Psyched about the future of Marquette hoops

[tower912]

I am going to go out on a limb and say a website I have never heard of has MU at #37 as of early August.

[zcg2013]

I am going to go out on a limb and say a website I have never heard of has MU at #37 as of early August.

Three Man Weave is a real good college basketball podcast and website I highly recommend. I know a certain scooper who has been shouted out on there a few times.

[Pepe Sylvia]

Yeah its the new 3 man weave site, they are known. 2 guys had us like 31, 32 and the other like 44. Good floor, whats the ceiling without Kam, get a guy from the portal every once in a while shaka, gonna finish 20-40 in kenpom, was the gist of it.

[JakeBarnes]

Three Man Weave is a real good college basketball podcast and website I highly recommend. I know a certain scooper who has been shouted out on there a few times.

How do they know Willie?

[tower912]

OK.  Website I don't follow has some credibility.  Still August, still not worried.

[brewcity77]

It's all organized by Trilly Donovan. Honestly, probably the best all-CBB website going right now. In addition to the 3 Man Weave guys, they have Eamonn Brennan, Will Warren (Stats by Will), Brian Rauf, Jordan Majewski, and Matthew Winick as contributors. All very smart, very savvy analytic types.

As far as the jist here goes:

Individual rankings: Jim - 44 / Ky - 32 / Matt - 31

Pointed out that Kam Jones had insane on/off numbers and losing him could really hurt. Also that a fourth first weekend in five years could be disappointing. They praise continuity and defensive consistency.

Sean was the only PG they mentioned, said getting him back helps.

They point out Marquette's wealth of long, athletic wings (Ross, Lowery, Norman, Owens) and said it looks like Ross is next up, but also questions about who will take that next step because no one has proven efficiency at high usage.

Cited Ben and Royce in the front court. Mentioned how Ben is an underrated defender and they expect a big jump from Royce.

They mentioned the lack of portal use as a cause for concern, saying Marquette won't maximize their ceiling without taking advantage of the portal. Said it's a high floor team but it's likely a solid but not great team without a clear-cut star/go-to player.

Offensively, other concerns are a lack of firepower and that it might be harder to execute pick & roll with this roster. Mentioned all the freshmen, but don't seem to think any will be big impact guys. Most ink on Stevens and James.

Ultimately expect us to be between 20-40 on kenpom, single digit NCAA seed, but that might feel like a letdown to fans considering the momentum we had in years 2-3 under Shaka.

[Shooter McGavin]

Sums it up nicely. 

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Ultimately expect us to be between 20-40 on kenpom, single digit NCAA seed, but that might feel like a letdown to fans considering the momentum we had in years 2-3 under Shaka.

All of those starters are gone though.  And the recruits that committed during and after the BE championship season are sophomores and freshman.

Two seasons from now, Marquette should be back to those top 15 levels.

[brewcity77]

All of those starters are gone though.  And the recruits that committed during and after the BE championship season are sophomores and freshman.

Two seasons from now, Marquette should be back to those top 15 levels.

Ultimately, I thought it was fair. Most people expect a down year, and if we stack first weekend exits, it will lead to a disappointed fanbase. I'm long term optimistic and see a higher ceiling with even this team than they do, but I'm a Marquette fan, so that is pretty natural. We'll be at our best when we have consecutive upperclassmen recruiting classes with more hits than misses. That's not this year, but I do think 2028 & 2029 have lots of potential in that regard. Maybe as soon as next year if Zaide & SJ both hit.

----

Last year, many of our struggles in league play came from Kam & Jop combining to shoot 28.6% from three on 12.6 attempts per game. The rest of the team was at 34.2%. We needed more efficiency from our higher volume shooters. I can see a world where this team doesn't have the All-American level talents, but the whole is making 35-36% from deep and the offense improves to top-20 as a result. But I can also see a world where Sean is never quite the floor general TK & Kam were, and a lack of individual aggressiveness leads to a stagnant half court offense. Transition keeps us afloat, but we're more a 50-60 ranked offense.

Defensively, I think we'll be good. But if we continue to lack rim protection and don't have anyone step into the defensive QB role adequately, that might be a 35-40 defense instead of the top 10-15 that is possible if Ben, Royce, & Clark combine to create some defensive menace at the rim & our perimeter triumvirate of Chase, Zaide, & Sean is the best perimeter group in the country in terms of both tenacious switching D and turnover generation.

