SB Nation - Wesley Matthews

Previewing Marquette

Akula Wolf — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:31:06 -0000

More photos » by Phelan M. Ebenhack - AP

26 days ago: Michigan's Eso Akunne, left, fouls Marquette's Lazar Hayward, center, as teammate Anthony Wright helps during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the Old Spice Classic tournament in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Friday, Nov. 27, 2009. Marquette won 79-65. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Browse more photos »

2009 Scouting Report / 2009 Game Plan
2009 Stats
2010 Roster
2010 Schedule

Marquette Offense '08-'09

Four Factors	Percent	Nat'l Rank
eFG%	51.2	85
Turnover Rate	16.5	11
Off Reb Rate	34.8	97
FTA/FGA	45.4	12

NC State bested Marquette in three of the four factors in their meeting last season but lost a close game thanks to a -8 turnover margin. This year's Golden Eagles profile about the same--their offense takes good care of the ball, while their defense steals the ball with great frequency--so the first step in avoiding the same outcome is keeping that margin closer to zero.

The second step is finding some way to slow the versatile Lazar Hayward. Marquette figured to take a performance hit after the departures of Jerel McNeal, Dominic James, and Wesley Matthews, three experienced, effiicient, and heavily-involved contributors a year ago. Instead they've hardly missed a beat in the early going, thanks largely (very largely) to Hayward's efforts, who has essentially told Buzz Williams, hey no sweat, I'll still do my thing and I'll replace one of those other guys on top of it.

	ORtg	eFG%	%Poss	%Shots
Hayward '09	114.1	53.0	24.0	27.2
Hayward '10	111.7	48.6	35.7	44.7

Remember, the average player uses 20% of his team's possessions and takes 20% of the shots. Hayward is pulling double duty, averaging 26 field goal attempts per 40 minutes, and has somehow managed to handle that efficiently, which is fucking insane. I suspect he is a robot. If he keeps this up in conference play, there's no way he is of this earth.

Anyway, my team of scientists here at BTP world headquarters has concluded that you will want to keep an eye on this dude.

Starters

David Cubillan (6-0, 175) -- After a dreadful year as a reserve in 2009, Cubillan's handling the move into the starting lineup about as well as could be hoped. But he hardly got a shot in edge-wise last season (13% of the shots) and that hasn't changed, so he probably won't be a significant factor.

Darius Johnson-Odom (6-2, 200) -- A juco transfer who played his high school ball at Wakefield in Raleigh. He's the only starter aside from Hayward taking more than 20% of the shots and he's been outstanding from three (15-30).

Dwight Buycks (6-3, 190) -- His value extends well beyond the court, as his last name, pronounced "bikes," allows for such headlines as Marquette Rides Buycks To 76-58 Win Over NC State.

Jimmy Butler (6-6, 215) -- Absurdly efficient with a really light workload a year ago, Butler's upped his involvement in the offense considerably this season and remains absurdly efficient. He does the majority of his shooting inside the arc and does it well, he's an excellent offensive rebounder, and he earns frequent trips to the free throw line.

Lazar Hayward (6-6, 225) -- In addition to all that fancypants scoring, which he likes to do from all over the floor, Hayward rebounds well at both ends of the floor, never turns the ball over, and oh yeah, has doubled his assist rate in '10.

Bench

Maurice Acker (5-8, 165), Jeronne Maymon (6-6, 250), Joseph Fulce (6-7, 205). Acker got heavy minutes as a freshman at Ball State in 2006 but found himself buried behind McNeal and James once he got to Marquette. Shot poorly as a freshman, well as a sophomore, poorly as a junior, and well again to this point in his senior year. Who knows with this guy. You're up, you're down, Maurice! Makes me want to pull my hair out, so I shaved my head.

Maymon and Fulce aren't likely to be too involved with the scoring.

Marquette Defense '08-'09

Four Factors	Percent	Nat'l Rank
eFG%	50.9	252
Turnover Rate	21.1	122
Off Reb Rate	30.7	85
FTA/FGA	30.1	38

The Golden Eagles lost several tall guys after the 2008 season and did not start a player taller than 6-6 in 2009, and not surprisingly their interior D went right out the window. Marquette opponents hit 50.3% of their twos. The Eagles defense held it together by forcing turnovers and limiting both offensive boards and free throw attempts.

