Marquette Basketball: Takeaways from Golden Eagles so far in 2020-21 season

7. Koby McEwen Is At His Best When He is Not The Point Guard

Paint Touches wrote this takeaway in an article before I could finish mine, so I’ll start with quoting a few of his notes before providing my own thoughts.  The 5th-year senior is “currently rocking a career best ORtg (offensive rating) of 119.7, scoring efficiently from just about every spot on the floor.” McEwen has shot 43.8 percent from three this year, and as the article shows, he’s shooting 72 percent (5/7) from the corners and 40 percent from the top of the key and right wing (12/30).

He further emphasizes how this season “has been a dream start for Koby” and his “leap in volume and efficiency has given the offense an outlet when plays break down.”

I want to start with how I’m really impressed with how Koby has played this season, especially after struggling with his first year with the Golden Eagles last year. I remember last season he was pretty inefficient and inconsistent for most of the season and at times I was frustrated with his body language. However, there were was something that drew to me to liking Koby as a player within the first couple games, and it wasn’t until late in the season that I realized Koby’s heart-on-his-sleeve demeanor is a killer instinct mindset where he also wants his teammates to get better.

A big part of his inefficiencies last season was being mistake prone and as many Marquette fans know, playing through a hurt thumb that needed surgery in the offseason. This year Koby has played well and as mentioned been efficient for Marquette. On occasion, he’ll still play a little out of control but he’s a guy you want on your team as he has embraced a leader role in the absence of Markus Howard, Sacar Anim, Brendan Bailey, and Jayce Johnson.

Not to mention how he’s a lockdown defender, never being afraid to guard the other teams best player, McEwen has proved he’s a capable go-to in crunch time. Now, I’m not saying he definitely has to be the go-to guy in crunch time, but he’s shown on several occasions he can make the right plays down the right stretch.

He hasn’t always been perfect in crunch time, but the two most notable times he rose to the occasion was when he went 4/4 from the line in the last 30 seconds at Creighton and of course a huge 4-point play to tie the game at 88 at Xavier before Adam Kunkel eliminated the possibility of overtime with a fadeaway three at the buzzer.

Back to the main takeaway, a huge reason for Koby’s success this year is him being off-ball more than on-ball in terms of facilitating the offense. Last year, he was tasked as the primary ball handler which in many games led to frequent turnovers and a choppy flow to his own game, not letting him find his rhythm, especially as a shooter. Last year he showed he could be more effective off the ball and he’s definitely proved that this year.

McEwen seems to have a better flow to his game and I would go even further by saying his plays with more confidence as well. He’s definitely capable of creating his own plays and finding for others, but he’s much better shooting and driving to the rim off the catch as opposed to isolation. Additionally, his struggles as the primary ball handler last year haven’t really changed when he has to be the point guard for a given unit on the floor this year, as he turns the ball over more and the offense overall isn’t as smooth as to when Carton runs it.

The biggest flaw from McEwen this year has probably been his consistency scoring the ball recently. Fox Sports’ Casey Jacobson pointed out before the Villanova game that in the previous 7 contests, McEwen has followed every double digit output with a “single digit stinker” the next game. That trend continued in the Villanova game making it an 8 game streak. Granted, McEwen scored 7-9 points in those three original single digit outputs but his shooting percentages from the three point line and the overall field declined in the next games to a big performance.

With Koby set up in a role to succeed for Marquette this year, Koby has played really well overall and has fit well in the starting backcourt with DJ Carton. Assuming he becomes a little bit more consistent, McEwen will go above and beyond the expectations he had as a highly targeted transfer from Utah State that several major schools wanted.