Gold and Jolpin

[wadesworld]

you feel Gold is 'very good'? Tonight some good things...4 stls /4 blks. But overall, I'd call him serviceable...more positive than negative.

I can't pretend to have solid knowledge on every college basketball team out there, but a blind guess is that Ben would start on, at minimum, 340 out of 364 college basketball teams.  He's a very good college basketball player.

[GoldenEagles03]

You feel Gold is 'very good'? Tonight some good things...4 stls /4 blks. But overall, I'd call him serviceable...more positive than negative.

Yes.

https://x.com/PaintTouches/status/1877018846130786656?t=HRvNK9NI6dxZQldeZEAZHg&s=19

[tower912]

you feel Gold is 'very good'? Tonight some good things...4 stls /4 blks. But overall, I'd call him serviceable...more positive than negative.

Argue with Shaka.

[MUfan12]

Ben had a tough night offensively, but he's really working his ass off on the other end.

[tower912]

Ben had a tough night offensively, but he's really working his ass off on the other end.

He is.  If you have the games recorded, watch the Creighton and Georgetown games.  Watch Ben's work on Kalkbrenner and Sorber.  They both put up below average scoring numbers.  More importantly, the damage they did was almost all when Ben was either on a switch or out of the game.   When Ben locked up on them and stayed locked up on them, they were essentially neutralized.   
   If you REALLY want to a deep dive, do the same with the Maryland and Wisconsin games.   Same pattern. 

Ben can be beaten when he switches onto a quick guard at the 3 pt line.  Related, opposing bigs are doing g their work down low with MU guards switched onto them

[Jockey]

The play-by-play guys were routing for the Hoyas too. Marquette ranked 7th in the country and all they could talk about was Sorber.

And of course, the refs were out to get us.    

And Aikman & Buck hate the Packers.    

Don't people here get tired of these silly tropes? Lappas has been extremely complimentary about Marquette - sometimes overly so. He may be a poor to average color guy, but he has never 'hated' MU.

[Jockey]

Back to the subject at hand - I'll go to war with Jop eight days a week.

[MUfan12]

And of course, the refs were out to get us.    

And Aikman & Buck hate the Packers.    

Don't people here get tired of these silly tropes? Lappas has been extremely complimentary about Marquette - sometimes overly so. He may be a poor to average color guy, but he has never 'hated' MU.

Yeah it's really silly. When there's a potential upset brewing of course it's gonna feel like the announcing crew is rooting for it.

I watched back the second half last night and they weren't great, but I didn't sense a ton of bias. I did have to laugh at Lappas saying that the foul they mistakenly announced on Chase was a good call, only to change course after the replay.

[StillAWarrior]

Don't people here get tired of these silly tropes?

I'll handle this one. No. Demonstrably, no.

[barfolomew]

Back to the subject at hand - I'll go to war with Jop eight days a week.

Agreed.
I thought he only had one questionable decision all game -- the one-on-two "fast break" drive into the lane where he turned it over.
But I don't so much mind mistakes of aggression. He's trying to step on the Hoyas' necks at that point, which is what you want out of a senior leader.

[MU82]

Again, Lappas is bad. But the only time he actually made me go, "What???" was when he said that Sorber was killing Marquette.

I mean, Sorber is gonna be a stud and he drew our attention and he made an impact on D. But the guy had 11 points, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls. I'll take the opponent's best player killing us like that every game.

If Sorber killed us, what did Ross do to Georgetown? I need Muggsy's thesaurus!

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

My favorite Lappasism is that every time a team is down in the last minute,  he says some version of "dont settle for a three, need a quick two" no matter the situation.  A team could be down 9 with 10 seconds left and Lappas will be calling for the quick 2

[Viper]

Argue with Shaka.

preferable to arguing with you, Mr 25102

[tower912]

preferable to arguing with you, Mr 25102

We agree on that.

[Nukem2]

Again, Lappas is bad. But the only time he actually made me go, "What???" was when he said that Sorber was killing Marquette.

I mean, Sorber is gonna be a stud and he drew our attention and he made an impact on D. But the guy had 11 points, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls. I'll take the opponent's best player killing us like that every game.

If Sorber killed us, what did Ross do to Georgetown? I need Muggsy's thesaurus!

