MUScoop
MUScoop => Hangin' at the Al => Topic started by: tower912 on March 21, 2019, 07:56:03 PM
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1. With my last name, I am in a 'Murray' state of mind all of the time.
2. Ja is going to be a lottery pick. Akinjo, McClung, Powell, Ponds, Booth. Of course Morant is going to be exponentially better and do exponentially more damage. Triple Double.
3. Murray State all channeled Jean Felix. Remember how the talk was they weren't a great 3 pt shooting team? MU's plan was to go Jordan Rules on Morant and force him to give up the ball. Well, it worked. Except Murray State made it rain.
4. Speed kills. I said after the very first game of the year that Sam and Joey both looked slow. It never really got better. I hope both are able to work on their quickness in the offseason. If I had to choose between two teams of equal skill, one of which is a couple of inches taller at every position but not particularly fast, or a team that is a couple of inches short at every position but is really quick, I will take the quick team every single time. Murray State was faster at every position. Somebody on one of the boards asked about a 6'5 guy guarding Sam. The 6'5 guy was quicker. End of discussion.
5. It was already over, but Morrow getting blocked by the rim on the dunk attempt was just the sprinkles on the cupcake.
6. I actually thought Bailey worked his ass off against Morant.
7. It would have been nice if Markus heated up, but that ship sailed 3 weeks ago. He kept MU in the game until he picked up his second foul.
8. Everybody is beating up on Wojo, as is the norm after every loss. But from a cursory reading, nobody has actually made a reasonable case for changes that could have been made. Anim and Bailey worked hard. They were hedging on the screens to take away the drive. They turned him a few times. But his passing was simply too good. And then Murray State was making the second pass. And again, it all goes back to speed.
9. I made predictions before exactly two games this season. The Indiana game and the Murray State game. Both times, I predicted a double digit loss. IU, because they appeared quicker at every position and the game was at Assembly Hall. Murray State, because MU had so many problems late defending alpha guards who weren't as good as Ja.
10. There is no way Wojo gets fired. Everybody suggesting it is just venting. Understandably.
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11. Baseball season.
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Bailey played great. Wojo needs to find some footing, fast.
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One adjustment that I think could have been made is to pull the defense back. Go underneath the picks. Make Morant shoot.
As for the rest, you are spot on. Hoping that having two quicker guards is going to help.
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Wojo is not getting fired this week.
But he has 365 days to win an NCAA game, or he's 100% fired.
So there's that.
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Joey to the 5 and Sam to the 4 and add Greg and Koby an d Samir. World of difference.
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I have an idea of some things Wojo could’ve done. First stop collapsing on Ja when they were hitting open shots. Our gameplan wasn’t working. You have to change it up. Second play Markus off the ball more and let Sacar run some point. Third do a better job taking advantage of our size. Play through the post every possession. Fourth play more zone. We did one possession and got a stop. Last I would’ve played Heldt. He couldn’t have done worse. He’s very disciplined on D and stays home. He also would’ve done a better job boxing out.
The only thing Wojo couldn’t do was stick the an obvious bad game plan hoping it would magically start working
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I just don't see how Joey is going to guard a center. I don't mind a guy like Theo there, but I would consider bringing Joey off the bench.
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He should have stopped doubling much, much earlier. The roll guy killed us.
And so many shots early in the shot clock. That’s coaching. Bailey’s missed 3 at end of 1st half with no shot clock was a 6 point swing.
All we heard when Wojo was hired was about basketball players and brains. Well we continue to make some very dumb decisions.
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If drunks in a bar could pick up after 5 minutes that double teaming Ja wasn't going to work, I hoped Wojo would.
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Wojo is not getting fired this week.
But he has 365 days to win an NCAA game, or he's 100% fired.
So there's that.
100% fired? Not so sure about that.
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He should have stopped doubling much, much earlier. The roll guy killed us.
And so many shots early in the shot clock. That’s coaching. Bailey’s missed 3 at end of 1st half with no shot clock was a 6 point swing.
All we heard when Wojo was hired was about basketball players and brains. Well we continue to make some very dumb decisions.
That play at the end of the half was a killer. They weathered the storm with Markus on the bench, down four and with the ball. They could have used a TO there to get Howard back, but instead he rolled with it and Bailey took a terrible shot. Morant hits a 3 and they're down 7.
