Marquette Basketball: Projecting Golden Eagles’ 2019-20 rotation
By Brian Foley
Shooting Guard
Minutes Breakdown (40 total): Koby McEwen (17), Markus Howard (11), Greg Elliott (10), Dexter Akanno (2)
Much of what happens at the point guard spot will affect the minutes at the 2 as well. Marquette’s guards will likely bounce from either the 1 or 2 from possession to possession depending on matchups, hot hands, or who pushes the pace off the defensive rebound.
Let’s assume MU’s primary backcourt will feature Howard and McEwen together in some order. For starters, that’s a pretty potent offensive combination. While neither is a true point guard, they can both hold their own as distributors and ball-handlers, and have complementary offensive skills. Howard is an elite gunner who can take it to the hoop; McEwen is a slasher at heart (59 percent shooting at the rim in 2017-18, and 70 percent of the makes were unassisted), who can step outside as well (37 percent three-point shooting on 5.5 attempts per game for his career).
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But McEwen also provides some defensive versatility as well. At 6-foot-4, he offers some protection for the 5-foot-11 Howard, allowing Marquette to hide Howard on a weaker opponent. McEwen’s defensive numbers from Utah State do not jump off the page, but he should blend into the system just fine. McEwen likely will not be guarding the other team’s top guard very often anyways; that assignment will largely rotate between Sacar Anim, Bailey, and Elliott.
Marquette’s crop of defensive-minded guards will be welcomed, but will also shift some pressure back onto the coaching staff, who must be able to adapt its system to the revamped roster. The Golden Eagles defense was much improved in 2018-19, though clearly de-emphasized forcing turnovers for the first time in the Wojo era. This led to a more disciplined defense, but also created few easy baskets going the other way, and forced Marquette into a slower pace.
With the amount of speed and relatively capable ball-handling that will often exist on the floor at once, MU should look to crank up the defensive pressure and get out in transition more often.