11/23 - Marquette *Neutral*
I think this is where we see the first loss of the year for the Dawgs. I think Marquette is sneaky good, and while they did lose Kolek and Ighodaro, arguably their 2 best players, they still return Kam Jones, who should be in contention for Big East Player of the Year. Kam Jones is a terrific scorer, one who shoots the ball very well and at a high volume, especially from behind the arc. He is listed as a Forward, but at 6' 5 I think he is a lot more of a big guard and very comfortable with the ball in his hands. Not a great playmaker, but will do you more benefit than harm bringing the ball up the court. Surprisingly I did not actually watch a lot of Marquette games last year (my buddy is a huge fan and always had the games on), but just from a quick glance it is clear he has all the tools to be a good on ball defender and if my memory serves me correctly he very much holds his own. I imagine this year he will put up around 20 4 4, and will probably most likely be matched up with Godfrey. I actually like this matchup. Godfrey is big but can move his feet. I think he can challenge Kam Jones to put the ball on the floor and go get a bucket, and should do enough to make him uncomfortable and not be able to catch and shoot 3s which he can very much knockdown. Outside of Kam Jones, Marquette returns a lot of good depth pieces that are looking to take their step forward. Some returners that you should keep an eye out for are Ben Gold, a stretch big who should take a big step forward. I think he is kind of the opposite of Ichodaro, and does not spend a lot of his time around the rim, so look for him to bring out Abson and Somto and create space for Kam to slash. Stevie Mitchell and David Joplin are both returning starters, who saw more of a support player role last year, but should expect to handle more scoring responsibilities. Both to me will fill a similar role, veteran leaders who play hard, are very solid defensively, and while they will not be known for their offensive arsenal like maybe a Ben Gold or Kam Jones kind of player, they are going to have an impact on the offensive end of the floor. Chase Ross is probably the last starter. To be honest not sure what is in store for him this season, as it looks like it will be up to him to fill a role that I am not sure Marquette fans know will be. He can be plugged in anywhere, decent scorer, started a few games last year, he is a solid P6 starter, not much else to say (I am way less familiar with his game than some of these other names). For depth they have Sean Jones who is a tiny (5'10ish) pesky defender, who, not on crazy volume, seems to have a pretty good shot and will be a solid rotational piece. Al Amadou, a 6'9 F who is in line to see a role increase, Jack Anderson, a player I do not know but transferred in for his senior year from D3 where he averaged 20 points a game all 3 years on good splits, Zaide Lowry and Tre Norman, two guys I do not know much about but from some quick reading and video watching I like to think our rotational guard depth will be a little stronger than this.
Overall, this roster is pretty good, even though a lot of this does hinge on returning starters taking the jump to impactful players on both ends of the floor, and young guys developing, I think those are both safe assumptions to believe they will come within this program with a history of developing players well.
On the coaching side of things, I do think Shaka Smart is a better coach than CMW, and I think that they will be a little more battle tested with their returners. I do not think this game will be a blowout, but I would say Marquette wins by about 6-8. For clarification, any game going forward that I "predict" we lose, we can always win. Off game for the opponents, good shooting game for us, etc. I am just aiming to look at this objectively and what would happen if this game was played 10 times, so no hate if you disagree….
Record: 3-1
I think this is where we see the first loss of the year for the Dawgs. I think Marquette is sneaky good, and while they did lose Kolek and Ighodaro, arguably their 2 best players, they still return Kam Jones, who should be in contention for Big East Player of the Year. Kam Jones is a terrific scorer, one who shoots the ball very well and at a high volume, especially from behind the arc. He is listed as a Forward, but at 6' 5 I think he is a lot more of a big guard and very comfortable with the ball in his hands. Not a great playmaker, but will do you more benefit than harm bringing the ball up the court. Surprisingly I did not actually watch a lot of Marquette games last year (my buddy is a huge fan and always had the games on), but just from a quick glance it is clear he has all the tools to be a good on ball defender and if my memory serves me correctly he very much holds his own. I imagine this year he will put up around 20 4 4, and will probably most likely be matched up with Godfrey. I actually like this matchup. Godfrey is big but can move his feet. I think he can challenge Kam Jones to put the ball on the floor and go get a bucket, and should do enough to make him uncomfortable and not be able to catch and shoot 3s which he can very much knockdown. Outside of Kam Jones, Marquette returns a lot of good depth pieces that are looking to take their step forward. Some returners that you should keep an eye out for are Ben Gold, a stretch big who should take a big step forward. I think he is kind of the opposite of Ichodaro, and does not spend a lot of his time around the rim, so look for him to bring out Abson and Somto and create space for Kam to slash. Stevie Mitchell and David Joplin are both returning starters, who saw more of a support player role last year, but should expect to handle more scoring responsibilities. Both to me will fill a similar role, veteran leaders who play hard, are very solid defensively, and while they will not be known for their offensive arsenal like maybe a Ben Gold or Kam Jones kind of player, they are going to have an impact on the offensive end of the floor. Chase Ross is probably the last starter. To be honest not sure what is in store for him this season, as it looks like it will be up to him to fill a role that I am not sure Marquette fans know will be. He can be plugged in anywhere, decent scorer, started a few games last year, he is a solid P6 starter, not much else to say (I am way less familiar with his game than some of these other names). For depth they have Sean Jones who is a tiny (5'10ish) pesky defender, who, not on crazy volume, seems to have a pretty good shot and will be a solid rotational piece. Al Amadou, a 6'9 F who is in line to see a role increase, Jack Anderson, a player I do not know but transferred in for his senior year from D3 where he averaged 20 points a game all 3 years on good splits, Zaide Lowry and Tre Norman, two guys I do not know much about but from some quick reading and video watching I like to think our rotational guard depth will be a little stronger than this.
Overall, this roster is pretty good, even though a lot of this does hinge on returning starters taking the jump to impactful players on both ends of the floor, and young guys developing, I think those are both safe assumptions to believe they will come within this program with a history of developing players well.
On the coaching side of things, I do think Shaka Smart is a better coach than CMW, and I think that they will be a little more battle tested with their returners. I do not think this game will be a blowout, but I would say Marquette wins by about 6-8. For clarification, any game going forward that I "predict" we lose, we can always win. Off game for the opponents, good shooting game for us, etc. I am just aiming to look at this objectively and what would happen if this game was played 10 times, so no hate if you disagree….
Record: 3-1