Is it possible that we just had a bad game?

[Mayor McCheese]

Hold the phone everyone.. these are 18-22 year old young adults... are they not allowed to have a bad game every once in a while?

Nope your right, they should be perfect, every game, all the time

Although this being the third year on this board.  This happens every year, we lose to a team we shouldn't, everyone flies off the handle, yet we still finish going to the NCAAs... lets get Central Michigan Tuesday, and then have some roast Bucky on Saturday.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Hold the phone everyone.. these are 18-22 year old young adults... are they not allowed to have a bad game every once in a while?

Nope your right, they should be perfect, every game, all the time

Although this being the third year on this board.  This happens every year, we lose to a team we shouldn't, everyone flies off the handle, yet we still finish going to the NCAAs... lets get Central Michigan Tuesday, and then have some roast Bucky on Saturday.

Absolutely could be the case.  Dayton is pretty good and from what I saw, we weren't hungry, we were cocky, and played like we expected to win.

Buzz has a great chance to kick their fannies this week getting them ready.

[Murffieus]

We had a "bad game alright"----but I wouldn't alibi that loss by saying "it was just a bad game"-----to many serious fundamental flaws----can't guard one on one on the penetration worth a damn against quick/athletic people----no interior presence by our #5 (rebs or points)-----too much in a hurry and don't value possessions as a result.

Can see why Buzz's UNO team had a #334 defensive ranking!

[MUSF]

Absolutely could be the case.  Dayton is pretty good and from what I saw, we weren't hungry, we were cocky, and played like we expected to win.

Buzz has a great chance to kick their fannies this week getting them ready.

+1

It happens to almost every team.  It has certainly happened to us the last couple of years.  Now, if it doesn't turn around in the next couple of weeks we have a problem.

If we play like we did last night, we will not beat Wisconsin or NC State and we certainly won't beat Tennesee.

[muarmy81]

I think we'll beat Wisky and NC State but looking at how we handled Dayton's athleticism the other night I seriously doubt we'll be able to deal with Tenn's athletes.  We'll see, hopefully this was a wakeup call as I agree:  we looked like we expected to beat Dayton and were out-hustled and out-quicked all night.

[Daniel]

To me, the biggest disappointment with the Dayton game was their guards blowing past us down the lane, around the key, everywehre, and us not being able to stop them.  Now, yeah, maybe a big man waiting for them under the rim might change things, but we really did not guard well, and that was a huge disappointment.  Scary, givien our past focus on defense.  And we all hope that our defense still carries us throew a lot of games. . .I hope something is going on at practice this week that changes things for the positive.  We will have no easy games in the BEast.

[CTWarrior]

It's same old same old with this team, only the hole in the middle is more magnified then ever because up to now we at least had a backup quality big man in Barro and now we don't even have that.  Heck, I think we even miss Fitz who could grab an occasional rebound and stretch the defense a little because opponent's had to respect his ability to hit the 3, though I don't miss the twice a game "and 1" fouls he liked to commit.

I think what people are worried about (I know it is what I am worried about) is that when we play teams that can match our quickness we are in trouble because we don't have enough of anything else to beat them with.  Then when we see our fears realized when we get thumped by a borderline NCAA tournament team on a neutral floor because we cannot stop them from getting to the lane because we have no shot blocker and we can't control the defensive boards because we don't have a player over 6-6 who can get a rebound it is natural to have great concern about what lies ahead, particularly when you consider we play in a conference full of talented teams that feature both quickness and size.

Unless Fulce and Otule can contribute in a big way, it appears that we are at best a borderline NCAA team.

[JSwarriors08]

Unless Fulce and Otule can contribute in a big way, it appears that we are at best a borderline NCAA team.

OH MY GOSH.  We are like a bunch of emo teenage girls after a break-up!  GET AWAY FROM THE LEDGE!!!!!


Can't we all move on?  We lost, who cares?  We've got a whole season ahead.

[MU B2002]

OH MY GOSH.  We are like a bunch of emo teenage girls after a break-up!  GET AWAY FROM THE LEDGE!!!!!


Can't we all move on?  We lost, who cares?  We've got a whole season ahead.

+1

[CTWarrior]

OH MY GOSH.  We are like a bunch of emo teenage girls after a break-up!  GET AWAY FROM THE LEDGE!!!!!


Can't we all move on?  We lost, who cares?  We've got a whole season ahead.

