Pr-Oso Ighodaro?

[El Guerrero 2]

Sam Vecenie coming in hot with his first mock of the 2024 draft, slotting Oso into the first round at No. 28 overall. As much as I’d love to watch Oso for the 2024-25 season, that would be a fantastic outcome and likely mean a lot went right for our Golden Eagles this year.

Here is Sam’s glowing write-up for the Athletic: I can’t really be unbiased about Ighodaro, because I love every single thing about his game. He might have been my favorite player to watch in college basketball last season: a point center who essentially ran the show with Tyler Kolek through his ability to short roll, make high-level passing reads and understand floor spacing at a high level. Ighodaro averaged 11 points and six rebounds last year, but it was the 3.3 assists that stood out most of all on his way to making second-team All-Big East. I’m not sure there is a player in the country who intellectually understands the offensive side of the floor at the level he does.

His communication and off-ball work also endears him to me. He’s constantly talking to his teammates from behind the play, constantly telling them where he wants them and reading plays three steps ahead of everyone else. That attribute makes me think he will figure out a way to make it work in the NBA.

On top of that, he’s extremely efficient, shooting 66 percent from the field last year, including 75 percent at the rim. Defensively, he showcases real mobility away from the rim, allowing him to switch seamlessly. He’s a bit undersized for the center position in the NBA and needs to show marked improvement as a rim protector. But I’m not sure there is a big in this class who processes the game quite like he does. I expect to be higher on him than most throughout the pre-draft process.

https://theathletic.com/4631644/2023/08/07/nba-mock-draft-2024-justin-edwards-ron-holland/?source=user_shared_article

[El Guerrero 2]

Also, I don’t understand why Klingan gets tons of NBA love while Edey is an afterthought.

[tower912]

I thought he would need a jump shot to be spoken of in such glowing terms.   Huh.

In terms of the NBA, with Oso as well as OMax, it is as much or more about the defense than it is the offense.   Go back to the NBA finals.   Oso could have started
 out on Jokic, switched to Gordon and then Murray all in the same possession and been fine.  Or switched from Bam to Jimmy and then Strus.

Or maybe it is about block percentage.

[El Guerrero 2]

I thought he would need a jump shot to be spoken of in such glowing terms.   Huh.

In terms of the NBA, with Oso as well as OMax, it is as much or more about the defense than it is the offense.   Go back to the NBA finals.   Oso could have started
 out on Jokic, switched to Gordon and then Murray all in the same possession and been fine.  Or switched from Bam to Jimmy and then Strus.

Or maybe it is about block percentage.

I think the logic might be that unless you’re an elite shooter, you shouldn’t be shooting outside shots in the NBA at all, so your shooting kind of becomes irrelevant at that point.

I could see Oso being a poor man’s Kevon Looney on the defensive end and rich man’s version of him on the offensive end.

[wadesworld]

Also, I don’t understand why Klingan gets tons of NBA love while Edey is an afterthought.

Agreed.  I think Klingan made a big mistake by coming back.

I thought he would need a jump shot to be spoken of in such glowing terms.   Huh.

In terms of the NBA, with Oso as well as OMax, it is as much or more about the defense than it is the offense.   Go back to the NBA finals.   Oso could have started
 out on Jokic, switched to Gordon and then Murray all in the same possession and been fine.  Or switched from Bam to Jimmy and then Strus.

Or maybe it is about block percentage.

Jokic would've put Oso under the basket every single possession.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Also, I don’t understand why Klingan gets tons of NBA love while Edey is an afterthought.

Clingan's advanced defensive metrics are insane.  He's very similar to Walker Kessler, who just had a very good rookie year.

[MU82]

I think the logic might be that unless you’re an elite shooter, you shouldn’t be shooting outside shots in the NBA at all, so your shooting kind of becomes irrelevant at that point.

I could see Oso being a poor man’s Kevon Looney on the defensive end and rich man’s version of him on the offensive end.