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100% fired? Not so sure about that.
If Marquette regresses next year, either Wojo is fired or I'm sitting outside real chili with a bell boasting for Bill Murray to be our next head coach.
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Ja would be player of the year in every conference in America not named the ACC
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100% fired? Not so sure about that.
You're kidding, right? On paper, next year's team has even more talent than this year's. Markus might repeat as BE POY. Hauser 1st team BE. Heck, maybe Joey 2nd team.
If MU is one and done again March 21, 2020? He should be fired in the locker room.
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Yeah lack of athleticism has killed us all year
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You're kidding, right? On paper, next year's team has even more talent than this year's. Markus might repeat as BE POY. Hauser 1st team BE. Heck, maybe Joey 2nd team.
If MU is one and done again March 21, 2020? He should be fired in the locker room.
Not debating whether or not he deserves to be fired, whether or not MU would actually fire him.
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Final 4 next year
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Not debating whether or not he deserves to be fired, whether or not MU would actually fire him.
The print is very fine, but I'm pretty sure in our last contract, Scoop moderators were granted the power to hire and fire MU coaches.
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Final 4 next year
That team had toughness. This team does not. :-[
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Bailey played great. Wojo needs to find some footing, fast.
He played hard on D, but Bailey's decision making on offense was horrendous. Handed Murray St huge momentum with an poor decision to jack a 3 that wasn't close and then Morant hit a 3 on the other end on a possession that never should have happened. Given the way we got crushed in the 2nd half it didn't matter, but Bailey needs to either dramatically improve his shot or drop the gunner mentality. I love his aggressiveness, play and attitude overall, but you can't be a high volume (for his minutes and touches) shooter with minimal productivity.
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10) Wojo is not getting fired. I think most agree but not for the same reasons.
The real question, is it the right decision and if it is how many more years do we ride this horse? A number of Scoopers have said respect the process and the process takes five years to judge a coach. Now five years are up. So is the MU administration satisfied with the results or do we just keep on going? I see no accountability in the MU program and I expect that to continue.
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1. With my last name, I am in a 'Murray' state of mind all of the time.
2. Ja is going to be a lottery pick. Akinjo, McClung, Powell, Ponds, Booth. Of course Morant is going to be exponentially better and do exponentially more damage. Triple Double.
3. Murray State all channeled Jean Felix. Remember how the talk was they weren't a great 3 pt shooting team? MU's plan was to go Jordan Rules on Morant and force him to give up the ball. Well, it worked. Except Murray State made it rain.
4. Speed kills. I said after the very first game of the year that Sam and Joey both looked slow. It never really got better. I hope both are able to work on their quickness in the offseason. If I had to choose between two teams of equal skill, one of which is a couple of inches taller at every position but not particularly fast, or a team that is a couple of inches short at every position but is really quick, I will take the quick team every single time. Murray State was faster at every position. Somebody on one of the boards asked about a 6'5 guy guarding Sam. The 6'5 guy was quicker. End of discussion.
5. It was already over, but Morrow getting blocked by the rim on the dunk attempt was just the sprinkles on the cupcake.
6. I actually thought Bailey worked his ass off against Morant.
7. It would have been nice if Markus heated up, but that ship sailed 3 weeks ago. He kept MU in the game until he picked up his second foul.
8. Everybody is beating up on Wojo, as is the norm after every loss. But from a cursory reading, nobody has actually made a reasonable case for changes that could have been made. Anim and Bailey worked hard. They were hedging on the screens to take away the drive. They turned him a few times. But his passing was simply too good. And then Murray State was making the second pass. And again, it all goes back to speed.
9. I made predictions before exactly two games this season. The Indiana game and the Murray State game. Both times, I predicted a double digit loss. IU, because they appeared quicker at every position and the game was at Assembly Hall. Murray State, because MU had so many problems late defending alpha guards who weren't as good as Ja.
10. There is no way Wojo gets fired. Everybody suggesting it is just venting. Understandably.
Re #3. Most college teams (even ones who don't shoot particularly well) can make shot that are totally uncontested. If our game plan was to give them their fill of wide open 3s with a sprinkling of uncontested lay ups it was a poor game plan.
