Zaide

[Elonsmusk]

He will be the next big superstar at MU.  His athleticism is off the charts.  It is the kind of athleticism the best basketball players have - agility, explosiveness, and very smooth yet sudden in movement, and an ability to play lower to the floor/have great body control.  And his shot form looks very good too.   

[MU82]

Good call. Texting with my MU friends while watching tonight's game, I couldn't stop talking about him. He already has a great basketball build, and he definitely has talent. He could be a freakin' stud as early as next season.

[MuggsyB]

He will be the next big superstar at MU.  His athleticism is off the charts.  It is the kind of athleticism the best basketball players have - agility, explosiveness, and very smooth yet sudden in movement, and an ability to play lower to the floor/have great body control.  And his shot form looks very good too.

Our guard depth is insane and I think you're right.  This kid appears to have the entire arsenal and looks quite poised already. 

[DoctorV]

He's my favorite in that class coming in, much like Justin Lewis was in the class with Dawson G.

He just seems like a Marquette guy.

I haven't seen anything like that yet to claim he's an elite dude, but him and Tre- who I think has sneaky elite 2 year run the team PG ability- are set to make massive sophomore jumps next year.

The thing with sophomore jumps tho is that you don't really know until you know-
Ex: everyone thought Chase and then Sean showed up. Not that Chase is playing bad, and he's clearly got the elite athleticism, D, etc, but even in an off night SJ22 looked more ready than Chase so far in year 2z

So, we will see, but I agree with your point that I love the prospect of Zaide.
Wanna hear the best part?

14 mins and 7 reb, 2nd most on the team and more than athletic freak Omax had in a single game in his entire MU career 🤪

[PointWarrior]

He's spends more time upright than Omax....

He's my favorite in that class coming in, much like Justin Lewis was in the class with Dawson G.

He just seems like a Marquette guy.

I haven't seen anything like that yet to claim he's an elite dude, but him and Tre- who I think has sneaky elite 2 year run the team PG ability- are set to make massive sophomore jumps next year.

The thing with sophomore jumps tho is that you don't really know until you know-
Ex: everyone thought Chase and then Sean showed up. Not that Chase is playing bad, and he's clearly got the elite athleticism, D, etc, but even in an off night SJ22 looked more ready than Chase so far in year 2z

So, we will see, but I agree with your point that I love the prospect of Zaide.
Wanna hear the best part?

14 mins and 7 reb, 2nd most on the team and more than athletic freak Omax had in a single game in his entire MU career 🤪

[Lennys Tap]

Wanna hear the best part?

14 mins and 7 reb, 2nd most on the team and more than athletic freak Omax had in a single game in his entire MU career 🤪

He is an instinctive rebounder, he goes to the ball. And has strong hands - love that about him. I noticed this in one of our early cupcake games and pointed it out here - bodes well for the future.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Chase Ross is the next big superstar at Marquette. But yes, Zaide's time will come

[Shooter McGavin]

He will be the next big superstar at MU.  His athleticism is off the charts.  It is the kind of athleticism the best basketball players have - agility, explosiveness, and very smooth yet sudden in movement, and an ability to play lower to the floor/have great body control.  And his shot form looks very good too.

Yep.  Effortless athleticism.  With skills to match.  Shaka got a good one.

[tower912]

He looked smooth.   As the young guys were launching 3's in the last 10 minutes last night, I started flashing back to the first few games under Shaka.   When frustrations were abounding over early shot clock 3's and concerns about the offense.   
     Part of the process is watching the young guards learn how to take advantage of close outs, drive and either finish at the rim or create for others with the next pass. I could definitely project Tre, Ross, and Zaide as the guards,  switching everything on one end and making the opposing defenders Chase (ha) their tails.    Spin cycle.
    So, yeah, Zaide looked good.   

[El Guerrero 2]

Chase Ross is the next big superstar at Marquette. But yes, Zaide's time will come

It will be hard to see TyKo, Kam, and Oso move on, but a lineup with Sean, Chase, Zaide, Jop, and Ben will still be nasty. There aren't many teams in the country that will be able to keep up with that backcourt athleticism.

