MUScoop

MUScoop => Hangin' at the Al => Topic started by: tower912 on March 01, 2017, 10:10:47 PM

Title: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: tower912 on March 01, 2017, 10:10:47 PM
1.   The officiating in the second half was the most blatant home cooking I have seen in some time.     Just once, I would like to see that work in MU's favor.
2.   JjJ was focused tonight.   Even sprinting back on defense.   
3.   Hero ball was working tonight.   More one-on-one than I think is best, but sometimes.......  Looked great.   
4.   The defense was really solid in the first half.   The switching was as good as it has been at any point all year.   HC, JjJ, Duane, nice.    Sadly, in the second half, any attempt at defense was called a foul.   
5.   Hey, this team can shoot.   
6.   Lots of guys scoring tonight.   
7.   The bad officiating.... forgiven.    The dumb fouls.... forgiven.   (well, maybe not all of the dumb fouls)    The weak defense late..... forgiven.   
8.   Now finish it.    Go out in style on Senior night on Saturday.     Leave no doubt.   
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: We R Final Four on March 01, 2017, 10:14:56 PM
Very few forces by KR.
Only one poor decision by JJ.
Wojo was good tonight. DW was bad so he sat. HC was bad so he sat. Neither Luke or Matt fouled out but we're sitting at the End. Love this team.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: mug644 on March 01, 2017, 10:15:05 PM
 
8.   Now finish it.    Go out in style on Senior night on Saturday.     Leave no doubt.

Good list, Tower. Nothing to add, except that I'll be at the game Saturday. Excited to travel across the country to get back to another senior night!
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: AlumKCof93 on March 01, 2017, 10:15:28 PM
If we're off the bubble, then can the watch turn to what we need to do to play Xavier in the first round.  They are a spiritless team.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: GB Warrior on March 01, 2017, 10:15:39 PM
Really pleased with this team. Best offensive performance of the year, and I actually don't think our D was that bad despite the 84 pts. Officiating had something to do with that.

Xavier is in a free fall. They're not going to miss the tourney, but they are in some real, real trouble. That said, make no mistake about it - this is a quality win in a really tough place to play.

(https://i.imgflip.com/1km6s1.jpg)
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: mileskishnish72 on March 01, 2017, 10:17:06 PM
Re: #1 - have you already forgotten Saturday?
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: GGGG on March 01, 2017, 10:17:50 PM
BTW, I think we saw why Duane didn't play v. Providence.  X's length bothered him tonight.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Herman Cain on March 01, 2017, 10:18:39 PM
We really needed this win. Tough place to win and we got it done. JJJ played the way we need him to play .  Lets keep taking it one game at a time.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: nyg on March 01, 2017, 10:20:08 PM
Very few forces by KR.
Only one poor decision by JJ.
Wojo was good tonight. DW was bad so he sat. HC was bad so he sat. Neither Luke or Matt fouled out but we're sitting at the End. Love this team.


All of above.  Man, Duane and Cheatham were just terrible and Cheatham needs to get out of this thing big time. Slump is almost as bad as Sandy Cohen's
Four on Luke, three on Heldt the pattern continues and they have Patton come Saturday. 

When they shoot like that and have at least one big on floor, MU dangerous.  Big time shots by Hauser, JJJ, KR and the no, no, no, yes shot by Rowsey.  All at very important times of game.

Won't take anything for granted, but a win Saturday would be nice for program.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: brandx on March 01, 2017, 10:21:01 PM
Very few forces by KR.
Only one poor decision by JJ.
Wojo was good tonight. DW was bad so he sat. HC was bad so he sat. Neither Luke or Matt fouled out but we're sitting at the End. Love this team.

This is the time of year to tighten the rotation. Rowsey, Howard, Hauser, Reinhart, jjj need big minutes. Heldt needs as many minutes as Luke.

