure many kids would get butt-hurt if their starting spot was taken away. Not sure if it applies here.

culture.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I think the real question is whether Chase, Stevie, or Kam can guard bigs vs certain teams and spell Jop at the 4?  Can they rebound well enough?  What I do know is I feel very good about our top 7 if we're healthy.

I think we will see Ross at the 4 a lot this season

[Viper]

Absolutely, some basketball players take it very personally if they think they deserve to start but they don't get to. I was talking more about from the overall team perspective.

It didn't matter that John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, Vinnie Johnson, Jae Crowder and David Joplin came off the bench for their teams - they still contributed big to the team's success when they played, and they often (in some cases, usually) played more than the starter did.

One could argue that it made those teams better that such outstanding players didn't start. Individually, maybe it motivated certain players to play better.

After TK, Oso and Kam, MU will have a lot of switchable parts. Shaka can mix and match, go with the hot hand, turn up defensive pressure, go small, try to exploit certain matchups, whatever the game calls for.

starting no matta!

brah, you just put Havlicek and McHale in a sentence with Crowder and Jop? But...I get what you are sayin'.

[Milkshakes]

Last year we had one starting lineup.  I'll be interested to see if that is true this year (injuries aside). Maybe it will be but I won't be surprised if that changes. Either way I know Shaka isn't going back to havoc but it sure feels like we can have a lot of fresh bodies moving in and out to keep the intensity at 11 and really wear teams down.   

[GoldenEagles03]

This is no doubt Shaka's toughest minutes crunch, but it's a great problem to have.

I think all 3 Freshman are the real deal and Zaide Lowery might be pretty similar to what Chase was last year.  My guess on minutes is something close to below. I paired each of the 6 bench players and allocated a group of minutes to each pairing.

Kolek - 28
Kam - 28
Stevie - 20
Joplin - 20
Oso - 28

Chase & Zaide - 30
Ben & Al - 24
Sean & Tre - 22

[jfp61]

I don't think it's silly. I think the reality is we probably have 6 starting level players, but only 5 will be on the floor for the opening tip. If what we saw from Chase at the open practice is indicative of who he will be in on a nightly basis, then he should be one of those 5. If that was an outlier performance then it could certainly be someone else. But if we're talking about someone not starting, there are 3 returning players that were between 16-24 mpg, and it's likely those three competing for two spots.

And I say that as a huge Stevie Mitchell fan who feels his contributions are routinely underrated.

He would jump Joplin well before he would Mitchell.

That's the issue with it.