GTech Thoughts

[tower912]

1.   Team played with heart, passion, hustle.
2.   Seniors carried the team tonight.
3.  Matt Carlino!    Must remember, he can shoot us into games, he can shoot us out of them.
4.  Diminished minutes for JJJ, Deonte, and Cohen.
5.  The zone confused GT enough that they were unable to really exploit their size advantage consistently.
6.  GTECH's press should not have confused Derrick and Carlino as badly as it did. 
7.  Steve needs to make layups.  When my 7 year old yells 'Make your layups".......
8.  Hack-a-Derrick is going to be a thing all year.   Sad, but true.   
9.  Hack-a-Juan is going to be plan B.
10.  GTECH messed up at the end.
11.  Any win is a great win......and now we get Sparty. 

[Lighthouse 84]

Whatever D Derrick provides, his lack of ability to make a free throw negates it.  Take him out at the end of a game when we have a lead. Put someone, Anyone, Who can mke a FT.

[jesmu84]

Derrick was pushing the ball by himself off a turnover or missed shot. Last season, people chided him for not doing that. And, as I said at that time, I'm fairly certain it wasn't Derrick's decision or lack of ability, but Buzz's direction to play so slowly. This roster looks much, MUCH better in transition compared to halfcourt.

[BossplayaOtto]

Protected the ball relatively well as GT only had 4 steals and 13 TOs for Marquette is reasonable.

I like the extra effort on the boards. We outrebounded them in the 2nd half and finished a respectable 35-40 on glass including 14 offensive rebounds.

Definite Progress and a nice solid win for Wojo.

Sparty could bring the pain tomorrow.

[brewcity77]

• The zone really helped. Jajuan and Deonte looked better on defense and Carlino didn't get victimized near as much.
• Guards getting rebounds was huge. Carlino and Derrick both showed good effort on the boards.
• I'm not optimistic about Sparty but they aren't as good as recent years, especially if Dawson is less than 100%.
• Win or lose tomorrow, we have a chance to leave Orlando with a winning record.
• Derrick was great in the second half. Attacked the rim, got rebounds, ran the offense well, but sadly still can't make free throws. Still, we don't win without him.

[nyg]

Don't know of any team in the country who has to take out their starting point guard at end of games.
Taylor had two points and three rebounds, third bad game in a row.
Carlino had 50% of teams scoring, that may not happen again.
Cohen hardly played.
Burton limited played, had 5 steals and two turnovers.  
Juan is the most active and hustled his butt off.  Different player from last year.
Offensive rebounding is hurting.

Got the win, but tomm night could be very, well interesting.  

[PGsHeroes32]

All your points were great. Seniors obviously were HUGE

Would like to shout out for Duane, JJJ and Deonte. The minutes those guys did get weren't perfect in that second half but they had great energy and were disruptive on D. Duane actually played a lot but still put him with other 2.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I saw more adjustments from wojo this game then all of last year.

[jesmu84]

Juan looks like what Jamil should have looked like.

[AirPunches]

Derrick was bad down the stretch, but thought he had a solid game otherwise. Juan made some nice moves and hit some big shots. Steve looks lost out there. Hopefully the move back to the 4 in two weeks will help him.

[tower912]

Juan looks like what Jamil should have looked like.

That is another horse that has been beat to death, but yes.   The seniors led tonight.   

[brandx]

Juan looks like what Jamil should have looked like.

I don't think anyone will question Juan's heart.

[🏀]

Juan looks like what Jamil should have looked like.

No, I still take Jamil.

[nyg]

Protected the ball relatively well as GT only had 4 steals and 13 TOs for Marquette is reasonable.

I like the extra effort on the boards. We outrebounded them in the 2nd half and finished a respectable 35-40 on glass including 14 offensive rebounds.

Definite Progress and a nice solid win for Wojo.

Sparty could bring the pain tomorrow.

MU had 29 rebounds, Tech had 41
MU had 9 offensive, Tech had 17

[muwarrior69]

Why all the complaining? I thought we won.

