Predatory 'lones

[Goose]

Not disappointed with the game last night. Once again, we saw a Shaka led team fight for an entire game. Thought there was a slight chance of winning going into the game and was hoping for a solid performance. With how ISU shot and the poor shooting by Kam and Jop, that easily could have been a 25-point blowout loss.

I am very excited about the young guys and think they will play big roles as the season moves on. IMO, Owens is one of the best looking freshmen that I can remember in a long time. The best part, it looks like his ceiling extremely high.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

This was my biggest takeaway from the game. This was a road game against the No. 6 team in the country and we needed them -- and neither shrank in the moment. They played well. Sure, there were freshman moments, but both seemed at ease in a very tense game. They're ready and both will be big contributors the rest of the season. In the past Shaka has had a tendency to have a very short bench down the stretch in bigger games. I think that if Sean comes back, we'll see 9-10 guys getting minutes. Also, it's been said before, but it won't surprise me at all if the freshmen get more minutes than the sophmores.

Yeah the two freshmen were instrumental in the run to tie it at 61. After an ISU timeout, Shaka had both of them come back on the floor, and they got a little overwhelmed when ISU turned up the intensity.

Such is life with freshmen. All part of the process. But the future is really bright with those two.

[Scoop Snoop]

This was my biggest takeaway from the game. This was a road game against the No. 6 team in the country and we needed them -- and neither shrank in the moment. They played well. Sure, there were freshman moments, but both seemed at ease in a very tense game. They're ready and both will be big contributors the rest of the season. In the past Shaka has had a tendency to have a very short bench down the stretch in bigger games. I think that if Sean comes back, we'll see 9-10 guys getting minutes. Also, it's been said before, but it won't surprise me at all if the freshmen get more minutes than the sophmores.

Agree. You just saved me the time of writing a post that would not have been as good as yours, so I will go with "me too".

I am encouraged to see so many scoopers having rational takes on the game. I was expecting a loss, but it was worse than I thought it would be. ISU Purdued us. So...now what? Learn from the chinks in our armor that have been exposed and be happy that Parham and Owen had really impressive performances and yes, I know...Freshman mistakes. Tell me something new.

One more "now what?...Take out the frustrations on Wisconsin Saturday.  

[brewcity77]

I blame this one on my internet. We made our 10-0 comeback to tie the game, then my app froze. Took a minute or two and switching from Disney+ to Hulu to get it playing again and by that time, we were down 7. Damn you, AT&T!

Seriously though, no issues with last night. They got out to a hot start, fed off their crowd, and had an answer every time we tightened the score. I was glad to see us keep it close enough that we could've won it on the road without Ross, but after tying it at 61, we just didn't have quite enough in those last 10 minutes.

No matter who lined up on the other side of the court last night, Iowa State was the only team winning that one. When they are hitting 40% from deep, with that crowd behind them, just not gonna happen. You can also see why Big 12 fans call it Hilton Bulls**t. We were never going to go undefeated, let's just get the next couple, rock the Big East, and go into the NCAA Tournament as a 1-seed.

[TallTitan34]

Would love a rematch the second THIRD weekend of the tournament come March APRIL.

[Uncle Rico]

Yeah we have some real high level coaching ideas here.

Anyway, I guess Joplin is the guy who we're going to blame for everything that goes wrong this year.

Was never a doubt he'd be the dude to shoulder the blame and he deserves the criticism for his performance last night but Kam's game disappointed me more but I can also give credit to ISU on that end.

Next game, onto, am I

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Oh I am certainly not saying he's blameless, but bad Joplin gets the knuckleheads frothing on the game thread more than anyone.

[MUfan12]

Oh I am certainly not saying he's blameless, but bad Joplin gets the knuckleheads frothing on the game thread more than anyone.

I don't know if it's unfair to be frustrated by the fact his decision making offensively hasn't improved a ton over the course of his career.

Especially when you compare it to the way Kam has evolved. He was an empty calorie scorer as a freshman and has really become a complete ballplayer.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I don't know if it's unfair to be frustrated by the fact his decision making offensively hasn't improved a ton over the course of his career.

Especially when you compare it to the way Kam has evolved. He was an empty calorie scorer as a freshman and has really become a complete ballplayer.

You are correct that some players evolve at different rates. And yes he can be frustrating. But some of the comments are laughably insane...and kind of fun to read in retrospect.

"Take away $1,000 of his NIL everytime he drives" is an all-timer.

[DoctorV]

Yeah we have some real high level coaching ideas here.

Anyway, I guess Joplin is the guy who we're going to blame for everything that goes wrong this year.

Homie makes himself an easy target sometimes.

What I dont like is that he doesn't get the credit he deserves when he plays well, it's usually "yea Jop will be Jop and he will go off some games, but cost us a bunch."

Part of it is that he seems to go off against weaker competition.

Let's see him have a great game on Saturday and hopefully that perception changes a bit.

[TallTitan34]

So Tre is the new scapegoat?  Sad.  There are no scapegoats tonight.  Shorthanded on the road against a top 10 team.

