It's one game, but.....

[tower912]

Meh.  Actually kind of quiet for the day after the first loss.   A scoop tradition.

[onepost]

Oh boy...

The story around Kolek has literally no relevance to taking flyers on guys like Hamilton and Clark when you have a 15-man roster with redshirts to work with.

Also, the story around Kolek has absolutely nothing to do with Shaka's current views regarding transfers.  He  literally brought in multiple transfers that first season in order to be able to field a team.  Yet, despite not initally believing Tyler was a fit, Shaka listened to his staff, brought Tyler in and helped develop him into an All-American and NBA player. Then he did the same with Kam. 

The fact that you're somehow twisting this into a "gigantic, enormous" red flag is hilarious. Almost as hilarious as the "one recruit in 4 years" and judging Owens and Parham 3 games into their sophomore seasons nonsense. 

This has been a competitive roster annually in each of Shaka's 4-years yet you're peeing your pants because of a blowout in the 3rd game of the season.  We also have no idea if IU will actually be a "meh" team.   

Also, if don't see the level of talent improving with our younger guys, the incoming class,  and the other recruits Shaka is in on, you're simply not paying attention or being  willfully ignorant.

All of this has been with the caveat of it being early, maybe irrational, but backed by a running trend of multiple seasons. Again with Itejere, Clark, and Hamilton, of course you take fliers on guys: but we're RELYING on Hamilton and he's just not good. He's made evident improvements and he's still not very good is my point. Hopefully Sheek bucks that trend since he actually comes in with some pedigree.

I obviously see the improvement in caliber of HS recruit, but in my opinion a Nigel-Adrien immediately contributing frosh class should be the baseline rule and not the exception.

All to say. Shaka has had great success with transfers and Wojo's recruits (out of necessity), but much less success with his own. So it's annoying he's actively avoiding a path that has proven results. We need to be shown that he can have that and greater success with only his recruits if that's the route we are choosing to go.

[MuggsyB]

Bump for Muggsy. You counseling scoopers to be "calm and sensible" is hilarious.  And although I posted today, I did not need a day to sagely consider the matter or pontificate.

Perhaps it would serve you best to take a time-out and chillax.  There are a number of apps and videos that you can peruse to assuage your anxieties and find a relaxed state. 

[panda]

We can litigate the transfer issue until we're blue in the face, but the biggest litmus test for Shaka moving forward is how he tightens up his rotation after the next few games.

I'll be very concerned if we continue to see a healthy dose of the underachievers if they continue to disappoint.

[tower912]

Underachiever on Sunday is SOTG on Wednesday.

[Scoop Snoop]

Perhaps it would serve you best to take a time-out and chillax.  There are a number of apps and videos that you can peruse to assuage your anxieties and find a relaxed state. 

Classic example of projection Muggsy. Kudos! You're really good at that.

[brewcity77]

Ultimately, I think this really all comes down to getting blasted. If this was a competitive loss, there would still be complaining, but it wouldn't be at this level. Look at the breakdown by 10-minute periods of the game:


                   Q1    Q2    Q3    Q4     T
Indiana         24    32    22    22    100
Marquette    24    14    21    18    77

Ultimately, this game was a blowout because of Q2, which was the part of the game where Nigel James played just 17 seconds. We needed like 26 minutes of NJ and got 18. Hopefully this will help the staff figure out the rotations.

[tower912]

3 days prior, Sean was the man.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

All of this has been with the caveat of it being early, maybe irrational, but backed by a running trend of multiple seasons. Again with Itejere, Clark, and Hamilton, of course you take fliers on guys: but we're RELYING on Hamilton and he's just not good. He's made evident improvements and he's still not very good is my point. Hopefully Sheek bucks that trend since he actually comes in with some pedigree.

I obviously see the improvement in caliber of HS recruit, but in my opinion a Nigel-Adrien immediately contributing frosh class should be the baseline rule and not the exception.

All to say. Shaka has had great success with transfers and Wojo's recruits (out of necessity), but much less success with his own. So it's annoying he's actively avoiding a path that has proven results. We need to be shown that he can have that and greater success with only his recruits if that's the route we are choosing to go.

What trend? Does going from a 2 to a 7 seed constitute a trend? You mention multiple seasons but I don't see any trend over multiple seasons yet. What am I missing?

Also, using the portal is not a panacea. It's not without risk. How did it work out for IU and Kansas last season? There are just as many failures as successes.

You just can't assume it will bring proven results like you say. 

[DoctorV]

Ultimately, I think this really all comes down to getting blasted. If this was a competitive loss, there would still be complaining, but it wouldn't be at this level. Look at the breakdown by 10-minute periods of the game:


                   Q1    Q2    Q3    Q4     T
Indiana         24    32    22    22    100
Marquette    24    14    21    18    77

Ultimately, this game was a blowout because of Q2, which was the part of the game where Nigel James played just 17 seconds. We needed like 26 minutes of NJ and got 18. Hopefully this will help the staff figure out the rotations.

Nigel was excellent yesterday, and I agree that he needed more minutes and that his future is very bright.

That said, there will be many games where you can do the above exercise this year, using different players as the "negative" example with someone else as the "positive." It'll happen to Nigel too, where he has a brutal game and the team does better while he's off the court and SJ22 on it.
Just seems like the nature of a team with so many unknowns.

For that reason, I disagree with the sentiment that Shaka needs to shorten the rotation immediately and go with 6-7 guys. I just think that's short sighted because this years team, unlike those of the recent past, will need different stars on different nights. It will need Sean Jones to be much better to win some games and I just don't see it working any other way.
Ditto for Chase, Ben and so on and so forth.