[tower912]

I'm not complaining.   I am savoring each and every win this year.    Mmmmmmm.   

[mufan924]

CARLINO'S WAY!!!

[brandx]

Two disappointments tonight:

1. Taylor unable to make layups.

2. Not even attempting to get the ball to Duane against the press. Best FT shooter on the team and was not at all involved in out-of-bounds plays over the last 3 minutes. Obviously a coaching decision because he ran away from the inbound passer each time. Maybe Wojo thinks he's not ready to face the press - but would rather see him than Juan (and yes I understand why Juan was back there - you want someone who can see over the defense to make passes).

[GGGG]

I couldn't figure out exactly what Brian Gregory was trying to do on offense.  They had a huge size advantage, yet they kept chucking up outside shot after outside shot.

MU had 29 rebounds, Tech had 41
MU had 9 offensive, Tech had 17

I thought that this was simply a case of being shorter.  Unlike earlier games, Marquette was not ball watching or boxing out.  They were at least *trying* and playing with heart.  There is only so much you can do when you are smaller.

[jsglow]

Derrick played an outstanding second half.  His two drives pressuring the GT defense were key and his defense is critical down the stretch.  I'm completely okay with the offense/defense substitute patterns. I only think Wojo was about a possession or two too late implementing.

[brewcity77]

I thought that this was simply a case of being shorter.  Unlike earlier games, Marquette was not ball watching or boxing out.  They were at least *trying* and playing with heart.  There is only so much you can do when you are smaller.

That wasn't true in the first, but it was in the second. In the first 2 minutes both Derrick and Duane pulled down strong defensive rebounds. That's the kind of effort we need to compete with bigger teams.

[BossplayaOtto]

MU had 29 rebounds, Tech had 41
MU had 9 offensive, Tech had 17

thanks for the correction/clarification. clearly an erroneous post on my part. i was going off the cbssportsline app which listed the #'s i referenced. so the rebounding wasn't nearly as robust as I thought, however there seemed to be a more concerted effort to hit the glass and during the stretch where we extended the lead we got a couple of putbacks and held them to one and done on defensive. I expect us to be out rebounded virtually all year, including when Fischy is eligible, but IMO the team (especially the guards) were more active on the glass tonight which is progress.

[Texas Western]

Deonte made 5 steals tonight in limited playing time. I think he we will see something good from him soon.

[madtownwarrior]

We lose the game if Derrick plays the full second half - not sure I call that outstanding.  Threw away an inbounds, missed 2 clutch free throws.  But outstanding...

Derrick played an outstanding second half.  His two drives pressuring the GT defense were key and his defense is critical down the stretch.  I'm completely okay with the offense/defense substitute patterns. I only think Wojo was about a possession or two too late implementing.

[chapman]

The boob of the Big East can beat the boob of the ACC when someone goes crazy and scores 38.  Not since DJO have we had someone who can just shoot a bunch of points onto the board.  It's something    

Derrick had 7/5/5/3 stl - not bad at all. Wojo learned the lesson to not to have him play offense at the end.  The steals, rebounding, and decent positioning made it look like a great choice to stick him on a corner of the 2-3.

The zone was a good call.  Defense made some stops.  Rebounding was still a nightmare, but bad rebounding with an eFG of 50% is better than bad rebounding with an eFG approaching 70%.  Helped Burton defensively.

Got to get more from Steve.  He's asked to do more than he can handle as a 3/4 forced into the 5 with three small guards on the floor with him.  Expected he won't set the world on fire at such a disadvantage, but he can't only have three rebounds, two defensive, 1-6 shooting, and only draw one foul (which wasn't called).

 

[GGGG]

Derrick was good in the second half...until the final few minutes.  I understand why Wojo wants him in on defense, but offensively he cannot be on the floor in those end of game situations.

