Happy, but

[WarriorDad]

Happy, but here is where I will get critical of Wojo.  He has got to get Markus to stop playing so much hero ball.  If he would learn to distribute it more, this team would be deadly.

[MUEng92]

If he would look to pass even every third drive it would completely change the offense

[rocky_warrior]

The entire MU pregame was about how to contain Howard.  He scored 27.  You take the great with the bad.

[WarriorDad]

Did we drop streamers from the ceiling after this game?  I have not gone to a game yet this year, but tell me we do this every game and not for just this game. 

Win a game and pretend you have been there before.  That is almost as bad as #dickpunch Davison. 

[rocky_warrior]

That is almost as bad as #dickpunch Davison.

You're being a douche canoe too.

[CTWarrior]

The entire MU pregame was about how to contain Howard.  He scored 27.  You take the great with the bad.

He scored 27 because he took roughly 372 shots.  He is a great, great player, but it would be better for him, better for us, if he shared the ball a little more.  At least don't take low percentage shots in the first half of the shot clock.

Don't want to complain today though.  Big win over a big rival when we didn't play our best.  That could only mean good things.

[tower912]

Yup, Markus did not play his best.  He isn't going to every game.  Not any other good options. 

[jonny09]

This team desperately needs somebody who can create other than Markus.  And we just don’t have anyone right now.

[79Warrior]

The entire MU pregame was about how to contain Howard.  He scored 27.  You take the great with the bad.

27 points. He shot 24% from the field. 7-29. He was brutal.

[avid1010]

27 points. He shot 24% from the field. 7-29. He was brutal.

He was absolutely awful...I can take some of the misses...but I cant take him taking sh1t shots while the Hausers are wide open.  Joey had a few words for him at the end of regulation as he missed him standing wide open.  That said...we beat Bucky...no complaints.

[PJDunn]

Just win baby!!!! 

[Newsdreams]

So many dumb a#holes who think they know basketball. Yes chico....

[mileskishnish72]

Agree I’d like to see a more balanced offense. But we have one of the more stagnant “motion” offenses and MH often is the only one who can shake a defender. Don’t know if Chartouney will ever really contribute against a quality Div I opponent. Hope he proves me wrong.

[warriorchick]

Did we drop streamers from the ceiling after this game? 

Yes we did, and played "Jump Around" while fifteen thousand people in blue and gold imitated Badger football fans and a couple thousand in red sat.

It was awesome.

[WarriorDad]

Yes we did, and played "Jump Around" while fifteen thousand people in blue and gold imitated Badger football fans and a couple thousand in red sat.

It was awesome.

Jump Around sounds fantastic.  Perfect.  Streamers, not so much.

[rocky_warrior]

Jump Around sounds fantastic.  Perfect.  Streamers, not so much.

I just wish they'd let the students have open seating!

[WarriorDad]

I just wish they'd let the students have open seating!

How would you get the big donors to donate if you did that?  They would be shut out.  It is fine the way it is, keep the students where they are at behind the baskets.

[cheebs09]

How would you get the big donors to donate if you did that?  They would be shut out.  It is fine the way it is, keep the students where they are at behind the baskets.

Chicos has some questions

[warriorchick]

Jump Around sounds fantastic.  Perfect.  Streamers, not so much.

I don't know... The thought of sad Badger fans picking blue and gold confetti out of their hair all night makes me smile.

[MomofMUltiples]

No buts here. Our offense was not nearly as good as we know it can be and we beat the supposed #12 team in the country. For the second week in a row. And to make it even sweeter, it was Bucky. Celebrations in SLP tonight.

[Milkshakes]

No buts here. Our offense was not nearly as good as we know it can be and we beat the supposed #12 team in the country. For the second week in a row. And to make it even sweeter, it was Bucky. Celebrations in SLP tonight.

AMEN. No buts allowed tonight. Great win. Ugly or not, great win. We just beat two top twelve teams in 7 days. Save the buts. Great fun tonight!!!!!!

[jsglow]

And now some of you clowns are worried about style points. 

[RushmoreAcademy]

Coming online to complain about the steamers after beating Wisconsin.  You’ve got to live the saddest existence there is.
Ring out Ahoya!

[frozena pizza]

Glad for the win, but yes, Markus was a problem and gets tunnel vision trying to get all the big baskets sometimes. If you fail to find positives in a loss or see the negatives in a win you'll never get better. Bucky is a solid team and I'll take it, but MH needs to play better.