Re #4 Their real fat guy in the middle didn't look all that fast - thought he overpowered Theo and Morrow.
Re #8. It was obvious to me what Wojo should have done. I mean, we know from experience that good pint guards DESTROY our man to man defense. And Morant is better than good. Five minutes into the game (I think we were up 10-8) I told the guys I was with we had zero chance if we stuck with his suicide plan of defense. Pack in a zone, mix with some box and 1 was our only chance.
Re #6 Bailey will become a good player
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10) Wojo is not getting fired. I think most agree but not for the same reasons.
The real question, is it the right decision and if it is how many more years do we ride this horse? A number of Scoopers have said respect the process and the process takes five years to judge a coach. Now five years are up. So is the MU administration satisfied with the results or do we just keep on going? I see no accountability in the MU program and I expect that to continue.
They have improved nearly every year under Wojo. They may not be improving quickly enough, and I can understand that frustration, but they aren't firing him now.
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1. With my last name, I am in a 'Murray' state of mind all of the time.
2. Ja is going to be a lottery pick. Akinjo, McClung, Powell, Ponds, Booth. Of course Morant is going to be exponentially better and do exponentially more damage. Triple Double.
3. Murray State all channeled Jean Felix. Remember how the talk was they weren't a great 3 pt shooting team? MU's plan was to go Jordan Rules on Morant and force him to give up the ball. Well, it worked. Except Murray State made it rain.
4. Speed kills. I said after the very first game of the year that Sam and Joey both looked slow. It never really got better. I hope both are able to work on their quickness in the offseason. If I had to choose between two teams of equal skill, one of which is a couple of inches taller at every position but not particularly fast, or a team that is a couple of inches short at every position but is really quick, I will take the quick team every single time. Murray State was faster at every position. Somebody on one of the boards asked about a 6'5 guy guarding Sam. The 6'5 guy was quicker. End of discussion.
5. It was already over, but Morrow getting blocked by the rim on the dunk attempt was just the sprinkles on the cupcake.
6. I actually thought Bailey worked his ass off against Morant.
7. It would have been nice if Markus heated up, but that ship sailed 3 weeks ago. He kept MU in the game until he picked up his second foul.
8. Everybody is beating up on Wojo, as is the norm after every loss. But from a cursory reading, nobody has actually made a reasonable case for changes that could have been made. Anim and Bailey worked hard. They were hedging on the screens to take away the drive. They turned him a few times. But his passing was simply too good. And then Murray State was making the second pass. And again, it all goes back to speed.
9. I made predictions before exactly two games this season. The Indiana game and the Murray State game. Both times, I predicted a double digit loss. IU, because they appeared quicker at every position and the game was at Assembly Hall. Murray State, because MU had so many problems late defending alpha guards who weren't as good as Ja.
10. There is no way Wojo gets fired. Everybody suggesting it is just venting. Understandably.
We get it, your predictions are always right
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Not always. But they are usually realistic.
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Re #4 Their real fat guy in the middle didn't look all that fast - thought he overpowered Theo and Morrow.
Re #6 Bailey will become a good player
The Marquette people I was with thought he was the incarnation of Davante Gardner.
Bailey should be vastly improved next year to boot.
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1. I had the foresight to park in the Front Street district away from the heavily congested XL.
2. The rain in Hartford held off.
3. Next week baseball season starts.
4. It was great to see NYWarrior and JT92 who I have not seen in awhile.
5. I had a great conversation with some alumni from Boston and St. Louis over a beer at City Steam. Thanks for coming to town. And had fun at the game with the Alum and his son who I went with.
6. Is it a Kentucky and basketball thing as I thought there were surprisingly a ton of Murray State fans.
7. This totally sucks horribly losing, but we were at least there and this team should be way better next year as everyone should improve and we have players coming in who should help fill the known defecencies.
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8) Wojo changes? 5 years. Recruit faster players, better athletes, more skilled players, more lateral quickness at both ends of the floor.
Today, terrible transition defense. Not much excuse for that. Terrible assist count offensively, not sharing the ball, crisp with pace, making the extra pass with confident purpose. Not matching the intensity of the opponent.
