Encouraging

[ChicosBailBonds]

Thought they played very well.  Encouraging performance.  We caught a break with one of their starters out and almost got it done.  Thought we played our best game of the year.

[mikem91288]

Agreed Chicos. Our best performance of the year, closest we have come to 40 solid minutes. The team was clicking, everyone chipping in. Could Otule actually be for real?

[marquette09]

We need to eliminate the big runs our opponents have in the second half.  Score tonight went from 47-40 MU to 59-51 Vandy.  Similar to the run Duke had against us in the last 10 min.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Solid performance by the Warriors. Tenacious defense- we are just too short to contest their bigs.
Wish we could shoot over the zone though

[96warrior]

We managed to shut down their best player Jenkins. He might have been having an off night but we were all over him. Definitely an encouraging game tonight.

That said, these close ones are real gutwrenchers.

[NersEllenson]

We need to eliminate the big runs our opponents have in the second half.  Score tonight went from 47-40 MU to 59-51 Vandy.  Similar to the run Duke had against us in the last 10 min.

Understand your point, yet Vandy fans could be saying the same thing.  Basketball tends to be a game of runs..sure you have games where it is see-saw, back and forth the entire way..but usually teams trade a few runs.

This was a VERY fun, entertaining basketball game to say the least.

[MUfan12]

After watching the two early BE games tonight, and watching MU, I feel better about this team's chances.

The conference is going to hace maybe 3 top teams, and a squishy middle. The way the Warriors played tonight would beat a lot of teams in conference.

Still pissed at Burr though.

[77ncaachamps]

Three more "points of light":

- DJO seems to have snapped out of his funk
- ZERO TOs by Vander
- Welcome to MU, Chris Otule!!!

[Mr. Nielsen]

Thought they played very well.  Encouraging performance.  We caught a break with one of their starters out and almost got it done.  Thought we played our best game of the year.

+1

Otule played great! Blue, Buycks, DJO were solid.

Fulce gives the team a bounce when he is on the floor.

[NotAnAlum]

We need to eliminate the big runs our opponents have in the second half.  Score tonight went from 47-40 MU to 59-51 Vandy.  Similar to the run Duke had against us in the last 10 min.

It came when Vandy went zone.  We just look awful against a zone defense.

[Mr. Nielsen]

It came when Vandy went zone.  We just look awful against a zone defense.

MU offense was great. MU shot 56% for the game.

[wadesworld]

We caught a break with one of their starters out

Let's not forget, we just had our starting point guard transfer as well...

Sorry, couldn't help it

[TallTitan34]

Let's not forget, we just had our starting point guard transfer as well...

Sorry, couldn't help it

Hahaha funniest post of the night wadesworld.

[brewcity77]

We still need to win 12 Big East games to be assured a tourney bid, and close won't get it done. This game was a must-win, and we didn't. The blame belongs to the free throw shooters, the refs, or the matador defense, but the bottom line is we lost. This was a devastating loss in terms of our tourney resume. How often do teams get at large bids with zero quality non-conference wins?

[VegasWarrior77]

After watching the two early BE games tonight, and watching MU, I feel better about this team's chances.

Before the season many talked about "rebuilding" and finding our identity.  It's not going to happen overnight.  Do you think the West Virginia fans are a little ticked because they lost at home by 10 to St. John's?

[MarquetteDano]

We still need to win 12 Big East games to be assured a tourney bid, and close won't get it done. This game was a must-win, and we didn't. The blame belongs to the free throw shooters, the refs, or the matador defense, but the bottom line is we lost. This was a devastating loss in terms of our tourney resume. How often do teams get at large bids with zero quality non-conference wins?

Not often.  Everyone saying we can get in with winning 10,11 games in conference without an impressive BET showing is kidding themselves.  We now need to win 13 more games including the BET (11 in conf & 2 in BET, 12 in conf & 1 in BET, etc.).  We are in big trouble.

If we lose to WVU on New Year's Day I think our tourney hopes are all but gone.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Some of you need to slow down.

