[Cracked Sidewalks] #2-Marquette Preview

[brewcity77]

Today we come to our beloved Marquette Golden Eagles. Placing them at #2 in the Big East comes down to trust. We've discussed our lack of trust in St John's on both ends of the floor and our concerns about Creighton on defense. Marquette has earned trust on defense, but fans are worried about the offense. We went into depth in 2022 why replacing volume scoring isn't something fans should be worried about. In our preview today, we run through the roster and baseline expectations, but also why Marquette's offensive system has earned trust in spite of personnel changes.

Marquette Golden Eagles

[tower912]

Damn.  It is nice to see somebody else optimistic.   I think one thing you didn't really talk about is that Owens was a disappointment because he had a groin injury requiring surgery after the season.

IMO, a healthy Owens will be a revelation and combine with Ross and Lowery to give MU a very athletic and dynamic trio of mix and match wings.

[muwarrior69]

Do you think our rebounding will be better? Also last years team was an enigma to me. Started out really strong then lost our mojo. Was that due to the rest of the league adjusting to our style of play on the second go round. Do you think that will happen this season? Also I don't follow the other conferences that closely, but the perception is that the Beast plays a more physical game. I got the impression that St. John's performance in the NCAA was that they were not used to the way the officials called the game as in the Beast they allow more contact and in the NCAA not so much. Is that perception correct?

[Jay Bee]

Just a couple of comments / questions: "Ross has never taken more than 15.7% of the shots when on the court, while Jones, Parham, and Gold have all had averages of 19.8% or higher." -- Maybe clarify here they have had HIGHS .. 'averages for a year' I suppose is correct, but this reads as if Gold has had an average of 19.8%. Importantly, that wash his freshman mark where he got few minutes and had more shots partly because of his co-personnel. Last year he was at 14.9% after reaching 15.9% as a sophomore. I think he ends up anywhere in the 18-21% range, but if I had to guess within a smaller range I'd probably go with 18-19%.

Second, didn't see much talk about offensive turnovers. For me, it's the scariest thing. We're going to have a higher turnover rate (13.6% last season). Any thoughts on where it'll land in 2025-26?

[jfp61]

For me, it's the scariest thing. We're going to have a higher turnover rate (13.6% last season). Any thoughts on where it'll land in 2025-26?

Sean Jones, Zaide, and Hamilton need to play differently than they ever have.

I have no worries with Ben, Chase, and Royce. They'll do what they do and each shoot it 3% more.

[brewcity77]

I think TO Rate will go up because Kam was insanely good in that regard. But Sean's sophomore TO rate was lower than any season for Kolek, and seeing Alabama with routine sub-175 TO rates has me confident in the offensive efficiency even if we spike up. We've been top-100 every year with Shaka and I expect that to continue. We may not have another Kam, but we also don't have a roster of Junior Cadougans.

[Galway Eagle]

we also don't have a roster of Junior Cadougans.

So I'm interpreting this as turnovers are the key to making NCAA, S16, S16, E8

[brewcity77]

So I'm interpreting this as turnovers are the key to making NCAA, S16, S16, E8

Those teams also didn't have rosters full of Junior Cadougans. DJO, Jimmy, Jae, Jamil, those guys were good protecting the ball.

Generally speaking, I don't think you'll see Nevada Smith teams booting the ball the way recent Alabama teams do (who are also highly successful offensively) which means turnovers won't be a barrier to offensive success.

[tower912]

Do you think our rebounding will be better? Also last years team was an enigma to me. Started out really strong then lost our mojo. Was that due to the rest of the league adjusting to our style of play on the second go round. Do you think that will happen this season? Also I don't follow the other conferences that closely, but the perception is that the Beast plays a more physical game. I got the impression that St. John's performance in the NCAA was that they were not used to the way the officials called the game as in the Beast they allow more contact and in the NCAA not so much. Is that perception correct?

Chase, Owens, and Stevie all needed post season surgery.  Ben played through shin splints and a broken finger.  Kam and Jop shot poorly from 3.

[brewcity77]

Do you think our rebounding will be better? Also last years team was an enigma to me. Started out really strong then lost our mojo. Was that due to the rest of the league adjusting to our style of play on the second go round. Do you think that will happen this season? Also I don't follow the other conferences that closely, but the perception is that the Beast plays a more physical game. I got the impression that St. John's performance in the NCAA was that they were not used to the way the officials called the game as in the Beast they allow more contact and in the NCAA not so much. Is that perception correct?

I think the rebounding will be similar, maybe slightly improved. I do think they'll crash the offensive glass harder & both Royce & Caedin seem good at that. Defensively, Jop wasn't great but did okay and needs to be replaced. It'll be a team effort.

Last year Kam burned out, and we had a number of injuries as the season progressed. Obviously you can't predict health, but I think this is a team that gets better as the year goes on. This is a team that, because of the roster build, is both young and experienced. I think that will pay off come February and March.