[Ben Golds Five]

I unfortunately didn't see the game, so I'm wondering how in the hell did Carlino also outrebound STJ 6-3? That shouldn't happen.  

[Logi4three]

1.   Team played with heart, passion, hustle.
2.   Seniors carried the team tonight.
3.  Matt Carlino!    Must remember, he can shoot us into games, he can shoot us out of them.
4.  Diminished minutes for JJJ, Deonte, and Cohen.
5.  The zone confused GT enough that they were unable to really exploit their size advantage consistently.
6.  GTECH's press should not have confused Derrick and Carlino as badly as it did. 
7.  Steve needs to make layups.  When my 7 year old yells 'Make your layups".......
8.  Hack-a-Derrick is going to be a thing all year.   Sad, but true.   
9.  Hack-a-Juan is going to be plan B.
10.  GTECH messed up at the end.
11.  Any win is a great win......and now we get Sparty. 

+1  Great recap and agree on all.  Particularly 8 & 9.  Very obvious and good scouting by GT.  Hopefully Steve T. starts dunking.

[Anti-Dentite]

We lose the game if Derrick plays the full second half - not sure I call that outstanding.  Threw away an inbounds, missed 2 clutch free throws.  But outstanding...

how bout real nice...does that work for you. If you don't think he was a key part of this win I don't even know what to say....

[brandx]

Last game Carlino, Wilson and Wilson had 4 total rebounds. Tonight they had 14. That was the difference in the game.

[SaintPaulWarrior]

I couldn't figure out exactly what Brian Gregory was trying to do on offense.  They had a huge size advantage, yet they kept chucking up outside shot after outside shot.


I thought that this was simply a case of being shorter.  Unlike earlier games, Marquette was not ball watching or boxing out.  They were at least *trying* and playing with heart.  There is only so much you can do when you are smaller.

Obviously Wojo outcoached Gregory.

[WarriorHal]

Here's a thought. I listened to Wojo on the radio post game show for the first time. Wow...what a difference! He actually answers questions intelligently and briefly...no incoherent rambling for 3 - 4 minutes that leaves you shaking your head with no understanding of what was just said.  And while he's positive, he's realistic in talking about the team's abilities, strengths, weaknesses. No more "we're really, really bad!"

Regardless of how this season turns out, what a pleasure to have a coach who isn't a total whack job.

[jesmu84]

I thought, before this game, I noticed that Wojo had the guards not trying to rebound and instead had them sprinting down the court looking for transition points. Tonight, however, the guards were looking more for rebounds. I wonder if that was the zone or just a different decision in coaching.

[T-Bone]

Last time we played Georgia Tech was in 1977...
We won then.

[NotAnAlum]

The zone did what I hoped it would do.  Kept the forwards in position near the basket instead of constantly getting caught on switches out on the perimeter.  Cut down on our opponent getting to rim.  Kept the guys fresher at the end.  Sure we aren't long.  Sure if an opponent is hitting from the outside we lose.  But this is a flawed team with few lock down defenders and forwards that are currently bad on rotations and no center.  You play a zone and hope that you hang around and the other team makes some mistakes.  The zone also slows down the pace of play which is almost always to the weaker teams advantage.  I think its our defense of choice until we get Fisher and we get better at overall team defense and rotations.  

[axaguy]

I definitely think this was a coach's win tonight. Wojo made some adjustments based on our recent play and his attempt to adjust his game plan for us based on the performance and abilities of the players he has right now. Not ramrodding a style through though players are incapable of executing it.

We are going to have our ups and downs. We have holes and weaknesses but also a win under our belt. I think MSU destroys us because they appear to be more complete and polished than us right now but the game has to be played. We will learn more about ourselves as will Wojo.

Am quite impressed with Wojo and his comments and adjustments before and during the game. He'll do just fine at MU if we allow him to do his job.

Could critique individuals play but that has already been done here and I'm not a coach, anyway.

My measure of a coach is if a team is better in January than they were in November and better in March than they were in January. We'll see what happens but I am optimistic right now based on what I've seen but not getting over excited and predicting a sure spot in the final 64 just yet....