MU lost at DePaul in mid-January and turned it around to be a #6 seed. Notre Dame in March at senior day looked like a nit team and came back to beat MU and have a nice run to be a #6 seed. The Big East season hasn't even started.

[NersEllenson]

Not often.  Everyone saying we can get in with winning 10,11 games in conference without an impressive BET showing is kidding themselves.  We now need to win 13 more games including the BET (11 in conf & 2 in BET, 12 in conf & 1 in BET, etc.).  We are in big trouble.

If we lose to WVU on New Year's Day I think our tourney hopes are all but gone.

Gotta disagree big time with you and Brew on this one.  We have 10 games against ranked teams in the Big East.  This isn't C-USA anymore.  Duke probably wins the ACC, Vandy and Wisconsin should challenge if not win the SEC and and Big Ten..Gonzaga wins the WCC.  We lost by a combined 14 points to 4 potential conference champions?

The Big East (really other than MU), has performed phenomonally out of conference this year..so the league will have plenty of signature out of conference wins..to where if you win in the Big East..11 games..you are going to the tourney..end of story..especially with an expanded 68 team field.  Hopefully we get to have this debate and MU wins 11 in the Big East.  If they do..my guess is they will get a 5 or 6 seed again..which ultimately would reflect they really weren't on the buble.  So last year we had Xavier as a "quality" non-conference win..do you really think that is why MU got in the CNAA tourney last year??

[MUfan12]

Some of you need to slow down.

MU lost at DePaul in mid-January and turned it around to be a #6 seed. Notre Dame in March at senior day looked like a nit team and came back to beat MU and have a nice run to be a #6 seed. The Big East season hasn't even started.

Preach it, Panther.

Last week, Georgetown looked like the best team in the league. Tonight, they looked very ordinary.

18 games is a long time. Buckle up.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Let's not forget, we just had our starting point guard transfer as well...

Sorry, couldn't help it

LOL...true....and we almost overcame it.

[mug644]

We still need to win 12 Big East games to be assured a tourney bid, and close won't get it done.

In your mind, does that include the BEast tourney game(s)? To me, 12 wins, including the BEast tourney, guarantees an NCAA tourney bid. I'd even say 9 season wins and 2 BEast tourney wins gets us in.

[chren21]

In your mind, does that include the BEast tourney game(s)? To me, 12 wins, including the BEast tourney, guarantees an NCAA tourney bid. I'd even say 9 season wins and 2 BEast tourney wins gets us in.

Your kidding, right?

[mug644]

Your kidding, right?

No, I wasn't. That's my current thinking. I think the middle of the pack in the BEast is going to be brutally tough (St. John's win at WVU being fodder for that line of thought), but I think the conference still gets 8 teams in. So, a .500 record in the conference regular season plus a couple of wins in the BEast tourney puts us in a good place. (Of course, that will also depend on other bubble teams, which could, for example, include Gonzaga.) Perhaps the expanded NCAA tourney will help us as early as this year.

What's your thinking on it? How many wins in the BEast regular season plus the BEast tourney gets us in the NCAA tourney?

[chren21]

No, I wasn't. That's my current thinking. I think the middle of the pack in the BEast is going to be brutally tough (St. John's win at WVU being fodder for that line of thought), but I think the conference still gets 8 teams in. So, a .500 record in the conference regular season plus a couple of wins in the BEast tourney puts us in a good place. (Of course, that will also depend on other bubble teams, which could, for example, include Gonzaga.) Perhaps the expanded NCAA tourney will help us as early as this year.

What's your thinking on it? How many wins in the BEast regular season plus the BEast tourney gets us in the NCAA tourney?

I guess I did not think it through first.  Am still upset.  I think you are about one game off (I hope)...  I think we need 12.5 combined wins including the BE tourney.  .5 depends on if we can get some huge road wins against the top teams.

[El Duderino]

I expected Marquette this year to be only a roughly 60-40 shot at best to make the NCAA Tournament this year given the limited experience that so many guys in the playing rotation have.

