Prediction Time - Leading Scorer

[Phantom Warrior]

Now that we've had a chance to watch the team play in four games (other than Haanif, of course), who do you predict will be MU's leading scorer this year?

It seems to me there are probably three legitimate possibilities - Luke, Duane, and Henry.

My prediction - Duane - at roughly 16.0 ppg. Duane can score in so many ways. The same is true of Henry, but I don't think Henry's outside shot will be as consistent as Duane's. I also think Duane is a better free throw shooter than Henry, which will likely mean he will have the ball in his hands in close games in which we have a lead which means he will likely be the one to go to the line (even more so than Traci because of his added experience). Finally, I think Duane is less likely to get into early foul trouble than Henry and spend major portions of games on the bench.

As for Luke, I don't think he'll have as many shot opportunities as Duane. Plus, he's not a consistent free throw shooter.

I think Duane will average around 16.0 ppg, Luke around 14.0 ppg, and Henry around 12.0 ppg. Obviously just speculation based on limited observations, but the bottom line is that the board has been incredibly slow lately, especially with respect to MU stuff, so I figured I'd try to regain some momentum.

[Nukem2]

Well, I suspect we all needed to take a week off following all the Italy stuff. :). As for the scoring, what you've posted above is as good a guess as I could make.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

I think it will be:

1. Duane
2. Henry
3. Luke

I'd agree with all your reasons for Duane being the top scorer.

[warriorfan4life]

I will go with Henry, then Duane, and then Luke. Henry will be a bit of a volume scorer, but I think that the offense will run through him and he gets a touch on most every possession.

[ValiantSailor]

Based upon typical forum philosophy, that the new guys will always be the difference, then it will have to be Haanif, as he's the only new guy left.

Based upon reality, it will be Duane, probably by 4 or more PPG. CBB is a guard's game.

VS

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

My pick is Duane, but I think it will be close. I see Duane and Henry as a dangerous inside out scoring duo. I think Duane will really fill it up this year, I'd say 17 ppg with Henry not far behind at 15 ppgminutes think Luke will be in the 11-12 range.

[Goose85]

Like Brewcity77, I think it will be Duane just slightly above Henry.

In the early going against some of the lower RPI opponents I think Henry will have a field day so Henry may lead in scoring before Big East.
Once Big East play begins there may be more talent with size that can try to defend Henry. Once Big East play begins I think Duane will be the leading scorer courtesy of the 3 ball.

[mufan2003]

Good question Phantom. I agree the 3 candidates are Luke, Henry and Duane. My gut says to go with Duane. Although I would not be surprised if all 3 average double digits and are very close to each other in PPG by the end of the year.

[IrwinFletcher]

Duane for sure with plenty of room. I think Luke will certainly be up there and I am hopeful that his FT issues are in part due to the shoulder problem he had last season. Kind of underreported, but I believe he shot 75% from the line in those 4 games. SSS for sure, but encourgaing.

[Markedman]

Like others I'm guessing 1 Duane 2 Henry 3 Luke

Think those 3 could all be pretty close......within 3 or 4 points

[The Reptile]

While I think that It's Duane's team and that he is capable of leading this team in scoring I do not believe he will. I think that at times he will be called upon to lead by sharing the ball with others and those instances will take from his scoring total but add to his assist column. Henry and Luke will benefit from Duane's unselfishness and will probably score more on average.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

I will go out on a limb and say, barring injury, Duane Wilson will leave Marquette as #1 on the scoring list.

[dubs98]

I will go out on a limb and say, barring injury, Duane Wilson will leave Marquette as #1 on the scoring list.
just said the same thing to one of buddies the other day. A year of sitting, then scoring a bunch in his red shirt freshman year followed by being the guy for the next three years spells a lot of points.

In regards to this year, however, I still think Henry will be the top guy. Duane will score a bunch, but Henry will get so many easy ones along with a ton of free throws to go with the rest of his game which will give him the scoring lead.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

just said the same thing to one of buddies the other day. A year of sitting, then scoring a bunch in his red shirt freshman year followed by being the guy for the next three years spells a lot of points.


Agreed, assuming he plays 32 games a year, which is what he played in 2014-2015, he would have 96 games remaining in his career, McNeal finished with 1985 points, and currently Duane has 380 from last year, he would need to average 16.7 ppg over the next three years to match McNeal.

