Writing about a game that happens 10 hours ago when there’s another game in 10 hours is always difficult. Don’t want to dwell too much on any one piece, and also want to start looking ahead.
But there are 2 plays from last night that have an incredible amount of resonance, not just for this tournament, or this season, but for Shaka Smart’s tenure and Marquette’s program.
The Shot (that didn’t count)
Before we admire this beauty, it’s incredibly important to remember the sequence that leads up to it.
First, Marquette gets the ball after a video review confirms an out of bounds call with 2.8 left on the clock. That gives each team time to both talk about how to play the ensuing, and set up a strategy.
After another timeout, Nova comes out with a player guarding the inbounder, but a prevent shell everywhere else. Marquette has Stevie as the only non-inbounder in the backcourt, which is a bit unusual since you would normally want Kam as your late clock, long range sniper.
But that’s because this play wasn’t meant to get a shot off, but rather get the ball into the front court to call a timeout and get a much closer, better look at the basket.
Maybe I’m biased because PTer Mark Strotman called it in real time before the play, but this is a really savvy play, and worked really well with the “Prevent” defense Nova employed.
Now MU doesn’t have to go the length of the court, but simply run one of it’s much rehearsed ATOs. Let’s watch and listen again.
And this is the part where I will say one of my biggest pet peeves about the discourse nationally around Shaka pretty much starts and ends with Havoc defense (and now being on the court). With Marquette, Shaka’s teams have consistently been some of the most efficient producers of points coming out of a timeout.
This season, Marquette led the Big East in ATO PPP by a healthy margin, and is third in the country currently, getting 1.101 points in possessions after timeout.
So even though I was elated at the shot and result, it wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Marquette also led the Big East last season in ATO PPP, and finished 2nd in Division 1. Marquette is fantastic in these types of spots.
But this play was all sorts of beautiful, even by Marquette’s standard. Let’s watch it again in slow motion.
Chase once again is the inbounder, and throws a perfectly weighted lob to Oso. Dixon actually plays tremendous defense on this, and nearly gets a hand on it, but the arc and Oso’s length prove pivotal. Dixon’s aggressiveness is also a key reason there’s so much space in the lane. He takes himself out of position.
Kam curls at the top of the arc off a Joplin screen and Justin Moore, chooses to cover Joplin instead of following Kam, which leaves yet more space for Kam to navigate.
And this is where Oso’s passing ability shines. Watch where he starts the pass.
Now watch where Kam first makes contact with it.
Perfectly weighted bounce and in a spot where no Nova player can reach it and Kam can pick up and shoot in one fluid motion.
Finally, Kam’s physics bending ability with his touch off the glass shines once more, for one of the most aesthetically pleasing buzzer beaters in Marquette history, even if it was ultimately wiped out.
(And without delving into that, how do we not get 1 view from under the basket to see if the ball is on his finger. I’m convinced Kam had released from the palm, and it was only as close as it was because of the angle. Alas.)
Everything about this sequence and this play highlights how well coached the program is, how well the staff uses players, and how talented the players all. It highlights that we are living in a special time to be a Marquette fan.
The Trust
The other possession that will translate beyond any game or season is Oso’s bucket to push the lead to double digits with less than 20 seconds left, and ultimately ice it.
The play call is basically an iso, so while the lead up to clear the floor looks very cool, it’s not necessarily something that gets me out of my chair.
What does is the fact that with the game on the line, Shaka Smart emptied the floor to isolate his senior who had struggled all game and had not made one field goal up to that point. In fact, Oso had gotten heartily rejected in the first half trying to isolate against Dixon. An Oso iso was probably the last thing I would have expected in this spot with 5 seconds left on the clock.
And yet, here we are. The amount of trust Shaka has in Oso is that Mean Girls meme. The limit does not exist.
This matters to me because it shows that all the platitudes about culture and believing in your players aren’t empty coach speak. Shaka and the staff truly live it out day to day.
Earlier this season when Marquette couldn’t hit open 3s to save its life, the staff kept getting asked about all the shots, and the answer never strayed from, we believe in our guys. As long as it’s a high quality shot, we want them to keep shooting.
I’m not claiming this is a trait only Marquette’s staff has, I’m sure it’s common everywhere. But when you preach trust the process, seeing it in action time and again is just marvelous.
I don’t know how this season will end. If/when that day comes it will be very easy to be dejected and upset that Marquette didn’t do “X” with a golden generation. But what these 2 plays showed me is that putting faith in Shaka and his teams to battle and put themselves in a position to win, no matter what the roster looks like, is the smart move.
Marquette has played in 19 Big East Tournaments, and Shaka has doubled the program’s Friday night at the Garden appearances. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of it either.
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