Marquette isn't Duke or Kansas to where an NCAA Tournament invite should pretty much be a lock every year. We only returned Butler, DJO, and Buycks as guys who played a lot last year.

The biggest reason IMO that we haven't been better this year so far is that Cadougan hasn't developed quicker, thus we don't have a reliable and consistent true point guard to play 30 minutes or more a game.

For example, put Jordan Taylor on MU and give them Cadougan, it would significantly impact both teams. Buycks is a good kid, trying his hardest out there, and hasn't been terrible or anything like that, but he's simply not a natural PG. We badly need Cadougan to ASAP play to the level of his ranking as a recruit. In college ball, a quality PG to run the show is priceless.

[Ari Gold]

chicos and Marquette09 are right

Buycks is still infuriating though. He can redeem himself with a good move on offence, but he turns the ball over way to often.

I still think 21-23 wins are achievable counting the BET

[mug644]

I guess I did not think it through first.  Am still upset.  I think you are about one game off (I hope)...  I think we need 12.5 combined wins including the BE tourney.  .5 depends on if we can get some huge road wins against the top teams.

I think we are thinking along the same lines...and I, too, am upset at the missed opportunity at Vandy. It may not have been a must win, but it certainly would've been a valuable wins. As it now stands, we not only need wins, but we need valuable (read, on the road and/or over top teams) to feel any degree of comfort come Selection Sunday.

[77ncaachamps]

chicos and Marquette09 are right

Buycks is still infuriating though. He can redeem himself with a good move on offence, but he turns the ball over way to often.

But...but...he has the best A/TO ratio: 52 ast/ 25 TO

However, he DOES lead the team in TO: 2.3

Vander, 2.2
Cadougan, 1.8
DJO 1.7
Reggie 1.6

We're fracking cursed at the PG spot!

[Hards Alumni]

But...but...he has the best A/TO ratio: 52 ast/ 25 TO

However, he DOES lead the team in TO: 2.3

Vander, 2.2
Cadougan, 1.8
DJO 1.7
Reggie 1.6

We're fracking cursed at the PG spot!

It just goes to show, that if something is said enough times, people will believe it.

Dwight Buycks has been one of our top 2-3 players so far this year.

[bilsu]

Preach it, Panther.

Last week, Georgetown looked like the best team in the league. Tonight, they looked very ordinary.

18 games is a long time. Buckle up.

You feel optimistic about that? We play Georgetwon once and Notre Dame twice. Notre Dame looked pretty good last night. Notre Dame beat Wisconsin on a neutral court and we lost to Wisconsin at home. Notre Dame beat us last year at Bradley center. Notre Dame is better this year than last year and we are not as good. You can argue all you want about how many wins we need to get into NCAA, but we should be arguing how many wins we need to get into NIT. That is 9-4, 7-11 and 1-1 for 17-16.

[MarquetteDano]

It just goes to show, that if something is said enough times, people will believe it.

Dwight Buycks has been one of our top 2-3 players so far this year.

Agreed.  Great example of groupthink.  Everyone complains about Buycks however I would love to see DJO play point guard for 25 minutes this year... it would not be pretty.  How 'bout Cadougan playing the "2" spot... disaster.

Buycks has been playing out of position and has done a very good job.

[willie warrior]

You feel optimistic about that? We play Georgetwon once and Notre Dame twice. Notre Dame looked pretty good last night. Notre Dame beat Wisconsin on a neutral court and we lost to Wisconsin at home. Notre Dame beat us last year at Bradley center. Notre Dame is better this year than last year and we are not as good. You can argue all you want about how many wins we need to get into NCAA, but we should be arguing how many wins we need to get into NIT. That is 9-4, 7-11 and 1-1 for 17-16.

Iif we go 17-16 and get an NIT invite, heads need to roll, within the NIT and MU. After all, "In Buzz we trust" He has his players and must be held accountable.