I don't think he will average 16.7 ppg this year, but I could see every year him improving that number and eventually getting to that 17-19 ppg range that McNeal was in by his senior year. Assuming that Duane plays in all 32 guaranteed games this year (13 Non-conference, 18 conference, 1 BE Tournament) he would just need to average more than 13.3 ppg to match Jerel's Sophomore year, I don't think that is unreasonable at all for Duane given that he averaged 11.9 ppg last year.

Jerel's Career Stats:
Freshman - 31 G, 343 Points, 11.1 PPG
Sophomore - 29 G, 426 Points, 14.7 PPG
Junior - 35 G, 523 Points, 14.9 PPG
Senior, 35 G, 693 Points, 19.8 PPG

Duane's Career Stats:
Freshman - 32 G, 380 Points, 11.9 PPG

[Markedman]

I think it is also fair to assume he will play more games then that(if he avoids injury). MU will almost certainly play in the post season at some point in the next 3 years and could easily go on a deep run or 2 in the BE tourny.

[IWB]

One big question remains, where will he be playing and who will he be playing with?

MKE pointed out Jerel's stats above, where he went 11.1, 14.7, 14.9, 19.8, but there was one thing that directly impacted Jerel's stats.

Dominic James' stats. Dominic was a shoe in for all time leading scorer, but he needed to change his game for what the team needed....

Dominic's Career Stats:
Freshman - 31 PG, 473 Points, 15.3 PPG
Sophomore - 34 PG, 506 Points, 14.9 PPG
Junior - 35 PG, 452 Points, 12.9 PPG
Senior, 29 PG, 318 Points, 11.0 PPG

Dominic was on track to shatter the record, but changed his game because to win, they needed Jerel & Wes to be more effective. Duane is of the same mentality as Dominic - he will do what the teams needs for them to win. Will the team need him to be a scoring 2G in two years? Will the team need him to be a pass first PG in two years? All remains to be seen.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Big if, but if Traci Carter is a four-year player at Marquette, I think Duane will break the record by some margin. I expect this team to win some games in the BET and NCAAs, so I'd put the average games at 35 per season, which means an average of 15.4 per game over the next 3 years for Duane to be the first Marquette player over 2,000. Carter at the point would allow Duane to stay at the 2 for his career. Might not be best for his NBA hopes, but he'd go down as a Marquette legend.

Honestly, it will be interesting to see if our cupcake schedule this year helps him in this regard. I could easily see more than a few 25+ point nights before January and Big East play.

[MUAlphaBangura]

Big if, but if Traci Carter is a four-year player at Marquette, I think Duane will break the record by some margin. I expect this team to win some games in the BET and NCAAs, so I'd put the average games at 35 per season, which means an average of 15.4 per game over the next 3 years for Duane to be the first Marquette player over 2,000. Carter at the point would allow Duane to stay at the 2 for his career. Might not be best for his NBA hopes, but he'd go down as a Marquette legend.

Honestly, it will be interesting to see if our cupcake schedule this year helps him in this regard. I could easily see more than a few 25+ point nights before January and Big East play.

I think that actually might hurt his chances more than help as we are deep enough to let the younger guys get some good minutes during garbage time.

[CaribouJim]

Jim touched upon a key reason as to why, but interesting 4-year comparisons on Jerel and DJ - Jerel's PPG increased each year and DJ's decreased.

As far as Duane, I think and hope he will get decent minutes at the point.

I thought he was way beyond serviceable in the limited minutes he had at point last year. Ability to take it to the hole and dish or take it all the way, kept defense honest with his ability to shoot from long and medium range and was a creative passer. Seems like Wojo is not a big fan of him at the point though. From my perspective, hope that changes.

[Phantom Warrior]

I like Traci at point. I don't think anyone will be able to steal the ball from him when he's dribbling. Plus his passes are crisp. He will probably force some issues, especially at first, but I like the way he runs the point.

While I initially expected Duane to be a point guard when he entered MU, I do think he is more dangerous as the off guard.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

[/B]
I think that actually might hurt his chances more than help as we are deep enough to let the younger guys get some good minutes during garbage time.

They likely will, but probably not until we've got 70-80 on the board. I have a feeling we'll score a ton in the non-con.