Mizzou-Cornell: Statistical Round of 32!

Bill C. — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:00:12 -0000

Yeah, no way am I not patting myself on the back for this one. Nailed it...for once. Poor shooting and paranoid offense (doing whatever it took to avoid a turnover) kept the first half slow and close. In the second half...not so much. Mizzou once again methodically wore their opponent down and pulled away.

NCAA Basketball Stats

	Mizzou	Big Red
Points Per Minute	1.95	1.48
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.26	0.95
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.32	0.92
2-PT FG%	59.0%	39.5%
3-PT FG%	25.0%	28.6%
FT%	89.5%	58.3%
True Shooting %	57.9%	42.6%

	Mizzou	Big Red
Assists	19	11
Steals	4	1
Turnovers	4	9
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	5.75	1.33

	Mizzou	Big Red
Expected Offensive Rebounds	11	15
Offensive Rebounds	9	17
Difference	-2	+2

While Mizzou's BCI was thrown out of whack in the first half because of only one turnover, check out CU's:

First Half BCI: Cornell 2.00 (6 assists, 3 turnovers)
Second Half BCI: Cornell 1.00 (5 assists, 1 steal, 6 turnovers)
If there's a concern to take from this game, it's simply that Cornell rebounded well. A 4-board margin based on expected rebounds is pretty hefty, and while CU's actually bigger than Marquette, they're not that much bigger. Mizzou will simply have to rebound better on Sunday.

Player Stats

NCAA Basketball Stats

Player	AdjGS*	GmSc/Min	Line
Leo Lyons	23.27	0.80	23 Pts, 10 Reb (4 Off), 2 Ast, 0 TO
DeMarre Carroll	18.46	0.60	13 Pts, 7 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 Stl, 0 TO
Kim English	13.11	1.19	13 Pts, 2 Reb
J.T. Tiller	9.72	0.34	11 Pts, 6 Reb, 6 Ast
Zaire Taylor	5.68	0.17	8 Pts
Keith Ramsey	4.48	0.32	4 Pts
Justin Safford	1.86	0.37	0 Pts, 3 Reb
Steve Moore	1.42	1.42	2 Pts
Michael Anderson Jr.	0.33	0.33
Jarrett Sutton	0.00	0.00
Marcus Denmon	-0.22	-0.01	2 Pts, 2 Reb, 2 Ast
Matt Lawrence	-0.33	-0.01	2 Pts (on 7 shots), 2 Stl
Miguel Paul	-0.44	-0.09

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It does the same thing my previous measure of choice did (it takes points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account to determine an individual's "score" for a given game), only the formula is more used and accepted. The "adjustment" in Adjusted Game Score is simply matching the total game scores to the total points scored in the game, thereby redistributing the game's points scored to those who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

I think it's safe to say that anytime DeMarre and Leo combine for 7 assists and 0 turnovers, Mizzou's going to win the game. Combined with 13-for-23 shooting (9-for-9 from the FT line), 4 offensive rebounds (all from Leo), 13 defensive rebounds, 2 steals and a block (from DeMarre), and...yeah, Mizzou's senior bigs came through in a major, major way.
Kim English in the last two games: 5-for-8 from 3-point range, 5-for-5 from the FT line, 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover. It appears he's (however momentarily) plowed back through the freshman wall. Which is a good thing because...well, Goose was bad today. Really bad.
JT Tiller did have three of MU's four turnovers, but otherwise he had a Tiller-esque game: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists...and Ryan Wittman went 2-for-7 from 3-point land.
So um...Laurence Bowers?

Keys to the Game Revisited

(From Monday's Preview)

The 3-pointer. Take Kim English out of the picture, and Mizzou shot 2-for-16 from 3-point land. That could have killed Mizzou against a better team, but luckily Cornell was pretty miserable too, going just 6-for-21. Harvard needed to go about 11-for-21 to have a chance.
The offensive glass. Cause for concern. Cornell grabbed too many of them, and Mizzou didn't grab enough.
Turnovers. Cornell only had 9 turnovers (4 from Mizzou steals), but according to Mike Anderson, they were so focused on holding onto the ball that they were quite distracted from actually running their offense, so...in a roundabout way this was still a winner for MU.

Marquette-Utah State

So while we eagerly await ghtd36's next Better Know an Opponent piece, let's check out what we can glean from Marquette beyond this week's earlier preview.