This team will only go as far as the offense carries it. DW and HC are liabilities on the offensive end. They should get (few) minutes accordingly.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: GGGG on March 01, 2017, 10:23:07 PM
I would be happy about this win, but according to bilsu the only reason we won is because of JJJ's great all around game.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: brandx on March 01, 2017, 10:24:22 PM
All of above.  Man, Duane and Cheatham were just terrible and Cheatham needs to get out of this thing big time. Slump is almost as bad as Sandy Cohen's


HC's offense has become Derrick-esque.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: cheese ball chaser on March 01, 2017, 10:26:09 PM
HC's offense has become Derrick-esque.

I just wish he would stop turning it over  :(
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: GB Warrior on March 01, 2017, 10:26:48 PM
HC's offense has become Derrick-esque.

No one needs this offseason more than Cheatham. His confidence is a net negative.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Anti-Dentite on March 01, 2017, 10:31:30 PM
Beautiful exhibition of basketball in the second half holding off attempted runs by Xavier. The boys brought it and I give Wojo credit for both preparation and in game coaching.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: GGGG on March 01, 2017, 10:33:02 PM
Most points ever given up by Xavier at the Cintas Center.  Best shooting game by a X opponent since 2004.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Newsdreams on March 01, 2017, 10:37:33 PM
I would be happy about this win, but according to bilsu the only reason we won is because of JJJ's great all around game.
Did he mention we played terrible because  we blew a 17 pt lead and won by 10?
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: 21rooster on March 01, 2017, 10:37:39 PM
Great coaching in the second half during the stretch where they just ran the same play five straight times.  Keep doing it until they prove they can stop it.  Big run for MU over that stretch. 
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Mr. Sand-Knit on March 01, 2017, 10:52:43 PM
3.   Hero ball was working tonight.   More one-on-one than I think is best, but sometimes.......  Looked great. 

Incorrect.  That was by design.  X was switching everything to take away the 3.  So mu was setting multiple ball screen to get gaston or omara on a wing.  Then jjj, katin, riwsey, or howard went to work on the bigger slower defender in iso.  Good move by wojo,  got a ton of layins n fouls in the second half off of it.  Looks like hero ball cause of the iso n dribbling but exactly what we wanted
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Dr. Blackheart on March 01, 2017, 10:53:37 PM
I expected 9-9 preseason, that is a lock. If MU shoots lights out, it wins. If they share the ball and don't turn it over like tonight, they shoot lights out. Pretty simple formula. More so, despite getting outscored 53-51 in the 2nd, they took care of business on the road with crappy officiating.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: ecompt on March 01, 2017, 10:55:39 PM
Good list, Tower. Nothing to add, except that I'll be at the game Saturday. Excited to travel across the country to get back to another senior night!

Don't show up at night. We are driving in from Erie for an AFTERNOON game.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: MU82 on March 01, 2017, 10:56:09 PM
3.   Hero ball was working tonight.   More one-on-one than I think is best, but sometimes.......  Looked great. 

Incorrect.  That was by design.  X was switching everything to take away the 3.  So mu was setting multiple ball screen to get gaston or omara on a wing.  Then jjj, katin, riwsey, or howard went to work on the bigger slower defender in iso.  Good move by wojo,  got a ton of layins n fouls in the second half off of it.  Looks like hero ball cause of the iso n dribbling but exactly what we wanted

Agree with this. I was thrilled whenever we could attack Gaston or Macuro 1-on-1.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: GGGG on March 01, 2017, 10:58:55 PM
3.   Hero ball was working tonight.   More one-on-one than I think is best, but sometimes.......  Looked great. 

Incorrect.  That was by design.  X was switching everything to take away the 3.  So mu was setting multiple ball screen to get gaston or omara on a wing.  Then jjj, katin, riwsey, or howard went to work on the bigger slower defender in iso.  Good move by wojo,  got a ton of layins n fouls in the second half off of it.  Looks like hero ball cause of the iso n dribbling but exactly what we wanted


Exactly.

I went over to the Xavier hoops board and they were bitching about this very same thing.  That the constant switching on screens was causing mismatches that MU exploited.  If you listened to Wojo during the timeout (I know, I know...) he referred to this when he was talking about moving the ball and not driving to the hoop after only one or two passes. 

This is also why this small line up is so good.  Fourth game in a row where MU just came out on fire.  And if you are going to be bad on defense, might as well do it with a team that can light it up right?