Looney has been mentioned as a comparison before. There are some definite difference, but it's probably as close as there is in the NBA right now.

Thanks for posting that. I have The Athletic but I hadn't gotten around to the article yet.

[tower912]

Agreed.  I think Klingan made a big mistake by coming back.

Jokic would've put Oso under the basket every single possession.

Oso rassled with Nunge, Soriano, Kalkbrenner, Clingan, Sanogo, Edey, et al last year. Good practice.  He will be a little bigger and stronger by the time he has to guard the Joker.   So, we disagree.

[StillAWarrior]

Oso rassled with Nunge, Soriano, Kalkbrenner, Kli Gan, Sanogo et al last year. Good practice.  He will be a little bigger and stronger by the time he has to guard the Joker.   So, we disagree.

In one of the pictures MUBB tweeted in the last few days, Oso looked like he'd gotten "a little bigger and stronger" in the off season.

[wadesworld]

Oso rassled with Nunge, Soriano, Kalkbrenner, Klingan, Sanogo, Edey, et al last year. Good practice.  He will be a little bigger and stronger by the time he has to guard the Joker.   So, we disagree.

I read it as if you were saying he could've guarded those guys in this past NBA Finals.

And none of those guys have even close to the grown man strength Jokic had.  Or Butler or Bam have.  Jokic was putting AD and Bam under the basket when they didn't send help.  He'd have absolutely no problem going to work on Oso.  Which is not a knock on Oso.  Nobody is stopping Jokic.  Especially not a 6'9", 225 lb 21 year old.

[GoldenEagles03]

We'll find out what Oso and our front court are made of right away in November.

UCLA is projected to start 3 players 6'9" or taller.

6'9"
6'10"
7'3"

Plus depending on results we could get Edey and Purdue later on.

We'll be tested early!

[tower912]

Joker is listed at 285.   Edey 305, Clingan 265, Soriano 260, Kalkbrenner 252.   I had the same concerns about Oso a year ago that you mention now.    But he held up.    He rarely got dominated.    So, could 2022-23 Oso have guarded Joker?   No.  His team won the championship for a reason.    Could 22-23 Omax have guarded Butler?    No.   But Omax was drafted and Oso will be drafted because NBA teams see the potential for them to do so.    NBA hoops are all about iso and pick and roll.    The player with the size to start out on the guy setting the pick and the lateral quickness to not get blown by by the guard is what NBA teams are looking for.     
    So, Jokic gets the ball on the high post (or what passes for it in the modern NBA) and decides to bury 24-25 Oso under the basket.   Oso will give as good a battle as most, due to his quickness, intellect, and experience guarding bigger players.    And if the Nuggets run a rub and Oso has to switch onto Gordon or Murray, he is better equipped than most to do so.   

I am using the Nuggets as a reference since they just won the championship.    You can project onto Giannis, the Celtics tandem, Embiid, whatever.   6'10 ish and able to guard 4 positions is a desirable NBA trait.   

In 21-22, I was hoping MU would face Gonzaga.    I thought with Omax and Oso that MU was better equipped than most to defend Holmgren.   

And yes, I pay attention to defensive switches in the NBA finals.   

[WeAreMarquette96]

Other big east picks:

#7 - Donovan Clingan (UConn)
#10 - Garwey Dual (Providence)
#11 - Stephon Castle (Uconn)
#17 - Trey Alexander (Creighton)
#40 - Bryce Hopkins (Providence)
#46 - Alex Karaban (UConn)
#51 - Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)
#56 - Baylor Scheierman (Creighton)

Confirmed non-BE Marquette opponents:

#15 - Aday Mara (UCLA)
#26 - Berke Buyuktuncel (UCLA)
#34 - Terrance Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
#39 - Adem Bona (UCLA)
#47 - Jan Vide (UCLA)
#57 - Coleman Hawkins (Illinois)
#59 - Dillon Mitchell (Texas)

#2 (Ron Holland) and #23 (A.J. Johnson) were until recently committed to Texas but decommitted and went to pro teams