Why do we now have to look forward to an NIT invite with all the talent on the team?
Oh, I forgot, we are inexperienced, Buycks is playing out of position, DJO is in a slump, Gardner cannot play D, neither can Cadougan, Fulce has been injured, Crowder is playing out of position, yada, yada.
Every year we go through this bull crap. Time to start beating a respectable opponent and quit making excuses for Buzz.

[Lighthouse 84]

But...but...he has the best A/TO ratio: 52 ast/ 25 TO

However, he DOES lead the team in TO: 2.3

Vander, 2.2
Cadougan, 1.8
DJO 1.7
Reggie 1.6

We're fracking cursed at the PG spot!

Fixed.  There's no one named Reggie on the team.

[🏀]

Iif we go 17-16 and get an NIT invite, heads need to roll, within the NIT and MU.

Seriously? You need to relax. You want Buzz fired for missing the NCAA in his third season?

[willie warrior]

Seriously? You need to relax. You want Buzz fired for missing the NCAA in his third season?

You relax. I do not want us to finish 17-16.

[🏀]

You relax. I do not want us to finish 17-16.

What are you going to do about it if we do? Write a letter?

Bad seasons happen.

[willie warrior]

I expected Marquette this year to be only a roughly 60-40 shot at best to make the NCAA Tournament this year given the limited experience that so many guys in the playing rotation have.

Marquette isn't Duke or Kansas to where an NCAA Tournament invite should pretty much be a lock every year. We only returned Butler, DJO, and Buycks as guys who played a lot last year.

The biggest reason IMO that we haven't been better this year so far is that Cadougan hasn't developed quicker, thus we don't have a reliable and consistent true point guard to play 30 minutes or more a game.

For example, put Jordan Taylor on MU and give them Cadougan, it would significantly impact both teams. Buycks is a good kid, trying his hardest out there, and hasn't been terrible or anything like that, but he's simply not a natural PG. We badly need Cadougan to ASAP play to the level of his ranking as a recruit. In college ball, a quality PG to run the show is priceless.

Yes, there is the answer. Blame the entire season so far on cadougan's performance.

[willie warrior]

What are you going to do about it if we do? Write a letter?

Bad seasons happen.

That is a good one. S&%t happens. It is just a bad season. But please do not expect better or want accountability.

[🏀]

That is a good one. S&%t happens. It is just a bad season. But please do not expect better or want accountability.

What were your expectations for this season? Clearly, they were a bit too high.

I expected we would be 10-3 right now, so they are a game short by my standards.

For the record, my expectations for this team was to finish 20-13. Right now, I'm looking at 18-15.

[nomorebuycks]

The biggest problem is that Buzz misfired on Cadougan.  He's just not going to be as good as expected, and he was counted on to be a starter for the next 3 years. 

I just hope Gardner can keep his composure about his lack of playing time and doesn't get too down.

[dw3dw3dw3]

The biggest problem is that Buzz misfired on Cadougan.  He's just not going to be as good as expected, and he was counted on to be a starter for the next 3 years. 

I just hope Gardner can keep his composure about his lack of playing time and doesn't get too down.

Actually a semi-logical post by you!

I think JC was a good recruit given the other options at the time, but I do think its clear that shooting (ala Diener, Acker) is the one equalizing quality you need from a non-athletic point guard, no matter how much they have won at the prep level. I think that its even more evident with this team, without many other outside or inside threats. Its difficult to play JC and VB together without them being a threat to knock down 3s.

Agree on Gardner, I would think he has to see the video and notice its him thats giving up those offensive rebounds. It seems like he's afraid to clear space when a shot goes up or just doesn't know how to yet.  I don't think Buzz is asking for much, shot blocking isn't necessary, challenging post moves isn't even necessary (CO just put his hands straight up for the most part last night), just don't give the other team a second chance. 

[chren21]

Agree on Gardner, I would think he has to see the video and notice its him thats giving up those offensive rebounds. It seems like he's afraid to clear space when a shot goes up or just doesn't know how to yet.  I don't think Buzz is asking for much, shot blocking isn't necessary, challenging post moves isn't even necessary (CO just put his hands straight up for the most part last night), just don't give the other team a second chance. 

