Sparty Thoughts

[EnderWiggen]

Dickie's job is to be a hypeman, and in that regard, he does an excellent job.  No one listens to him for his knowledge of teams; they listen to him because he is exciting to listen to.  And the fact that he always hypes MU is gravy. Honestly, I don't get the hate. He is the first person to remind viewers about the legacy MU has and also how good we have been recently.  Why are we ripping on the "face" of college hoops?  The same guy who always promotes our school?    

[brewcity77]

He always hypes whoever is five feet in front of him. I can't remember him going out of his way to bring Marquette up when he wasn't doing a Marquette game.

[PGsHeroes32]

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400608906

No minute played listed.   But I don't think anyone is going to be able to complain about lack of minutes for Duane.   

Last two games before tonight he was over 30 so hes been getting the minutes.

[WayOfTheWarrior]

When Fischer get back, it looks like an 8 man rotation which will help out.  Burton backing up Taylor will soon end and he can get back in his forward position.  

Cohen appears to be in the "on the bench" mode after starting first few games.

Dawson, well, he has no academic or injury issues, so apparent staff believes he cannot provide any assistance to the team except in practice.  

FYI, I posted about this in the Dawson thread. One of my friends who knows John said he is on some sort of mild academic probation. I'm assuming he will be back sometime in the next month or so but no promises. Choose to believe it or not, but it seems to make sense of the situation to me.

[Loose Cannon]

PS: I do not understand the Vitale hate. The guy is great for college hoops and he had nothing but great things to say about Marquette, which has been the norm for 25 years.

Plus Tax

Sometimes it almost seems like a  level of Snobbishness
Maybe he's loss a step, but he has been Good for basketball, and a very decent caring man.  Can't say that about some ex coaches in sport casting.  

[hdog1017]

Juan Anderson with a solid one rebound performance. He's completely useless on a basketball court. 

[NotBuzzWilliams]

I was really confused by Vitale's comments about teams having the same color jerseys as their school color.  How many teams have been wearing different colored jerseys?

[BM1090]

Juan Anderson with a solid one rebound performance. He's completely useless on a basketball court. 

Lol.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I was really confused by Vitale's comments about teams having the same color jerseys as their school color.  How many teams have been wearing different colored jerseys?

I was not confused. He was talking about teams switching up their jerseys ad nauseum, a la  Oregon football. Stick to the traditional, he was saying. Can't say I disagree, but I'm probably an old fuddy  duddy.

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

I was not confused. He was talking about teams switching up their jerseys ad nauseum, a la  Oregon football. Stick to the traditional, he was saying. Can't say I disagree, but I'm probably an old fuddy  duddy.

They'll never stay with the same jerseys.  There's too much money to be made from additional jersey sales.  Besides ... it's interesting to go back and look at the history of the MU uniform and how they've changed over the years.  You have to have some style and change with the times.  Where would be without the powder blue jersey? 

[Eldon]

They'll never stay with the same jerseys.  There's too much money to be made from additional jersey sales.  Besides ... it's interesting to go back and look at the history of the MU uniform and how they've changed over the years.  You have to have some style and change with the times.  Where would be without the powder blue jersey?

In the record books

[Benny B]

A. No shame in losing to Moo U.
B. Valentine was feeling it tonight.  Crazy to see after the game that he only hit six treys... could have been a lot worse and seemed like a lot more.
C. Good scouting job by Moo U... didn't exactly face guard Carlino, but he just couldn't get free.  Unfortunately, with no other shooters, MU couldn't play an adjustment card.
D. Fischer may have been a difference in this game.  They didn't pound the ball inside all night, but there were several shots that pretty much became bunnies as a result of MU's lack of height down low.  We need someone who can alter shots in the paint if there's any hope of beating the good teams.
E. Deonte is gaining confidence... he's going to be a beast when he gets it all together.
F. Juan's intensity tonight was oozing out there even though he was jobbed a couple times by the refs.
G. Vitale is extremely tolerable when you can't hear him.

[MU82]

The team worked very hard tonight and played quite well for much of the game. The Warriors had several opportunities to accept defeat and just kept taking it back to Sparty. If the guys play this hard the rest of the season and keep improving their skills and teamwork, we'll stay in most Big East games and win some of them.

Izzo was determined not to let an only moderately athletic 3-point shooter beat him. No matter how good the 3-pointer shooter is, making that shooter the focus of the defense can usually eliminate the threat. Overall, I thought Carlino played another strong game despite not being able to get open.

Vitale is so 1980s. He's not interesting, he's too loud, he too often talks about nothing relevant to the game and he's too often wrong. When he said early that Derrick Wilson helps Marquette with his leadership and his shooting, my wife practically fell out of her seat as she yelled, "What?" We ended up turning the volume way down and, after my wife went to sleep, I muted it all together.

[El Duderino]

I thought the team played better than the final score.

1. MSU was flat out hot from three and won't shoot that well most nights if given the exact same threes they took tonight.

2. There were numerous defensive possessions by Marquette, especially in the first half where we got hands on the ball only to see the ball deflect into the hands of a MSU guy behind the arc for three points. That's bad luck more than anything.

