Marquette Post Game Thread

[ucp990411]

Apparently you missed last years Seton Hall and DePaul’s entire Big East history. A few Georgetown teams in the Patrick Ewing coaching era were only not the worst due to the existence of DePaul.

You responded to the wrong guy.

 

[thekollieman]

You haven't been watching, he's a great passer.

His dish to Tarris through two defenders for the dunk right before halftime was honestly one of the slickest passes I’ve ever seen.

 

[Scrutineer]

Hurley essentially said as much. My theory - the summer reshuffle of the “forever seats” brought more of a wine and cheese crowd to the front.

Weak opponent the crowd expected to get blown out, fewer students (they sold unclaimed student seats to the public), big enough lead so there wasn't any real tension or nervousness settling in at any point and, except for a few plays, what was there for the crowd to get excited about?
There were several points where a made three or two would have gotten people up, but overall it was much like the women's game the day before. Workmanlike.

 

[Scrutineer]

LOL. Yeah, Malachi is a ball pounder. He's more of the old school PG.

Lately, he sure seems to be playing like our point guards did when we were really bad. Dribbling around on the perimeter to under ten seconds on the shot clock and then making a move with little time left. Seems, at least to me, to lead to forced shots or dribbling into double teams..........and then missing too many free throws.

Earlier in the season it seemed he was making moves earlier, not dribbling around to late in the shot clock, and making nice passes inside as the defense moved to double him. Maybe it's just selective memory on my part but something sure seems to be off with Smith the last few games.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Weak opponent the crowd expected to get blown out, fewer students (they sold unclaimed student seats to the public), big enough lead so there wasn't any real tension or nervousness settling in at any point and, except for a few plays, what was there for the crowd to get excited about?
There were several points where a made three or two would have gotten people up, but overall it was much like the women's game the day before. Workmanlike.

I was not there so I can’t speak on it but looked like Dan was trying to get the crowd up several times to no avail. I get what you mean though.

 

[DRBackup]

Didn’t get to watch, what’s the verdict

So how do some of you guys watch the games ? I can't always be at the TV at gametime, but the service I use "records" UConn men and women's games - all of them - because I set it up that way...

And even if I could watch, I rarely watch live because I cannot stand to watch commercials.

 

[DRBackup]

No takeaways from that game other than Shaka should be embarrassed that's the team he put together for this season and Silas desperately needs to stop fouling.

That was our F game. Lazy passing the entire game, horrible shooting and the only one who looked excited to be out there was Jaylin Stewart. That looked liked one of those games where UConn was totally uninterested in playing a cupcake.

Over/under on Marquette winning 2 Big East games?

Yeah, passing reminded me of the '99 women's team with the vaunted Bird, Cash, Jones, Williams class. If the play they ran was designed for them to pass to X player, they did it regardless if that player was open or not.

They had to have made ten passes that could only reach their intended target by going THROUGH a defender. Mind boggling

 

[HW611]

Also did not know Marquette was 200th in the country in returning minutes this year. Explains a lot.

Their freshman PG Nigel looked promising, just young. Think they have like 3 upperclassmen on their entire roster.

Wonder how Marquette will play next year and the year after when this roster is juniors and seniors, if Shaka gets that far.

 

[DRBackup]

No takeaways from that game other than Shaka should be embarrassed that's the team he put together for this season

I mean, there is some value to retaining guys on your roster, but if you don't have enough talent, you still need to do... something. And in this transfer portal era, not filling your roster that way is negligence. You don't actually get any points for continuity

 

[DRBackup]

Silas starting to regain his shooting touch from last season is the I only thing I took from that game.

Make your fts please. Especially Malachi. YOU ARE A GUARD.

Clearly he has the yips at this point. You could see it in his form, his body language, etc. Good that he got to take so many in one game to work through it. Remains to be seen if that helped or not.

 

[uconn_jack]

I think Smith is a decent PG, I'm just not sure he's necessarily the best for our type of offense. He seems better as a drive and dish/pass PG than one to set up the offense. I think that works well when playing along Silas or in 3-5 minute spurts to give Silas a rest or change up the tempo, but I think its a liability when he has to be the main PG on the floor for an extended period of time.