[Ellenson Guerrero]

My biggest take away was that Georgia Tech has no idea how to attack a zone defense...

[MU Buff]

I don't get it with Steve, I don't remember him missing contested/open layups as a freshman. Is it possible his confidence still isn't all the way back from last year? Also, I think normally we will want Duane to have the ball shooting FT's at the end of games but Carlino was obviously in a rhythm tonight. When that happens, go with the hot hand.

[MU82]

I definitely think this was a coach's win tonight. Wojo made some adjustments based on our recent play and his attempt to adjust his game plan for us based on the performance and abilities of the players he has right now. Not ramrodding a style through though players are incapable of executing it.

We are going to have our ups and downs. We have holes and weaknesses but also a win under our belt. I think MSU destroys us because they appear to be more complete and polished than us right now but the game has to be played. We will learn more about ourselves as will Wojo.

Am quite impressed with Wojo and his comments and adjustments before and during the game. He'll do just fine at MU if we allow him to do his job.

Could critique individuals play but that has already been done here and I'm not a coach, anyway.

My measure of a coach is if a team is better in January than they were in November and better in March than they were in January. We'll see what happens but I am optimistic right now based on what I've seen but not getting over excited and predicting a sure spot in the final 64 just yet....

Well, a team (and a coach) always looks better when a guy goes for 38 and makes shots from Ocala.

That being said, I thought this was Wojo's strongest game. He made adjustments before tip, he made moves on the fly, he had a very understandable substitution pattern, he wisely got Derrick out of the game on offense at the end (maybe 1-2 possessions too late, but he did it), he set up a couple of very good offensive inbound plays, he wasn't afraid to use a freshman down the stretch, etc.

And I couldn't believe how poor Georgia Tech's game plan was on both ends of the court, but especially on offense. They seemed to be a poorly coached, undisciplined team with a low basketball IQ. Put Izzo on that sideline and I'm pretty sure we don't win. But Izzo wasn't on that sideline ... so yay!

[BM1090]

When is the last time that someone scored over 30 points without making a 2 point field goal? 38 points. 8 threes (24). 14 free throws.

[VegasWarrior77]

Mark Miller ‏@WisBBYearbook  2h2 hours ago
Sad but true ... Matt Carlino had more triples (5) in the first half for Marquette tonight than Derrick WIlson has for his career (3).

[BM1090]

Also, this wasn't a two point game. Credit to Ga Tech at the end but we gagged away an 11 point lead with about 4 minutes left with turnovers and missed free throws. MU played better tonight than the score indicates.

[VegasWarrior77]

Andrew Gruman ‏@AndrewGruman  3h3 hours ago
Matt Carlino’s 38 points are the most by a Marquette player since Steve Novak dropped 41 on UConn on Jan. 3, 2006. #mubb

[willie warrior]

Here's a thought. I listened to Wojo on the radio post game show for the first time. Wow...what a difference! He actually answers questions intelligently and briefly...no incoherent rambling for 3 - 4 minutes that leaves you shaking your head with no understanding of what was just said.  And while he's positive, he's realistic in talking about the team's abilities, strengths, weaknesses. No more "we're really, really bad!"

Regardless of how this season turns out, what a pleasure to have a coach who isn't a total whack job.

Breath of fresh air compared to the phony BSing buzzspeaking downhome lonesome cowboy, eh? "I'll be at Marquette as long as they want me."

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Buzz's post game show was "Pulp Fiction" compared to Crean's (when he bothered to show up.) I really enjoyed Buzz and Homer.

[NersEllenson]

Mark Miller ‏@WisBBYearbook  2h2 hours ago
Sad but true ... Matt Carlino had more triples (5) in the first half for Marquette tonight than Derrick WIlson has for his career (3).

LOL.

