Marquette-MSU exhibition

[MU82]

Minessale looked overmatched athletically early in the game but I thought he was much better in the second half. I'm pretty sure he won't be a starter for MU this season unless he makes a big jump. Utility dude off the bench isn't the worst thing in the world for your first year of high-major hoops.

This.

I thought he looked more comfortable in the second half. Had a great tip-in, led a fastbreak, was more confident with the ball, made FTs down the stretch.

He looks like a guy who can be a solid contributor to our team even though he won't come close to putting up the numbers he did with future Big East champion St. Thomas.

[Its DJOver]

https://msuspartans.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2026-27/marquette-exhibition-/boxscore/20904

Apologies if a box score has already been posted.

DO looks like largely the same player as last year. NM will either be starting or getting more minutes by conference play.

[MU82]

https://msuspartans.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2026-27/marquette-exhibition-/boxscore/20904

Apologies if a box score has already been posted.

DO looks like largely the same player as last year. NM will either be starting or getting more minutes by conference play.

Thanks for posting the box score. Confirmed what my eyes told me - we outrebounded them 33-23. Even during the good years, getting 10 more boards than a Big Whatever team didn't happen often (if ever).

As for DO vs NM ... I'm not sure Shaka will put much emphasis on who starts at the 3. The guy playing the best in a given game will get the most minutes that day. Even yesterday, NM played 24 minutes to DO's 18. And there's nothing wrong with having NM available to come off the bench to play the 3, 2 or 1.

[pbiflyer]

This.

I thought he looked more comfortable in the second half. Had a great tip-in, led a fastbreak, was more confident with the ball, made FTs down the stretch.

He looks like a guy who can be a solid contributor to our team even though he won't come close to putting up the numbers he did with future Big East champion St. Thomas.

I will add that he did well towards the end of the game. Smart plays (even causing Izzy to get a T )
But seriously another ball handler smart player at crunch time. Won't make a stupid play, won't panic.
Not talking another Kolek or Travis, but a competent player.

[tower912]

Tower,  glad to hear Izzo was complimentary. Would be curious to hear your thoughts on MSU since I believe that is your second favorite team and you probably have a good feel for them. Overrated slightly or legitimately high expectations? What was their fan bases feel for the team going into the year? 

Izzo answered that in his presser.  To summarize, he has good players that he likes.  The UConn and MU games showed that they have been a little content going into the season. Izzo says he can fix that.

[Shooter McGavin]

I will add that he did well towards the end of the game. Smart plays (even causing Izzy to get a T )
But seriously another ball handler smart player at crunch time. Won't make a stupid play, won't panic.
Not talking another Kolek or Travis, but a competent player.

I agree with your heady player assessment.

I do think based on one game against a top 15 type team that he is being a little undervalued by some with their assessments.  I think yesterday may the tip of the iceberg with him.  I don't think he looked overmatched, I think he looked like it was a preseason game and needs to get his legs under him at this level.  I expect big things from him this year. 

Really encouraged by everyone who played. My expectations are only growing for this team.

[BrewCity83]

Overall, a very encouraging showing. 

I have 2 concerns:

--too many turnovers, but I think this will be cleaned up

--too many fouls from the bigs.  We are going to need 18 at some point during the conference season to eat some minutes when Fru and Clark get early fouls. 

Also, there were only a couple hundred students there, but I heard they are away at Fall Break.

Finally, Kam Jones was there the entire game.  Showed up at the start and stayed till the end.  Great to see.

[Galway Eagle]

Overall, a very encouraging showing. 

I have 2 concerns:

--too many turnovers, but I think this will be cleaned up

--too many fouls from the bigs.  We are going to need 18 at some point during the conference season to eat some minutes when Fru and Clark get early fouls. 

Also, there were only a couple hundred students there, but I heard they are away at Fall Break.

Finally, Kam Jones was there the entire game. Showed up at the start and stayed till the end.  Great to see.

So was Mark Heldt

[pbiflyer]

So was Mark Heldt

I met Matty's dad at a tournament. Trying to remember his name. Maybe it was Mark and he was there.  

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Can someone explain why they think Minessale wasnt ready or looked overmatched?

24 minutes, 9 points,  4 rebounds,  2 assists, 3 turns, 50% shooting, solid defense against a preseason top 10 team.  Id be estatic if our 6th man gave us that most nights. Sure i want the turnovers to be down,  but the whole team was sloppy. Porter also had 3 in a third of the minutes but most of the commentary on him has been positive.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Can someone explain why they think Minessale wasnt ready or looked overmatched?

