I am happy...

[79Warrior]

One thing I don't like is how terrible Otule looked. It is obvious he is still a long way off from contributing in meaningful games.

Otule will get less and less minutes as devante progresses. Otule just is not BE material.

[IAmMarquette]

We shoot better than 19% from the arc and we have a legitimate shot at winning this one.  Won the turnover battle, even on the boards, won the free throw battle... plenty of good things to take away from this game.

This.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Otule, I thought played not to bad. Remember it's almost like he is a freshmen since he was hurt the last two season.

[4everwarriors]

Happy with a loss, never. No such thing as a moral victory. Game was tied with 10 minutes to play. Duke then separated the men from the boys. Mason Plumlee, a big man, schooled and ruled. Once Buzz figures out and sticks to his rotation, his team will jell and be a threat to win any game. Team does need a zone buster, but interior presence is light years better than anything we've had in the last 7 years.

[tower912]

Stop in-bounds lobs, rebound better, make some 3's.    Can't fault the effort.   Gardner will be a beast when he is healthy and can play more than 20 minutes a night.   Eventually, he will be the starting post and Otule will be the backup.    Buycks played poorly, Blue was kind of invisible, DJO was the difference in the first half.  Again, can't fault the effort.   No shame and we shouldn't fear anybody.   BTW, those calling for an 8 man rotation got it tonight.

[77ncaachamps]

we just went toe to toe with the best team in the country.   A team that returns 90 percent of it's starters from a championship team last year plus added like 8 Hamburger All Americans!!

I hate losing, and usually have a hard time finding optimism, but god damn: They look pretty good.

The big turning point of the game is when Duke Bounced in that three

This.

Yes, Duke won, but that's great support for "RATINGS DON'T MATTER"!

If we win tomorrow, that should garner us some more votes in the polls.

The turning point of the game? Buycks 2 TOs that led to a Plumlee dunk. Moment shifted.
Though the bounced in 3 was huge. It started the "run".

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/playbyplay?gameId=303260150

[avid1010]

what did you think about our PG play and 3 point shooting?

I thought JC played like a stud and our 3 point shooting was awful.  You?

[Josey Wales]

I get that Chris isn't amazing, but he was playing against a guy who was a potential lotto pick last year, and a guarenteed one this year.

You guys are so full of hyperbole its rediculous.  Do you think before you hit that "post" button?

1) He can't catch the ball. I don't know if it's related to his eye problem, for whatever the reason he is unable to catch the ball. More than once he just dropped the ball right out of bounds tonight. This has nothing to do with Plumlee

2) Gardner (a true freshman) and Jae looked much better against the same guy.

Every time he was put in the game he hurt the team. Obviously no one expects him to be an all-star, but I think we all hoped he could defend the post and provide some rebounding by now.

[Doris Burkes Thong]

I personally feel if Tom Crean was coaching tonight we win that game. Crean was incredibly great at making in-game adjustments.

[avid1010]

1) He can't catch the ball. I don't know if it's related to his eye problem, for whatever the reason he is unable to catch the ball. More than once he just dropped the ball right out of bounds tonight. This has nothing to do with Plumlee

2) Gardner (a true freshman) and Jae looked much better against the same guy.

Every time he was put in the game he hurt the team. Obviously no one expects him to be an all-star, but I think we all hoped he could defend the post and provide some rebounding by now.

You didn't watch the same game I did, and you didn't see what Buzz saw.  He was FAR from perfect, but after Gardner went out hurt, he was our only option against Plumlee.  To say Jae looked better against him is ridiculous.

[NersEllenson]

This MU team will be just fine.  A couple of surprises/revalations from tonights game - in order of significance:

1) Junior Cadougan showed me a lot tonight - and I wasn't on his bandwagon after the Bucknell game..didn't think he really "made" any real plays/playmaking.  Tonight...we saw a number of really, really, really good looks..and even a few makes from the field - should bolster his confidence a lot and expect him to only get better as the season goes on.

2)  Jimmy Butler showed me a lot tonight - liked the variety of ways in which he scored, yet remained efficient - thought this was his best game offensively in his career at MU.

3)  Gardner continues to prove he's not a fluke - and was even capable to get his shots off against more "elite" caliber bigs of Duke.  Knows how to use that big body and create the seperation he needs.

4)  Buycks has to be better, and will be better than how he played tonight.  Couple of critical turnovers and no offensive contribution.

5) As this rotation continutes to tighten up - probably goes 8.5 deep..the flow on offense and defense will only get better.

6) DJO will eventually work himself out of his slump..and think we at least saw flashes of that tonight.

[Blackhat]

If Tom Crean was the coach who knows what our roster would look like....

I do agree we wouldn't have given up as many points and played better defense though.   So far Crean has proven to be the better defensive coach than Buzz.

[nyg]

Thought Junior won the point guard job tonight, but he was not on floor for last five minutes or so.

Gardner is a difference maker and I hope his injury heals real soon.  Team plays alot better with him in and Otule on bench.