Murray St. is good, and they played well. As a program they have done this before. Use speed, athleticism, ability to not only get to paint, but knock down shots.
MU needs a skilled athletic front court player. It needs better ball handling and being stronger on the ball. Turnover problem pattern for a long time, many unforced.
If Howard stays, and McEwen is as good as expected, with Greg foming back, add an athletic skilled 4-5 if Morrow nor John can be that.
But the long term recruiting pattern is there. Needs a bit more athletic, bouncy, speed, but still skilled players at both ends.
5 years, 2 NCAA’s, 0 wins, poor conference tourney record, 0 finals, and only 2 top 5 league finishes. The expectations with Wojo moving forward are much higher than that considering his resources and considering the amount of time he has already had. That is reasonable.
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They have improved nearly every year under Wojo. They may not be improving quickly enough, and I can understand that frustration, but they aren't firing him now.
Everyone has different expectations.
I had the good fortunate to see great coaching at Marquette. I have also seen mediocrity. Wojo has risen from mediocrity to mediocrity plus. The administration will accept that level of performance. I think MU should expect more but the administration has other expectations. They would like to compete at a high level but without a change that will only be an unfulfilled dream. So life goes on and the world will not come to an end and MU basketball will reflect the expectations of the administration.
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6. Is it a Kentucky and basketball thing as I thought there were surprisingly a ton of Murray State fans.
Murray State has a nice fan base. They are on steroids this season. The OVC in Indiana in 2018 had 3k for the title game vs Belmont. The rematch was over 10k this year.
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Murray State has a nice fan base. They are on steroids this season. The OVC in Indiana in 2018 had 3k for the title game vs Belmont. The rematch was over 10k this year.
The Missouri Valley passing on Murray State and Belmont was a puzzler for me
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Murray State has a nice fan base. They are on steroids this season. The OVC in Indiana in 2018 had 3k for the title game vs Belmont. The rematch was over 10k this year.
Belmont and the Nashville market to the Big East.
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Murray State has a nice fan base. They are on steroids this season. The OVC in Indiana in 2018 had 3k for the title game vs Belmont. The rematch was over 10k this year.
Very good fan base for Murray St. for a long time. Murray St. is close to Nashville. Belmont, Lipscomb, Nashville schools, lots of good ball and fans in those areas too.
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MU needs more playmakers and creators. Today showed it. It seems unbalanced rosters is a Wojo thing. MU current and future rosters need to get more athletic and stronger.
Will he recruit and land Chicagoland hs kids? Will he land any of the Milwaukee area studs?
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MU needs more playmakers and creators. Today showed it. It seems unbalanced rosters is a Wojo thing. MU current and future rosters need to get more athletic and stronger.
Will he recruit and land Chicagoland hs kids? Will he land any of the Milwaukee area studs?
Can’t imagine days like today help his cause in that space
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MU needs more playmakers and creators. Today showed it. It seems unbalanced rosters is a Wojo thing. MU current and future rosters need to get more athletic and stronger.
This has been the single biggest problem since he has gotten here.
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And one more. UConn fans at the bar were asking the MU alums if they could come back to the Big East.
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They have improved nearly every year under Wojo. They may not be improving quickly enough, and I can understand that frustration, but they aren't firing him now.
This cliche about Wojo is wrong, and I don't know why I see it so much on here. This year's team was grossly overrated due to a misleadingly bad Big East. Just because they were assigned a 5 seed in the tournament doesn't mean they were a Top 20 team in the country (and many analytics including 538, others agree with that). The best team we've had under Wojo beat National Champion Nova and bowed out to South Carolina (a Final Four team). And the craziest part - the heartbeat of that team included multiple BUZZ PLAYERS. Wojo is a very, very mediocre coach and there is no discernible trajectory for the program at this point. After next year - Sam, Markus, Sacar will graduate. He basically has one more chance to do something with the team HE HAS BUILT.
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And one more. UConn fans at the bar were asking the MU alums if they could come back to the Big East.
Did you make them buy you beers for your significant influence? It sounds like they were begging.
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For all of you saying athleticism will help...SJU was one of the most athletic teams in the country, where did that get them?? Wojo's comments in the JS article really REALLY piss me off even more...talked about having to "examine" why they didn't pkay well the last 7 games of the season...Uhhh you should have had that figured out after the 2nd straight loss...more proof he has no idea what he's doing.