NCAA Basketball Stats

	Marquette	USU
Points Per Minute	1.45	1.43
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.01	0.99
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.23	1.08
2-PT FG%	42.9%	50.0%
3-PT FG%	26.3%	30.4%
FT%	82.6%	75.0%
True Shooting %	50.8%	50.4%

	Marquette	USU
Assists	7	11
Steals	4	2
Turnovers	9	9
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	1.22	1.44

	Marquette	USU
Expected Offensive Rebounds	11	11
Offensive Rebounds	10	7
Difference	-1	-4

The Golden Eagles held a very strong offensive rebounding team to an extremely poor showing on the boards--if Utah State had just grabbed an average number of offensive boards, they'd have probably won the game. This could be a strength against Mizzou, especially if the Tigers are shooting poorly again.
Marquette managed only 7 assists in 17 FGs, and against a defense that allows a pretty high BCI, they had a pretty poor one.
Maurice Acker (Dominic James' replacement): 24 minutes, 5 points, 2 assists. Meanwhile, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews shot 6-for-26 (1-for-9 frmo 3-point range) and had 3 assists and 7 turnovers. Almost no way do they play that poorly again on Sunday, but the turnovers are an encouraging sign, to be sure.
The game was played very much at USU's pace (62 possessions), and if Marquette's that susceptible to Mizzou's pace, this thin team (they played 7 guys against USU) will be dead tired with 10 minutes left.

Sunday prediction (since I clearly know what I'm talking about, ahem): Mizzou shoots poorly enough and Marquette rebounds well enough to take a lead into halftime, but (get this) Mizzou wears the Eagles down in the second half and moves on with a 78-69 win.

Marquette: Know Your Boise Travel Companion

Bill C. — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:00:10 -0000

I'm not going to go down the "I expect Mizzou to win the first round game, so let's look at who they may play in the second round" route. I'm not going to unleash the presumption jinx. But I do think it's safe to preview the other game in Mizzou's Boise pod: 6 Marquette vs 11 Utah State. First up, the 6 seed.

Marquette: 24-9

	Marquette	Opp
Points Per Minute	1.97	1.75
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.13	1.01
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.36	1.23
2-PT FG%	51.1%	50.3%
3-PT FG%	35.2%	35.2%
FT%	71.8%	67.6%
True Shooting %	56.6%	54.2%

	Marquette	Opp
Assists/Gm	15.1	13.9
Steals/Gm	7.9	5.8
Turnovers/Gm	11.3	15.0
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	2.03	1.31

	Marquette	Opp
Expected Offensive Rebounds/Gm	12.0	12.8
Offensive Rebounds/Gm	11.6	10.2
Difference	-0.4	-2.6

Where Marquette's good: Passing, Free Throws, Rebounding, forcing turnovers. And for a guard-oriented offense that only shoots okay from 3-point range, they maintain pretty high FG% levels.
Where Marquette's not as good: FG% defense. If they don't force a turnover, they're probably giving up a pretty good shot.
This is a team that recently lost its senior point guard, Dominic James, to a broken foot. Since James got hurt and junior Maurice Acker took his place in the starting lineup, Marquette has lost five of six games. Bad, right? Well...maybe. Here are the teams to whom they've lost since James' injury: Connecticut, @Louisville (by 4), @Pittsburgh, Syracuse (in OT), and vs Villanova (buzzer beater). With James, they probably beat 'Cuse and maybe 'Nova or Louisville as well, but they still came close and are a streaky, dangerous team.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Player	AdjGS*	GmSc/Min	Line
Jerel McNeal (6'3, 200, Sr.)	17.43	0.51	19.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.8 APG
Wesley Matthews (6'5, 220, Sr.)	17.42	0.53	17.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.5 APG
Lazar Hayward (6'6, 225, Jr.)	14.91	0.48	15.6 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.2 APG
Jimmy Butler (6'6, 215, So.)	7.06	0.37	5.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG
Dwight Burke (6'8, 250, Sr.)	2.75	0.15	2.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG
Maurice Acker (5'8, 165, Jr.)	2.69	0.18	2.7 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 1.8 APG
Patrick Hazel (6'7, 220, So.)	2.63	0.22	2.3 PPG, 2.1 RPG
Joseph Fulce (6'7, 205, So.)	1.75	0.36	1.5 PPG, 1.1 RPG
David Cubillan (6'0, 175, Jr.)	0.93	0.10	1.5 PPG
Chris Otule (6'10, 250, Fr.)	0.37	0.05	1.5 PPG, 1.3 RPG
Robert Frozena (6'1, 190, So.)	0.04	0.02	18 minutes

