Nice win last night, but...

[HutchwasClutch]

Carlino was great and played like a sr leader, Juan and Derrick played w/ poise and made key contributions on both ends, their zone was effective and a very good move by Wojo, many positive take aways from MU's win last night, I certainly wasn't expecting them to beat an ACC school at this point of the season, all that being said-

GA Tech was plain awful at times last night -  bad shot selection, defensive breakdowns, outhustled at times, how many times was Tim Welsh almost at a loss for words in describing a bad play of theirs.

I know I shouldn't be throwing cold water on a nice win, but man, GA Tech stunk last night.  I can see why Gregory's job is in big trouble.

[willie warrior]

The Polish Prince is starting to turn the Warriors in the right direction. Soon he will have developed his Dukie sea legs. We will hold our own against the vaunted Izzoites. Prediction: a 7 point loss for the Warriors; or we eke out a win; or a big blow out by either team. There, all bases are covered. I prefer the second prediction above.

[warriorchick]

One team stunk and the other didn't.

Pretty sure that decides the outcome of the majority of college basketball games. I am fine with that as long as we are not the ones who stunk.

[GGGG]

Brian Gregory.  Man.  He is terrible.  Marquette ran the same damn play for Carlino time and time again.  No idea how to attack the zone.

[HutchwasClutch]

Brian Gregory.  Man.  He is terrible.  Marquette ran the same damn play for Carlino time and time again.  No idea how to attack the zone.

And the play time and again were mostly simple inbounds plays - set a screen and free Carlino, bucket. 
Exactly the point to my post.  Let's not sugar coat it, they really had no business losing to us last night.  They just played and were coached incredibly poorly.  It wasn't just as simple as one team played pretty well,  the other didn't.  Gregory is bad.  They looked horribly prepared for our zone and everything else.

[HutchwasClutch]

All of this about Gregory said, I think it shows how strong of a coach Wojo is going to be.  MU was ready, well prepared, had a good game plan going in, score one for Wojo from the bench last night over his counter-part.  He clearly out-coached Gregory before and during the game last night.

[The Lens]

We beat a Power 5 team and guaranteed ourselves 2 more games against power 5 teams.  IMO, that's what we went to FLA for this year. 

[GGGG]

Yep Carlino's performance masked the fact that MU only had one other double digit scorer (Juan with 12), and  has seven bench points.

Really the best thing to come out of that game is that Wojo made really good adjustments in just a few days, and the team is by no means throwing in the towel.  

[NotAnAlum]

Let's not sugar coat it, they really had no business losing to us last night. 

The Vegas line was MU by 3 so Vegas projected us to win.  The teams are probably closer than you thought.  Always amazed at how often Vegas pretty much nails the point spread.

[brewcity77]

This season is a 31-game learning experience. With that in mind, last night was fantastic. Sure, Georgia Tech has glaring flaws, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.

[tower912]

All wins are good.   There are nits to pick and opportunities to learn from every win, as well as every loss.   And every losing team laments about how poorly they played.   Lord knows that MUScoopers do.     This season, more than any other in recent memory, is about the process, not the result.    So,  yes, there were problems last night.  No one denies that.   And yes, we can all agree that GaTech also made some poor choices that worked to MU's advantage.   Embrace the win.    Acknowledge the growth that remains. 

[HutchwasClutch]

The Vegas line was MU by 3 so Vegas projected us to win.  The teams are probably closer than you thought.  Always amazed at how often Vegas pretty much nails the point spread.

When I saw we were favored, that really surprised me.  I mean, we were coming off two horrid home performances, one a loss, another a near loss.  Did the Vegas line start with MU as the favorite I wonder?  Did the line move because the betting action was trending heavily MU after GT started as the favorite?

The teams are only closer than thought because Gregory sucks as a coach (and Wojo is darn good).

[HutchwasClutch]

This season is a 31-game learning experience. With that in mind, last night was fantastic. Sure, Georgia Tech has glaring flaws, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Agreed, I'm not about to sneeze at any win this year. 

[jpvegas]

The Vegas line was MU by 3 so Vegas projected us to win.  The teams are probably closer than you thought.  Always amazed at how often Vegas pretty much nails the point spread.

Not sure where you got the Vegas line was Marquette by 3.  At Station Casinos yesterday Georgia Tech was favored by 3 and I took Marquette and the 3 points.

[HutchwasClutch]

Not sure where you got the Vegas line was Marquette by 3.  At Station Casinos yesterday Georgia Tech was favored by 3 and I took Marquette and the 3 points.

