Jake of Late

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Kid has really stepped up his game. No, he's not all-league, but he's been a great contributor. Here are his numbers in the last 10 games:

9.5 ppg
2.6 rpg
1.4 apg
1.0 tpg
45.6% 3PFG

He may not start for quite a few teams, but those are some pretty good numbers and I don't think there's a team in the league that wouldn't be finding legitimate minutes for him. What has really surprised me is how he seems in many ways to be stepping into the Lockett role. Hard-nosed player that goes all-out on defense, though if Trent could have shot like that he'd be cashing NBA paychecks by now.

My bet is on Jake hoping we see Xavier and Georgetown again at MSG. He is 21/36 from long-range against those two teams and in the four games averaged 17.3 ppg. Looking at his numbers across the year, some teams really struggle to guard Jake, while others (Seton Hall and Butler oddly) seem to be able to lock him down pretty well. Though one piece of good news...Jake was great at St. John's when few others were. Hopefully that translates to a big Senior Day performance against the Johnnies.

[IrwinFletcher]

On one of the other boards (ahem) there is continued talk that JJJ is going to transfer because of lack of playing time. That could in fact be true, I certainly have no idea, but it is really hard to argue the fact that Jake has earned the right to play his 25-30 minutes a game and he has produced very well.

46% from deep when you are really the only threat on a team is nothing short of remarkable.

Kudos to JT for working hard and earning his minutes. Some of the young guys can learn from it.

[Goose85]

Jake does the things you need to do to win as a team. Plays the same if he scores 18 or 3. Never seems to be lacking energy or effort. According to Buzz he always plays to the scouting report. Helps others get into the right spots on O and D (last night he grabbed a guy with both hands and moved him).

I've said from the beginning, even if we don't run plays for Jake to get open, he still commands attention from the opposing defenders and needs to be on the floor.

Very happy for Jake and his success this season.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

The kid has been outstanding of late. I certainly was not his biggest fan earlier on and wanted to see more mayo but Buzz has found room for both - just a shame it took so long to figure out that combo. I think we'd be looking at a much stronger resume had we gone with the 3 guard lineup earlier and more often.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Agreed. We need big Chris for the tip, but I love the lineup of Derrick, Todd, Jake, Jamil, and Gardner. They will still sag off Derrick, but they can't do that with anyone else. In addition, you've got solid defenders to cover Gardner's lapses.

[pbiflyer]

But why was Jake knocking out his teammate? :D

646

[Phantom Warrior]

There is an interesting pattern to Jake's shooting over the past 13 games beginning with the first Xavier game. In essence, he has shot extremely well every third game with the two games in between being either poor shooting performances or decent, but not excellent, shooting performances. Take a look. The first number is mpg, the second field goals, the third field goal percentage, the fourth three-point field goals, the fifth three-point field goal percentage, and the final total points.

XAVIER: 32 6-12 .500 5-11 .455 17

SETON HALL: 30 0-4 .000 0-4 .000 0

BUTLER: 39 1-8 .125 1-8 .125 9

GEORGETOWN: 35 4-6 .667 4-6 .667 12

VILLANOVA: 29 0-2 .000 0-2 .000 0

PROVIDENCE: 23 1-5 .200 1-5 .200 3

ST. JOHN'S: 20 4-7 .571 3-5 .600 11

BUTLER: 28 1-6 .167 1-4 .250 5

SETON HALL: 34 2-7 .286 1-6 .167 6

XAVIER: 38 6-11 .545 6-10 .600 18

CREIGHTON: 36 3-10 .300 1-4 .250 9

DEPAUL: 39 3-8 .375 3-6 .500 9

GEORGETOWN: 33 7-12 .583 6-9 .667 22

Looking at every third game, Jake made 27 of 48 field goals, 24 of 41 treys, and averaged 16.0 ppg for those five games.

For the "in-between" games Jake made 11 of 50 field goals, 8 of 39 treys, and averaged 5.1 ppg in those eight games.

Oddly enough we are 3 - 2 in his best shooting performances and 5 -3 in the other eight games.

If Jake continues this pattern, we wont see another superb shooting night from him until the last game of the regular season. I certainly don't expect to see him shoot lights out in all three games. Nobody can shoot that well that consistently. My guess would be one excellent shooting performance, one decent shooting performance, and one forgettable shooting performance. All shooters have their ups and downs but it wil be interesting to see if his pattern over the past 13 games continues.