Naturally this list doesn't include James, who averaged 12.42 AdjGS/Gm and 0.39 AdjGS/Min. Statistically, the drop from James to Maurice Acker was relatively significant, but Acker showed a lot of potential in Marquette's last game, scoring 12 points in 30 minutes (3-for-4 from 3-point range), dishing 2 assists and grabbing 2 rebounds. He isn't James, but he might not be too bad.
With James, this team revolved around four guys; without him, it's down to three. McNeal, Matthews and Hayward will take seemingly every shot for this team, and the small bench specializes mostly in crashing the boards and briefly spelling the starters. But beyond just shots and points, McNeal, Matthews and Hayward dominate just about every non-rebound category. They are three very good player surrounded by non-statistical role players.
KenPom's ratings paint the picture of a Marquette team that is extremely efficient offensively (maybe just above average without James) and a defense that is solid but not amazing. They are short but very experienced (Butler and Hazel are the only underclassmen in the rotation) and rebound well for their size.

We'll see what Utah State has to offer tomorrow, but comparing Marquette to Mizzou, one of the biggest factors could be the bench. Marquette was #292 in the country in depth (measured by bench minutes), and that doesn't not really account for the fact that they are now that much thinner without James. If Mizzou and Marquette play, depth could play a major role in the outcome.

Tomorrow, we'll look at Utah State's roster, the keys to the Eagles-Aggies game, and a prediction.

Big East Tournament live blog: 5) Marquette vs. 13) St. John's

Mike Rutherford — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:22:06 -0000

The ESPN studio just flashed the St. Louis/La Salle score as 52-52 at the end of the second half and Digger Phelps asked whether or not it was a final.

It's March baby.

Depaul did its part and made today's opener more entertaining than most of us expected it to be. Here's hoping the Johnnies can do the same thing.

2:33 - No Big East Tourney jingle this year, just a highlight montage and a guy talking about the past and survival. I give it a meh.

2:44 - Marquette up 7-1. This is pretty gross.

2:46 - You guys are not drawing me in at all. I'm very "aware" that I'm watching two struggling teams playing in the second round of the Big East Tournament.

2:49 - Lou Carnesecca and John Wooden should have been twins.

2:50 - Quick question: where the hell are the Guiness St. Patrick's Day commercials this year? It's getting a little late in the game.

2:56 - It's 11-4 Marquette at the under 12.

I'm not even going to try and pretend like I'ven been focusing.

3:01 - Jerel McNeal still believes Jerel McNeal has never committed a foul. He's been whistled for two but Buzz is leaving him on the floor. Golden Eagles by seven, 13-6.

3:03 - According to Len Elmore, St. John's just "made out a little bit." I don't know how I missed that.

3:04 - Every time I hear the name "Jimmy Butler" I think of Jimmy from Seinfeld. Jimmy's got moves, Jimmy can dunk, JIMMY'S DOWN.

3:05 - David "Please Pronounce My First Name Daveed" Cubillan proves that he's still on the team by hitting a wild shot to make it 17-8.

3:08 - Someone wearing red please make a shot. Matthews buries a deep three and it's 22-8.

I'm not having fun.

3:13 - ESPN just showed a clip of Dom James trying to stay composed during a press conference this week. Pretty hard to watch.

3:17 - I'm eating my own hand.

3:19 - Seventeen minutes played, two St. John's shots made.

3:21 - Marquette is on a 14-0 run that I'm pretty sure has spanned two hours and forty-five minutes. Golden Eagles173, St. John's 8 as we mercifully near the end of the first half.

3:24 - According to the story on the C-J's home page, Efejuku Weyinmi scored 23 points for Providence this afternoon. I think they may have gotten the backwards names.

3:30 - History! St. John's sets the Big East Tournament record for least points in a half, shattering the previous mark of 14.

It's Marquette, 38-10 after 20 minutes.

3:50 - Golden Eagles, 40-14. If the dog hadn't barked I would have been out for a while.

