Back From Day 1

[DegenerateDish]

Even though I only live 10 minutes from the Sears Centre, it was my first time in the building tonight. I knew it was built with concerts in mind, so the layout is a bit odd.

Some quick thoughts:

-Place was DEAD for the MU game. I got there for the last few minutes of regulation between Auburn/Dayton, and was surprised at the amount of Dayton faithful on hand.

-Doubt it came across on tv, but the Sears Centre PA announcer had to be pushing 70 years old. The unintentional comedy was great. He routinely messed up players names, team/player associations, and his three point call was high comedy, "1...2...3 points!"

-It was extremely odd being at a game with no band.

-The halftime entertaiment was another 15 minutes of high comedy. The Chicago Storm soccer dance team came out and did a 3 minute routine, followed by some guy on a mic at mid court trying his hardest to get the crowd fired up for your typical fan "shootout" (layup, FT, 3 pointer, half court shot). He was strongly encouraging all few hundred in attendance to get on their feet and make some noise. Highest of comedy.

Outside of those thoughts, MU seems much more loose this season under Buzz, at least on the offensive end. It's been said on here in prior posts, but Wesley Matthews looks like a stud this season. Defensively, MU's team defense was fantastic tonight. Weakside help and guys fighting through passing lanes made it near impossible for Northern Iowa to get their offensive sets going this evening.

Looking forward to Day 2 tomorrow.

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

Agreed.  Best defense played BY FAR this year by MU.  Completely suffocated them on the perimeter.

Also, there are PLENTY of open seats for tmrw. night.  The arena was maybe at best 30% full for the end of the Dayton-Auburn game (as the MU crowd was streaming in).  It's a very easy drive from Milwaukee, so if you can make it down, you can sit pretty much anywhere you want, as the ushers were not checking tickets/seats at all tonight. 

Plus, you can get $10 off tickets too :-)  http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=10681.0

[mviale]

sounds like MU stepped it up tonight!  I wish I could be there.

Go Warriors!!!

[StillWarriors]

You didn't miss much tonight. Unfortunately, there was zero atmosphere there tonight, though the team brought energy and stayed focused despite the game being over early. They were fun to watch. Really thought the MU fans would show up, but I guess Northern Iowa didn't excite anyone. Dayton had a decent crowd there, so hopefully MU will be well represented tomorrow.

Few thoughts on the game:

-Wes definitely looks like the best player on the floor. Strong, under control and agressive.

-James is certainly playing more under control than in the past. Played a pretty good floor game and great aggressiveness on D. If anything, he has become too tentative about shooting. Several times he hesitated and then seemed undecided about putting up a shot. He needs to get over that mental hurdle. I'm glad he seems to be thinking pass first, but he's in between on shooting.

-Burke and Hazel were active on the boards, but truly give us nothing on O. How are we going to score against good competition? Very little penetration. Tonight may have been deceiving though b/c we seemed to call off the dogs to some extent early.

-I saw the second half of Dayton-Auburn and overtime. They ran up and down the court but there wasn't much scoring. Dayton didn't seem to have much inside either, so it should be a decent matchup for MU. They do have some athletes, so it should make for a scrappy and aggressive game.

- Come on MU crowd--Dayton will put us to shame if we don't show up tomorrow!!!

[77ncaachamps]

sounds like MU stepped it up tonight!  I wish I could be there.

Go Warriors!!!

+1

I'm with ya in spirit, dudes! 

[robmufan]

Overall I thought it was a great game.

I have to play devils advocate just once...

Did anyone else think that when UNI set the highball screen and Dwight or P. Hazel Jumped out they were slow to get back?  I feel as if a better team will burn us if they dont recover faster.

Other than that, I was impressed with how quick MU was on Defense and actually thought Dwight did a great job keeping the big heffer from getting the ball.

The view I had was great, except for those TT ... he's always in the way!!!!  And the dancers were great, I have to say that, my sister was out there!

[rugbydrummer]

Agreed.  Best defense played BY FAR this year by MU.  Completely suffocated them on the perimeter.

Also, there are PLENTY of open seats for tmrw. night.  The arena was maybe at best 30% full for the end of the Dayton-Auburn game (as the MU crowd was streaming in).  It's a very easy drive from Milwaukee, so if you can make it down, you can sit pretty much anywhere you want, as the ushers were not checking tickets/seats at all tonight. 

Plus, you can get $10 off tickets too :-)  http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=10681.0

you guys are killing me here, why couldn't MU athletics email this out to everyone . . . i finally badgered (heh heh) my family into buying tickets tonight--before i saw the discount of course

count in 4 rabid MU fans for tomorrow!  well, at least 1 rabid fan

[StillWarriors]

Overall I thought it was a great game.

I have to play devils advocate just once...

Did anyone else think that when UNI set the highball screen and Dwight or P. Hazel Jumped out they were slow to get back?  I feel as if a better team will burn us if they dont recover faster.

Other than that, I was impressed with how quick MU was on Defense and actually thought Dwight did a great job keeping the big heffer from getting the ball.

The view I had was great, except for those TT ... he's always in the way!!!!  And the dancers were great, I have to say that, my sister was out there!

You are absolutely right on that. We used that same approach on high screens last year and I never really understood it. Louisville abused us on that. The bigs flash out pretty far, so there is no way they could get back in time. I would think Dayton will try to attack that some tomorrow. Strange philosophy to leave a guy to float to the bucket free in order to stop a guy 20 feet out.

Overall, great D tonight though.

[Daniel]

Agreed Burke and Hazel were slow to get back to the rim, but in general they did a good job on defense, as did the whole team.

I was concerned that we did little scoring inside on them - I think they would have fouled us most of the time, as they did when we did penetrate.  I'd like to see more of that, but we played pretty well tonight, expecially on the defensive end.

And of the small crowd that was there, most were Dayton fans - they had a sea of red around where I was sittiing (on the bench side), and they were as vocal as anyone.

We need more MU fans there!  And I paid a premium for the tickets, wish I knew about a discount!

[robmufan]

I heard there were 3x as many tickets sold from the MU side for todays game.  Lets beat Dayton!

[MarquetteFan94]

I heard there were 3x as many tickets sold from the MU side for todays game.  Lets beat Dayton!

That's great news if true.  Dayton had an impressive turnout but I know the MU faithful will come out stronger tonight.  Very stale atmosphere with no band or cheerleaders....but at least they sell Miller Lite.

[robmufan]

but at least they sell Miller Lite.

AMEN to that!!!!

[Daniel]

Yes, there were a ton of Dayton fans (and loud ones) there last night - let's hope we out do them tonight with OUR fans, and with our team.

Le't GO MARQUETTE!!