Take a look at DG on your TVO or go to espn3.com and watch the replay.  Times to fast forward to below.

-10:47 DG in.
-9:42 Gardner gives up offensive rebound.  Watch him CLEARLY get beat down the court.  He starts off ahead of his man but gets beat to the block.  Results in Taylor putback from the lane. (21-17 vandy)
-9:13 DG gets beat down the floor AGAIN.  His man gets the offensive board and results in Tinsley hitting a 10 footer.
-8:51 OK defense by MU, shot from baseline bounces long and DG’s man gets the offensive rebound.  Tuff bounce.  DG gets pulled.

[ErickJD08]

Agreed Chicos. Our best performance of the year, closest we have come to 40 solid minutes. The team was clicking, everyone chipping in. Could Otule actually be for real?

Were we watching the same game?

I saw that we continue to struggle getting the defensive rebounds.  I saw our defense consistently giving up easy baskets.  I saw our team put up difficult shots and struggle to find the open man. 

I think we were lucky it to be in the game.  Their best shooter was cold (he was missing open shots) and a starter was out for them. 

The only encouraging thing I saw was that DJO looked to be getting in a little groove.  I saw some really pure shots from him.    If he picks up, we have a much better chance to make the tourney.

[MuMark]

Agreed encouraging performance in many ways.

As far as the NCAA people need to relax. Every year at this time people act like they know what will and won't get you in. Reality is its way too soon to tell. Last year ND was 10-2 in the non conference with a 14 point loss to Northwestern and a home loss to Loyola Marymount.

They had no quality wins.

They won 10 games in the conference and 2 in the BET.

They EASILY made the field as a 6 seed.

They won some big games(WVU, Pitt, GT, MU) and lost some clunkers to Rutgers, Nova(by 18), and CONN by 12.

I think we are improving......time to play the conference season and see what happens.

[MarquetteDano]

Last year ND was 10-2 in the non conference with a 14 point loss to Northwestern and a home loss to Loyola Marymount.

They had no quality wins.

They won 10 games in the conference and 2 in the BET.

They EASILY made the field as a 6 seed.

They won some big games(WVU, Pitt, GT, MU) and lost some clunkers to Rutgers, Nova(by 18), and CONN by 12.

I think we are improving......time to play the conference season and see what happens.

Makes me feel better seeing N.D. resume from last year.  Calming down now.  Thanks Mark.

[4everwarriors]

Folks are spot in their evaluation of Cadougan. Past injury or no injury, I seen enough to feel comfortable saying that Buzz misses badly on him. Doesn't have point guard court IQ, quickness, stamina, or personality or moxie to be a starting BE lead guard. Oh, did I mention ZFFB could outshoot Jr.?
If Buzz could fix the point guard spot, it would change the entire season outlook for this team. BTW, Smith would not have been the answer either.

[warriors1991]

1)I agree, for now, on Junior. He should be improving by now. Whenever he is in the game, he is overwhelmingly underwhelming. He just doesn't really do a whole lot of anything. Buycks right now is a far better PG than Junior. Still a long season but JC really has to start getting it done out there. Vander is not a point guard, nor is DJO.

2)I like Davante and his potential......on offense. On D, he's a massive liability. The few minutes he was in, I specifically watched him on D and it's almost like he's not even trying. He half-asses it out there, gets beat like a fourth grader for rebounds (doesn't even jump), then gets called for a foul and droops his shoulders and whines like somebody just shot his dog. I saw Jae look at him and yank him back into the team's huddle when he did that. He's really got to man up, get a spine, and start playing harder out there or he's going to sit for very long stretches. Say what you want about Buzz but if a kid on my grade school team acted like that on defense she'd be getting pulled just as fast as DG did.
And we need him so I hope he figures it out. Soon.

