Who gets lapped

[MUfan12]

I'll believe it when I see it with Ben. And I'm really rooting for him. Hopefully the scrimmage was an aberration because his shot mechanics were a mess. Nothing looked in sync and I don't think he made a three. Defensively he held his own better on switches which was good to see.

[Elonsmusk]

Yeah, Ben will figure it out. He's not been afraid of the moment in big games in his career. Hit big threes in all three BET games and the first two NCAA tournament games. He hit a 3 in both NCAAT games that broke a tie in a pretty big moment. To make it 58-55 with 11 minutes left against WKU after they'd tied it, and to make it 67-64 against CU with 8 minutes left.

He's got the shooting, I think we'll see more shot fakes this year. It was effective when he did it last year. He got into the lane and finished a few times at the end of the half against Creighton and against WKU. He also got into the lane and kicked it out to Jop for a three against WKU.

The positive plays are there. The skills are there. Game just needs to continue to slow down, and I think it will.

Agree.  Good post.

[bilsu]

I don't see 20+ ppg from Kam or 18+ ppg from Chase.  I'd think 18 ppg from Kam, 11 ppg from Chase.  I don't think either will be over 40% from 3.

Kam is going to average more than 20.

[MU82]

I'll be pretty surprised if Kam doesn't average at least 20 points.

He averaged 17.2 last season; hard to believe he won't add another few points to his average now that TK and Oso (combined 28.7 ppg in 2023-24) are in the NBA.

[Jay Bee]

I'll be pretty surprised if Kam doesn't average at least 20 points.

He averaged 17.2 last season; hard to believe he won't add another few points to his average now that TK and Oso (combined 28.7 ppg in 2023-24) are in the NBA.

Or think of it this way... he played ~70% of available minutes... down slightly from Soph year... could inch up, but not a lot. He was already a 29.5% shots guy with a great eFG% ... I think his eFG% will be lower... will his % shots really jump to 35ish to get to 20 ppg, or will he suddenly get to the line a lot more?

20 ppg is certainly a reasonable possibility.. but would not surprise me to see him slightly under

[MU82]

Or think of it this way... he played ~70% of available minutes... down slightly from Soph year... could inch up, but not a lot. He was already a 29.5% shots guy with a great eFG% ... I think his eFG% will be lower... will his % shots really jump to 35ish to get to 20 ppg, or will he suddenly get to the line a lot more?

20 ppg is certainly a reasonable possibility.. but would not surprise me to see him slightly under

That's reasonable.

[CTWarrior]

I've watched Jop play for three years, and people keep saying that he should put the ball on the floor and drive past people, and he just can't do it consistently.  That's not going to change.  He is a shooter, who more often than not will just try to back people down.

Exactly.  If the improvement comes, it will be that he gets better at backing people down, along with maybe bumping his 3FG% a tick or two.  I think he's going to have his best season, but it will be because he is better at doing what he already does.

[Jay Bee]

Jop may be the key to our exact record. He's going to have games where he goes crazy and helps us to victory with gr8 shooting. He will also p33 on the leg. Just needs to be HOT (pawz) in tough/close games and have off nights when it no Matta

[MU82]

off nights when it no Matta

So only against Butler if their coach is on a leave of absence?

[rocket surgeon]

I believe that Jop had the ability to learn to be a great post up scorer, but too many bad habits to break. Hopefully he has a strong shooting year because it will be needed.

lack of verticality to post up anyone over 5'11" with same verticality

[MUDPT]

lack of verticality to post up anyone over 5'11" with same verticality

Again, watch the OT against Nova.

[Shooter McGavin]

Jop may be the key to our exact record. He's going to have games where he goes crazy and helps us to victory with gr8 shooting. He will also p33 on the leg. Just needs to be HOT (pawz) in tough/close games and have off nights when it no Matta

I think you are right.  But hopefully they are deep enough with other options to grind out a couple tough games without him being hot.  That would significantly elevate the ceiling of this team.

[PGsHeroes32]

Benny gotta prove it in games, that his shot can consistently fall.

But some of the pundits have been confident in him.

TO on the Field of 68 always been pro Gold. Dauster has said hes heard his shooting lights out all off season(again, lets see it)

Norlander on CBS said he expects a huge season from Gold.