[Cheeks]

Yes we did, and played "Jump Around" while fifteen thousand people in blue and gold imitated Badger football fans and a couple thousand in red sat.

It was awesome.

This 1000X.  If it ticked off Bucky even better.  They claim it is our Super Bowl, so why not.  Wish I was there, but was represented well by family and friends.  Great job Warrior Nation

[Marcus92]

Don’t know if Chartouney will ever really contribute against a quality Div I opponent. Hope he proves me wrong.

Chartouny most definitely contributed. While he didn't score, he pulled down 4 defensive rebounds, dished 3 assists, played tough defense and didn't commit a single turnover in 17 minutes. I'm more concerned about Brendan's and Jamal's production off the bench at this point.

[muwarrior69]

This team desperately needs somebody who can create other than Markus.  And we just don’t have anyone right now.

Joey was good tonight and Sam did make two open 3s. Hope Sam can start scoring again.

[Marcus92]

Markus clearly didn't have a good shooting performance. But his aggressiveness on offense was a big reason why MU made more free throws (22, including 12 by Markus) than Wisconsin attempted (21) -- and that was a big factor in the win.

[MU82]

Happy, but ...

But nothing. We effen beat Bucky one week after beating another top-15 team, we're gonna be ranked (and deservedly so, unlike a few weeks ago), and we dropped streamers and it was great.

Actually, one but ...

... but some Douche Canoes can't enjoy life!

[NCMUFan]

Chartouny definitely contributed.  His drives were good.  Just missed the finish.  The fact we came back and took the lead with Markus out shows we have offensive power without him and play good as a team without him.  Markus really needs to keep the other four guys involved in the offense.  Other players if they are off shooting a particular night concentrate on other things to aid the team.  Markus keeps jacking them up good, bad or ugly.

[StillWarriors]

Did we drop streamers from the ceiling after this game?  I have not gone to a game yet this year, but tell me we do this every game and not for just this game. 

Win a game and pretend you have been there before.  That is almost as bad as #dickpunch Davison.

Please. Absurd.

[pbiflyer]

Happy, but ...

But nothing. We effen beat Bucky one week after beating another top-15 team, we're gonna be ranked (and deservedly so, unlike a few weeks ago), and we dropped streamers and it was great.

Actually, one but ...

... but some Douche Canoes can't enjoy life!

This.

[The Thing]

I’m not feeling negative because I was at the game with my family and ecstatic with how it played out...but...when do I start to be concerned with the poor shooting?

[marquette09]

Markus Howard shot 7/29 and Marquette still beat the number 12 team in the country.   Seems like a positive to me. 

[Daniel]

This was a significant win.  And other than Happ scoring at will, the rest of team was in check.  This was a great effort by MU, and it paid off.   This is one of the more meaningful wins, along with Kansa State in a long time. Early in season still, and we beat two # 12 teams in 8 days.  That my friends is goodness!  Go Warriors - heard people chanting that at game

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I actually have a gripe about Wojo's coaching in this one but it's not hero ball. For the life of me I will never get the Markus hate.

UTEP was a bad shooting night. We got open looks but couldn't hit them. This was not that. Wisconsin had our offense pegged and we were getting precious few open looks. I would have liked to see a little more creativity in the play calling to try and get something going.

Wisconsin was playing stellar D and points in this one were precious few. Markus went out and got 27 of them. Yes he needed a lot of shots to get there, it was not his best game by any stretch, but do you really think if his 29 shot attempts went elsewhere in this game that they would have resulted in 27 points? Personally, I don't think so.

[WarriorDad]

Coming online to complain about the steamers after beating Wisconsin.  You’ve got to live the saddest existence there is.
Ring out Ahoya!

I have been excited all night about MU's win, that was my only complaint, context please.  Let's act like we've been there.  We have our fans complaining almost every game, and this is what you decide to comment on because I was positive about the team, coach and result, but when others do nothing but complain how we play, coach, that's ok?

[BM1090]

I actually have a gripe about Wojo's coaching in this one but it's not hero ball. For the life of me I will never get the Markus hate.

UTEP was a bad shooting night. We got open looks but couldn't hit them. This was not that. Wisconsin had our offense pegged and we were getting precious few open looks. I would have liked to see a little more creativity in the play calling to try and get something going.