3. There were also 2 or 3 missed layups by Marquette which then in turn went the other way for an easy MSU layup.

Going into the game, i had a bad feeling Marquette could get blown out, but i thought they played better than i expected.

Clearly this isn't the type of roster you'd typically want to play almost strictly zone given the lack of length, but props to Wojo for not being stubborn about sticking with the Duke man to man system and instead giving zone a shot. Not every team is going to shoot so great from the perimeter as MSU did tonight.

[JakeBarnes]

I loved the effort tonight. To add something that hasn't been brought up yet: it feels like the team had a lot of great defensive stands that simply didn't go their way. A lot of tips or almost steals that went diredirectly to an MSU player for an easy bucket. Loved the hustle and effort. As Izzo said postgame: they played like a really tough team tonight.

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

I thought the team played better than the final score.

1. MSU was flat out hot from three and won't shoot that well most nights if given the exact same threes they took tonight.

2. There were numerous defensive possessions by Marquette, especially in the first half where we got hands on the ball only to see the ball deflect into the hands of a MSU guy behind the arc for three points. That's bad luck more than anything.

3. There were also 2 or 3 missed layups by Marquette which then in turn went the other way for an easy MSU layup.

Going into the game, i had a bad feeling Marquette could get blown out, but i thought they played better than i expected.

Clearly this isn't the type of roster you'd typically want to play almost strictly zone given the lack of length, but props to Wojo for not being stubborn about sticking with the Duke man to man system and instead giving zone a shot. Not every team is going to shoot so great from the perimeter as MSU did tonight.

Yes, the ball didn't roll our way in this game.  One thing I would add is that we had several possessions where we exhibited poor decision making (Carlino shooting from way outside, Burton dribbling too much, Duane Wilson trying to dribble through double teams).  If we could clean this up, we would be much better on the offensive side.  I wish there was a stat that showed poor possessions so we could see how it trends over time.  Either way, what helped make it a game was the defense.  Much improved.  

[Tugg Speedman]

Any doubt if we played like this against UNO and NJIT they would not have been close?

[mileskishnish72]

Vitale - did you know he only had one eye, and that when he was at Detroit he beat Al and MU once?

Oh, of course you knew, since he mentioned both during the game (and every MU game he does).

[ChuckyChip]

Tom Izzo post-game quote:

"I thought Marquette played harder than us," Izzo said. "I thought they beat us on the boards. We beat them in turnovers. We won the game because I think we're a little better, but I didn't enjoy a lot of that because I thought the (other) team played harder than us and that doesn't happen very often. The tougher team lost tonight. We had some good performances in some ways and we had some very casual, just not good plays."

[tower912]

Wojo told Homer and Mac that MU competed hard for 32-34 minutes, but it takes 40 minutes to beat a team like MSU.   It is difficult to argue that.   If the bunnies had gone in the first half, MU has a lead.  Sparty had that spurt where they made everything while MU was sloppy and ultimately it was too much to overcome.  It happens against good teams.  I hope this team continues to play like it has the last two games.   If they are able, it will be a better season than it seemed to anybody 5 days ago.   

[real chili 83]

I was on my way to Madison last night. Game came on while diving through Baraboo. Desperately tried to get the game on 540 AM. Nothing but static. 

Hit the search button a few times and a game comes on, but I don't recognize the announcers.  I listen for a minute, and realize it is Marquette. I had just picked up the Michigan State broadcast on WJR, 760 AM out of Detroit.  Clear as a bell.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Great intensity. Diener and other assistants getting in the young guys' grills to raise their intensity. Fun to see the effort.  MSU made shots, no shame in the effort, but out of halftime, MU had trouble with the adjustments. That was the difference.

Du, Deonte and JJJ making strides. Maybe at different levels, but progress.

[Nevada233]

FYI, I posted about this in the Dawson thread. One of my friends who knows John said he is on some sort of mild academic probation. I'm assuming he will be back sometime in the next month or so but no promises. Choose to believe it or not, but it seems to make sense of the situation to me.

Not true at all.... He's not on any achedemic probation Mild, Hot or Buffalo....

[RushmoreAcademy]

Loving Duane. He's looking dynamite so far.
Finally seeing that spark front Deonte.
Carlino another solid game. Pushed the ball and passed well.
Taylor finished around the hoop a few times at last...good to see.
I actually thought we outplayed them in the first half.  Not sure if it's us or if Sparty is in trouble against the big boys.
Raised my spirits a bit for the rest of the season.
I also don't mind Vitale. I understand the hate, but I don't have it.

[brewcity77]

At 13:18, MSU got the ball leading 52-47. Valentine hit a three that started a 13-2 run over a span of 2:07 because of 3 Marquette turnovers in 4 trips.

That's it. That's the game.

They fought back to within 6 a couple times, they kept competing, but that run was the backbreaker as well as the margin of the game. For 38 minutes we were even with MSU. But like Wojo said post-game, you need to play 40 minutes to beat a team like Michigan State.

That said, I have to imagine nerves in Marquette nation have calmed some. No, this team isn't perfect, but they can compete with good teams and are going to win some Big East games. I'm definitely taking solace in seeing legitimate early improvement.