I'm going to use the deflated ball in the final two minutes as a scapegoat. 

Get it together Yormark!

[Uncle Rico]

Homie makes himself an easy target sometimes.

What I dont like is that he doesn't get the credit he deserves when he plays well, it's usually "yea Jop will be Jop and he will go off some games, but cost us a bunch."

Part of it is that he seems to go off against weaker competition.

Let's see him have a great game on Saturday and hopefully that perception changes a bit.

Jop criticism is fair

[Big Papi]

Jop does a lot of good things but there is definitely a good Jop and a bad Jop.  Bad Jop showed up yesterday.  Needed scoring from him yesterday, especially with Chase getting hurt.  Jop wasn't hitting his shot, and his drives were out of control.

Freshmen stepped offensively but they had a few too many freshmen moments with a few turnovers and inconsistent defensive effort.

Whole team was a little off yesterday.  Felt like they were just a little rushed on the offensive end.  Give ISU credit, great defensive team and great home court advantage.  We needed our "A" game and didn't bring it.

Still had a chance to steal that game in the end for a brief moment but couldn't get the stops needed, a bad foul call and some ill-advised shots quickly ended any thought of stealing that game.

Hoping Chase doesn't have a high ankle sprain.  Hoping Ben is ok.  Hoping Zaide has a quick recovery.

[DoctorV]

Not disappointed with the game last night. Once again, we saw a Shaka led team fight for an entire game. Thought there was a slight chance of winning going into the game and was hoping for a solid performance. With how ISU shot and the poor shooting by Kam and Jop, that easily could have been a 25-point blowout loss.

I am very excited about the young guys and think they will play big roles as the season moves on. IMO, Owens is one of the best looking freshmen that I can remember in a long time. The best part, it looks like his ceiling extremely high.

Agreed on the freshmen. We all knew they could both play, but doing it on the road against an elite team so early in their careers was unexpected.

That said, I also agree on the 25+ point loss part, and that's what worries me about what I saw last night.
If it weren't for 2 freshmen having improbable games and combining for 28 points Marquette gets blown out, and I wouldn't have expected a blowout with how good this years team is defensively.

The injuries don't help, that's two of our best and most versatile defenders that are out...

Also, as a fair warning, there will be some regression and plenty of poor games from the freshmen this season, it happens to all freshmen.
That doesn't mean that their ceiling isn't incredibly high- I've already said that barring something unforeseen they are both projected starters in year 2, with Owens having bonafide star and best player on the team potential- it just means that we will need to count on the core upperclassmen more often than not this year.
Developing these youngsters early is a huge bonus though, they will play key supplementary roles throughout the season

[Scoop Snoop]

Not disappointed with the game last night. Once again, we saw a Shaka led team fight for an entire game. Thought there was a slight chance of winning going into the game and was hoping for a solid performance. With how ISU shot and the poor shooting by Kam and Jop, that easily could have been a 25-point blowout loss.

I am very excited about the young guys and think they will play big roles as the season moves on. IMO, Owens is one of the best looking freshmen that I can remember in a long time. The best part, it looks like his ceiling extremely high.

Yep. Parham and Owens accounted for 28 points. Even with their freshman defensive lapses, they are a major part of the reason it was not a "25 point blowout".

The good news from the beating we took is that we got a taste of what those 2 guys are capable of. Our future is secure, And this past game? Thank God it is just that,,,,past.

Erdit: crossed with Doctor V's post, so said some of the same things.

[Billy Hoyle]

I blame this one on my internet. We made our 10-0 comeback to tie the game, then my app froze. Took a minute or two and switching from Disney+ to Hulu to get it playing again and by that time, we were down 7. Damn you, AT&T!

Seriously though, no issues with last night. They got out to a hot start, fed off their crowd, and had an answer every time we tightened the score. I was glad to see us keep it close enough that we could've won it on the road without Ross, but after tying it at 61, we just didn't have quite enough in those last 10 minutes.

No matter who lined up on the other side of the court last night, Iowa State was the only team winning that one. When they are hitting 40% from deep, with that crowd behind them, just not gonna happen. You can also see why Big 12 fans call it Hilton Bulls**t. We were never going to go undefeated, let's just get the next couple, rock the Big East, and go into the NCAA Tournament as a 1-seed.

My feed (Spectrum) was brutal all night. I think it was an ESPN+ issue more than anything.

[brewcity77]

I don't know if it's unfair to be frustrated by the fact his decision making offensively hasn't improved a ton over the course of his career.

Especially when you compare it to the way Kam has evolved. He was an empty calorie scorer as a freshman and has really become a complete ballplayer.

But in terms of defense, Joplin has evolved by leaps and bounds. I hated the turnovers as much as anyone last night, and cursed under my breath when he drove into the lane against that active hands defense, but we need to have him out there defensively, which is something I never thought I would say about Joplin.