[tower912]

Stevie will still start.  But your concept is spot on.   

[MUCam]

Chase Ross is the next big superstar at Marquette. But yes, Zaide's time will come

I think Chase will be great, but I am not as high on him as others.

Zaire, however, showed me a little bit of first year Justin Lewis and first year Jimmy Butler. He has that special something about him in the way he moves and plays, as alluded to in the initial post.

I'm not suggesting he can reach those same levels. It takes a lot of development and hard work and progress, but I see some early similarities and if I was betting, I'd say he looks the part of our next big superstar.

The great thing with this team is that legitimate cases can be made for several players (Gold and Ross to the front). And, hopefully the soon to be freshmen can replicate and keep this going.

[MU82]

I think Chase will be great, but I am not as high on him as others.

This should probably have its own thread but ...

Yeah, is it heresy for me to say that Chase hasn't quite met expectations this season?

He's been fine, good even, but when I heard Shaka call him the most improved player during the preseason work, I expected to see a major step up - maybe not like Kolek and Oso last season, but at least like Joplin. Indeed, it's Sean Jones' improvement that has been eye-opening so far.

Chase is shooting .286 from 3, he's forcing things a bit on offense (especially if he hasn't scored in awhile and feels he "needs" a bucket), he's had hardly any "did you see that?" plays, stuff like that.

It's early, he's obviously talented, he did have a very nice game against Kansas, and Shaka sees him everyday so he knows a lot more about him than I do. Plus it's early.

Maybe he officially launches his 6th Man of the Year campaign at Madison. We could use it!

[El Guerrero 2]

I think Chase will be great, but I am not as high on him as others.

Zaire, however, showed me a little bit of first year Justin Lewis and first year Jimmy Butler. He has that special something about him in the way he moves and plays, as alluded to in the initial post.

I'm not suggesting he can reach those same levels. It takes a lot of development and hard work and progress, but I see some early similarities and if I was betting, I'd say he looks the part of our next big superstar.

The great thing with this team is that legitimate cases can be made for several players (Gold and Ross to the front). And, hopefully the soon to be freshmen can replicate and keep this going.

I am about as high on Zaide as everyone, but being more impressed with him than Chase at this point is kind of silly. Chase has showed out against Big East competition and Kansas and the like. Zaide had a good game against Southern. But I am glad he earned himself some more playing time.

[tower912]

This should probably have its own thread but ...

Yeah, is it heresy for me to say that Chase hasn't quite met expectations this season?

He's been fine, good even, but when I heard Shaka call him the most improved player during the preseason work, I expected to see a major step up - maybe not like Kolek and Oso last season, but at least like Joplin. Indeed, it's Sean Jones' improvement that has been eye-opening so far.

Chase is shooting .286 from 3, he's forcing things a bit on offense (especially if he hasn't scored in awhile and feels he "needs" a bucket), he's had hardly any "did you see that?" plays, stuff like that.

It's early, he's obviously talented, he did have a very nice game against Kansas, and Shaka sees him everyday so he knows a lot more about him than I do. Plus it's early.

Maybe he officially launches his 6th Man of the Year campaign at Madison. We could use it!

It isn't heresy.   There have been multiple times where I have rolled my eyes and muttered 'Put Stevie back in.'    I firmly believe Ross is fine and will get better.   Settle in and make the necessary subtle adjustments.

[Scoop Snoop]

I think Chase will be great, but I am not as high on him as others.

Zaire, however, showed me a little bit of first year Justin Lewis and first year Jimmy Butler. He has that special something about him in the way he moves and plays, as alluded to in the initial post.

I'm not suggesting he can reach those same levels. It takes a lot of development and hard work and progress, but I see some early similarities and if I was betting, I'd say he looks the part of our next big superstar.

The great thing with this team is that legitimate cases can be made for several players (Gold and Ross to the front). And. hopefully the soon to be freshmen can replicate and keep this going.

You made several very good (Herman would say excellent) points, but your comment on Chase? Not so sure about that. As much as we all loved Zaire's show last night, looking forward to next season he and the others you mentioned will keep MU solidly in the top 25. Our future looks great!

