Jop harnessing his handles

[88Warrior]

Joppy needs to get a headband and watch some Lazar Hayward tapes!

[Tyler COLEk]

Haven't seen the offensive leap we were hoping for from Joplin this season, but I don't think that should overshadow the improvement to his defensive game.

Also two interesting stats I wouldn't have guessed:

1). Jop's averaging significantly fewer turnovers per 40 minutes this season than his past seasons. 1.4 per 40 minutes this season vs. 2.2 and 2.7 his first two years. Nice improvement there.

2). He's actually attempting significantly fewer two-point attempts per 40 minutes played than either of his first two years. Attempting 2.0 per 40 minutes this season, vs 3.1 and 2.7 first two years. Not entirely sure what to make of that. Maybe a mix of better shot decisions and teams paying more attention to him on defense, preventing him from getting to the hoop.

And one bonus: he's fouling much less often. 2.8 per 40 minutes this year vs. 3.4 and 4.0 his first two season.

[tower912]

Jop is trying to become a more complete player and help the team.   It is a process.

[Uncle Rico]

Jolp

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Jop has really upped his scoring in BE play.  In non-conference games, he averaged 8.5 ppg.  In BE games, he's averaging 13.7 ppg.

That's good for third on the team in BE games behind Kolek and Oso.  Jop's also doing this with increased efficiency.  111.4 O-rating with 59.7% eFG.

Jop's a big part of our success and his improved play is a ceiling raiser.

[Goose]

Jop has upped his game over the past month. He has stepped it up when it has been needed and hoping the trend continues. His defense has been a very nice addition to the overall team efforts.

[Uncle Rico]

Jop has upped his game over the past month. He has stepped it up when it has been needed and hoping the trend continues. His defense has been a very nice addition to the overall team efforts.

The defense we get from him is a bonus and if he can do what he's been doing on that side on a regular basis, the ceiling becomes higher

[The Sultan]

The thing about Joplin is that he isn't the most athletic guy out there. So outside of shooting, nothing looks smooth - and IMO is why his rebounding figures aren't great.

But he works hard, and that has been noticeable on defense this year. And he is a decent scoring option obviously.

[MuggsyB]

Chase looked smooth last night.  We played beautiful basketballt in the first half.  F4 basketball imo.  Nova also made a bunch of contested threes during their two big runs.

MU is most dangerous when Jop drains buckets along with Benny and Chase. 

[Mu8891]

The whole " no mid range shots " is stupid.  Sometimes a player can't get to the rim ... what's wrong with a 12 footer ?

And .... Btw ... Oso takes 8 to 10 foot push shots in every game.

[The Sultan]

The whole " no mid range shots " is stupid.  Sometimes a player can't get to the rim ... what's wrong with a 12 footer ?

And .... Btw ... Oso takes 8 to 10 foot push shots in every game.

Shots in the lane are not considered "mid-range."  A 12 footer outside the lane is fine if the shot clock is winding down, but with enough time on the clock, Marquette would rather create a better looking shot - in the rim or an uncontested three. It's simply more efficient.

[tower912]

45-12 over the last two seasons doing it the way Nevada wants.    Scored 85 last night.   I must admit that I never expected to see 'why not shoot more mid-range jumpers' today.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

The whole " no mid range shots " is stupid.  Sometimes a player can't get to the rim ... what's wrong with a 12 footer ?

And .... Btw ... Oso takes 8 to 10 foot push shots in every game.

That's because Oso can make 60% of them.  If anyone could shoot 60% on 15-18 footers, Shaka would definitely give them the green light.  For the record, Wade in his NBA prime was lauded for shooting 50% in midrange.  60% midrange would be next level absurd.

[Milkshakes]

He's actually a pretty good passer from the post, the problem is he rarely does it.  Had a really nice pass from down now tonight.

I think he could really expand on the backdown inside-out passes. Would add a nice little element to the offense as right now defense expect him to shoot everytime he touches the rock.

I agree. Once he gets a couple dribbles in he should think pass more quickly than he does. He is too locked in on the shot until he is in trouble.

[BCHoopster]

The whole " no mid range shots " is stupid.  Sometimes a player can't get to the rim ... what's wrong with a 12 footer ?

And .... Btw ... Oso takes 8 to 10 foot push shots in every game.

Jop it his first mid range jumper yesterday, it was nice to see!

[The Sultan]

That's because Oso can make 60% of them.  If anyone could shoot 60% on 15-18 footers, Shaka would definitely give them the green light.  For the record, Wade in his NBA prime was lauded for shooting 50% in midrange.  60% midrange would be next level absurd.

But again, Oso's shots are from the paint.  In this offense this isn't considered "mid-range."

This is an NBA shot chart, but it gets the point across.

https://www.82games.com/locations.htm

From a points per 100 possession measure, the best places to shoot are:

1. Corner 3s
2. Low paint
3. Wing threes
4. Straight up 3s
5. Straight up 2s - which don't exist much in college due to the placement of the three point line.
6. High paint
7. Corner 2s
8. Wing 2s

IOW, the two least efficient places to shoot from are mid-range shots outside the paint.  Facing the backboard allows you to use the glass and probably gives you better depth perception as well.

[The Sultan]

Jop it his first mid range jumper yesterday, it was nice to see!

It was nice cause it was late in the clock. The staff doesn't want to see that as part of their regular offense.

[Scoop Snoop]

That's because Oso can make 60% of them.  If anyone could shoot 60% on 15-18 footers, Shaka would definitely give them the green light.  For the record, Wade in his NBA prime was lauded for shooting 50% in midrange.  60% midrange would be next level absurd.

I know stats tell us that midrangers are less efficient, but when you have a guy who can make a high percentage of them, I think it also makes the opponents' job on defense that much more difficult. So, they have value in more ways than one. Works for me!

[Its DJOver]

Morsell had the green light for mid-range.  I'm sure if someone on the current roster had the ability to hit them at a high enough clip, they would have the green light too. The fact that we're not taking them makes me think that no one has that skillset. Seems to be working out just fine.

[MUfan12]

Morsell had the green light for mid-range.  I'm sure if someone on the current roster had the ability to hit them at a high enough clip, they would have the green light too. The fact that we're not taking them makes me think that no one has that skillset. Seems to be working out just fine.

Yep. If the guy makes a high percentage of them it's a good shot. No analytics guy in the world would tell KD to stop shooting 17 footers.

[BCHoopster]

Or watching Jamal Murray kill the Bucks scored 35 or so with mostly mid range shots!

[The Sultan]

I'm sure when Jop shoots like KD or Jamal Murray Shaka won't mind him regularly shooting mid-range more often. Until then...

[MU82]

Raftery, who didn't have his best game last night, was begging Jop to dribble more and drive more.

[Tyler COLEk]

Raftery, who didn't have his best game last night, was begging Jop to dribble more and drive more.

Agree that Raft was a bit off last night, but still a joy to listen to him and Benneti. Pretty lucky to get them as a regular Big East crew.

[MuggsyB]

Jop's usurpation of that game over rebound was a thing of beauty.  Excellent box out first and then he ended all hope from Nova.