 

[housekeys]

Malachi's "pounding" of the ball is a symptom of a problem. The problem is he can't find players to pass to. So in that situation, it is better that he keeps his dribble going than picking up his dribble. It seems to be an issue of not "seeing" (i.e. recognizing) plays develop. I don't profess to know the answer, but I can make some guesses. Some of it is due to other teams, legally or otherwise, blanketing our players and making it risky to pass to them. Some of it is on Malachi simply learning and anticipating his teammates movements. Another thing is Malachi is not creating separation while dribbling and giving himself some space to see what his passing options are. Coaches and Malachi will figure it out, I am sure. Not too worried.

 

[boog204]

I think Smith is a decent PG, I'm just not sure he's necessarily the best for our type of offense. He seems better as a drive and dish/pass PG than one to set up the offense. I think that works well when playing along Silas or in 3-5 minute spurts to give Silas a rest or change up the tempo, but I think its a liability when he has to be the main PG on the floor for an extended period of time.

I agree with this to an extent. Smith is a "typical" PG. Ball in hand, trying to create/penetrate, drive/dish. That's not our offense, and guys like Newton and Demary are not "typical" PGs in that way. Smith is an excellent change of pace and can get us easy baskets off the bounce. He has to figure out his FT yips, and he's got to move the ball quicker for sure.

I want to go back and look at what's happening off the ball when Smith is running our halfcourt sets. He obviously does not want to dribble around for 20 seconds. Is he hesitating to deliver the ball? Are guys just not getting open? Is his height a detriment? I've also noticed we tend to run more pure PNR when Smith is in there and teams have scouted us to autoswitch knowing that the ballhandler or the screener is the primary focus. The days of Samson rolling for dunks are dead. So even though we're running a "set," there's really nowhere for him to go with the ball when it's AK or Stew rolling to the hoop. They're just not a threat in that situation.

 

[HW611]

I’m pretty sure we all agree he can be very good, this year with UConn next year in the NBA.

One part of the equation that I don’t think most of this board understands when it comes to leaving for the draft is that guys go at their peak.

They don’t leave just to leave. All of the guys who left early left because they assumed that was as high as they were going to go for us.

That would be FAR from the case with Mullins if he were to go this year. Even if he rounds out to be a 12 PPG scorer on 40% 3PT.

 

[HooperScooper]

Demarcus does need to cut down on his fouls but he looked like what we thought we were getting yesterday. Fewer turnovers, excellent defense, and solid shot.

Who is Demarcus? I don't think we have a Demarcus on the team.

 

[thekollieman]

One part of the equation that I don’t think most of this board understands when it comes to leaving for the draft is that guys go at their peak.

They don’t leave just to leave. All of the guys who left early left because they assumed that was as high as they were going to go for us.

That would be FAR from the case with Mullins if he were to go this year. Even if he rounds out to be a 12 PPG scorer on 40% 3PT.

As you know, they leave in order to make a preposterous amount of money. I completely agree with you that Mullins would be a superstar at UConn next year and rise even higher in the draft and become eligible for an even more preposterous amount of money. However, I simply doubt he waits in order to do that. Obviously, it’ll all come down to how he’s projected at the end of the season. But I just feel like if he’s even sniffing top 15 range then he’s gone and I couldn’t presume to assess that as anything but a wise choice (if that’s how it plays out).

 

[HW611]

As you know, they leave in order to make a preposterous amount of money. I completely agree with you that Mullins would be a superstar at UConn next year and rise even higher in the draft and become eligible for an even more preposterous amount of money. However, I simply doubt he waits in order to do that. Obviously, it’ll all come down to how he’s projected at the end of the season. But I just feel like if he’s even sniffing top 15 range then he’s gone and I couldn’t presume to assess that as anything but a wise choice (if that’s how it plays out).

I would just hope his advisors aren’t short sighted about these kinds of things and look at the long term play.

Philon from Alabama is a pretty good example of someone who was probably in the back half of the first round range but came back and is now a top 10 mocked guy. Mullins would be even better.