4:00 - In case you were wondering, it's 47-18, Marquette.

I can't do this much longer.

4:04 - Jim Burr sucks at his job.

4:14 - Marquette's up 31 if anyone cares...I don't.

4:50 - Marquette wins 74-45. True story: I fell asleep.

Here's hoping the evening session provides a step up in entertainment.

Pitt all but clinches No.1 seed, Marquette all but says goodbye

SFBE.NF — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:22:03 -0000

It's going to be a sad ending for the Marquette Golden Eagles, although we could probably make that past tense. Their quartet of seniors + Lazar Hayward were a formidable bunch worthy of being part of the "deep tournament run" conversation. They (me) say you need guards to make noise in March-- well Buzz WIlliams had a bunch of them with Dominic James serving as the glue that held it all together.

But James is gone and the void is becoming more and more glaring, eveidence in tonight's loss to Pitt.

In just seven days, Marquette has lost three in a row and an important cog in their offense. Needless to say, it was hard to say goodbye.

Top 5: Shooting Guards

SHammonds — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:24:07 -0000

This was a tough list to compile in that there really isn't a great crop of shooting guards this year. Most "shooting guards" that you think of that are good actually occupy the point guard position on their team. So brace yourself America, here's my list of the top five shooting guards in the nation. Again, these aren't rankings, just a list of the top five in no particular order.

1) James Harden

2) Jodie Meeks

3) Wayne Ellington

4) Wesley Matthews/Jerel McNeal

5) James Anderson

Explanations after the jump.

1) James Harden is just good. We all know about James Harden; it really isn't a surprise to see him on here. He also looks like he's about 33 years old, what I and everyone else calls Greg Oden syndrome. What you might not know is that he isn't all hype and scoring. Yes, 21.3 points a game is great, but he also drops 4.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds a game...somewhat the college equivalent of LeBron numbers. Yes, I went out on that limb. He also steals 1.7 balls a game.

More importantly, to be the lead scorer on his team but still rank in the top 200 in offensive rating is a pretty good quality; he comes in at 179. He also has an Effective FG percentage of 58.9 and a True Shooting percentage of 63.6, 125 and 61 in the nation respectively. Those numbers are great for a guy who shoots as much as he does. An additional bonus, he's 8th in the nation in FT made and 3rd in FT attempted. As a two-guard, that's great.

2) Jodie Meeks can score, and I love someone who can score. The difference between him and other SGs that can score is that he does it incredibly efficiently. He's dropping 25.8 points a game, but also contributing 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals; modest numbers, but good in addition to 26 a game.

He is 92nd in the nation in offensive rating, 130 in effective FG percentage (58.5), and 40 in true shooting percentage (64.5). He is also 5th in the country in FT made, but only 21st in FT attempted. He shoots 47 percent from the field, 44 percent from behind the arc, and 90 percent from the stripe. Kentucky should be better than they are with players like him and Patrick Patterson. Also, look at his stat sheet and look at his conference rankings...a lot of ones there.

3) I hate dropping two UNC players on two top 5 lists, but Ellington is performing

very well this year and deserves this mention. 15 points, 2.7 dimes, 4.8 boards, and 1.2 steals a game are good, but not spectacular numbers. Where he makes up for this is in his efficiency.

He is incredibly efficient and comes in at 36th in the nation in offensive rating. One thing that affects his numbers is that he doesn't really get the kind of minutes that the other guys on this list get. He only logs 29 minutes a game, and the other guys log more than 30 a game. Also, he is the only guy on this list who isn't the premier player on his team. Ellington could even be considered UNC's third option. That said, to be that efficient in such a weak crop, he deserves mention on here.

4) Okay I cheated. Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews are actually two separate people, kinda. The thing is that they are both SGs, and they are both really really good, and they are the same exact player. Also, Marquette runs that crazy three guard offense that is almost a four guard deal with Hayward that I just had to do both of these guys. I'll start with McNeal. He contributes 20 points, four assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.2 steals a game. The problem is that he's only 301 in offensive rating, which is poor...so I guess he's the opposite of Ellington. He shoots 48 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from behind the arc. He's just a great player on a good Big East team. Now Wesley Matthews.

