Good Teams Find Ways to Win

[The Sultan]

Pbi

I remember when people on here laughed about about comparisons with Diener. I will officially say, Travis Diener is no Tyler Kolek and this is coming from a guy that loved Diener. Different players, but I will say Kolek has an even higher ball IQ than Deiner and that is saying an awful lot.

Tyler Kolek is the best Marquette player since Wade. And I don't think its particularly close.

[Goose]

Fluff

I agree 100%. He is climbing the ladder of all time greats quickly. He needs some big wins in the NCAA to move into the top tier of all time players and hopefully that is coming. While Shaka is a perfect fit for MU, Kolek found the perfect coach in Shaka.

[The Lens]

Let's not forget that the first Travis comp was when Tyler committed but before he signed (so Shaka couldn't comment), Shaka tweeted out a Travis highlight video.

It was the foundation of which this era has been built: accountability.

Lots of coaches: deflections matter
Shaka: 32 is our goal, track with us

Lots of coaches: player will be good
Shaka: he'll be as good as an NBA point who helped you to a FF

It all starts at the top.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Joplin is now near the top of the scout.   His release is still slow.    Illinois did not help off him.   He would catch the ball and not have room to get his shot off.   He attempted to create his own shot a few times without success.

Joplin will get his against teams that help to take away the drives of Kolek or Kam.    Illinois was not that team.

Yes. Illinois is not a switching team. A lot of 1-1 as a result which benefited Tyler and Oso. Kam adjusted after halftime.

Jop needs to become a lot more consistent. A tough game, tough matchup for him but as Shaka said post game, those who didn't contribute offensively, did defensively and in other ways. Five boards for the Jop

[Shooter McGavin]

Joplin is now near the top of the scout.   His release is still slow.    Illinois did not help off him.   He would catch the ball and not have room to get his shot off.   He attempted to create his own shot a few times without success.

Joplin will get his against teams that help to take away the drives of Kolek or Kam.    Illinois was not that team.

All true.  He was blanketed last night.  Definitely not giving up on Joplin.  Shaka stuck with him for a reason during stretches he looked really bad.  He's a huge piece for this team.  He'll have to find a way to work around the scout if teams continue to play him the same way.  Just glad we have other options like Gold playing with Oso against longer more athletic teams like Illinois. 

[MuggsyB]

We definitely need Jop.   He doesn't need to force with the vertical dribble when it'd not there and sometimes I think both he and Oso need to slow things down when there is an opening.  I fully expect Jop, Stevie, and Chase to find their offensive rhythm. 

[StillAWarrior]

Like everyone else, I was disappointed in how several players "finished" last night, but I saw so much that makes me really excited for this team.

• They were aggressively driving to the basket
• They had a ton of good, open looks
• They took very few bad shots
• Overall, the did a really good job helping on defense -- there were a number of times someone on Illinois would be in position that I thought they would drive, but help came and stopped them
• Obviously, Kolek is a stud*
• Gold was aggressive on the boards and grabbed the ball with strength

The things that made me excited for this team overwhelmingly exceeded the things that didn't go well in my mind. I think Jop will be fine. He's really talented and just had a rough night. Hopefully they'll improve their rotations to better defend beyond the three-point line. I think Illinois defended the three point line really well; our shooters will be fine.

*After the Rider game, I commented that Kolek's stats (6-5-6 with one TO) looked more Kolek-like than in the NIU game. I commented that he hadn't scored much, but that he didn't need to and that he had shown he can put the team on his back and score when needed. Just a few days later...

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Only 7 assists last night.  Lots of players creating points for themselves.  Very against our normal mo. But we won.  As Muggsy says,  good teams find a way to win

[goldeneagle91114]

Only 7 assists last night.  Lots of players creating points for themselves.  Very against our normal mo. But we won.  As Muggsy says,  good teams find a way to win

Also feel this is a reflection of the number of open shots we missed.

[Viper]

We do need Jop, Stevie, and Chase to find their games in Maui.  They're much better players than we saw tonight.

yes, especially Jop

[MU82]

Joplin had plenty of bad games last season, but he responded with good ones. The great thing is this team has the depth to mitigate many difficult situations.

[Elonsmusk]

After the Illinois game two years ago, I said he reminded me of Brunson.

One of your best posts and comparisons.  You were early on the comp at a time when it was unclear to most that Tyler had a lot of talent.