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MU needs more playmakers and creators. Today showed it. It seems unbalanced rosters is a Wojo thing. MU current and future rosters need to get more athletic and stronger.
Will he recruit and land Chicagoland hs kids? Will he land any of the Milwaukee area studs?
Who cares where they come from?
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Strive for nothin' and y'all hit it every tyme, hey?
You can't hide your lyin' eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you'd realize
There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes
There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes
Honey, you can't hide your lyin' eyes
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For all of you saying athleticism will help...SJU was one of the most athletic teams in the country, where did that get them?? Wojo's comments in the JS article really REALLY piss me off even more...talked about having to "examine" why they didn't pkay well the last 7 games of the season...Uhhh you should have had that figured out after the 2nd straight loss...more proof he has no idea what he's doing.
Just a silly argument. Obviously athletiscm alone will not get you far, but it can be a big factor and usually is. Having no athleticism can screw your team
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Who cares where they come from?
Because it is on your doorstep and the talent pool is there? Wojo seems to ignore Chicagoland.
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I guess we all know how Kentucky fans felt in 2003 with Dwyane's triple double.
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They have improved nearly every year under Wojo. They may not be improving quickly enough, and I can understand that frustration, but they aren't firing him now.
He didn't say they are firing him. He asked a question.
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Because it is on your doorstep and the talent pool is there? Wojo seems to ignore Chicagoland.
Morrow is from Chicago
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Morrow is from Chicago
My original post said "recruit hs kids", not transfers or walk-ons. Wojo doesn't even seem to dip his toe South of the Cheddar Curtain. It's intentional and I don't know why (and I am not just talking CPS kids).
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Methinks recruiting Chicagoland and running a clean program might be mutually exclusive.
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1. I had the foresight to park in the Front Street district away from the heavily congested XL.
2. The rain in Hartford held off.
3. Next week baseball season starts.
4. It was great to see NYWarrior and JT92 who I have not seen in awhile.
5. I had a great conversation with some alumni from Boston and St. Louis over a beer at City Steam. Thanks for coming to town. And had fun at the game with the Alum and his son who I went with.
6. Is it a Kentucky and basketball thing as I thought there were surprisingly a ton of Murray State fans.
7. This totally sucks horribly losing, but we were at least there and this team should be way better next year as everyone should improve and we have players coming in who should help fill the known defecencies.
Yup. We will be way better next year. Wash and repeat. Same coach, same players more of same. Wojo will be the man for eternity because ee cannot dare to look elsewhere, or dare to objectively look at the
Crap performance.
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Waking up this morning, I am surprised at how ticked off I still am about our pathetic performance yesterday. We are a laughing stock all throughout the media.
“We are...A Joke!”
There are gifs of Ja Morant murdering Joey Hauser on that nasty dunk (‘Ja Murders some White Dude’)
The only upside is, the typical slant is how amazing Ja Morant looked rather than how inept we looked, but the Maruqtte players are the rodeo clowns.
The part that upsets me is, the players gave up on this game and on this coach. And Marquette’s leadership will do nothing about it. When the Packers gave up on McCarthy after the loss to the Cardinals, Mark fired his ass because he knew the players were trying to tell him something. Wojo deserves the same.
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I have an idea of some things Wojo could’ve done. First stop collapsing on Ja when they were hitting open shots. Our gameplan wasn’t working. You have to change it up. Second play Markus off the ball more and let Sacar run some point. Third do a better job taking advantage of our size. Play through the post every possession. Fourth play more zone. We did one possession and got a stop. Last I would’ve played Heldt. He couldn’t have done worse. He’s very disciplined on D and stays home. He also would’ve done a better job boxing out.
The only thing Wojo couldn’t do was stick the an obvious bad game plan hoping it would magically start working
Our half court defense wasn't great but what killed us was our transition defense. Ill advised shots, turnovers and poor rebounding led to countless runouts that led to scores or fouls. Our panicked offense led to our constantly not being rotated properly for transition defense. Howard was a big perpetrator, but I understand why Wojo is loathe to get after him too much because we have nobody else who can remotely handle the ball against defensive pressure.