Matthews drops 18.6 points, 2.5 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals a game. Those numbers don't jump off the page like McNeal's do, but his offensive rating is great, coming in at 79 in the nation. He's also 35 in the country in true shooting percentage. He shoots 53 percent from the field and 39 percent from behind the arc. Which one is better? I'd say Matthews, by a hair, but both are good enough to be on this list, so I cheated and put both on here.

5) James Anderson surprised me. I wasn't expecting his numbers when I clicked

on his name, but there they were. 18 points, 1.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.1 steals a game are solid. He's 81 in the nation in offensive rating and 67 in the nation in true shooting percentage (63.4%). He shoots 48% from the field and 41% from behind the arc. He's a surprisingly effective player on a poor team, but after checking out his stats, imagine how poor Oklahoma State would be without Anderson. Also, only being a sophomore, it will be interesting to see if he stays, and if he does, how good he can be.

Halfway home Big East awards

Mike Rutherford — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:20:42 -0000

Today marks the unofficial - unofficial as in I'm calling it unofficial - midway point of the Big East season.

On a day of such unofficial splendor, I thought it was only fitting that we hand out some halfway home Big East awards.

Player of the Half Year: Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

It'd be hard to give this award to a guy on a 3-7 team if it were phrased "Most Valuable Player," but it isn't, and 'Gody's stats are up fairly significantly from a year in which he ran away with the award. I still think the race here is wide open, but as of right now Bad Hair-on-Gody is still my pick.

Coach of the Half Year: Buzz Williams, Marquette

Should be unanimous

Freshman of the Half Year: Mike Rosario, Rutgers

Really a toss-up between Rosario and Greg Monroe at this point, and even though I noted the difference between "Player of the Year" and "Most Valuable Player" earlier, I have to admit that I would be leaning towards Monroe if Georgetown hadn't struggled so much recently.

First Team All-Big East Half Year

Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut
Terrence Williams, Louisville
Jerel McNeal, Marquette
DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh

Second Team All-Big East Half Year

Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall
Wesley Matthews, Marquette
Sam Young, Pittsburgh
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse
Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia

Third Team All-Big East Half Year

Deonta Vaughn, Cincinnati
Earl Clark, Louisville
Jeff Adrien, Connecticut
Dante Cunningham, Villanova
Dominique Jones, South Florida

Damn, there are a lot of good players in this league.

Feel free to toss out your midway awards in the comments section.

Disturbing Trends in Guard Play

Will — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:20:02 -0000

Saturday's loss at Kansas was another piece in the growing mystery of the 2008-09 Vols, but it's not entirely unclear as to why they've been struggling of late.

In their last four games against probable tournament opponents (all apologies to Louisiana-Lafayette), the Vols have given up 26 or more points to a guard on the opposing team. And going inside the numbers, it's all becoming very familiar.

It started with Temple's Dionte Christmas, who lit up the Vols for 35 points...but that was on the strength of seven threes. But check this out:

Wesley Matthews, Marquette: 30 points, 15 of 18 free throws
Alex Renfroe, Belmont: 30 points, 12 of 17 free throws
Sherron Collins, Kansas: 26 points, 10 of 14 free throws

Something's not right here.

These problems are compounded by the fact that the Vols can't get anything approaching those numbers from their own guards. Over the course of the same four games, the Vols have gotten double figures from Bobby Maze each night, but the rest of the scoring is carried almost entirely by Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism.

The free throws attempted stat from all four games were almost identical for each team until Saturday, where surprisingly, the Vols went to the line nine more times than Kansas. But the difference is, the opposition is getting guards to the line on an alarmingly consistent basis. Meanwhile, the Vols are consistently led in free throws attempted by, once again, Chism and Tyler Smith.

Bobby Maze has been effective in a limited capacity at getting penetration and getting to the line, but as the team's only true point guard I don't expect that capacity to change. The other guards on the floor - who are all young outside of Josh Tabb - seem to be having a hard time excelling at any one thing.

The rotation of Tabb, Tatum, Hopson and Woolridge is shooting a combined 35% from behind the arc (and that's being generous to not include JP Prince's 1 for 12 start). They're not getting to the line - the only one who averages more than two free throws attempted per contest is Tatum. And they're allowing the guards across the floor to have career nights, a lot of it coming via the charity stripe.

There could be a lot to be concerned about here.