[mufan2003]

Heard Jake say in the last couple weeks he has been waking up at 5am and getting extra shots in. He says he is feeling better than ever with his shot.

He always was a good shooter, but the Xavier and Georgetown games have been "lights out" shooting. Even Hunt in the Xavier post game article said Jake got in a Ray Allen type zone.

Keep it going Jake.

[BLT]

Jake's defense, especially his footwork, was outstanding. In terms of shooting or starting, the problem this year has been his usage. With Derrick and Jake in there with Juan to start, Jake is the one who has to launch it to protect and open things up for Jamil and Gardner. JTIII was getting ripped for not double teaming #54, but Jake caused that by shooting and hitting his shots, not a bad coaching decision.

Jake is shooting 40.1% from three this season now, improving with time. Jake had 13 games in his college career of 20 points or more before he came to MU. To me, because of his step back talent, the inability to get off his shot really isn't the higher level opponents so much, but his willingness to pull the trigger. Now he is launching it, his three point shooting percentage and efficiency are actually improving.

Meanwhile, space is opening up for Todd to dribble drive from the wing, Derrick to penetrate, Jamil to work the baseline and for Gardner to post up in the paint versus the very wide post. Just.Launch.It

[2013UnleashTheBeast]

There is an interesting pattern to Jake's shooting over the past 13 games beginning with the first Xavier game. In essence, he has shot extremely well every third game with the two games in between being either poor shooting performances or decent, but not excellent, shooting performances. Take a look. The first number is mpg, the second field goals, the third field goal percentage, the fourth three-point field goals, the fifth three-point field goal percentage, and the final total points.

XAVIER: 32 6-12 .500 5-11 .455 17

SETON HALL: 30 0-4 .000 0-4 .000 0

BUTLER: 39 1-8 .125 1-8 .125 9

GEORGETOWN: 35 4-6 .667 4-6 .667 12

VILLANOVA: 29 0-2 .000 0-2 .000 0

PROVIDENCE: 23 1-5 .200 1-5 .200 3

ST. JOHN'S: 20 4-7 .571 3-5 .600 11

BUTLER: 28 1-6 .167 1-4 .250 5

SETON HALL: 34 2-7 .286 1-6 .167 6

XAVIER: 38 6-11 .545 6-10 .600 18

CREIGHTON: 36 3-10 .300 1-4 .250 9

DEPAUL: 39 3-8 .375 3-6 .500 9

GEORGETOWN: 33 7-12 .583 6-9 .667 22

Looking at every third game, Jake made 27 of 48 field goals, 24 of 41 treys, and averaged 16.0 ppg for those five games.

For the "in-between" games Jake made 11 of 50 field goals, 8 of 39 treys, and averaged 5.1 ppg in those eight games.

Oddly enough we are 3 - 2 in his best shooting performances and 5 -3 in the other eight games.

If Jake continues this pattern, we wont see another superb shooting night from him until the last game of the regular season. I certainly don't expect to see him shoot lights out in all three games. Nobody can shoot that well that consistently. My guess would be one excellent shooting performance, one decent shooting performance, and one forgettable shooting performance. All shooters have their ups and downs but it wil be interesting to see if his pattern over the past 13 games continues.

This might be true just by happenstance.... the next two games are against Nova & Providence, who he shot a combined 1/7 against, the third against St. John's who he shot 4/7 against. It could just be a matchup anomaly and therefore a scheduling quirk vs. any sort of real "every third game" pattern. Interesting though.

[Phantom Warrior]

Maybe all of his strong-shooting games occurred when the moon was in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligned with Mars?

[Gato78]

From the days when the most valuable member of the team was the manager who had the Visine.


Maybe all of his strong-shooting games occurred when the moon was in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligned with Mars?

[BLT]

Maybe all of his strong-shooting games occurred when the moon was in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligned with Mars?

Lol...perhaps the Wiccan Rule of Three. That last game is the first game of Lent. It is all falling in place.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_Three_(Wiccan)

[MU/Panther]

You could say that Jake is one of the most important players on the floor for MU.