[MUfan12]

Folks are spot in their evaluation of Cadougan. Past injury or no injury, I seen enough to feel comfortable saying that Buzz misses badly on him. Doesn't have point guard court IQ, quickness, stamina, or personality or moxie to be a starting BE lead guard. Oh, did I mention ZFFB could outshoot Jr.?
If Buzz could fix the point guard spot, it would change the entire season outlook for this team. BTW, Smith would not have been the answer either.

He's played *maybe* 20 games.

I'm willing to hold off judgment for a while yet.

[GoldenWarrior]

Some of you need to slow down.

MU lost at DePaul in mid-January and turned it around to be a #6 seed. Notre Dame in March at senior day looked like a nit team and came back to beat MU and have a nice run to be a #6 seed. The Big East season hasn't even started.

I agree to an extent, but not having a single solid non-conference win will be a big red flag on our resume come March.

[MUfan12]

I agree to an extent, but not having a single solid non-conference win will be a big red flag on our resume come March.

I just don't understand this line of thinking. They'll have at least 10 chances against top 50 RPI teams. They get some of those, and a couple against the big guns, and they'll be fine.

We're not Zags or Memphis, that have to schedule like that because of their conference. Quality wins are quality wins. Just avoid the bad losses and it'll be fine.

[ATL MU Warrior]

Folks are spot in their evaluation of Cadougan. Past injury or no injury, I seen enough to feel comfortable saying that Buzz misses badly on him. Doesn't have point guard court IQ, quickness, stamina, or personality or moxie to be a starting BE lead guard. Oh, did I mention ZFFB could outshoot Jr.?
If Buzz could fix the point guard spot, it would change the entire season outlook for this team. BTW, Smith would not have been the answer either.

Listen, I agree he hasn't shown a whole lot yet, except for Duke.  He was great in that game.  Would love to see a few more of those and soon.

Writing him off completely and saying Buzz missed on him is just stupid at this stage of his career.  He's still trying to figure it out at this level, he's essentially a freshman still and coming back from a major injury.  It will take time.  

I do agree with you that Smith was not the answer at point.  

[NickelDimer]

Listen, I agree he hasn't shown a whole lot yet, except for Duke.  He was great in that game.  Would love to see a few more of those and soon.

Writing him off completely and saying Buzz missed on him is just stupid at this stage of his career.  He's still trying to figure it out at this level, he's essentially a freshman still and coming back from a major injury.  It will take time.  

I do agree with you that Smith was not the answer at point.  

So it's too early to close the book on JC, but not on Smith?  I don't think either are/were the answer to our PG woes.

[ATL MU Warrior]

So it's too early to close the book on JC, but not on Smith?  I don't think either are/were the answer to our PG woes.

Yes.  Smith is gone so I can bash him all I want

Smith didn't have nearly the PG skills that Junior has.  If (hopefully when) Junior can start to play consistently as well as he did versus Duke, we'll all be very happy.

[El Duderino]

Iif we go 17-16 and get an NIT invite, heads need to roll, within the NIT and MU. After all, "In Buzz we trust" He has his players and must be held accountable.

Why do we now have to look forward to an NIT invite with all the talent on the team?
Oh, I forgot, we are inexperienced, Buycks is playing out of position, DJO is in a slump, Gardner cannot play D, neither can Cadougan, Fulce has been injured, Crowder is playing out of position, yada, yada.
Every year we go through this bull crap. Time to start beating a respectable opponent and quit making excuses for Buzz.

Every year Marquette under Buzz they end up in the NIT?

After losing the big three, nearly all prognosticators predicted MU to struggle a lot last year and to not make the NCAA Tournament, yet we did make it and finished quite a bit higher in the Big East than pretty much anyone expected.

This year we have a team which returns a low number of players who contributed a lot of scoring and minutes, yet if the team fails to make the NCAA Tournament, you think Buzz should be fired? Are you nuts?

Thankfully someone as kneejerk as you are isn't running Marquette University. Crean failed to make the big dance every year, just as prior coaches at MU did. Should Crean have been fired the first time he ended up in the NIT?