If both of those go to worst case scenarios, we're probably a bubble team. If both are best case, we're a top-4 seed and dark horse to win the league. More likely, somewhere in the middle, which is where 3MW as a consensus landed.

[Jay Bee]

We actually have upside on 3-pointers. Not sure where the volume comes from, but shooting better as a team is highly doable.

Lower 3FGA/FGA, higher 3FG%.

Let's see how our offensive to% weakens. me scurred.  #pray

[Pepe Sylvia]

Last year, many of our struggles in league play came from Kam & Jop combining to shoot 28.6% from three on 12.6 attempts per game. The rest of the team was at 34.2%. We needed more efficiency from our higher volume shooters. I can see a world where this team doesn't have the All-American level talents, but the whole is making 35-36% from deep and the offense improves to top-20 as a result. But I can also see a world where Sean is never quite the floor general TK & Kam were, and a lack of individual aggressiveness leads to a stagnant half court offense. Transition keeps us afloat, but we're more a 50-60 ranked offense.

I think Sean Jones can step in and shoot 26% on high volume if needed. I hope he don't but it could happen.

[MU82]

I think Sean Jones can step in and shoot 26% on high volume if needed. I hope he don't but it could happen.

Or he can step in and shoot 46% on high volume if needed. I hope he does, but it probably won't happen.

[Shooter McGavin]

I don't think a committment of a Top 80 and Top 150 kid validates the lack of Portal use.  Those are typical MU recruits.

What will validate it, is consistent winning.

So far I think the results show Shaka's philosophy works. 

Agreed.  Yearly NCAA tournaments and a couple deep tournament runs every five years and it will show that Shaka's way is sustainable at an elite level.  Tournament this year with the arrow pointing up for next?  I'm sold. 

[tower912]

I'm not buying it.

[Jay Bee]

Our former coach was poached by the NBA. What are we to do?

#TalkinAllThatJazz

[tower912]

Wojo is a quality assistant.

[Shooter McGavin]

I'm not buying it.

Many have bought it hook line and sinker through one talent cycle.  I need to at least see the start of the next cycle go well before I'm fully in.  Could it have been a combination of luck with ultra quick talent evaluations of  Kolek and Omax and luck with Lewis, Oso, Kam and Stevie already committed?  Or is Shaka the top 150 basketball whisperer?

We will see starting with this new talent cycle.  Hoping the optimism is well founded. 

[Galway Eagle]

Many have bought it hook line and sinker through one talent cycle.  I need to at least see the start of the next cycle go well before I'm fully in.  Could it have been a combination of luck with ultra quick talent evaluations of  Kolek and Omax and luck with Lewis, Oso, Kam and Stevie already committed?  Or is Shaka the top 150 basketball whisperer?

We will see starting with this new talent cycle.  Hoping the optimism is well founded. 

I am confused. Wouldn't Chase Ben and Sean already be a full talent cycle without Justin? Wouldn't Royce and Owens be the start of the cycle without Kolek and Oso? We've already begun some of the full talent cycles. The thing about staggering classes and having the odd early entry is you're going to constantly say "well we need to see how they do without..." think of it like this: Novak needed to prove himself without diener, the amigos needed to prove themselves without Novak, Lazar needed to prove himself without the amigos, Jimmy needed to prove himself without Lazar, DJO & Crowder were already proven, then Vander needed to prove himself.

[MuMark]

"Everyone is unproven until they are......."

Confucius

[brewcity77]

I am confused. Wouldn't Chase Ben and Sean already be a full talent cycle without Justin? Wouldn't Royce and Owens be the start of the cycle without Kolek and Oso? We've already begun some of the full talent cycles. The thing about staggering classes and having the odd early entry is you're going to constantly say "well we need to see how they do without..." think of it like this: Novak needed to prove himself without diener, the amigos needed to prove themselves without Novak, Lazar needed to prove himself without the amigos, Jimmy needed to prove himself without Lazar, DJO & Crowder were already proven, then Vander needed to prove himself.

Chase/Ben/Sean are the beginning of a new talent cycle after one that ended with Kam, Stevie, and Jop.

I interpret this as basically saying "8 years to judge."