Hope it happens

[PJDunn]

Ben will exceed Scoop expectations. Jop will always start, but his minutes will diminish as the year goes on.

[BCHoopster]

Benny gotta prove it in games, that his shot can consistently fall.

But some of the pundits have been confident in him.

TO on the Field of 68 always been pro Gold. Dauster has said hes heard his shooting lights out all off season(again, lets see it)

Norlander on CBS said he expects a huge season from Gold.

Hope it happens

If Ben can surprise MU will be very good, if not, Shaka can play Parham or Hamilton, Shaka has options this year.

[MU82]

Ben will exceed Scoop expectations. Jop will always start, but his minutes will diminish as the year goes on.

Jop's minutes almost certainly will not be based on how well Ben plays.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Benny gotta prove it in games, that his shot can consistently fall.

Last year, Gold was 4th on the team in made 3FG with 42. 

Gold was also 4th on the team in 3FG% at 35.9%.

Compare that to Jop, who made 72 treys on 35.5%.  But Jop also played 404 more minutes than Gold.

If you extrapolate Gold's three point shooting over the same minutes as Jop, Ben would have made 69 triples last year.

In summary, Ben has already proven to be a solid shooter, especially for a C.

[Jay Bee]

Last year, Gold was 4th on the team in made 3FG with 42. 

Gold was also 4th on the team in 3FG% at 35.9%.

Compare that to Jop, who made 72 treys on 35.5%.  But Jop also played 404 more minutes than Gold.

If you extrapolate Gold's three point shooting over the same minutes as Jop, Ben would have made 69 triples last year.

In summary, Ben has already proven to be a solid shooter, especially for a C.

Now do conference play breakdowns :/

[PGsHeroes32]

Last year, Gold was 4th on the team in made 3FG with 42. 

Gold was also 4th on the team in 3FG% at 35.9%.

Compare that to Jop, who made 72 treys on 35.5%.  But Jop also played 404 more minutes than Gold.

If you extrapolate Gold's three point shooting over the same minutes as Jop, Ben would have made 69 triples last year.

In summary, Ben has already proven to be a solid shooter, especially for a C.

The keyword is consistency.

Ben was very streaky. He was also a bench player so I can cut slack. But Jop who can also be streaky has had a season near 40% in way higher reps

[Goose]

I think Ben is going to show a lot more offensive skills than just being a shooter. I think we are going to see him put the ball on the court a lot more than previous seasons.

[MU82]

I think Ben is going to show a lot more offensive skills than just being a shooter. I think we are going to see him put the ball on the court a lot more than previous seasons.

It's often not a good thing when a big puts the ball on the floor, especially in traffic, so it will be interesting to see when he chooses to do it and what the results will be.

I'm not quite "Ben is NBA Bound" as you are, Goose, but I'm also high on him being a big-time contributor this season. There is no reason he can't improve significantly from last season, as so many of Shaka's players have done.

Also looking for big leaps from Ross and at least one of Lowery/Norman.

That's been one of the hallmarks of Shaka's time at Marquette, and I look for it to continue.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Now do conference play breakdowns :/

21-65 32.3%

But Ben's eFG% against top 100 and top 50 was higher than his season total.  I am not concerned.

The keyword is consistency.

Ben was very streaky. He was also a bench player so I can cut slack. But Jop who can also be streaky has had a season near 40% in way higher reps

All shooters have some degree of variance from game to game.

[DoctorV]

I guess I'd be fine with Ben shooting 35-37% from 3 again, my only qualm was that he seemed to be settling for too many last year.
That goes hand in hand with him not putting the ball on the deck enough, and not getting to the rim as much as he should/can.

Of course, making some of those open triples will open up the other stuff.

That said, doesn't matter what the percentages say, Ben is not as good of a shooter as Joplin, and everyone here should know that.
Jop can really shoot it, and this years team needs him to do that

[Jay Bee]

Iirc, n BEast reg season games against non-tourney teams, Ben was like sub 22% 3fg%. Obviously he can and should best that by a hefty margin this season

[wadesworld]

Iirc, n BEast reg season games against non-tourney teams, Ben was like sub 22% 3fg%. Obviously he can and should best that by a hefty margin this season

**in.  And a a period at the end of the sentence.