Nonetheless, I actually enjoyed watching Derrick play tonight.  He gave me moments of comedy, but managed to mix in some good play as well.  He was much more aggressive going to the basket in this game.  Granted most of his attempts resulted in misses or getting fouled, and going to the free throw line and missing  - but he was at least forcing action.  

His aggressive push off a D-Rebound that caromed to him out near the 3 point line, where he was in a 1-on-1 situation, that resulted in the "nice" pull up 4 foot jumper (that traveled 3 feet) was a perfect example of Derrick.  Misses the easiest of shots, but did hustle/persist, in that he grabbed the rebound off that miss and managed to convert a much more difficult "jump" hook.  

His first FT attempt that clanged off the backboard and almost resulted in a bank shot make from the FT line also cracked me up.  

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Derrick make that quick spin move off the dribble, that he almost converted into a bucket.  

He showed some flashes out there tonight.  I'd still like to see more from a PG in 33 minutes, but, if he can just play as he did last night all season on a consistent basis - it won't drive me bat sh$t crazy.  Is a 92 O Rating for a PG good?  No, not really, Derrick is who he is and to expect more from him just isn't realistic.  But if he'll at least continue to be aggressive in going to the basket, pushing in transition, it will be a nice improvement and much more watchable than last season.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Juan was the man.  He really frustrated their bigs with his quickness and strength. He spent a lot of time fronting his man on defense, fighting for that spot. He was also sealing the lane for drivers.  MU got to the rim a lot yesterday, and while that is not reflective in made twos, it is in the free throw margin. Their bigs were exhausted.

Some interesting calls down to the end, and non-calls. Breeding is just a horrible ref, and he seemed to be on every one of them (shoot clock expiration,foot in semi-circle, Juan mugged with ball dribbling past half court, phantom jump ball). Kudos to the MU fan with the turkey hat who was mocking him during a break about another missed travel, and he looked up from the floor and shook his head no. Nothing like a ref getting into with a fan with a turkey strapped on his head. Comical. Well done if on here. 

Btw, Kansas has more fans here than MU had in the BC for NJIT. Jay Bee called it: a lot of gimps in attendance. MSU well represented as well. Interesting to see other schools' cultures.

[tower912]

Towards the end of the first half, when GaTech was shooting FT's and MU couldn't get a break, you could read Wojo's lips as he yelled at the ref that GT was shooting double bonus but had only been called for three  fouls.    I laughed out loud as I read his lips.   In the second half, almost every time MU drove, they got the call.   Yes, the jump ball at the end with STjr was absurd.  But MU certainly got to the line plenty in the second half. 

[Dr. Blackheart]

Towards the end of the first half, when GaTech was shooting FT's and MU couldn't get a break, you could read Wojo's lips as he yelled at the ref that GT was shooting double bonus but had only been called for three  fouls.    I laughed out loud as I read his lips.   In the second half, almost every time MU drove, they got the call.   Yes, the jump ball at the end with STjr was absurd.  But MU certainly got to the line plenty in the second half.  

Yes, very uneven both ways (Juan was bailed out a few times)...but Breeding always in the middle of it, and at the end, he was back at it on every call. Just call the game consistently.

Buzz was about to throttle him in NYC when he made that call from the timer seat to overrule the floor officials when it was out of his purview.  I guess one can claim he is consistently bad.

[Anti-Dentite]

The foul called on Steve Taylor near the end of the game on his rebound after a free throw miss was one of the worst calls I've seen in some time. I was flabbergasted.

[GGGG]

The foul called on Steve Taylor near the end of the game on his rebound after a free throw miss was one of the worst calls I've seen in some time. I was flabbergasted.

It was a jump ball call...and was just as bad.  He clearly had possession. 

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

The foul called on Steve Taylor near the end of the game on his rebound after a free throw miss was one of the worst calls I've seen in some time. I was flabbergasted.

Very disappointed with Steve Taylor.  He looks like he's given up, playing out of position.  

[GGGG]

Taylor is being asked to do things that aren't his strength.  He is hardly giving up.