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Would Murray State have won the Big East? Legit question and scary.
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For all of you saying athleticism will help...SJU was one of the most athletic teams in the country, where did that get them?? Wojo's comments in the JS article really REALLY piss me off even more...talked about having to "examine" why they didn't pkay well the last 7 games of the season...Uhhh you should have had that figured out after the 2nd straight loss...more proof he has no idea what he's doing.
SJU had no size, no depth and no discipline. Yet they beat us 2 out of 3. Athleticism goes a long way, but of course it is not the only thing.
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MU needs more playmakers and creators. Today showed it. It seems unbalanced rosters is a Wojo thing. MU current and future rosters need to get more athletic and stronger.
Will he recruit and land Chicagoland hs kids? Will he land any of the Milwaukee area studs?
Last year we needed more size. Size was the issue, and more size coming in would lead us to the promised land. This year it's speed. I flushed my memory of two and three years ago, but know we were in "cubbard is bare" territory or "Henry unbalanced us" or some other excuse. After 5 years I think we can just cut to the bone: Every college team is going to have a deficiency. Good coaches adjust to minimize theirs and capitalize on their strengths. I thought WOJO might be getting to this point, but the end of this season demonstrates that was just wishful thinking.
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Last year we needed more size. Size was the issue, and more size coming in would lead us to the promised land. This year it's speed. I flushed my memory of two and three years ago, but know we were in "cubbard is bare" territory or "Henry unbalanced us" or some other excuse. After 5 years I think we can just cut to the bone: Every college team is going to have a deficiency. Good coaches adjust to minimize theirs and capitalize on their strengths. I thought WOJO might be getting to this point, but the end of this season demonstrates that was just wishful thinking.
Yep. Spot on post.
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Waking up this morning, I am surprised at how ticked off I still am about our pathetic performance yesterday. We are a laughing stock all throughout the media.
“We are...A Joke!”
There are gifs of Ja Morant murdering Joey Hauser on that nasty dunk (‘Ja Murders some White Dude’)
The only upside is, the typical slant is how amazing Ja Morant looked rather than how inept we looked, but the Maruqtte players are the rodeo clowns.
The part that upsets me is, the players gave up on this game and on this coach. And Marquette’s leadership will do nothing about it. When the Packers gave up on McCarthy after the loss to the Cardinals, Mark fired his ass because he knew the players were trying to tell him something. Wojo deserves the same.
Who did MU lose to that was close to your example of the Cardinals? Your analogy is so wildly off. Our players certainly got frustrated, but they didn’t give up on the season like the Packers did....massive difference. Also, McCarthy was trending down for several years, also completely opposite to MU.
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0 toughness on this team, no chip, no fight
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Golden
Lack of system, athleticism and talent is bigger issue.
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0 toughness on this team, no chip, no fight
Go back one month and this board, along with a number of fans who say what you just did were praising the team and the fight it had after comebacks.....our fans have the memory of a 95 year old.
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Wojo is not getting fired this week.
But he has 365 days to win an NCAA game, or he's 100% fired.
So there's that.
Sure hope that they don’t have a Friday opening day for the tournament next season or he’ll get fired night before game day....that would be awkward 😜
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Would Murray State have won the Big East? Legit question and scary.
Could they? Yes. Would they shoot that well game in and game out? That’s the question.
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Wojo's brought in more athletic players the past two classes. But they're also our youngest players.
Ike (a redshirt sophomore next season) hasn't set foot on the court due to injury. Greg (another redshirt sophomore) played with an injury his freshman season and sat out all this year. Jamal looks like to me like the best athlete on the team -- but has also looked completely lost on the court.
That leaves Theo as the only player from that recruiting class who played significant minutes this season. He showed clear improvement, but remains foul-prone and needs to make better decisions on the court.
Bailey (a sophomore next season) is another high-level athlete. He showed enough this season to earn playing time off the bench as a defensive stopper. His decision-making on offense has been questionable at best.
Sacar has plenty of quickness and athleticism. He's the team's best defender for a reason -- he pays attention to the scouting report, works hard to stay between his man and the basket, and can defend without fouling. He's flashed offensive potential, but hasn't been consistent.