As much has Kam has improved offensively, I think Jop has improved that much if not more defensively. His hands are now active so he's constantly in position for deflections, his defensive positioning, his ability to hold his man and stay in front, his ability to switch, all of that is better. His defensive rebounding, once a weakness, is now the best on the team and a legitimate strength.

I'd love a higher offensive floor, but his defensive floor is why he is seeing 30+ minutes in every meaningful contest so far this season.

[Scoop Snoop]

My feed (Spectrum) was brutal all night. I think it was an ESPN+ issue more than anything.

Mine went out when we were within 7 late in the 2nd half. I thought I might have to "watch" the rest of the game on gamecast, where I learned we were tied at 61. I finally got the video back up, but then....sh!t!

[PointWarrior]

My feed (Spectrum) was brutal all night. I think it was an ESPN+ issue more than anything.

Not a single blip watching ESPN+ on Xfinity...

[tower912]

Bu the way, who noticed MU running the double high screen with their bigs last night?

[GoldenEagles03]

I blame this one on my internet. We made our 10-0 comeback to tie the game, then my app froze. Took a minute or two and switching from Disney+ to Hulu to get it playing again and by that time, we were down 7. Damn you, AT&T!

Seriously though, no issues with last night. They got out to a hot start, fed off their crowd, and had an answer every time we tightened the score. I was glad to see us keep it close enough that we could've won it on the road without Ross, but after tying it at 61, we just didn't have quite enough in those last 10 minutes.

No matter who lined up on the other side of the court last night, Iowa State was the only team winning that one. When they are hitting 40% from deep, with that crowd behind them, just not gonna happen. You can also see why Big 12 fans call it Hilton Bulls**t. We were never going to go undefeated, let's just get the next couple, rock the Big East, and go into the NCAA Tournament as a 1-seed.

I don't see a win in either of the next 2 if Chase is out.

The Freshman are awesome, but the performances last night go out the window and UW and Dayton are very upper classmen oriented. A lot of experience while we rely on youth to fill the holes. Could be some good games if we can have 8 healthy guys, but idk about wins.

[StillWarriors]

Agreed on the freshmen. We all knew they could both play, but doing it on the road against an elite team so early in their careers was unexpected.

That said, I also agree on the 25+ point loss part, and that's what worries me about what I saw last night.
If it weren't for 2 freshmen having improbable games and combining for 28 points Marquette gets blown out, and I wouldn't have expected a blowout with how good this years team is defensively.

The injuries don't help, that's two of our best and most versatile defenders that are out...

Also, as a fair warning, there will be some regression and plenty of poor games from the freshmen this season, it happens to all freshmen.
That doesn't mean that their ceiling isn't incredibly high- I've already said that barring something unforeseen they are both projected starters in year 2, with Owens having bonafide star and best player on the team potential- it just means that we will need to count on the core upperclassmen more often than not this year.
Developing these youngsters early is a huge bonus though, they will play key supplementary roles throughout the season

The drop-off defensively with Chase (and Zaide) out and being replaced by freshman is massive and impacts our style of play as well. Because of that, I wouldn't view the game in a vacuum and be overly concerned that we may have lost by 25 plus without outlier performances by the frosh. If Chase and Zaide are out long-term, then yes, we are not going to be the same team and there are very real concerns. Hopefully, that won't be the case and with those guys I think we would have been in that game to the wire last night. We just need to get healthy. Fast.

[Goose]

IMO,Jop's lack of improving his decision making on offense is the biggest disappointment from a player in the Shaka era. Now, his defensive and rebounding improvement are fantastic, just baffled that he is not learned from his mistakes with the basketball. Unfortunately for Jop, and MU fans, that is going to be discussed 2x more than his improvements on D and rebounding.

All that said, he is a big part of a team that has been ranked for 2+ seasons and often in the top ten. If David Joplin offensive blunders are my biggest grip in 3+ years of Shaka, I have been spoiled by some very good basketball.

[jfp61]

As much has Kam has improved offensively, I think Jop has improved that much if not more defensively. His hands are now active so he's constantly in position for deflections, his defensive positioning, his ability to hold his man and stay in front, his ability to switch, all of that is better. His defensive rebounding, once a weakness, is now the best on the team and a legitimate strength.

I'd love a higher offensive floor, but his defensive floor is why he is seeing 30+ minutes in every meaningful contest so far this season.

Go to evanmiya. Look at Marquettes roster. Short by changes over the season. Not only has Kam improved more offensivly than joplin has defensivily. Kam has improved defensivly more than Joplin has defensivly.

Kam is a top 4 player in college basketball.

Jops on Chase and Bens tier, not Kam.

Jops defensive floor is worse than all three of our guards, and slightly better than Ben's and Royce's (who was a freshman know for offense).

[Vander Blue Man Group]

I don't see a win in either of the next 2 if Chase is out.

The Freshman are awesome, but the performances last night go out the window and UW and Dayton are very upper classmen oriented. A lot of experience while we rely on youth to fill the holes. Could be some good games if we can have 8 healthy guys, but idk about wins.

I fully expect them to beat Wisconsin at home even if Chase is out.