 

[RuffRuff]

One part of the equation that I don’t think most of this board understands when it comes to leaving for the draft is that guys go at their peak.

They don’t leave just to leave. All of the guys who left early left because they assumed that was as high as they were going to go for us.

That would be FAR from the case with Mullins if he were to go this year. Even if he rounds out to be a 12 PPG scorer on 40% 3PT.

I do think it's a combo of factors - there is risk with waiting another year as well. I think if he's going anywhere in the top 20 guaranteed, he goes. Anything after that, perhaps worth considering sticking around.

 

[BGesus4]

One part of the equation that I don’t think most of this board understands when it comes to leaving for the draft is that guys go at their peak.

They don’t leave just to leave. All of the guys who left early left because they assumed that was as high as they were going to go for us.

That would be FAR from the case with Mullins if he were to go this year. Even if he rounds out to be a 12 PPG scorer on 40% 3PT.

Subtle trolls are the best. Maybe tone it down a bit.

 

[navery12]

I would just hope his advisors aren’t short sighted about these kinds of things and look at the long term play.

Philon from Alabama is a pretty good example of someone who was probably in the back half of the first round range but came back and is now a top 10 mocked guy. Mullins would be even better.

If Mullins is the 43rd ranked NBA Draft prospect like Philon I agree he'll come back for his sophomore year. That seems pretty unlikely though. And even that was a case where he declared and came back to Alabama minutes before the deadline

 

[Scrutineer]

35 assists and 6 turnovers against Arizona, Illinois, Florida, and Texas.

He totally sucks.

If you isolate those four games you're right (about addressing it sarcastically), but if you look at the 8 games since Illinois (which include Florida and Texas), and the four games since Texas, something seems to have impacted Malachi's shooting and assist totals.

If the trend is your friend this trend, based on the last 8 games and last 4 games, is not going in the right direction:
His career FG% is 41.1, while this season it's 35.8%, with the last 8 games at 33.3% and the last 4 games at 18.8%.
Career three's are 38.8%, while this season it's 43.5%, with the last 8 games at 14.3% and the last 4 games at 16.7%.
Career FT's are 74%, while for this season it's 51.5%, with the last 8 games at 37.5% and the last 4 games at 37.5%.

As to the assist totals you highlighted, consider the following:
-he's playing about 2/3 as many minutes this season as he did in his full three seasons at Dayton and his average assists per game in about 20 minutes is roughly 2/3 of what he averaged in about 30 minutes at Dayton. In other words, it's a wash and he's right on his normal average.

However, 35 of his 57 assists were in 4 of our 15 games (the ones you cited). He's only had 22 assists in the other 11 games, with 7 assists and 6 turnovers in the last 4 games. It's like something happened after the Texas game.

You could say those four games simply prove he's a big game player and be OK with it since we won three of the four (Texas, Florida and Illinois) and only lost the Arizona game. But, he didn't have a very good game against BYU (0-3 on FG's, 1-2 on FT's, with 4 assists and 2 TO's) and the other games were way below his career averages.

Hopefully Dan Hurley and the staff can get him back on track because we wouldn't be 14-1 without him.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

I didn't watch this one.....freaking Peacock....but after reading 8 painful pages of this thread, I get the sense that we did not play our A game. Seems we have consensus on that point. And with that being the case, we are not happy with a 16 point margin why? Tangentially, I rather peak in March. Michigan can peak now all they want.

 

[HooperScooper]

I didn't watch this one.....freaking Peacock....but after reading 8 painful pages of this thread, I get the sense that we did not play our A game. Seems we have consensus on that point. And with that being the case, we are not happy with a 16 point margin why? Tangentially, I rather peak in March. Michigan can peak now all they want.

This game was on regular NBC, free over the air NBC, not Peacock.

 

[superjohn]

If you isolate those four games you're right, but if you look at the 8 games since Illinois (which include Florida and Texas), and the four games since Texas, something seems to have impacted Malachi's shooting and assist totals.