And this is what Wojo's teams are going to look like.  They have pretty much abandoned the post and Luke, and are going to use their five as a defender and a rebounder. 
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: GB Warrior on March 01, 2017, 11:07:31 PM
3.   Hero ball was working tonight.   More one-on-one than I think is best, but sometimes.......  Looked great. 

Incorrect.  That was by design.  X was switching everything to take away the 3.  So mu was setting multiple ball screen to get gaston or omara on a wing.  Then jjj, katin, riwsey, or howard went to work on the bigger slower defender in iso.  Good move by wojo,  got a ton of layins n fouls in the second half off of it.  Looks like hero ball cause of the iso n dribbling but exactly what we wanted

Great analysis. KR especially was taking advantage of this matchup, but AR and Howard both used this to get into the lane. Paid big dividends.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: forgetful on March 01, 2017, 11:09:16 PM

Exactly.

I went over to the Xavier hoops board and they were bitching about this very same thing.  That the constant switching on screens was causing mismatches that MU exploited.  If you listened to Wojo during the timeout (I know, I know...) he referred to this when he was talking about moving the ball and not driving to the hoop after only one or two passes. 

This is also why this small line up is so good.  Fourth game in a row where MU just came out on fire.  And if you are going to be bad on defense, might as well do it with a team that can light it up right?

And this is what Wojo's teams are going to look like.  They have pretty much abandoned the post and Luke, and are going to use their five as a defender and a rebounder.

Agreed, but I think Wojo is going to adapt his offense to his players.  This works great this year (and likely next), because of our shooters.  Last year, we exploited mismatches with Henry. 

He is going to adapt his offense to where he knows he can get a mismatch.  I like that.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: tower912 on March 02, 2017, 07:06:30 AM
...let's sway through the crowd to an empty space......
JJJ's corner 3's were the daggers.     As opposed to other games where teams have been successful running MU off the line, MU adjusted last night.    To my eyes, it looked like hero ball, but upon reflection and other's input, I realize it was actually an adjustment taking advantage of all of X's switching, much like teams have taken advantage of Luke on the perimeter.

Also, MU's first half defense deserves recognition.    This year's team simply can't play lockdown defense.    But in the first half, MU switched effectively and disrupted X enough for MU to stretch out the lead despite the traveling calls.    Luke and Matt were much better at recovering after hedging in the first half, too.   
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: dgies9156 on March 02, 2017, 09:05:04 AM
OK, not to be a pessimist here. It was a great win, our guys played extremely well and frankly, I liked the defensive intensity. We played  like we meant it!!!!

But....

We had to shoot the lights out to win. Not sure what the final shooting percentage was, but late in the game, I saw over 60 percent. My first thought was, "wow!"

Second thought -- against a 1 to 6 seeded team in thee NCAA, that's going to be tough. As someone else said, this team is flawed. It's fun to watch and I'm emotionally drained after a game -- win or lose -- and I just wonder whether a good team with good defense will allow us to get anywhere close to 60 percent?
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: brewcity77 on March 02, 2017, 09:13:05 AM
Everything changes in the tournament. Teams are just starting their scout 4 days before the tip. That's why you see dead in the water teams (Syracuse last year) suddenly look like world beaters. That's also why Izzo is such a genius.

Make it in and honestly, we could end up in the Elite 8 or losing in the first four.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: MUfan12 on March 02, 2017, 09:20:12 AM
But....

We had to shoot the lights out to win. Not sure what the final shooting percentage was, but late in the game, I saw over 60 percent. My first thought was, "wow!"

They shot 60% because they executed the gameplan brilliantly. They only had to hit a few really tough shots, and a couple of those were Katin step-backs. Even more impressive than the outside shooting was the way they attacked closeouts and got easy buckets at the rim. Showed a ton of poise.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Carl Spackler on March 02, 2017, 09:31:08 AM
man, i wish Katin had made those step-backs against Providence.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: jsglow on March 02, 2017, 09:42:26 AM
3.   Hero ball was working tonight.   More one-on-one than I think is best, but sometimes.......  Looked great. 