Yeah, the vast majority of oddsmakers lines had GT starting as the favorite anywhere from 3-5 points, and staying as the favorite by about that leading up to tip-off.  A few lines moved back a little, where GT moved down to 3 or so by game time.   Somebody started a thread about us being three point favorites, obviously that scooper was cherry picking, because that was far from the consensus line going in. 

[BallBoy]

I think that Georgia Tech is a very similar team to Marquette.  They had very limited outside shooting but should have been very dominant in the paint.  

What they did well?  I think GT was good a getting second and third opportunities.  This is what kept them in the game as they missed quite a few shoots.

What hurt them?  

Their second and third leading scorers had foul trouble and their primary scorer had an off night.  This could have been the zone which forced them to shoot from the outside.  They did get into the paint on occasion but some of their shots looked like prayers in the paint.  Overall, they needed another player to step up which appeared to be their freshman Jackson but he played limited minutes.

Marquette did a good job with the zone.  I think it was helpful because it allowed Carlino to play to his strength on offense yet not get exposed or burn energy on the defensive end against a quicker player.  

I have to give it to Carlino as he was hitting very tough shots.  Some of those three pointers were 2-3ft beyond the arch and in different places.  I think without Carlino's hot hand MU would have been in deep trouble.  Sometimes you just run into that as an opposing coach.  Carlino will be one of those guys who shoots 7 threes a game.  When he makes them we will love him when he doesn't then people will hate him.

Marquette also was able to draw a lot of fouls which helped as they shot 3 times more FT then GT did.  That is extremely hard to overcome.  I haven't watched GT to know if that is common but they were outscored by 16 points at the free throw line.  

I do have concerns against MSU who won't foul as much and has better players on the offensive end.  If MU can't find consistent scoring from the field then it might turn into a one sided affair.  

[warriorchick]

Yeah, the vast majority of oddsmakers lines had GT starting as the favorite anywhere from 3-5 points, and staying as the favorite by about that leading up to tip-off.  A few lines moved back a little, where GT moved down to 3 or so by game time.   Somebody started a thread about us being three point favorites, obviously that scooper was cherry picking, because that was far from the consensus line going in. 

I am sure this has been explained several times before on Scoop, but Vegas odds are not a data-driven analysis of how the teams will actually perform.  The point spread is merely there to even up the betting.  Teams that have a lot of hard core fans (who will wager on their team no matter what) skew the spread.

That is why the odds on the Cubs winning the World Series are hilariously good, especially before the season begins. Tons of those hard core Northside fans will go to a sports book on their annual trip to Las Vegas and wager that this is finally the Cubbies' year.  My guess is that there are way more hardcore Marquette fans than Georgia Tech basketball fans, and that is why the early spread made Georgia Tech 3-point dogs.

[jakeec]

Marquette should be winning with 6 top 100 players.  Georgia Tech is awful.

[GGGG]

Marquette should be winning with 6 top 100 players.  Georgia Tech is awful.

Talent is inexperienced and unbalanced (ie, too short).  It is an incomplete team.  A process.

[LAZER]

I am sure this has been explained several times before on Scoop, but Vegas odds are not a data-driven analysis of how the teams will actually perform.  The point spread is merely there to even up the betting.  Teams that have a lot of hard core fans (who will wager on their team no matter what) skew the spread.

That is why the odds on the Cubs winning the World Series are hilariously good, especially before the season begins. Tons of those hard core Northside fans will go to a sports book on their annual trip to Las Vegas and wager that this is finally the Cubbies' year.  My guess is that there are way more hardcore Marquette fans than Georgia Tech basketball fans, and that is why the early spread made Georgia Tech 3-point dogs.

Vegas odds are definitely data driven.

[MU72491]

Gregory was great at Dayton but when he left he never seemed to be able to win games

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Talent is inexperienced and unbalanced (ie, too short).  It is an incomplete team.  A process.

Being short in combination with being slow is the problem.  They're not quick enough to effectively double team players and recover quickly to get back into the defensive set - without leaving a gaping hole.  MU has been too short in the past, but was quite athletic and quick to overcome that shortfall.  See NCAA tourney game against Stanford and Lopez twins.  MU was decisively smaller, yet competed toe to toe with a team that boasted two 7 foot NBA players.    

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Gregory was great at Dayton but when he left he never seemed to be able to win games

8 years with two NCAA tourney appearances is great?

[GGGG]

8 years with two NCAA tourney appearances is great?

And the first of those was in his first year with an NCAA team he inherited.

[MU82]

Marquette should be winning with 6 top 100 players.  Georgia Tech is awful.

One of a few posters who love pointing this out. Lack of height, depth, balance, experience and experienced coaching means nothing to these yahoos.