It will be interesting to see how and when Shaka uses him the remainder of this season. Damn, Marquette is sitting pretty not just this season, but beyond. Back up a Brinks truck for Shaka.

[The Sultan]

Chase was great against Kansas. He was pretty bad against Purdue.

[muwarrior69]

I was impressed with Amadou. Yeah, it was Southern, but playing the Sophs and Freshman for most of the 2nd half was impressive.

[Goose]

I am not looking past this season one bit, but for the past two years I have been looking forward to seeing what a full roster of Shaka recruits looks like. IMO, Shaka has build a system the past year+ based off of skill sets of the guys on the team and he has done it to perfection.

That said, I believe we got a glimpse in the second half of what we can expect in the future. Next season, regardless of who is back, this time is going to have a high number of 6-5 to 6-11 guys that are high energy, athletic basketball players. Going forward the offense may be driven by the defense. I have no doubt they will continue to score at a high clip, but if very easily could be driven by a high number of transition points.

Also, there are very few people that would have predicted Kolek, Oso and Kam being the high level players they have turned out to be. My guess, these guys would have struggled to reach these heights at another program. Shaka built this team by maximizing his talent. There likely will never be another Kolek in my lifetime, or Oso, but there are going to be team full of dudes that likely will have their strengths highlighted by Shaka. Probably a different look, but it is going be equally as exciting.

[Viper]

Chase Ross is the next big superstar at Marquette. But yes, Zaide's time will come

I hope you are correct, and hope Chase has a bust-out game on Saturday. His talent is a bad matchup for WI.

[avid1010]

Stevie will still start.  But your concept is spot on.   

But Kam will be gone?

[MUCam]

I am about as high on Zaide as everyone, but being more impressed with him than Chase at this point is kind of silly. Chase has showed out against Big East competition and Kansas and the like. Zaide had a good game against Southern. But I am glad he earned himself some more playing time.

My point is admittedly poorly articulated. I am not more impressed with Zaide than with Chase in the here and now, and I am definitely not more impressed with Zaide based on a one game sample against inferior competition. Chase is the better player right now. Chase will almost assuredly have a bigger impact on Marquette this year. Chase will be a leader for this team for as long as he is at Marquette. I think he is great and I think he has All-Big East future potential. I just am not yet on the "Chase is NBA material" bandwagon, if that bandwagon even exists; maybe it doesn't.

The point I was making is that Zaide--in the few games he's played and especially yesterday--reminds me a little bit of some of our past "big superstars", such as a freshman Justin Lewis, freshman Lazar Hayward, and a young sophomore Jimmy Butler. Granted, those guys played (out of necessity) 15-20 minutes per game their first years at MU, but I was a huge fan of each of them in their earliest games. Zaide has to really work hard to get to even a sophomore Chase Ross level, but there is something about his game and the way he moves and plays, that gives me flashbacks to prior "big superstars." I think there will be a few meaningful games this year, just as there were for Lewis, Hayward, and Butler, where Zaide shows his future potential. It may be less likely to happen due to the strength of the roster above him, including Chase Ross, but I think it'll happen.

Justice Stewart once said about obscenity, "I will know it when I see it." I don't know what that has to do with our team, but I feel like what I see in Zaide is potential for future stardom, and that is not an obscene take, I don't think. Ha!

[tower912]

But Kam will be gone?

I took Oso, Kam, and Kolek leaving and inferred that it would be after this season.  I fully expect Stevie back next season.

[MuggsyB]

Chase has been inconsistent.  He's much more comfortable in transition than in the h-court right now.  Both Chase and Stevie are capable of driving the paint and making the 4 footer in lieu of going all the way to the rim.  Stevie drained two last night.  The other shot we need to hit more often is the wide open corner triple.  And we're getting that shot which is the dream shot.  Chase, Jop, Ben, Stevie, Sean,  etc, have to hit that triple for us to go from excellent to unguardable. 

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Zaide has a bright future.  This roster is just too good for freshman like Tre and Zaide to have much impact.