Q&A: One of the NBA’s top guards schools MU’s Markus Howard on film, speed and defense

Marquette rising junior Markus Howard will be one of the nation’s top guards next season. Known for his extensive off-season work, Howard is always looking to challenge himself. Last week he attended the Chris Paul Elite Guard Camp in Winston-Salem, N.C, with many of the best college and high school backcourt players. He answered a few questions about his experience.

Q. You were at the camp for three days. How was it structured?

A. We’d have our first session in the morning around like 10 o’clock and we’d go for like 2 1/2, 3 hours and it would be strictly just drill work. We’d have different stations and they’d split us up, high school and college, and do drills that were about 15 minutes apiece. We’d do that for a couple of hours then we’d have lunch. After we broke for lunch we’d come back and just compete: 1-on-1, 3-on-3, 5-on-5. Chris Paul actually had a couple pros there working out: Jamal Murray, Devonte' Graham, Grayson Allen, himself, some other guys. We’d compete against them and then we’d also play against each other, us college guys. We did that for first two days and then the last day we pretty much just played. It was a lot of competition, a lot of drill work. Watched a lot of film with Chris Paul, too. It was just a great experience, just being able to learn and compete.

Q. You mentioned last week that your goals were to improve on defense and decision-making. Chris Paul is known for those two things. Did you go into the camp looking to gain knowledge in those two areas?

A. The biggest thing I was trying to gain out of this whole couple days was just learning as much as I could. Really just paying attention to the drills and certain things that (Paul) does, especially in film sessions. He would do the drills with us and being able to watch him and his reps was very beneficial to me. Just to see how he does it in a game-like setting. I was able to emulate some of the things he was doing. Going over film with him, he really dissects the game better than anybody in the league. Being able to kind of pick what he does when he watches film and what he watches for is really going to help me in my future.

Q. Did you have one-on-one interaction with Chris Paul. Did you get the sense he knew who you are?

A. Yeah, a little bit. With coach’s (Steve Wojciechowski) prior involvement with USA Basketball, I mentioned my coach said hi. He had nothing but good things to say about Coach Wojo and our program as well. We’d talk throughout the camp. We’d talk about things like what it’s like to play in the NBA, what I can expect to learn as my time goes on (in college). And also we talked about life in general. We talked about shoes a lot. That was a big topic of discussion that we had during camp, talking about shoes. He’s a really down-to-earth guy, really hands-on when it came to participating in camp. It was truly a blessing just to be part of it.

Q. In the 5-on-5 action, did you find yourself matched up with Paul at all?

A. Yes. There’s a reason why he is who he is in the NBA. He’s an unbelievable player. He really thinks the game out better than anybody, I think. Just being able to compete against him was awesome.

Q. Did you have any success against him?

A. I actually did. I scored a couple times. Then we started going back and forth a little bit. It was cool to kind of measure myself against one of the best players in the NBA.

RELATED: MU's Howard one of nation's top shooters

RELATED: Get to know MU guard Howard

Q. You mentioned the NBA guys that were there. Did you ask them for any advice?

A. I was trying to gain any edge I could. So I would ask the guys, what was the biggest transition from college to the NBA? What were some things that they had to learn early on?

Q. What were your biggest takeaways?

A. That it’s just a different speed. Going from high school to college is already a different speed. But from college to the NBA is a whole other level. So just learning how to change your pace when you’re playing, not playing at one speed. But also being able to read the defense and also be in the right positions on defense.

Q. I think it’s interesting that Paul broke down film with you guys. What kind of stuff was he showing you?

A. It was mostly pick and roll. He was talking about certain passes, certain reads to make off different types of picks and stuff like that. As a guard involved in a lot of ball screens, I felt it was very beneficial to me. It was really good to see the type of reads he would make in a game depending on the defending team. He really wouldn’t necessarily be focused on his defender but the back-side defender was what he really looked at. I thought that was really interesting because if you read the people off the ball it’s easier for you to make decisions based on who you’re playing against.

Q. Did you know any of the other guys at the camp?

A. I feel the basketball world as time goes on is so small. Everyone kind of knows everybody. It was a lot of guys I’ve known from playing at a young age until now.

Q. Who did you hang out with the most?

A. My roommate was Carsen Edwards from Purdue. Me and him got pretty close over time. It was good to compete with him. He was probably my toughest competition, too. Me and him were always matched up on each other, but we’re also with each other in drills, competing. He’s a great guy, off the court me and him would be in the room, talking, chilling. It was good to get to know him.

Q. Did you ask him about going through the NBA draft process, attending the combine before deciding to go back to Purdue?

A. He would tell me that as a player at a high level, it’s nothing you don’t go through. It’s all things that you see throughout the season, college kind of prepares you well to go into those workouts. You have to go into those things with an open mind and be ready to work.

Q. There were a couple of other Big East guys there, Xavier’s Quentin Goodin and Villanova’s Phil Booth. Did you guys interact?

A. Of course. Being in the same conference and seeing each other the last two seasons, we’d gravitate toward each other. We’re always competing on the court, so it was kind of cool to get away and talk and be cool with each other. They were asking me about our team. I said “You’re going to have to wait and see when we play you.” It was all cool; they were very friendly.

Q. You had practice with MU on Monday, the first one in the new arena. Did you implement anything you learned from the camp?

A. Definitely I was trying to have a point guard’s mind-set going into practice, trying to find my guys. I felt I did that pretty well, ran my team pretty well. We scrimmaged and my team ended up winning. I didn’t really shoot as much but I felt that I was hitting my guys in the right spots, running the offense really well. Trying to get into the defense and kick.

Q. With these camps, players can either go away with confidence that they can hang with the best players in the nation or they come home thinking they need to do a lot of work. Where did you fall on that spectrum?

A. As a player in general, I am very confident in my game. Coming back here, my teammates and coaches always instill that confidence in me as well. I know that I can play with anybody. Going to that camp, it really just made me appreciate being with these guys each and every day. I did take away that there are some things I need to continue to learn, just from the pro aspect. My decision-making, trying to be better with the ball in my hands, pick-and-roll situations, trying to find my guys in good spots.