Crowder is great, he just didn't have the height tonight to keep up with Plumlee.

I thought Blue had more offensive ability, but that I presume will come with time.

DJO/Buycks, well just bad game.

Even with the height disadvantage, no Eric Williams tonight.  

Just needed some of those open 3's to fall.  

[mwbauer7]

I personally feel if Tom Crean was coaching tonight we win that game. Crean was incredibly great at making in-game adjustments.

Doris you know better than to not use teal...

[ChicosBailBonds]

I sat with a Duke alum...he was a bit nervous.  Thought we played well at times, silly at other times.  Glad we didn't get blown out which looked possible in the first half for awhile.

Nice come back in second half.  Some silly turnovers, missed open 3 pointers and some poor rebounding at key times.  We need someone that can stroke the ball and I still believe we lack a true PG that could have helped.

All that being said, a respectable showing by the team. 

[Doris Burkes Thong]

Doris you know better than to not use teal...

Yeah, I know. Forgot. Totally joking of course. I'll take Buzz any day of the week.

[MUBasketball]

I personally feel if Tom Crean was coaching tonight we win that game. Crean was incredibly great at making in-game adjustments.

Apparently you didn't notice MU chip away at the 14 point deficit.  

Edit...oh, you might have been kidding??? I dont know! Haha.

[karavotsos]

I loved that Butler jumped directly into Singler's chest to get shots off on several occasions, and Singler just looked frustrated.  Didn't play to the scout, or simply just didn't know what to do about it.

Disappointed in Buycks.  He let Duke's guards speed up his offense and dictate where he was going too much.  Cadougan, on the other hand played at his pace, a slower pace, and controlled the flow on O when he was in.

[Henry Sugar]

Happy with a loss, never. No such thing as a moral victory. Game was tied with 10 minutes to play. Duke then separated the men from the boys. Mason Plumlee, a big man, schooled and ruled. Once Buzz figures out and sticks to his rotation, his team will jell and be a threat to win any game. Team does need a zone buster, but interior presence is light years better than anything we've had in the last 7 years.

For real.  Being happy with a loss is loser talk. 

There is no Stud when we lose.

[VegasWarrior77]

Yeah, I know. Forgot. Totally joking of course. I'll take Buzz any day of the week.

Funny that you sucked Stone Cold in on it!  To me Buycks has Jerel McNeal's wildness and bonehead plays without even close to the same production.  Reminds me of the old John Wooden quote:  "Play fast - but don't hurry!"

[mug644]

Thought Junior won the point guard job tonight, but he was not on floor for last five minutes or so.

I, too, was impressed with Junior tonight, and thought Buycks didn't play so well. I gotta say, though, I do like the change of pace that comes with the difference between those two as point guards. Our team will get more used to adjusting between one style and another, and Buzz will get more attuned to when to use one or the other, but defenses will likely be slower to make that adjustment, and I think that could well play in our favor.

[ATL MU Warrior]

You didn't watch the same game I did, and you didn't see what Buzz saw.  He was FAR from perfect, but after Gardner went out hurt, he was our only option against Plumlee.  To say Jae looked better against him is ridiculous.

Thank you.  Crowder had no chance against Plumlee...too small.  

Otule is frustrating.  On the offenisive end he can establish and hold good position, but rarely gets the ball, probably because the team thinks he can't catch it.  On the one good pass he got in the post, he had a nice dropstep move, bodied Plumlee off, and scored.  

On the defensive end, he was showing very aggressively on the pick and roll.  Plumlee was faster than him, established position way to close to the basket and scored easily several times.  He ran into a far more athletic post player tonight and it showed.

I will say this...he's a far better low-post option than we've had in a long time.  He and Gardner together can do what we need in the post to be a very good team.  

[ATWizJr]

I thought JC played like a stud and our 3 point shooting was awful.  You?

I'd say Buycks had a very tough night, our 3 point shooting was horrible and JC showed some potential but is not an offensive threat.  I'd also say, we are still searching for our identity which is not unusual in the early season.  That all said, the effort was there and I'm optimistic that they'll figure it out.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Funny that you sucked Stone Cold in on it!  To me Buycks has Jerel McNeal's wildness and bonehead plays without even close to the same production.  Reminds me of the old John Wooden quote:  "Play fast - but don't hurry!"

I think it's "Be quick, but don't hurry"

I agree with your sentiments.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Positives:

Junior; 7-1 Asst/TO ratio.  DB, not so good with the dribble. Junior has to get the majority of PG minutes.
Otule; His problem appears to me to be poor hands.  Then again, he hasn't played at this level much in the last 2 years. Hopefully that will improve with time.  His positioning and aggressiveness was pretty good tonight, but he's no Plumlee so it looks worse than it was.
Jae; Very efficient game.  I don't see him as the second coming of Lazar so much as next year's JFB.
JFB; Great all around game.

Negatives:

I'll let the rest of you posters take care of that.