It's even harder to figure out when you go back and look at this team's defensive performance against Georgetown and Siena, which at least gives some hope of improvement. The Vols have frustrated some good guards at times this season, but their performance over the last three or four weeks could almost be called regression.

Chism and Tyler will continue to be capable of putting up huge nights, and that's a group that a healthy JP Prince can also join. Bobby Maze is at least consistent.

But one - or hopefully, all - of these other guards have to step up their play on at least some level for the Vols to continue to grow as a team and to have any real hopes of chasing another SEC title. If the three point shooting doesn't magically increase, the Vols have to start taking fewer of them; Pearl in the Kansas postgame talked about turning some down for the first time this season, as far as I know.

These guys have to do a better job of getting to the line either way. And perhaps most importantly, there has to be a much better effort and much better execution on the defensive end to prevent more opposing guards from scoring 30 and getting to the free throw line at will. Opposing guards have to be salivating over our defensive scouting report.

This team continues to feel itself out. But if these issues don't improve, they'll find themselves with more and more "learning experiences" and fewer and fewer wins.

Tennessee Volunteers vs. Marquette Golden Eagles: game preview

Joel — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:31:22 -0000

Expect Tennessee’s game against Marquette tonight in Nashville to be a battle of the boards and benches. If Tennessee can win those two games-within-the-games, the Vols should be okay. If not, well, think Temple.

Keys to the game

Rebounding. Both teams are very good on the boards. Whichever team has the better night cleaning up the shooting failures of others will have an advantage. The Vols rank 5th in the nation in rebound margin, averaging 11 more boards than their opponents. But the Golden Eagles have out-rebounded their opponents in eight of nine games. In its last game against Indiana-Purdue-Fort-Wayne (the most awkwardly-named team in college sports!), Marquette tallied 48 total rebounds behind 18 from Lazar Hayward, who’s ranked 17th in the nation in rebounds with 10.6.

Marquette’s starting five vs. Tennessee’s bench. The Golden Eagles’ starting lineup is stocked with guys ranking nationally in many key statistical categories, but their bench production is sorely lacking. The starting five currently accounts 81.3 percent of the team’s offensive production, and the bench has contributed a grand total of 12 points over the last two games. Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl is fond of saying that although his opponent’s starting five might be better than his own starting five, his ten are better than his opponent’s. Look for Tennessee to push the tempo and to force the game into a contest of depth.

Marquette players to watch

The aforementioned Hayward. Hayward was not only one board shy of the Bradley Center record of 19 in his last outing, he also managed a game-high 19 points on 9 of 17 shooting from the field. Dude’s got three double-doubles on the season already.

Senior guard Dominic James, who is perhaps Marquette’s best player. James currently ranks 17th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.2), 37th in the nation in steals (2.4 per game), and 51st in the nation in assists (5.3 per game). He’s also averaging 11.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He was one of 50 guys named to the preseason candidate list for this year’s Wooden Award.

Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. Notice I said that James is “perhaps” Marquette’s best player. If not, McNeal is. Perhaps. McNeal is ranked 75th in the nation in steals and 82nd in the nation in points per game. He, too, is on the preseason Wooden Award watch list. Or maybe Wesley Matthews is the Golden Eagles’ best player. Matthews scores more points per game than either McNeal or James, thanks in part to his free throw shooting. Only two guys in the nation are making more free throws per game than Matthews, who’s hitting 7.7 per game on 8.8 attempts. Don’t foul Matthews!

KEY STATS COMPARISON
Category	Rank	Actual	Rank	Actual
Scoring Offense	8	85.3	12	82.8
Scoring Defense	273	73.4	174	67.3
Scoring Margin	62	11.9	29	15.4
Field-Goal Percentage	61	47.1	95	45.7
Field-Goal Percentage Defense	212	43.8	130	41.4
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game	126	6.6	174	6.1
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage	154	34.0	222	31.4
Three Pt FG Defense	117	0.32	51	0.292
Free-Throw Percentage	100	70.9	109	70.5
Rebound Margin	5	11.0	24	8.2
Assists Per Game	10	18.9	32	16.6
Assist Turnover Ratio	44	1.18	40	1.21
Blocked Shots Per Game	138	3.5	188	3.0
Steals Per Game	139	7.3	48	8.9
Turnovers Per Game	246	16.0	106	13.7
Turnover Margin	190	-0.5	81	2.4
Personal Fouls Per Game	273	20.9	258	20.4