Incorrect.  That was by design.  X was switching everything to take away the 3.  So mu was setting multiple ball screen to get gaston or omara on a wing.  Then jjj, katin, riwsey, or howard went to work on the bigger slower defender in iso.  Good move by wojo,  got a ton of layins n fouls in the second half off of it.  Looks like hero ball cause of the iso n dribbling but exactly what we wanted

Sand is spot on here.  We ran the weave to get the 4/5 matchup.  The difference is that when we got the big fella away from the hoop, he had no idea what we were going to do.  It'll be interesting to see how Creighton plays this.  If Patton comes out top he may end up with 3 fouls in 10 minutes.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Marcus92 on March 02, 2017, 09:47:43 AM
Two things I'd add:

1. Last night was a great example of how a balanced offense forces the other team to make some hard (if not impossible) choices.

Want to stick close to the perimeter to deny the three? You'd better have enough guys on the court quick enough to guard Markus (55.6% from three, 1st in the Big East), Rowsey (45.0%, 5th), Sam (44.1%, 6th) and Katin (38.9%, 18th). If JJJ, Duane or Haney are hitting their shots as well, look out.

Even if you manage to guard the three-point line reasonably well, that opens things up for Howard, Rowsey or Katin to drive and dish. Or make a relatively easy entry pass into the post, where Luke is almost automatic one-on-one when he gets the ball where he likes it.

Want perimeter defenders to sag on Luke to hopefully deny the entry pass? Then you leave Markus, Andrew, Sam or Katin wide open. Bad move. The same goes for doubling Luke. A pass or two later, the ball's going to end up in the hands of a really good shooter — likely with a step on his defender.

Xavier tried everything last night. Nothing worked.

2. Beyond crisp offensive execution, good defensive rotations and smart play overall (just 10 turnovers), Marquette really looked like it wanted it more last night. Players were  diving on the floor and out of bounds all night for loose balls. I didn't keep count, but it sure seemed like we got a lot more of them than Xavier. We also held our own on the boards against a very physical team. Effort counts.

If we can keep that up, I like our chances against Creighton and whoever we face in the Big East tournament.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: dgies9156 on March 02, 2017, 09:52:39 AM
They shot 60% because they executed the gameplan brilliantly. They only had to hit a few really tough shots, and a couple of those were Katin step-backs. Even more impressive than the outside shooting was the way they attacked closeouts and got easy buckets at the rim. Showed a ton of poise.

Definitely no argument here.

They did execute well and I did like the driving the lane. Kinda reminded me of Lee, Rosenberger and BT at times.

I hope we keep this up but a well-coached, talented team is going to defend in a way that's going to be tough to get 60 percent shooting. That just doesn't happen often.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: jsglow on March 02, 2017, 09:52:46 AM
OK, not to be a pessimist here. It was a great win, our guys played extremely well and frankly, I liked the defensive intensity. We played  like we meant it!!!!

But....

We had to shoot the lights out to win. Not sure what the final shooting percentage was, but late in the game, I saw over 60 percent. My first thought was, "wow!"

Second thought -- against a 1 to 6 seeded team in thee NCAA, that's going to be tough. As someone else said, this team is flawed. It's fun to watch and I'm emotionally drained after a game -- win or lose -- and I just wonder whether a good team with good defense will allow us to get anywhere close to 60 percent?

I don't think we HAD to shoot the lights out.  Average MU shooting would have made the game single digits.  We shot 12/21 from 3pt (57%).  Let's say we miss 2 of those bringing us down in the 40s%.  We still win by 5.  And let's not discount the HORRIBLE officiating we were subject to in the second half.  Maybe the worst I can recall.  That narrowed what would have been a 15-20 point victory.

We won because we played reasonable D, especially in the first half, and because we didn't let the ball stick.  When it moves, we get great shots and we have several guys who are dead eye when uncontested.  Really, I don't remember a group of 4 that are simply 'money' like our 4 are when they can step in.  And add to that the fake and go to the rack element.  Beautiful.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: MUMountin on March 02, 2017, 10:41:32 AM
I don't think we HAD to shoot the lights out.  Average MU shooting would have made the game single digits.  We shot 12/21 from 3pt (57%).  Let's say we miss 2 of those bringing us down in the 40s%.  We still win by 5.  And let's not discount the HORRIBLE officiating we were subject to in the second half.  Maybe the worst I can recall.  That narrowed what would have been a 15-20 point victory.

