The cutting-edge offense being run by the Marquette men's basketball team has earned rave reviews from the entire spectrum of hoops hipsters.
Wordsmiths have penned longform articles regarding head coach Shaka Smart freshening up his ideas about pace and space with input from special assistant Nevada Smith . The more analytically-driven observers point out that the Golden Eagles are the No. 2 team in adjusted offensive efficiency, behind only Purdue in the rankings on statistical website KenPom.com. Video clips of backdoor cuts and no-look passes are looped and breathlessly broken down on social media.
After a popular Xs-and-Os Twitter account dug into an offensive set that resulted in a reverse layup from Kam Jones, the Golden Eagles guard chimed in with his own observation:
"I'm ngl (not gonna lie) this wasn't even a play call we was just hoopin"
The beauty of MU's offense lies in its improvisatory nature. While a lot of college basketball coaches run their teams like martinets and dictate the ball movement with hoarse screams from the sideline, Smart has empowered his players to think for themselves on the court.
"Just reading the defense," Smart said. "Taking what the defense is giving you. Our guys have done a great job of playing out of flow, so not really a play call.
"We make some play calls, but they are at their best when they are getting into multiple actions on their own through what we do."
The 20th-ranked Golden Eagles (14-5, 6-2 Big East) are humming on offense. MU is averaging 82.7 points per game heading into Wednesday's 8 p.m. matchup against No. 22 Providence (14-4, 6-1) at Fiserv Forum.
ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla has closely watched Smart's teams over the years at Virginia Commonwealth and Texas. The former college coach at Manhattan, St. John's and New Mexico loves what he is seeing this season.
"They have a complete offensive team," Fraschilla said. "They can certainly be better defensively, but they're one of the few teams in the country that can flat-out outscore anybody they play.
"I'm talking about anybody, the top teams in the country. There's nobody they can't outscore on a given night. And their offense is beautiful to watch."
More: The Markus Howard connection at Marquette continues through Oso Ighodaro
The Golden Eagles are generating good looks. Their effective field goal percentage, which adds weight to three-pointers, of 57 is the best of any high-major team in the country, according to KenPom.com. MU is shooting 60.3% on two-pointers, the No. 2 mark in the nation, with most of those attempts coming near the basket.
With players running pick-and-rolls to create advantages and also cutting to create space, the Golden Eagles play offense like a professional team. Before he joined Smart's staff, Smith spent time in the then-NBA Development League and learned how to best deploy spacing to stress help defenders.
"Especially under Shaka and Coach Nevada, we watch a lot of film," Jones said. "They walk me through reads, walk me through what I should be reading. That just helps me on the court.
"Just seeing how they're playing. See how they're helping. See what you can do for yourself, then make the right read. Make the right play."
College teams often rely on rigid offensive systems because they don't have players who can run pro-style sets that call on them to diagnose defenses quickly.
MU boasts two of the best passers in the country in 6-foot-9 center Ighodaro and point guard Tyler Kolek . The players' ball movement has been contagious, with the Golden Eagles' assist rate - which measures assists per field goal - of 59.6 sitting at No. 23 in the country.
"You have to have high IQ guys," Fraschilla said. "Tyler Kolek thinks the game as well as any point guard in college basketball. It's not even close. His passing ability is on par with anyone. To have a guy like that, it would be like having (the Kansas City Chiefs ') Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. If you put Patrick Mahomes on my Jets, they're still playing. And with Marquette they have the perfect trigger-man.
"Then Ighodaro, I've said, will play in the NBA. Honestly, I said that back in early December and now it's pretty apparent that this kid, while he's not ready right now and I hope he's patient, he's got some things that definitely translate to the NBA. And he's fun."
Fraschilla participates in coaching clinics around the world, and he often expounds on how to run pick-and-rolls. Fraschilla became an unabashed fan of Kolek's particular genius after watching MU last season.
"He can dissect all five defenders in the pick and roll," Fraschilla said. "Very few college kids can do that. Chris Paul does it (in the NBA). Kyle Lowry does it. Those guys have played a long time."
MU's offense generally starts with Kolek coming off a ball screen and making reads.
"There's no defensive coverage you can throw at him that he can't make a pass to defeat," Fraschilla said. "You want to help and try to keep Ighodaro from rolling to the basket with the weak-side guys, he's going to skip it over to (David) Joplin in the deep corner and Joplin's going to hit a three.
"And that's what he's got. He's got the vision of a NFL quarterback."
MU's offense still has room to get better.
If the Golden Eagles can improve on their 34.8% three-point shooting, that will draw defenders' attention further away from the basket and create even more room for cutters and drivers.
"It's starts with their point guard Tyler Kolek, who it's yet to be determined whether he is a NBA prospect," Fraschilla said. "But he is arguably as good a passer as there is in college basketball.
"He's a pick-and-roll savant. Then when you look at the big guys Shaka is able to pair him with in Ighodaro and (Olivier-Maxence) Prosper, those guys are tailor-made for pick-and-roll basketball. So Kolek's strengths are highlighted because of the two big guys that just have great hands and a great feel for being in pick and roll.
"Then you add some really talented perimeter players around that, like Stevie Mitchell, Kam Jones, the freshmen Chase Ross and Sean Jones, David Joplin."
The Golden Eagles' top six players in minutes are all playing in their second season together, albeit with each of them in bigger roles. That continuity is rare in the transfer portal age, and the benefits are obvious. Like an airtight jazz outfit, the players can anticipate each others' movements like when Kam Jones or Mitchell are cutting around Ighodaro for layups.
"That's just chemistry and experience," Jones said. "We play with each other every day."
They are "just hoopin" as Jones said, and basketball hipsters are eagerly anticipating the next show.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Shaka Smart's Marquette basketball team has one of top offenses
