Guarding Marquette's Early Problems

Marquette-Ohio State is a great testament to college basketball. Ohio State heading to a true road game in the first five games of the season takes balls. It also takes balls for Marquette to schedule a team to the quality of Ohio State to put their 27-game home winning streak to the test. After a tight first half, Ohio State took control in the second half winning 52-35. This is a classic early season game where you wonder if this could be a real problem, or just a blip on the radar.

It is strange to say Marquette has somewhat of an issue at the guard position. Duane Wilson being injured leaves them with an albatross at guard in the combination of Derrick Wilson and Jake Thomas. Wilson played 38 minutes on Saturday afternoon. This would not be a problem if Wilson made himself look like a threat on offense, yet for the third consecutive year, he has done nothing to fix his offense issues. This is disappointing to say the least. You would assume that there would at least be a glimmer of hope from Wilson offensively, but so far, there has been none. Aaron Craft is a tough defender but that does not excuse Wilson from being incompetent on one end of the basketball court. He needs to improve, or this Marquette team will continue to be average.   

Wilson struggled mightily, but he still did not compare to Thomas' struggles on Saturday. He did not make a shot, missed six 3-point attempts and played putrid defense.  There is really no reason to have him out there unless he is making baskets. Thomas is a liability on defense which was the major reason why he did not play much last season. He really struggled out there, and I do not know if it were a situation where the lights were too bright, or if this is the reason why he is an eighth guy off the bench versus being a starter. 

Even though Todd Mayo missed 12 shots, I would say his day overall is encouraging. That sounds weird to say, but it appears like Mayo is taking the role as a shooter at the guard position. I doubt he will go 3/15 again, but I could be wrong.  Mayo always struck me as a tentative scorer especially if he missed his first couple shots. But on Saturday, he did a great job of trying to make plays and baskets. Sure, they did not go in, but at least Mayo looked aggressive out there. I do not think we have been able to say that about Mayo in his first two years at Marquette.  Hopefully, this is a trend, and not just a flash in the pan. 

Another silver lining to the guard issues is they do have a pretty solid frontcourt. It is easier to get better throughout the season at guard than it is with big men. The reason is guards can come in all different shapes and sizes where big men really do not. Davante Gardner, Chris Otule when not in foul trouble and Jamil Wilson is as strong as most teams in the NCAA. Once the guard play meshes with the frontcourt, Marquette should be a pretty solid basketball team.  Further, they do have freshmen in John Dawson and JaJuan Johnson whom could emerge as scorers as well. 

There is no reason to press the panic button just yet. Marquette has a stretch after New Hampshire where they head out west for what could be a week if all things break right. Hopefully, the guard play improves in the coming weeks, but it is clear, this combination did not work well. 

Charlie.