I'd only slightly disagree--I don't think in general we had to shoot the lights out to win.  But, if we had not been dead-on during that stretch in the second half when the refs were calling everything on us, I think that X could have easily grabbed the momentum and gotten right back in the game.  I think that they got to 8 or 9 at one point, and everything seemed to be going there way, and it looked like the refs were doing everything they could to help them back in.  But, we made 11 straight shots, and kept the lead in the double digits. 

If we shot even our average during that stretch, they could have easily made it a one or two possession game with a lot of momentum on their side.  But, our shooting helped us weather that stretch, and their momentum stalled.  We then made a couple of good stops (Katin and JJJ's pick-6s), and the calls finally started evening out, and the threat largely subsided. 
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: tower912 on March 02, 2017, 10:45:45 AM
That's a great point.    When the refs were trying to give the game to X, MU made 11 straight shots.     That is the point we have lost leads in other games this year. 
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Herman Cain on March 02, 2017, 11:33:30 AM
Everything changes in the tournament. Teams are just starting their scout 4 days before the tip. That's why you see dead in the water teams (Syracuse last year) suddenly look like world beaters. That's also why Izzo is such a genius.

Make it in and honestly, we could end up in the Elite 8 or losing in the first four.
This is why I believe if God shines his light on us and lets us in the tournament we will do well. Sure teams will see that M2N is shooting an incredible percentage from 3 point land. But they will not have the time to scout JJJ , Luke or Haani and I think those guys are all capable of monster games under those conditions.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: BM1090 on March 02, 2017, 11:52:23 AM
3.   Hero ball was working tonight.   More one-on-one than I think is best, but sometimes.......  Looked great. 

Incorrect.  That was by design.  X was switching everything to take away the 3.  So mu was setting multiple ball screen to get gaston or omara on a wing.  Then jjj, katin, riwsey, or howard went to work on the bigger slower defender in iso.  Good move by wojo,  got a ton of layins n fouls in the second half off of it.  Looks like hero ball cause of the iso n dribbling but exactly what we wanted

More posts like this and less bashing Luke please :)

Seriously, good post. It was definitely by design.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: fjm on March 02, 2017, 12:11:53 PM
(https://media.tenor.co/images/8d0cfad0ea1e1343dc1ce076e83274af/raw)

feels good to be (probably hopefully most likely dancing *disclaimer for when wades comes in with his 1 win talk) dancing.
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Newsdreams on March 02, 2017, 08:07:50 PM
This is why I believe if God shines his light on us and lets us in the tournament we will do well. Sure teams will see that M2N is shooting an incredible percentage from 3 point land. But they will not have the time to scout JJJ , Luke or Haani and I think those guys are all capable of monster games under those conditions.
LOL u should get a late night show
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: Newsdreams on March 02, 2017, 08:27:36 PM
I'd only slightly disagree--I don't think in general we had to shoot the lights out to win.  But, if we had not been dead-on during that stretch in the second half when the refs were calling everything on us, I think that X could have easily grabbed the momentum and gotten right back in the game.  I think that they got to 8 or 9 at one point, and everything seemed to be going there way, and it looked like the refs were doing everything they could to help them back in.  But, we made 11 straight shots, and kept the lead in the double digits. 

If we shot even our average during that stretch, they could have easily made it a one or two possession game with a lot of momentum on their side.  But, our shooting helped us weather that stretch, and their momentum stalled.  We then made a couple of good stops (Katin and JJJ's pick-6s), and the calls finally started evening out, and the threat largely subsided.
I don't know but I think if we shoot our average in that stretch and Xavier kept their rate on offense just looking think we still win by 3-5 pts. Jay Bee can you do the actual #'s?
Title: Re: Put on your red shoes and dance the blues
Post by: jsglow on March 02, 2017, 08:32:17 PM
Admittedly, that 11 shot run was a thing of beauty.  ;D