Not being a female nor having daughters, I don't know what a teenage girl is like after a breakup.  I have seen many, many college basketball games in my time, though, and the Marquette team I have watched play 6 games so far this season is a borderline NCAA team.  Our biggest weakness is that we have a huge, gaping hole in the middle both on offense and defense, and nobody on the current 9 scholarship player active roster who can remotely fill it.  If Otule and/or Fulce can't provide significant help filling that role, then we will not be wondering on selection Sunday what our seed is going to be, but whether or not we are going to be in the tournament.

[Warrior]

We'll find out on Saturday when we play UW-Madison. This will be our second test this season.

[MUfan12]

But that game isn't a test because it's a rivalry game at home and they'll be fired up. Call me when they sweep Tennessee and NC State on the road. Then we can say they passed a test.

[JSwarriors08]

Not being a female nor having daughters, I don't know what a teenage girl is like after a breakup.  I have seen many, many college basketball games in my time, though, and the Marquette team I have watched play 6 games so far this season is a borderline NCAA team.  Our biggest weakness is that we have a huge, gaping hole in the middle both on offense and defense, and nobody on the current 9 scholarship player active roster who can remotely fill it.  If Otule and/or Fulce can't provide significant help filling that role, then we will not be wondering on selection Sunday what our seed is going to be, but whether or not we are going to be in the tournament.

Oh well.  We've known and been saying these things for months.  At some point we just need to sit back and enjoy the season.  It's going to be a tough year, but we're still a good team.  You're telling me Marquette is so bad, with so many inexcusable flaws, that they are not clearly in the upper tier of D1 programs?  PUH-lease.  We've got a lot of basketball to play, and we might not dominate conference play, but we are going to steal some games here and there.  We have a tough enough schedule in conference play to get us through if we can just grab a few nice wins to hang our hats on.  MU_Hilltopper might call me a hater-hater, but I just don't get the doom-and-gloom philosophy everyone has.

We still have THE best backcourt in the BEast, and one of the best in the nation.  Forgive me for being stubborn, but I won't jump ship on our team at this point in the season.

[CTWarrior]

You're telling me Marquette is so bad, with so many inexcusable flaws, that they are not clearly in the upper tier of D1 programs?  PUH-lease.  

Where did I say we are so bad with so many inexcusable flaws and that we are clearly not in the upper tier of D-1 programs?  We have one inexcusable flaw:  a complete and utter lack on the roster of a person taller than 6-6 who can play high D-1 basketball (Ideally you'd like to have at least 3).  Are we one of the top 50 basketball teams in the country with our current roster?  Probably.  Are we one of the top 30 as presently constructed?  I don't think so.  That puts us squarely on the NCAA bubble in my book, unless Fulce and/or Otule can be effective players this year. 

I'm not jumping ship, either.  I will root for this team through thick and thin, as I have for 30 years.  I just don't have a good feeling about this team in this league in this season and the Dayton game just confirmed what I had been thinking watching the first 5 games.  Hope I'm wrong.

[JSwarriors08]

Oh well.  Agree to disagree, I suppose.  I think we'll be fine, but only time will tell.

[TallTitan34]

Based on the last 3 years, they do have a bad game every now and then.  This isn't even our worst loss in the last 4 years!

2008: Dayton @ Neutral
2007: No real bad losses but we got killed in both Louisville games by a far better team
2006: North Dakota State @ Home
2005: Winthrop @ Home

[MUSF]

Based on the last 3 years, they do have a bad game every now and then.  This isn't even our worst loss in the last 4 years!

2008: Dayton @ Neutral
2007: No real bad losses but we got killed in both Louisville games by a far better team
2006: North Dakota State @ Home
2005: Winthrop @ Home

Don't forget that there have been some narrow victories over lesser opponents that have created similar message board meltdowns.

[Aughnanure]

We had a "bad game alright"----but I wouldn't alibi that loss by saying "it was just a bad game"-----to many serious fundamental flaws----can't guard one on one on the penetration worth a damn against quick/athletic people----no interior presence by our #5 (rebs or points)-----too much in a hurry and don't value possessions as a result.

Can see why Buzz's UNO team had a #334 defensive ranking!