Wisconsin was playing stellar D and points in this one were precious few. Markus went out and got 27 of them. Yes he needed a lot of shots to get there, it was not his best game by any stretch, but do you really think if his 29 shot attempts went elsewhere in this game that they would have resulted in 27 points? Personally, I don't think so.

This is where I'm at. And UW was so worried about him he created almost every single open 3 from other players too

[Loose Cannon]

.

Wisconsin was playing stellar D and points in this one were precious few. Markus went out and got 27 of them. Yes he needed a lot of shots to get there, it was not his best game by any stretch, but do you really think if his 29 shot attempts went elsewhere in this game that they would have resulted in 27 points? Personally, I don't think so.

I'm Solid with viewpoint.

[wadesworld]

but do you really think if his 29 shot attempts went elsewhere in this game that they would have resulted in 27 points? Personally, I don't think so.

Well the rest of the team took 36 shots and scored 47 points on them so probably.

[Marcus92]

Wojo is now 3-2 against Wisconsin, with 2 straight wins. Those two losses came in 2016 (when the Badgers went 27-10 and made the Sweet 16) and 2014 (against a team that finished 36-4 and played for the national title).

That said, as much as I love beating UW, it's not necessarily a meaningful indicator for the rest of the season. Henry Ellenson led us to a 57-55 road win in 2015 with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists -- but Marquette failed to make the postseason. Last year, we crushed the Badgers 82-63 in their building -- and ended up in the NIT.

I hope the smart play, guts and toughness Marquette showed today is something the team can build on. If so, it could turn into a special season.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I actually have a gripe about Wojo's coaching in this one but it's not hero ball. For the life of me I will never get the Markus hate.

UTEP was a bad shooting night. We got open looks but couldn't hit them. This was not that. Wisconsin had our offense pegged and we were getting precious few open looks. I would have liked to see a little more creativity in the play calling to try and get something going.

Wisconsin was playing stellar D and points in this one were precious few. Markus went out and got 27 of them. Yes he needed a lot of shots to get there, it was not his best game by any stretch, but do you really think if his 29 shot attempts went elsewhere in this game that they would have resulted in 27 points? Personally, I don't think so.

Agree with the first part that more creativity is needed, but not the second.  Yes, had half of this shots been taken by others they would have shot better than 25% from the floor.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Well the rest of the team took 36 shots and scored 47 points on them so probably.

I disagree. I'd have to go back and look, but I'd be willing to bet that a vast majority of those came on possessions where we were able to find an open look. Most of Markus' attempts came on possessions where there was no open look. Their defense had our offense beat. On possessions like that, I trust Markus to come away with points more than any other player on this team.

[wadesworld]

I disagree. I'd have to go back and look, but I'd be willing to bet that a vast majority of those came on possessions where we were able to find an open look. Most of Markus' attempts came on possessions where there was no open look. Their defense had our offense beat. On possessions like that, I trust Markus to come away with points more than any other player on this team.

There was no open look because the ball never left his hands. The number of possessions where Howard shot a step back, contested jumper with 17+ seconds on the shot clock was absurd.

I’m quite convinced Howard just doesn’t see the court. Like at all. There was a play he was bringing the ball up the court, no defender within 10 feet of him around half court, Sacar was standing alone in the right corner and a Badger wasn’t on that half of the court. Sacar was standing there waving his arms and Markus never came close to passing the ball to him.

I’m fine with Markus taking the tough step back jumper with a defender up in him...when we’ve worked the ball around, ran an offense, and came up with no other option. Doing that with 17 seconds left in the shot clock doesn’t mean had Markus not taken those tough shots we couldn’t have gotten a good look elsewhere.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I disagree. I'd have to go back and look, but I'd be willing to bet that a vast majority of those came on possessions where we were able to find an open look. Most of Markus' attempts came on possessions where there was no open look. Their defense had our offense beat. On possessions like that, I trust Markus to come away with points more than any other player on this team.

There were instances of this, but there were also many early shot clock takes (and misses) from Markus.  I’m sure the data is out there, but I don’t think it’s as pure as you remember. 

[wadesworld]

Also remember seeing videos of Markus’s workouts somewhere in 1 of the last 2 offseasons. A lot of head down, super quick, jerky dribbling. I mean it’s cool to be able to do that, but that’s not functionally what you do on a basketball court. You see pros doing workouts with low dribbling with their head up catching tennis balls with the off hand and tossing it back to a trainer. That’s functional ball handling that Howard just doesn’t seem to have.

