Mbakwe

[muPARTY]

i don't know if this was addressed in other threads....

but what happened to Trevor?  he played 17min total in 3 games in the BET and 1min total in the NCAA (happened tonight)?

i thought they pulled his redshirt so he could contribute during the NCAA tournament.  if the injury still lingered, they shouldn't have suited him up and if he wasn't ready (polished) to play then he shouldn't have been given the green light.

a full season of a healthy Mbakwe was wasted for 11 games and 101 min.

[ChicosBailBonds]

i don't know if this was addressed in other threads....

but what happened to Trevor?  he played 17min total in 3 games in the BET and 1min total in the NCAA (happened tonight)?

i thought they pulled his redshirt so he could contribute during the NCAA tournament.  if the injury still lingered, they shouldn't have suited him up and if he wasn't ready (polished) to play then he shouldn't have been given the green light.

a full season of a healthy Mbakwe was wasted for 11 games and 101 min.

How was it wasted if the kid said he isn't staying here 5 years?  If you ask me, it sure seemed to light a fire under Barro and Burke and that's why he didn't play as much at the end, because those two kicked it up a notch.

[chapman]

That's 11 games and 101 minutes of experience to give us next year at least.  Look at it this way-Keaton Nankivil, the recruiting target we lost to the Badgers, was never injured this year and has played a total of 45 minutes of complete mop-up duty.  Now that's a wasted year of eligibility.

[FrennA]

To answer your question MUParty, they never pulled his redshirt for the sole purpose of him contributing during the tournament.  They pullled the redshirt due to his hard work during rehab, Trevor's request, and the doctors' OK.  Also, it's been known that Trevor has no intensions of staying at MU for more than 4 years.

[muPARTY]

How was it wasted if the kid said he isn't staying here 5 years?  If you ask me, it sure seemed to light a fire under Barro and Burke and that's why he didn't play as much at the end, because those two kicked it up a notch.

so let's pull the redshirt and show him the door early?  because there's noooo waaay he could ever stay his 4/5 yrs.  it's not like that freshman stud dominic james is going to be around for his junior yr, and if he is, there's absolutly no way he'd be in a Marquette uniform for his senior yr; he'd be an NBA lottery pick.  oh, but wait, there's a what...85-95% chance he's back for his senior yr?!  so there's no chance the kid could ever stay.  

and Mbakwe not playing lit a fire under Barro and Burke???  a fire was lit under them???  giving up 48pts and a fire was lit under them???  was that fire that fueled Burke into getting repeatedly beat or the one that fueled the 5 fouls on Ous with lots of time left in the 2nd?  or maybe it was that lockdown defense by Fitz's on the twins?  that was it, right?

[muPARTY]

To answer your question MUParty, they never pulled his redshirt for the sole purpose of him contributing during the tournament.  They pullled the redshirt due to his hard work during rehab, Trevor's request, and the doctors' OK.  

i know he worked in rehab and was practiced extremely hard, but someone has to look and say "no" if that's what's best for the program.  if you want him to get experience than play him.

Also, it's been known that Trevor has no intensions of staying at MU for more than 4 years.

i'm willing to go out on a limb and say his intentions weren't to have knee surgery and miss 2/3 of the season either.

[ChicosBailBonds]

How was it wasted if the kid said he isn't staying here 5 years?  If you ask me, it sure seemed to light a fire under Barro and Burke and that's why he didn't play as much at the end, because those two kicked it up a notch.

so let's pull the redshirt and show him the door early?  because there's noooo waaay he could ever stay his 4/5 yrs.  it's not like that freshman stud dominic james is going to be around for his junior yr, and if he is, there's absolutly no way he'd be in a Marquette uniform for his senior yr; he'd be an NBA lottery pick.  oh, but wait, there's a what...85-95% chance he's back for his senior yr?!  so there's no chance the kid could ever stay.  

and Mbakwe not playing lit a fire under Barro and Burke???  a fire was lit under them???  giving up 48pts and a fire was lit under them???  was that fire that fueled Burke into getting repeatedly beat or the one that fueled the 5 fouls on Ous with lots of time left in the 2nd?  or maybe it was that lockdown defense by Fitz's on the twins?  that was it, right?

I'll ask a simple question, do you think Burke and Oooze played better during the season prior to Trevor coming eligible or after he became eligible?