As much as Marquette fans love the basketball program, some objectivity is needed. We aren't Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, or other long time traditional basketball powers that can at least get in the door of elite recruits every year and thus they almost always make the tournament.

Now if Buzz and this team lands in the NIT this year and then going forward, the NIT becomes more the norm than the NCAA Tournament, no question that Buzz should be on the hot seat.

Nothing Buzz has done though since becoming the head coach should lead people to believe that he's way in over his head like say Dukiet was. Buzz hasn't recruited poorly and last year he coached up a team to the NCAA Tournament that most thought prior to the season would be a bottom tier Big East team.

[brewcity77]

Every year Marquette under Buzz they end up in the NIT?

After losing the big three, nearly all prognosticators predicted MU to struggle a lot last year and to not make the NCAA Tournament, yet we did make it and finished quite a bit higher in the Big East than pretty much anyone expected.

This year we have a team which returns a low number of players who contributed a lot of scoring and minutes, yet if the team fails to make the NCAA Tournament, you think Buzz should be fired? Are you nuts?

Thankfully someone as kneejerk as you are isn't running Marquette University. Crean failed to make the big dance every year, just as prior coaches at MU did. Should Crean have been fired the first time he ended up in the NIT?

As much as Marquette fans love the basketball program, some objectivity is needed. We aren't Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, or other long time traditional basketball powers that can at least get in the door of elite recruits every year and thus they almost always make the tournament.

Now if Buzz and this team lands in the NIT this year and then going forward, the NIT becomes more the norm than the NCAA Tournament, no question that Buzz should be on the hot seat.

Nothing Buzz has done though since becoming the head coach should lead people to believe that he's way in over his head like say Dukiet was. Buzz hasn't recruited poorly and last year he coached up a team to the NCAA Tournament that most thought prior to the season would be a bottom tier Big East team.

+1

While I'll admit I'm also frustrated at the results this season and our inability to win the close games (hmm...sounds familiar) against quality opponents, it's hardly time to show anyone the door. We've got a truckload of talent, and even if this team ends up in the NIT, there's no reason that with continued high-level recruiting and the eventual development of some of the guys on the roster now into 4-year players that we can't be a perennial top 25 team with the occasional Elite 8 and Final Four runs. Buzz has done well on the whole, and even if this season disappoints and we only win 7-9 BEast games, there will be plenty of reason for optimism.

[El Duderino]

Listen, I agree he hasn't shown a whole lot yet, except for Duke.  He was great in that game.  Would love to see a few more of those and soon.

Writing him off completely and saying Buzz missed on him is just stupid at this stage of his career.  He's still trying to figure it out at this level, he's essentially a freshman still and coming back from a major injury.  It will take time.  

I do agree with you that Smith was not the answer at point.

I started the Cadougan talk in this thread and i wasn't saying that he has no shot to ever become a reliable and consistent PG who can give Buzz 30 or more quality minutes nearly every night.

All i was trying to say was that the fact is that so far at least, Cadougan in his development hasn't reached the level where he can be the man at PG, giving Buzz a reliable true PG which is so important in college basketball. Whether the injury to Junior last season is a big reason that his development is still lagging or he's simply not as good as his recruit rankings, either way, it has forced Buzz to have to start Buycks at PG instead and Buycks is more of a SG trying to play PG.

We've had four losses this year and none were an asss kicking, all were close to pretty close games. While the lack of a true PG certainly wasn't the only reason MU lost all four games, it has been a factor in why the offense gets erratic at times.

For example, in watching Wisconsin play MU and then last night vs the Gophers, Jordan Taylor was a huge factor in why UW won both games. His ability at PG to run the offense well, score, and create something decent when the shot clock is ticking down shows vividly the importance of good PG play in college ball.

[ATL MU Warrior]

I don't disagree with you at all.  I was responding to someone who has already decided that Junior is a complete bust.  About 15 whole games into his career.  Seems kind of idiotic to me.