[Norm]

Chartouny most definitely contributed. While he didn't score, he pulled down 4 defensive rebounds, dished 3 assists, played tough defense and didn't commit a single turnover in 17 minutes. I'm more concerned about Brendan's and Jamal's production off the bench at this point.

Cain only played 2 minutes tonight and is in Wojo's doghouse so don't think we can expect much from him these days.

[brewcity77]

Wisconsin had our offense pegged and we were getting precious few open looks. I would have liked to see a little more creativity in the play calling to try and get something going.

Our playcalls out of timeouts were terrible. Terrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiible. Inbound, dribble the perimeter for 15 seconds, take a contested shot at the horn.

[79Warrior]

There was no open look because the ball never left his hands. The number of possessions where Howard shot a step back, contested jumper with 17+ seconds on the shot clock was absurd.

I’m quite convinced Howard just doesn’t see the court. Like at all. There was a play he was bringing the ball up the court, no defender within 10 feet of him around half court, Sacar was standing alone in the right corner and a Badger wasn’t on that half of the court. Sacar was standing there waving his arms and Markus never came close to passing the ball to him.

I’m fine with Markus taking the tough step back jumper with a defender up in him...when we’ve worked the ball around, ran an offense, and came up with no other option. Doing that with 17 seconds left in the shot clock doesn’t mean had Markus not taken those tough shots we couldn’t have gotten a good look elsewhere.

Agree

[TallTitan34]

There was no open look because the ball never left his hands. The number of possessions where Howard shot a step back, contested jumper with 17+ seconds on the shot clock was absurd.

I’m quite convinced Howard just doesn’t see the court. Like at all. There was a play he was bringing the ball up the court, no defender within 10 feet of him around half court, Sacar was standing alone in the right corner and a Badger wasn’t on that half of the court. Sacar was standing there waving his arms and Markus never came close to passing the ball to him.

I’m fine with Markus taking the tough step back jumper with a defender up in him...when we’ve worked the ball around, ran an offense, and came up with no other option. Doing that with 17 seconds left in the shot clock doesn’t mean had Markus not taken those tough shots we couldn’t have gotten a good look elsewhere.

100% agree. I have no problem with Markus trying to create something in the final ten seconds of the shot clock when nothing else has worked in the possession.  But when he takes a highly contested shot or a difficult floater with 22 seconds left on the shot clock it drives me crazy.

[RushmoreAcademy]

You may have been one of the more positive fans, and if so that’s great. We need more of that.  I just always have a general wonder about why people don’t like celebrations and court rushes and things like that.  The players should act like they’ve been there, sure, but the whole fun of being a fan is being able to get crazy and psyched about a win.  This is nothing if not entertainment for us, so why does there have to be a rule book about celebration levels? You’re putting on a show basically. Drop streamers, play music, do whatever to make the fans feel like they want to come again because it’s a spectacle.

I have been excited all night about MU's win, that was my only complaint, context please.  Let's act like we've been there.  We have our fans complaining almost every game, and this is what you decide to comment on because I was positive about the team, coach and result, but when others do nothing but complain how we play, coach, that's ok?

[NCMUFan]

Don't get me wrong, Markus is a star and I am extremely happy he is on the team.
The team has a tremendous amount of talent spread throughout the players.  It might not of been as close as it was if we played more team ball on offense. 
Defensive effort won this one for Marquette.

[GGGG]

I have been excited all night about MU's win, that was my only complaint, context please.  Let's act like we've been there.  We have our fans complaining almost every game, and this is what you decide to comment on because I was positive about the team, coach and result, but when others do nothing but complain how we play, coach, that's ok?

Dumb

[Silkk the Shaka]

You're being a douche canoe too.

Please re-ban all the new iterations

[GGGG]

I actually have a gripe about Wojo's coaching in this one but it's not hero ball. For the life of me I will never get the Markus hate.

UTEP was a bad shooting night. We got open looks but couldn't hit them. This was not that. Wisconsin had our offense pegged and we were getting precious few open looks. I would have liked to see a little more creativity in the play calling to try and get something going.

Wisconsin was playing stellar D and points in this one were precious few. Markus went out and got 27 of them. Yes he needed a lot of shots to get there, it was not his best game by any stretch, but do you really think if his 29 shot attempts went elsewhere in this game that they would have resulted in 27 points? Personally, I don't think so.

UW did a fantastic job of collapsing on Markus. But yeah I can’t realky figure out the level of frustration about his play.