[Mayor McCheese]

How was it wasted if the kid said he isn't staying here 5 years?  If you ask me, it sure seemed to light a fire under Barro and Burke and that's why he didn't play as much at the end, because those two kicked it up a notch.

so let's pull the redshirt and show him the door early?  because there's noooo waaay he could ever stay his 4/5 yrs.  it's not like that freshman stud dominic james is going to be around for his junior yr, and if he is, there's absolutly no way he'd be in a Marquette uniform for his senior yr; he'd be an NBA lottery pick.  oh, but wait, there's a what...85-95% chance he's back for his senior yr?!  so there's no chance the kid could ever stay.  

and Mbakwe not playing lit a fire under Barro and Burke???  a fire was lit under them???  giving up 48pts and a fire was lit under them???  was that fire that fueled Burke into getting repeatedly beat or the one that fueled the 5 fouls on Ous with lots of time left in the 2nd?  or maybe it was that lockdown defense by Fitz's on the twins?  that was it, right?

you go out there and guard some 7 footers... holy hell, Stanford is a 3 seed... and their WHOLE team are those two guys... settle down, yea we lost it sucks, but face it, Stanford was expected to win that game.

[FrennA]

Hey Party, I'll join you on that limb and say that Crean and Trevor are both men of their words.  Crean proved it by pulling the redshirt after the doctors OK (which was his word to Trevor).  And Trevor will prove it by not being here for more than four years..........knee surgury or not!

[muPARTY]

all i was getting at was...

if he's here no more than 4 and needs experience, then put him in the games and let him get some.

but if you're not going to let him get some meaningful experience, then keep the redshirt.  here's the harm?  heck, maybe he does stick around.  a lot changes in 4 years.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Do you think Burke and Oooze played better or worse after Trevor took off the redshirt?  I don't think it's even close, but I'm curious what you think.

[ChuckyChip]

Do you think Burke and Oooze played better or worse after Trevor took off the redshirt?  I don't think it's even close, but I'm curious what you think.

"Played better" is a subjective thing.  I think that Barro started playing better once he was put back in the starting lineup.

But statistically speaking, they didn't play better.

In the 12 games after Trevor "un-redshirted", Barro averaged 5.7 pts and 5.4 rebounds - compared to his overall season averages of 5.5/5.5 - not much improvement there.  Burke averaged 1.3 pts and 2.5 rebounds in those 12 games, compared to 2.5/2.9 for the season.  He had six games where he didn't score and four games where he didn't grab a rebound.  I would say Burke was as inconsistant as ever.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I said it then and I'll say it now...that was an idiotic decision.

To say that Trevor made the decision is equally idiotic. You don't let a teenager make decisions like that. If he doesn't want to stay for 5 years, fine. But make that decision after 4 years, not after 4 months.

I will agree with Chicos, though. It definitely lit a fire under Barro especially. In fact, the very game that Trevor returned was the best game of Barro's MU career.

By the way, Burke's inconsistent playing time is a complete mystery. When he played, he was solid. His performance yesterday and vs. Georgetown were fantastic. Like a baseball manager who doesn't know how to handle pitchers, it seems to me that Crean may have problems attracting big men because he doesn't know how to handle them. I know that may not make sense, but oftentimes big guys don't have the motors of a McNeal or a Diener. It doesn't mean they don't care!

[NotAnAlum]

Guys, guys!  We're talking about his availability for the 2011-2012 season.  Sorry but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.  We all agree, and I think TC knows as well, that we've got to raise the level of bigs we recruit to the same level as our guards.  I'm willing to bank on that for the 2011 season because if that doesn't happen not having Trevor for a 5th year senior season will be the least of our concerns.

[The Lens]

I've said from day one that I could care less about his 5th year...I just care about the kid and when he comes out the J-S today and says he's 85%, it reaffirms that a cautious approach of holding him out for the year would only help him down the road.  Trevor has a body and skill set that could probably make him a lot of money in Europe down the road, why risk that?  Will playing now screw it up?  Probably not, but why risk it.

Can't a coach sit down a player and explain: "Look life sucks and I'm vey sorry but you were dealt a sh!tty blow this year and sadly you're going to miss the whole season.  All I want it you being 100% in Novmeber"

[ChicosBailBonds]

Do you think Burke and Oooze played better or worse after Trevor took off the redshirt?  I don't think it's even close, but I'm curious what you think.

"Played better" is a subjective thing.  I think that Barro started playing better once he was put back in the starting lineup.

But statistically speaking, they didn't play better.