If the trend is your friend this trend, based on the last 8 games and last 4 games, is not going in the right direction:
His career FG% is 41.1, while this season it's 35.8%, with the last 8 games at 33.3% and the last 4 games at 18.8%.
Career three's are 38.8%, while this season it's 43.5%, with the last 8 games at 14.3% and the last 4 games at 16.7%.
Career FT's are 74%, while for this season it's 51.5%, with the last 8 games at 37.5% and the last 4 games at 37.5%.

As to the assist totals you highlighted, consider the following:
-he's playing about 2/3 as many minutes this season as he did in his full three seasons at Dayton and his average assists per game in about 20 minutes is roughly 2/3 of what he averaged in about 30 minutes at Dayton. In other words, it's a wash and he's right on his normal average.

However, 35 of his 57 assists were in 4 of those 15 games. He's only had 22 assists in the other 11 games, with 7 assists and 6 turnovers in the last 4 games. It's like something happened after the Texas game.

You could say those four games simply prove he's a big game player and be OK with it since we won three of the four (Texas, Florida and Illinois) and only lost the Arizona game. But, he didn't have a very good game against BYU (0-3 on FG's, 1-2 on FT's, with 4 assists and 2 TO's) and the other games were way below average.

Hopefully Dan Hurley and the staff can get him back on track because we wouldn't be 14-1 without him.

They are 4 of our 6 biggest games of the season.

You can eat all the cupcakes you want. I don't like cupcakes and Hurley hates them.

 

[Scrutineer]

They are 4 of our 6 biggest games of the season.

You can eat all the cupcakes you want. I don't like cupcakes and Hurley hates them.

Why not consider what I said in the context in which I said it rather than getting your back up because you think I'm not agreeing with you?
I acknowledged his great play in those four games and said we wouldn't be 14-1 without him.
But, over the last 8 games he's had two great ones and six that were nothing to write home about. It's still a long season and we need him consistently playing near his best if we want the obvious prize at the end of the season.
It's almost like someone flipped a switch and he lost his edge.

 

[uconnfan68]

We’re lucky we didn’t get shot clock violations and instead scored on uncontested shots at the rim?

With 1 second on the clock. I used to love it when we did his a few years ago, because I knew we'd score easily when we wanted to. I don't have that same feeling these days. But, I'd rather be lucky if that's what we need.

 

[superjohn]

Why not consider what I said in the context in which I said it rather than getting your back up because you think I'm not agreeing with you?

My back isn't up. I don't care about cupcake games, I never have.

I also don't think he forgot how to play.

 

[thekollieman]

I would just hope his advisors aren’t short sighted about these kinds of things and look at the long term play.

Philon from Alabama is a pretty good example of someone who was probably in the back half of the first round range but came back and is now a top 10 mocked guy. Mullins would be even better.

That’s a very fair perspective in the money for college ball era, and no doubt they’ll have to weigh the possibilities. Even in the old days, Calhoun convinced Rip Hamilton he’d be “the Michael Jordan of college basketball” (or something along those lines) if he came back for his junior year, and we all know how that paid off for him and us. That’s also an example of wild maximization, and Hamilton did that at even greater risk (forego all income another year and risk injury, etc).

With all that, I’m excited to see what happens with Mullins, and I concede it’s not set in stone. But if what I believe will happen - we win a championship and he’s a significant reason why we did - then he’ll cement his place in the lottery range and bid UConn a fond farewell.

 

[UDann]

I didn't watch this one.....freaking Peacock....but after reading 8 painful pages of this thread, I get the sense that we did not play our A game. Seems we have consensus on that point. And with that being the case, we are not happy with a 16 point margin why? Tangentially, I rather peak in March. Michigan can peak now all they want.

Bottom line our shooting was as cold as the weather. Certainly not our best game. Players and fans all seemed low energy. We will be fine.

 

[ctchamps]

Hes not a great passer. Hes really good when hes in the lane after penetration, because hes smaller and can see the space better. On the perimeter hes not good. Entry passes and finding our guys when we're running our sets, hes bad.

I’ve observed some things to think he has the potential to be an incredible passer. Certainly in this game he had three bad passes. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t show it consistently as he gets more game experience.