Next season, we lose two slower players (Matt Heldt and Joseph Chartouney) and should gain three quicker, more athletic players (Kobe McEwen, Dexter Akanno and Greg Elliott back from injury). Kobe and Greg will be expected to be big contributors, either starting or off the bench. Anything Dexter adds will be a bonus.
I'm less concerned with having enough athleticism and quickness. We need our most athletic players to stay healthy, for one. And we need them to make positive contributions, not jack up ill-advised shots or turn the ball over like it was hot.
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Go back one month and this board, along with a number of fans who say what you just did were praising the team and the fight it had after comebacks.....our fans have the memory of a 95 year old.
Right, well you just proved the assertion that Wojo failed. If they could play with toughness and win games except the last 7 or 8, then the players have the ability to succeed. The coaches didn’t get it out of them when it mattered most. The fact of the matter is they played like crap the last 7 or so games of the season. This isn’t a case of a hot mid major upset in the tournament. The injury and being tired argument is a joke. If they are healthy enough to play in the game then they need to perform. If being tired is an excuse in the biggest games of the year then this team is as soft as a marshmallow.
I am not one to over react and call for the coaches head every time they lose. But the coaching staff bears responsibility for this collapse no question. To claim otherwise you are sticking your head in the sand.
And your repeated response of “Who are you going to get that is better” is a ridiculous argument fitting of the Chico way. Joe Schmo MUScoop poster isn’t the person who gets to pick the coaches. If a coach isn’t the right guy, then a change should be made. I am pretty sure there are plenty of qualified candidates.
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So life goes on and the world will not come to an end and MU basketball will reflect the expectations of the administration.
And I expect the only way the administration changes expectations will be a decline in interest at the door. The new arena will help hold that off for a while....
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This has been the single biggest problem since he has gotten here.
Yep.
I. I think it was the second St John's game during the regular season where they had Wojo mic'd up in a huddle and he was yelling at the team that they were allowing their offense to dictate their defense. He told them, "you're hanging your heads on a missed shot and losing a step on defense...knock it off!" In almost every loss this year, MU loses when they let their defense be affected by their offensive performance.
II. Someone up above said this team lacks toughness. Also agreed. In almost every loss there has been a critical turnover or series of bad shots that spark desperation... Al used to say that every team needs a "white-knuckler." As good as Howard is, he's not a white-knuckler. Every last second shot that has happened this year (and there were a couple) I chalk up to luck, not guts. There was a series of plays late in the second-half yesterday where it looked like the team was playing hot-potato...they looked like they weren't just moving the ball, they were getting rid of it.
[edit-addition] In the game yesterday there was a period in the first half where MU went on a nice little run... Everyone focuses on Marcus getting his second foul and sitting as the tipping point. Marcus' second foul also seems to have caused our team to stop rebounding the ball with serious physicality and aggression. Look at the tape, the team just stopped going aggressively to the glass - and it lasted the rest of the game.
In the off-season I hope Wojo can get a defensive mindset instilled in this team and find somebody to be the "un-rattle-able go to stud" when the game is on the line.
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Last year we needed more size. Size was the issue, and more size coming in would lead us to the promised land. This year it's speed. I flushed my memory of two and three years ago, but know we were in "cubbard is bare" territory or "Henry unbalanced us" or some other excuse. After 5 years I think we can just cut to the bone: Every college team is going to have a deficiency. Good coaches adjust to minimize theirs and capitalize on their strengths. I thought WOJO might be getting to this point, but the end of this season demonstrates that was just wishful thinking.
+1000. This is entirely correct.
We should have a season-by-season wiki page on excuses, so we can keep them all straight.
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+1000. This is entirely correct.
We should have a season-by-season wiki page on excuses, so we can keep them all straight.
This is the thing though and I know we see this differently. We don't need an excuse for this season. It was a good season with a sh*tty ending.
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My original post said "recruit hs kids", not transfers or walk-ons. Wojo doesn't even seem to dip his toe South of the Cheddar Curtain. It's intentional and I don't know why (and I am not just talking CPS kids).
What makes you say that it's intentional?
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0 toughness on this team, no chip, no fight
One week ago people were complaining that Sacar didn't flop against Powell.