In the 12 games after Trevor "un-redshirted", Barro averaged 5.7 pts and 5.4 rebounds - compared to his overall season averages of 5.5/5.5 - not much improvement there.  Burke averaged 1.3 pts and 2.5 rebounds in those 12 games, compared to 2.5/2.9 for the season.  He had six games where he didn't score and four games where he didn't grab a rebound.  I would say Burke was as inconsistant as ever.

And statistically those teams he played against in those last 12 games were the same as the first 20+ games...was G'Town, Pitt, ND, etc the same as UWM, etc?

Burke was a different man at the end of the season after his playing time got reduced, in my opinion.  The difference was not statistically, but maximum effort and I think that's what Crean was looking for.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

To answer your question MUParty, they never pulled his redshirt for the sole purpose of him contributing during the tournament.  They pullled the redshirt due to his hard work during rehab, Trevor's request, and the doctors' OK. 

i know he worked in rehab and was practiced extremely hard, but someone has to look and say "no" if that's what's best for the program.  if you want him to get experience than play him.

Also, it's been known that Trevor has no intensions of staying at MU for more than 4 years.

i'm willing to go out on a limb and say his intentions weren't to have knee surgery and miss 2/3 of the season either.

I agree that coaches have to make tough decisions for the good of the program... but then you have a realistic chance of a kid losing faith/trust in the coaches and transferring if he works hard to come back but is still held out.

If he is good enough to play, and can earn the minutes... then he should play.

[bilsu]

I think it was a poor decision to not red shirt him. I have not heard anything and so this is pure speculation. I believe based on the fact that he barely played in the Big East tournament or the NCAA tournament that his knee is acting up. He came back to soon and Crean should be criticized for this.

[RawdogDX]

I think it was a poor decision to not red shirt him. I have not heard anything and so this is pure speculation. .

I love posts where people start off letting you know not to bother to read the rest of the post.

[Big Papi]

Isn't it ultimately the kids decision if he wants to redshirt.  I don't believe the coach can make a player redshirt nor should he.  Oh here's a good one.  Trevor sorry I know what is in the best interests for you and you will redshirt or you won't be on the team next year.  Yea that would go over real well.  The same posters who are blasting this decision would probably blast TC for running Trevor out of the program.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I think it was a poor decision to not red shirt him. I have not heard anything and so this is pure speculation. I believe based on the fact that he barely played in the Big East tournament or the NCAA tournament that his knee is acting up. He came back to soon and Crean should be criticized for this.

So let me get this straight, you haven't heard anything and it's pure speculation, as you admit on your part but then you two seconds later decide to throw all that to the wind and say Crean should be criticized for it (despite the fact you haven't heard anything and it's all speculation on your part).  Wow. 

[77ncaachamps]

That's 11 games and 101 minutes of experience to give us next year at least.  Look at it this way-Keaton Nankivil, the recruiting target we lost to the Badgers, was never injured this year and has played a total of 45 minutes of complete mop-up duty.  Now that's a wasted year of eligibility.

But their season is not over yet which still gives him an opportunity to prove his worth. Nevertheless, that is still a good point.

[ChuckyChip]

That's 11 games and 101 minutes of experience to give us next year at least.  Look at it this way-Keaton Nankivil, the recruiting target we lost to the Badgers, was never injured this year and has played a total of 45 minutes of complete mop-up duty.  Now that's a wasted year of eligibility.

But their season is not over yet which still gives him an opportunity to prove his worth. Nevertheless, that is still a good point.

Valid point.  On the other hand, look how much Brian Butch has benefitted from red-shirting his freshman year.  Not only is he a better player, but he's part of team with a legit shot at the final four.

[SoCalwarrior]

 I think a lot of this is about old school thinking.  When mediocre doctors used cadaver ligaments to repair torn ACLs it required at least a year to recover.  But, times have changed.  My son tore his ACL in October.  We were fortunate to have the USC Trojan's team doctor reconstruct his ACL.  They did what is called a Patella tendon-bone graft replacement, which I think is now typical.  He was back playing for his high school in January, and his idea of therapy was playing X-Box.  So, having been through it, I can say that the decision made by Mbakwe and friends was far from questionable.

[Tulsa Warrior]

Back to Trevor Mbakwe.  Could Crean have been living up to his word and protecting Trevor at the same time? Mbakwe tested the leg, got you some court time in the Big East and achieved it without re-injuring the knee.  A balancing act that gave Trevor some daylight and hope for the future.  This kid went through a lot with transfers in high school, academic catch up and the NCAA Clearinghouse.