24 minutes, 9 points,  4 rebounds,  2 assists, 3 turns, 50% shooting, solid defense against a preseason top 10 team.  Id be estatic if our 6th man gave us that most nights. Sure i want the turnovers to be down,  but the whole team was sloppy. Porter also had 3 in a third of the minutes but most of the commentary on him has been positive.

I found him to be tentative on the offensive side and lacking athleticism (causing some indecision).  He seemed capable and can eat some mins.  You never know with transfers but was impressed with the potential upside of other new comers above him.

[milwaukee expat]

FWIW primarily I thought he looked slower than the other players on the court.  Definitely appreciated him as a glue guy, making free throws at end, generally being in the right place at the right time, making some good passes.  Not a net negative at all - but didn't look like a candidate to spend time at point and didn't look like a top 3 option to score - which was sort of my expectation from Canada, UWGB and his last year at St. Thomas.. 

[Shooter McGavin]

Can someone explain why they think Minessale wasnt ready or looked overmatched?

24 minutes, 9 points,  4 rebounds,  2 assists, 3 turns, 50% shooting, solid defense against a preseason top 10 team.  Id be estatic if our 6th man gave us that most nights. Sure i want the turnovers to be down,  but the whole team was sloppy. Porter also had 3 in a third of the minutes but most of the commentary on him has been positive.

100% TAMU. 

[MU82]

Can someone explain why they think Minessale wasnt ready or looked overmatched?

24 minutes, 9 points,  4 rebounds,  2 assists, 3 turns, 50% shooting, solid defense against a preseason top 10 team.  Id be estatic if our 6th man gave us that most nights. Sure i want the turnovers to be down,  but the whole team was sloppy. Porter also had 3 in a third of the minutes but most of the commentary on him has been positive.

Agree. Especially in the second half, he looked quite comfortable and less tentative. Shaka using him in crunch time, as we tried to preserve our lead, showed he has confidence in him, too.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's still a bit of an adjustment period ahead, especially against the better teams on our non-con schedule. But nothing I saw yesterday led me to think, "Hmm, maybe this guy can't play on this level."

[jficke13]

Can someone explain why they think Minessale wasnt ready or looked overmatched?

24 minutes, 9 points,  4 rebounds,  2 assists, 3 turns, 50% shooting, solid defense against a preseason top 10 team.  Id be estatic if our 6th man gave us that most nights. Sure i want the turnovers to be down,  but the whole team was sloppy. Porter also had 3 in a third of the minutes but most of the commentary on him has been positive.

I can make a case both ways.

On one hand he felt a little tentative/hesitant, and wasn't as involved offensively as we maybe talked ourselves into expecting.

On the other, it's his second exhibition at this level, in this program, against a top-10 team that wasn't exactly making life easy even if we beat them pretty handily.

I'm not going to say that anything I saw yesterday says he's a bust or not ready or whatever, but similarly nothing he did (except free throws, which looked good) appeared to convince me that he *was* ready to be a major contributor.

Small sample size.

[wadesworld]

Most exciting thing to me is outrebounding an Izzo team by 10.  I'm guessing we aren't going to shoot close to as well as we did last night regularly, but if we can rebound like that we'll win games we don't shoot well in.

Athleticism isn't something I'm concerned about with Minessale.  He'll be a contributor.  He may not work his way into the starting rotation, mainly due to the flexibility he provides off the bench and being able to help at the guard or wing positions.  But I'd be surprised if he's not in the top 5 in mpg.  He's figuring out his role on the team.  He's going from being the best player in his conference to being the 5th best player at best on his own team.  He's a contributor.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

When I said, "major role" I was talking about top 3 scorer on this team.  I see Nigel, Royce, and Adrien as a pretty clear top 3 with a bunch of guys who can have a night.

I definitely see Nolan being a very valuable Swiss Army knife off the bench, with a good chance to finish the year top 5 in minutes.

[MU82]

I don't think many Scoopers expected him to have more of a role than James, Stevens and Parham. Or Fru, for that matter.

Based on all that I read about him, and the St. Thomas videos I saw, he pretty much was exactly what I expected yesterday, especially in the second half.

His tip-in, where he got up there with the bigs and tapped the ball into the basket, was actually quite impressive IMHO, and he also had an effortless fast-break dunk. He might not be as athletic as Nigel James or Cooper Flagg, but he didn't look un-athletic on those plays.

[NCMUFan]

If not posted yet and for those that want to rewatch or missed the live game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1UjPxpRBGA