BS! dont start arguing that suddenly b/c of Buzz Jerel, Dominic and Wesley cant play D "against quick/athletic people." They ARE the quick and athletic, the  PROBLEM is that they are the WALL holding the defense together.  If anyone gets slightly past our guards who is going to be there to help? Not Burke or the other tandems of small forwards we put out there. I get sick of this board going off on the 3 for offense and defense.  our WEAKNESSES are the result of having no shooters and no consistent post play (if only we had two Lazars we might be able to get away with our height---and Buzz doesnt have the balls to not start one of the 3 for a better outside shooter like Butler).  We have no presence defensively or offensively in the post and that consequently makes the rest suffer (would help if we had a dangerous shooter like Novak to open up lanes).

The big 3 have improved since freshman year, anyone who argues they have digressed is NOT watching. Since Novak, we have no outside threat and since Jackson we have no Inside threat---guess what problems that cause......the ability to drive which is our guards biggest strength and inability to recover on D whenever either one gets beat.

Oh, and don't bring up Buzz's defensive numbers from UNO.  It was one year on a team without much, and defense will be as good as the talent you have.  When we get a bunch more 6'6-7'0 guys to hold the lanes it will get better.  Buzz is trying to play the advantages of our guards' athletic ability on defense against their insufficiencies in the post- sometimes one beats the other.  Buzz has enough experience on the bench (asst coaches) that it is ridiculous to assume he can't coach defense somehow- adjustments matter more than any coaching strategy you have coming into a game and Buzz unfortunately doesn't have much to work with to adjust right now. 

Here's hoping that Fulce is the real deal.

[Pakuni]

Oh well.  We've known and been saying these things for months.

Exactly.
Dayton didn't expose anything we didn't know already about this team. The lack of inside defense and scoring was there against Northern Iowa and UWM as well. We knew in October that rebounding would be an issue, and it became more of one when Fulce and Otule went down.
The difference is in those prior games Marquette did the things it can do - score in transition, score off penetration, create turnovers, etc. - well enough to overcome their shortcomings. And it helped that those teams weren't good enough to take advantage of those shortcomings. I'm still not convinced Dayton is all that good, but I do know that Marquette did not do the things that they need to be good at in order to win. When MU does those things, they're going to be competitive, I think, against most teams. When they don't, they can lose to just about anybody.

[Flyer Foe]

Based on the last 3 years, they do have a bad game every now and then.  This isn't even our worst loss in the last 4 years!

2008: Dayton @ Neutral
2007: No real bad losses but we got killed in both Louisville games by a far better team

I watched the game and in my opinion, Marquette didn't have a bad game - they just got beat by a better team on Saturday night.

Last season the Flyers jumped out to a 14-1 record, and was ranked # 14 in the AP Poll the very same January day that Chris Wright broke his ankle - a season-ending injury.  Prior to that (during the 2007-08 season), Dayton beat Pittsburgh 80-55 at UD Arena, and beat Louisville at Louisville 70-65.  Charles Little also broke a bone in his foot 2 games after Wright broke his ankle, which sidelined him as well, and started the Flyers' drift into mediocrity during Atlantic 10 conference play.

Dayton Flyers 2007-08 Schedule and Results

The year before that, the Flyers soundly beat Louisville on a neutral court in Cincinnati.

With Chris Wright in the line-up the Flyers are a much better team than without him. In fact, the Dayton has a better team this year than Marquette, as you witnesssed on Saturday.

The Flyers will soon be moving into the Top 25, so relax - it won't be a "bad loss" on the Golden Eagles' score card when Selection Sunday rolls around.

[NavinRJohnson]

We had a "bad game alright"----but I wouldn't alibi that loss by saying "it was just a bad game"

Based on what I have seen thus far, I agree with this. MU has been rather weak defensively all season. However, I do expect this team to get better as the year wears on. We have seen these guys defend in the past. For whatever reason, they aren't doing it this year. I expect the next month  or so (UW,Tenn, early BE) to be a bit rough, but I do think they will play well and have much more success later in the season.

[rocky_warrior]

I watched the game and in my opinion, Marquette didn't have a bad game - they just got beat by a better team on Saturday night.

With all due respect, Marquette did have a TERRIBLE game on Saturday.  But we can both agree that Dayton is a very good team. 

The Flyers will soon be moving into the Top 25, so relax - it won't be a "bad loss" on the Golden Eagles' score card when Selection Sunday rolls around.

In this we can also agree, this loss was only "bad" in that many had expected MU to walk all over UD (especially after your Friday performance).

I was sitting surrounded by a mass of UD fans for both games, and while some certainly can be obnoxious, I found the bulk to generally be very  knowledgeable hoops fans.  Cheers, and thanks for stopping in.