The Bench.

[1SE]

How much of a concern?

[Uncle Rico]

lol

[tower912]

None.  Give it time.

[NCMUFan]

None.  Give it time.

Right, these are the newest players with the least playing time.
More experience and time on the court they will contribute more.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

How much of a concern?

You're a glass half-full kind of guy, huh.

[forgetful]

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by our bench so far.

[Jockey]

Not a lot of confidence in Lowery or Norman, but Parham and Owens will be stars.

[StillWarriors]

Offensively we don't have anything we can count on right now from the bench. Hopefully some upcoming games will provide more opportunity and they will become more consistent. Parham and Owens look very capable. Sean would also provide some offensive punch if he can come back.

[MU82]

I'm worried sick.

If our bench had been more productive, we'd be 10-0 by now.

[BM1090]

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by our bench so far.

Same. Lots of flashes from Royce. You can see Owens potential and I expect him to be a lot more comfortable after the next two games. Lowery is great on defense.

Tre is odd. He's largely invisible and then once or twice per game he does something that makes me think he's going to be pretty good. I think his success will start to come once he gets the ball in his hands more.

[1SE]

You're a glass half-full kind of guy, huh.

Listen, I mean I'm glad we could beat a 50+ team on a neutral court and all, but we looked terrible when Stevie and Kam were off the floor (will be interesting to see the +/-). I want to cut down nets - 6 pts of production off the bench ain't gonna cut it. I get the freshmen should get better - but Tre and Zaide not looking like the same guys who contributed some solid conference minutes last year.

[muwarrior69]

Obvious by today's game. When Kam, Stevie and Chase were out of the game our defense let Georgia back into the game. I am sure that will change as the season goes on.

[Badgerhater]

The bench is terrible.  It's responsible for every game MU lost so far.

[mileskishnish72]

Listen, I mean I'm glad we could beat a 50+ team on a neutral court and all, but we looked terrible when Stevie and Kam were off the floor (will be interesting to see the +/-). I want to cut down nets - 6 pts of production off the bench ain't gonna cut it. I get the freshmen should get better - but Tre and Zaide not looking like the same guys who contributed some solid conference minutes last year.

Sophomore jinx?

[mileskishnish72]

Listen, I mean I'm glad we could beat a 50+ team on a neutral court and all, but we looked terrible when Stevie and Kam were off the floor (will be interesting to see the +/-). I want to cut down nets - 6 pts of production off the bench ain't gonna cut it. I get the freshmen should get better - but Tre and Zaide not looking like the same guys who contributed some solid conference minutes last year.

Sophomore jinx?

[PGsHeroes32]

Listen, I mean I'm glad we could beat a 50+ team on a neutral court and all, but we looked terrible when Stevie and Kam were off the floor (will be interesting to see the +/-). I want to cut down nets - 6 pts of production off the bench ain't gonna cut it. I get the freshmen should get better - but Tre and Zaide not looking like the same guys who contributed some solid conference minutes last year.

Good teams win, great teams cover

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

1) Owens was playing very well in practice before the toe injury. Get Owens caught up to speed. Then we'll have a 6th man.

2) Parham is showing flashes and should keep getting better as the season progresses.

3) When Sean Jones returns and gets up to speed, that will give us a much needed veteran presence off the bench.

I'm optimistic that our bench will be a lot better by February.

[1SE]

Good teams win, great teams cover

Kam and Stevie will both be all conference - Kam will probably be all-American. Chase is really coming into his own. And when good Ben and Jop show up that is a starting five that can beat any team in the country.

But right now there is a precipitous drop off. We're on a razor-thin foul/injury margin - that's what I'm talking about in terms of concern. When Kam went down and stayed down all I could think of was "well, that was a nice season while it lasted"

[Uncle Rico]

Kam and Stevie will both be all conference - Kam will probably be all-American. Chase is really coming into his own. And when good Ben and Jop show up that is a starting five that can beat any team in the country.

But right now there is a precipitous drop off. We're on a razor-thin foul/injury margin - that's what I'm talking about in terms of concern. When Kam went down and stayed down all I could think of was "well, that was a nice season while it lasted"

I would recommend not enjoying the season then and just worry. 

[MU82]

Listen, I mean I'm glad we could beat a 50+ team on a neutral court and all, but we looked terrible when Stevie and Kam were off the floor (will be interesting to see the +/-). I want to cut down nets - 6 pts of production off the bench ain't gonna cut it. I get the freshmen should get better - but Tre and Zaide not looking like the same guys who contributed some solid conference minutes last year.

After the Maryland win, many of us were praising the play of Parham and Hamilton, looking forward to getting Owens up to speed and were expressing realistic hope that Sean Jones could still contribute this season. We haven't needed much from the bench the last two games.

We're 6 games in. We're 6-0, and pretty damn impressively so. College basketball games are filled with LONG time-outs. I've yet to see signs late in games that Kam, Chase and Stevie are tired. The couple games Gold was in foul trouble, Hamilton and Parham did A-OK.

Enjoy our undefeated team that could move into the top 10, and stop looking for things to worry about. Or don't enjoy them and do look for things to worry about ... it's still a free country for now!

[MU82]

When Kam went down and stayed down all I could think of was "well, that was a nice season while it lasted"

If Kam were to suffer a serious injury, Marquette would be effed. It wouldn't matter if Lowery and/or Norman were playing better - we have nobody who can replace Kam.

We had a deeper team last season, but we'd have gone nowhere without Kolek or Oso. That's what happens when a college team loses an All-American, NBA-caliber player. Even the bluebloods have trouble overcoming the loss of a superstar - and Kam is a superstar.

[1SE]

After the Maryland win, many of us were praising the play of Parham and Hamilton, looking forward to getting Owens up to speed and were expressing realistic hope that Sean Jones could still contribute this season. We haven't needed much from the bench the last two games.

We're 6 games in. We're 6-0, and pretty damn impressively so. College basketball games are filled with LONG time-outs. I've yet to see signs late in games that Kam, Chase and Stevie are tired. The couple games Gold was in foul trouble, Hamilton and Parham did A-OK.

Enjoy our undefeated team that could move into the top 10, and stop looking for things to worry about. Or don't enjoy them and do look for things to worry about ... it's still a free country for now!

I enjoy all the wins - and of course if Kam (or even Stevie) goes down that's the end of title hopes regardless of who is coming off the bench - just something to talk about on a message board.

[Big Papi]

There is a concern.  It's obvious Shaka does not trust the freshmen defensively.  Both can score.  Zaide can defend but looks like he regressed offensively.  I have no confidence in Tre.

It will get better as the freshmen start figuring out the defensive requirements from Shaka to get more playing time.

Bigger concern is Kam's propensity to foul.  We need him on the floor at all times.

[Tyler COLEk]

People need to get accustomed to college basketball rosters. This isn't the NBA, teams don't have 10 elite players. That's why rotations shrink to 6-7 guys in the most important games of the season.

MUBB's depth is a strength, especially defensively.

[MU82]

People need to get accustomed to college basketball rosters. This isn't the NBA, teams don't have 10 elite players. That's why rotations shrink to 6-7 guys in the most important games of the season.

MUBB's depth is a strength, especially defensively.

Yep.

I'm seriously not concerned about our bench. Maybe if Gold and Kam show long patterns of getting into foul trouble ... and if Owens isn't as special as most of us think he will be (at least not this season) ... and if Sean doesn't come back (or is a shell of his old self) ... then I'll get concerned.

But we're 6-0, our guys have played very well for long stretches in three straight quality wins, and I haven't once felt that we weren't the stronger, more fit team at the end of every game so far.

We Are Marquette!