Doesn't mean the Nigel can't pass him up in the rotation, but that's very tricky and I'm sure Shaka realizes that. He needs Sean Jones to be better, rather than glued to the bench,  and coach knows that.
He just has to somehow find the way to play the hot hand and win games while he figures out a way to help the ones that aren't the hot hand improve game in and game out. Tall task.

I will add a caveat to the above thought
I hate to disparage the kid because he's improved plenty and has worked his tail off, but I do think that Shaka needs to make the decision to limit the playing time of someone like Caedin if he doesn't see quick improvement. Just like he determined that Tre's minutes needed to be curbed last season, I think he needs to be quicker in determining that for other guys that seem to not have the talent level to hold up against the competition.
Give Ben more minutes if you have to, lean more on Parham when you can, and use someone like Hamilton for 10 solid effort and bully minutes or just go small and hope the athleticism makes up for it.

I don't think Sean Jones is in the same boat because we have seen him be fairly effective and hold his own before. If he improves and becomes that again he can give extremely valuable minutes, even if you have to go small and play him with NJ, Chase/Zaide, Parham, Gold.

[brewcity77]

Whether he shortens the rotation or not, he needs to reduce the number of lineups. We played 26 lineups against Indiana. That's 26 times that guys roles in the offense and defense are changing. For Chase, Ben, & Zaide, that doesn't worry me. But for all the younger guys in new roles and learning the system, that's a massive constant shift in role and expectations that changes every 3-4 possessions. It isn't sustainable.

[MU82]

Likewise, no one watched those 2 to 3 games and said, that 5'9" guy who doesn't shoot it well, he'll be good. He had the guts to shoot the ball as the unguarded man on a basketball court.

Actually ...

Thank God for SEAN !!
Huge .. HUGE SHOT !!

Sotg sean. Close thread.

Sean Jones and Chase changed the game in the second half. Sean is going to get a lot of time this season.

That shot also took serious stones my friends. 

Sean, Chase and Stevie will all have their times and places.   And yes, there will be more Sean and Chase as they get better and more confident. 

I'm fine giving Stevie the honorary start, but Chase and Sean need to be playing the majority of second halves in close games. We can't afford to play 4 on 5 on offense and he's not big enough to earn his way on the defensive end.

I feel for Stevie...you know he puts the work in...but it was shades of early last year when you could see he didn't want to find himself open from 3 or at the line.

Sean, Chase, and eventually Tre are going to be hard to pass on.

good problem to have but Sean & Chase clearly outplayed Stevie tonight...

Sean was the PG when the run was ignited. He got the ball in the lane repeatedly when Tyler was struggling. Plus he can defend.

Sean was huge, that shot was stones, that defense was massive.

I will go with Sean Jones. Not only for that clutch 3, but the basket he scored when he came out from under the basket and then spun around the defender and scored.

Really tough call. Jop's offense kept us in it early and he played some of his best defense against UCLA's hulking front line.

But ultimately, when no one stands out for the full 40, I'm going with the guy who played the biggest in the biggest moments.

Sean Cojones it is.

I really like Sean Jones and he's going to win plenty of SOTGs before his time at Marquette is done.

Number 22 was the X-factor.  Career high 15 points, matching Kolek for the team high, despite playing only 12 minutes.  Sean Jones played a big part in sacking Creighton.

Holy crap Sean!

The Sean Jones Show.

Sean Jones, you are a warrior.

PS. Shaka shouldn't have let you sit for the entire last 4.

Sean was the difference.

I'd have to go with Sean. Part of what was so impressive was that he came back from a really rough first half and then ignited us to turn the game in our favor. We can't depend on him to do that every night, but man it was beautiful today. Really happy for him.

[jfp61]

Actually ...

I do find it really funny that the one SOTG post I made for those two games he played well in, I said this.

Oso should win.
16 boards. and 9 offensive.
(sean played flawlessly after his first possesion. But Creighton's gameplan was clearly to let him fire off shots)

I just hope he can play somewhat reliable minutes man. Nigel will need to be on the bench at times.

Also, I hope he is the last player under 5'10" ever to start for us. Because that stuff just doesn't work defensively.

[GoldenEagles03]

We might be alright!

https://x.com/274sport/status/1988324957651456402?t=Kvwvmt6YKkM6xZFZGAci1g&s=19

[rocky_warrior]

I don't trust any news outlets that put in less than 28 hours per day!

[tower912]

I do find it really funny that the one SOTG post I made for those two games he played well in, I said this.

I just hope he can play somewhat reliable minutes man. Nigel will need to be on the bench at times.

Also, I hope he is the last player under 5'10" ever to start for us. Because that stuff just doesn't work defensively.

Completely agree with the last paragraph.  That has always been an underlying concern.  And I do not see how you can play Sean and Nigel together for that reason.   Rare exceptions, of course.

[MU82]

I do find it really funny that the one SOTG post I made for those two games he played well in, I said this.

I just hope he can play somewhat reliable minutes man. Nigel will need to be on the bench at times.

Also, I hope he is the last player under 5'10" ever to start for us. Because that stuff just doesn't work defensively.

I actually think we mostly agree on this stuff. It's just revisionist history to think that Scoopers weren't pretty high on him two years ago.

I'm a realist, and I have eyes (even if my vision ain't what it used to be). Sean was  really bad Sunday, and the fact that it doesn't appear as if his shooting has improved even after nearly 2 years off is disappointing. But we need him, so I hope he can provide the same kind of spark in brief spurts that he did during the first couple months of the 2023-24 season.

BTW, in looking through those threads to get those Scoop takes, I saw a significant number of posts from Scoopers who thought Sean should be starting over Stevie, and even a few who were ripping Kolek for playing poorly. We're not a patient group.

[tower912]

I would recommend checking out some January 2024 threads from when Sean was taking away PG minutes from TKo.