A huge impact on D though with the 5 blocks and altering other shots. MU only made 12-28 of its 2 point shots yesterday or 43%. As for Lappas, well the less said the better.

[Markusquette]

It's too bad we don't have another true big worth bringing off the bench when Gold is struggling.

[tower912]

It's too bad we don't have another true big worth bringing off the bench when Gold is struggling.

The team has a week to help Caedin and Parham along.

[GoldenEagles03]

It's too bad we don't have another true big worth bringing off the bench when Gold is struggling.

Another reason I was surprised that they redshirted Clark. At the very least he could come in and be disruptive with his 7 foot height and 7+ foot wingspan.

I know exactly why they did it, but I was still surprised.

[Viper]

Another reason I was surprised that they redshirted Clark. At the very least he could come in and be disruptive with his 7 foot height and 7+ foot wingspan.

I know exactly why they did it, but I was still surprised.

if Gold is 'very good' as you say, why blow a year of Clark's eligibility?  Conjecture on my part, but the coaches must see Clark as raw? So, RS him as they did Hamilton last season, go with Gold good games & bad games, and hope Hamilton progresses? Speaking of Hamilton, his PT has decreased. What's your opinion...Due to some regression? Maybe in-game match-ups not to Hamilton's advantage? Other reason?

[wadesworld]

if Gold is 'very good' as you say, why blow a year of Clark's eligibility?  Conjecture on my part, but the coaches must see Clark as raw? So, RS him as they did Hamilton last season, go with Gold good games & bad games, and hope Hamilton progresses? Speaking of Hamilton, his PT has decreased. What's your opinion...Due to some regression? Maybe in-game match-ups not to Hamilton's advantage? Other reason?

We're better with Ben on the court than Caedin.  Ben's a very good college player.

Caedin's playing time has dipped because we're no longer playing Stony Brook, George Mason, Western Carolina, etc.  He's played double digit minutes against 1 high major this year, and it was the first game against a high major.  He's a big body who can give us some fouls when our other 2 bigs get into foul trouble.

[The Sultan]

if Gold is 'very good' as you say, why blow a year of Clark's eligibility?  Conjecture on my part, but the coaches must see Clark as raw? So, RS him as they did Hamilton last season, go with Gold good games & bad games, and hope Hamilton progresses? Speaking of Hamilton, his PT has decreased. What's your opinion...Due to some regression? Maybe in-game match-ups not to Hamilton's advantage? Other reason?

You realize that Clark is redshirting right?

[tower912]

The progress of young, unheralded bigs is rarely as linear or as rapid as we would like.  Considering what a project Ben was, I am thrilled with his progress.   In regards to Caedin, I will again defer to Shaka.  He is the biggest, baddest dude we have on the team.  He needs to take it from practice to the game.

[RJax55]

The progress of young, unheralded bigs is rarely as linear or as rapid as we would like.  Considering what a project Ben was, I am thrilled with his progress.   In regards to Caedin, I will again defer to Shaka.  He is the biggest, baddest dude we have on the team.  He needs to take it from practice to the game.

Honestly, I think Caedin is in a tough spot at the moment. The guys are used to the court spacing that Ben provides on the offensive end and Ben's ability to switch on the defensive end. Frankly, our offense and defense flows from those principles.

I have to laugh at some of the criticism of Ben and his perimeter defense. He's not Oso. But, he is holding up out there. Which is allowing MU to switch all ball screens, a key to the disruptive style that favors this group.

[tower912]

I agree with all of that.

[GoldenEagles03]

if Gold is 'very good' as you say, why blow a year of Clark's eligibility?  Conjecture on my part, but the coaches must see Clark as raw? So, RS him as they did Hamilton last season, go with Gold good games & bad games, and hope Hamilton progresses? Speaking of Hamilton, his PT has decreased. What's your opinion...Due to some regression? Maybe in-game match-ups not to Hamilton's advantage? Other reason?

Ben Gold is a Junior. He will be back next year too, so I don't think he factored into the decision to redshirt Clark. Clark is being redshirted just to give him another year of body development and experience around the college game...and I understand why Clark is redshirting, I'm just surprised they did because this team is missing true size up front and has Final Four potential.

He fills that size void and would give another capable body behind Ben particularly defensively.