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Category	Player	Rank	Actual	Player	Rank	Actual
Points PG				W. Matthews J. McNeal	48 82	19.6 18.2
FG%
3-Point FG PG
3-Point FG%
FT %				W. Matthews	44	87.3
Rebounds PG	B. Williams	93	8.1	L. Hayward	17	10.6
Assists PG	B. Maze T. Smith	76 94	4.9 4.6	D. James	51	5.3
Blocks PG
Steals PG				D. James J. McNeal	37 75	2.4 2.1
Assist-TO Ratio	B. Maze	6	3.9	D. James	17	3.2

Big East basketball roundup: 11/17/08

Mike Rutherford — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:00:07 -0000

A perfect 7-0 mark for the nation's premier college basketball conference on the first night of extensive non-conference action.

Here's how it happened.

CONNECTICUT 99, Hartford 56

The Huskies scored 54 of the game's final 66 points to turn a tilt that had been touch-and-go into a laugher.

Starting in place of an injured (ankle) A.J. Price, Kemba Walker stole the show. The ballyhooed freshman scored 21 points and committed zero turnovers over the course of 29 minutes.

Sharp-shooting Craig Austrie added 21, and Jerome Dyson tossed in 18.

UCONN scored 1/3 of its points from the free-throw line (33-of-46).

PITTSBURGH 82, Miami (OH) 53

If you told me there was a team in action Monday night that was more impressive than the Panthers, then I'd be forced into calling you a knave. I wouldn't want to, but there would be absolutely no way around it.

In taking a Miami team that nearly knocked off UCLA behind the woodshed, Pitt looked like a team possessing everything necessary to make a serious push for the national title.

All four starters scored in double figures, including junior college transfer Jermaine Dixon (14), perhaps the team's biggest question mark heading into the season. Despite playing just 19 minutes, DeJuan Blair finished a rebound shy of a double-double, and Levance Fields scored 12 while handing out a career-high 12 assists.

To sum up: 'dem boys look tough.

MARQUETTE 106, Chicago State 87

Wesley Matthews scored 26 points and Lazar Hayward added 21 to lead the Golden Eagles past the conference-less Cougars of Chicago State.

Despite the win, first-year head coach Buzz Williams can't be happy that 5-foot-8 David Holston - one of the nation's leading scorers a season ago - was allowed to hit seven three-pointers and score 33 points.

Jerel McNeal will be the first to tell you that it wasn't his fault.

VILLANOVA 107, Fordham 68

Dante Cunningham scored a career-high 33 points to go along with 11 rebounds as the Wildcats routed visiting Fordham Monday night.

Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher each added 17 points, but perhaps the best news of the night for Jay Wright's team was that senior forward Shane Clark was able to return to action just 11 days after having surgery on his right knee.

Dwayne Anderson and Casiem Drummond missed the game with injuries.

GEORGETOWN 71, Jacksonville 62

Preseason Big East Co-Freshman of the Year Greg Monroe looked as good as advertised, delivering 14 points and seven rebounds in his collegiate debut. The 6-foot-11 former McDonald's All-American ran the floor, made several nice moves away from the basket, and was credited with three blocked shots on the defensive end.

While Monroe was busy comparing shoe-sizes with Roy Hibbert, sophomore point guard Chris Wright was scoring a team-high 16 points in his initial effort to match the footprints left behind by three-year starter Jonathan Wallace.

DaJuan Summers and Jesse Sapp each added 13 to help GU notch a typical John Thompson III November victory.

ST. JOHN'S 86, Cornell 75

Anthony Mason Jr. scored a team-high 24 points to lead the Johnnies past the class of the Ivy League in an opening round game of the Preseason NIT.

D.J. Kennedy scored 22 points, sophomore Justin Burrell added 11 points and 11 rebounds and Malik Boothe netted 14 points and nine assists for the Red Storm, who will play Boston College in the second round on Tuesday.

DEPAUL 75, Albany 64

Dar Tucker led all scorers with 23 points, and junior point guard Will Walker added 19 points, two blocks and three steals as Depaul began its 2008-2009 season with a win over the Great Daines out of the America East Conference.

The Blue Demons, who ordinarily play their home games at the Allstate Arena, played a regular season game on campus for the first time since 1999.