In Reply to: Thanks, a couple of questions since I didn't see it: posted by santabarbarabruin on November 20, 2024 at 10:06:00
Braden Smith is a very heady guard with a nice jump shot and very good assist man. However, he's not the physically overpowering one like some and not as good on D as some I've seen. I've seen other guards who I like better though from an overall standpoint on both O and D.
As far as the matchup by Purdue with the Bruins, Purdue has a bigger front line than the Bruins and that could pose some problems. The Bruins would have to really hit the boards hard and pressure them on D like Marquette did in order to offset that front line height advantage. Plus, Purdue generally plays a smart game and doesn't get frustrated by defensive pressure like they did last night.
Marquette plays 3 guards (6'5, 6'5, 6'3) who are all very good defenders, especially Mitchell, good ball handlers, passers and shooters/scorers. They are the team's high scorers with Kam Jones leading the threesome with 30 assists (6 APG) and an AT ratio of 4.3, shooting 48% from beyond the arc and averaging 22 PPG. With all three being good ball handlers and the way they get the ball upcourt and attack the rim so quickly, I'm not so sure who is the "official PG". The smaller guard of the three, 6'3, 200 lb Stevie Mitchell seems to handle the ball a bit more but he only averages 1.l8 assists a game with 9 total in 5 games. He does average 13 points though. The three guards shoot threes exceptionally well with Jones at 48%, Ross at 66% and Mitchell at 50%. Overall, Marquette will be a tough matchup for just about any team they play. They not only have good shooters and rebounders and like to play an up-tempo game, but play exceptional, pressure defense too.
From what I've read, with 5'10 junior Sean Jones injured (and possibly red shirting), Tre Norman was supposed to step into to PG position but that apparently hasn't worked out as he only gets around 10 minutes a game and doesn't do much in those 10 minutes. But from a pure assist standpoint (which is usually a good measure of a PG), Kam Jones if far ahead of the other guards in both assists and AT ratio.
That's about all I can tell you. Hope it helps.