[tower912]

Markus is going to leave MU as the all time leading scorer.   He is making the transition from shooting guard to point guard.    There is no other consistent shot creators on this team.   His defense has improved dramatically.    He has done nothing but represent the university positively.     HE MISSED SHOTS AGAINST A TEAM WHOSE ENTIRE DEFENSE WAS PREDICATED ON STOPPING HIM.    And MU won.   

Last year he got hurt and missed time.    Picture, if you will, this year's team for an entire game without Howard.  And then stop whining. 

[Loose Cannon]

Markus is going to leave MU as the all time leading scorer.   He is making the transition from shooting guard to point guard.    There is no other consistent shot creators on this team.   His defense has improved dramatically.    He has done nothing but represent the university positively.     HE MISSED SHOTS AGAINST A TEAM WHOSE ENTIRE DEFENSE WAS PREDICATED ON STOPPING HIM.    And MU won.   

Last year he got hurt and missed time.    Picture, if you will, this year's team for an entire game without Howard.  And then stop whining.

Well said

[brewcity77]

Markus is going to leave MU as the all time leading scorer.   He is making the transition from shooting guard to point guard.    There is no other consistent shot creators on this team.   His defense has improved dramatically.    He has done nothing but represent the university positively.     HE MISSED SHOTS AGAINST A TEAM WHOSE ENTIRE DEFENSE WAS PREDICATED ON STOPPING HIM.    And MU won.   

Last year he got hurt and missed time.    Picture, if you will, this year's team for an entire game without Howard.  And then stop whining.

This is all true. That said, I understand the frustration with Howard when he's not finding teammates and putting shots up early in the shot clock. That's why I'd like to see us focused on slowing our offensive pace. Work for the best look. Last year it was easier because of the space created, but our average offensive possession length is 16.4 seconds, which is 99th in the country. So we are still trying to play fast on offense. Slow it down, wait for something to develop, and if it's not there in the first 20-23 seconds, there's still time for Markus to get the ball and force something up.

I think he's going through the transition to try to become what Rowsey was offensively. When Rowsey was distributing and creating, it opened him up for better looks as well. That's what I want to see out of Howard. When the ball is moving, when he is creating for others, it forces defenses to cover those others more closely. That's going to give him more space to operate and better looks. In helping others, he will also help himself.

[MU82]

Markus is not a PG, not the way most of us think of PGs. He's not even a "scoring PG" in the mode of Kyrie or Kemba. He simply does not see the overall court very well, doesn't see the openings he creates for teammates.

I don't mean that as a knock; every player has strengths and shortcomings, and this is Markus' main shortcoming. I hope he gets better at it as the season progresses and as he gains experience as our primary PG, but I also am a realist.

He clearly would be best as a 2 alongside a talented penetrate-and-kick PG, but we don't have that. So we have to make do with what we have, as does Markus.

Could he make better decisions, and could our offense be more balanced? Yes and yes, and hopefully over the course of the season both will happen.

But Markus has a very unique skill set, I am thrilled he is a Warrior, and I sure as shyte am not gonna rip the kid after he played quite well in a huge win against the mother-effin, nut-grabbin', canoe-douche-in', free-throw-chokin' F%ckies.

[NCMUFan]

Markus is going to leave MU as the all time leading scorer.   He is making the transition from shooting guard to point guard.    There is no other consistent shot creators on this team.   His defense has improved dramatically.    He has done nothing but represent the university positively.     HE MISSED SHOTS AGAINST A TEAM WHOSE ENTIRE DEFENSE WAS PREDICATED ON STOPPING HIM.    And MU won.   

Last year he got hurt and missed time.    Picture, if you will, this year's team for an entire game without Howard.  And then stop whining.

Didn't know Gard was consulting you on their defensive scheme.  All the more to get the ball to the open teammates. 
While I hope Markus is healthy the entire season and can play every game, I don't have nightmares if he can't.  This team is loaded with talent and will only get better as the other players get more active on the offense.

[Markusquette]

On a really rough shooting night, Markus at least took it strongly to the hoop and got to the line. Aside from those two duds at the end, it was a big impact getting UW in foul trouble and getting some easy points.

Sam has been too passive. The last 3 games Joey's played better than his older brother. I'm totally fine with Sam and Joey taking more shots, Anim driving a bit more and getting John/Morrow some looks down low.

Why anyone's complaining about some streamers at the end of a big win is silly.