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What makes you say that it's intentional?
Sorry that is unfair. I should have added the word “must” as in speculation. I see the majority of MU students being from Illinois, but I see no (as in zero) MUBB chatter about Illinois recruits. No mentions in pool that has been strong in the burbs for quite some time, including the kid from Rolling Meadows and the a traditionally strong ESCC and the CCL.
I guess the charter doesn’t fly to PWK or DuPage airports? No effort at all in Chicago from the looks and sound of things. I would be happy to be proven wrong.
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Sorry that is unfair. I should have added the word “must” as in speculation. I see the majority of MU students being from Illinois, but I see no (as in zero) MUBB chatter about Illinois recruits. No mentions in pool that has been strong in the burbs for quite some time, including the kid from Rolling Meadows and the a traditionally strong ESCC and the CCL.
I guess the charter doesn’t fly to PWK or DuPage airports? No effort at all in Chicago from the looks and sound of things. I would be happy to be proven wrong.
Doesn't want to intrude on Collins's turf? Just throwing it out there.
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That team had toughness. This team does not. :-[
That team had a proper coach. This team, clearly, does not...
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Sorry that is unfair. I should have added the word “must” as in speculation. I see the majority of MU students being from Illinois, but I see no (as in zero) MUBB chatter about Illinois recruits. No mentions in pool that has been strong in the burbs for quite some time, including the kid from Rolling Meadows and the a traditionally strong ESCC and the CCL.
I guess the charter doesn’t fly to PWK or DuPage airports? No effort at all in Chicago from the looks and sound of things. I would be happy to be proven wrong.
MU reportedly has offered 2020 CG DJ Steward from Whitney Young.
https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/four-star-junior-d-j-steward-talks-in-state-schools
They tried to get involved with and even offered Ayo Dosunmu, but he chose Illinois. Also recruited Barrett Bernom, who ended up at Northwestern and recently announced he would transfer.
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Right, well you just proved the assertion that Wojo failed. If they could play with toughness and win games except the last 7 or 8, then the players have the ability to succeed. The coaches didn’t get it out of them when it mattered most. The fact of the matter is they played like crap the last 7 or so games of the season. This isn’t a case of a hot mid major upset in the tournament. The injury and being tired argument is a joke. If they are healthy enough to play in the game then they need to perform. If being tired is an excuse in the biggest games of the year then this team is as soft as a marshmallow.
I am not one to over react and call for the coaches head every time they lose. But the coaching staff bears responsibility for this collapse no question. To claim otherwise you are sticking your head in the sand.
And your repeated response of “Who are you going to get that is better” is a ridiculous argument fitting of the Chico way. Joe Schmo MUScoop poster isn’t the person who gets to pick the coaches. If a coach isn’t the right guy, then a change should be made. I am pretty sure there are plenty of qualified candidates.
Which is why I showed the list of top assistants, and how none of them have been home run hires that so many seem to demand and think we are entitled to.
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Sorry that is unfair. I should have added the word “must” as in speculation. I see the majority of MU students being from Illinois, but I see no (as in zero) MUBB chatter about Illinois recruits. No mentions in pool that has been strong in the burbs for quite some time, including the kid from Rolling Meadows and the a traditionally strong ESCC and the CCL.
I guess the charter doesn’t fly to PWK or DuPage airports? No effort at all in Chicago from the looks and sound of things. I would be happy to be proven wrong.
Ed Morrow went to Simeon
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Ed Morrow went to Simeon
Again Cheeks...catch up with the thread and read completely instead posting indiscriminately. I know it’s hard switching back and forth between your screen names. I said HIGH SCHOOL recruiting...not transfers or walk-ones.
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Again Cheeks...catch up with the thread and read completely instead posting indiscriminately. I know it’s hard switching back and forth between your screen names. I said HIGH SCHOOL recruiting...not transfers or walk-ones.
Sorry to disappoint you on the name switching. I have offered a charity scenario to prove you all wrong and in the process the donations go to help sick children, win win. I sent a note out last night to a few posters here to set that up. Hopefully it does and you will contribute to the fun.
Looks like Pakuni addressed your cheddar curtain comments.
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Again Cheeks...catch up with the thread and read completely instead posting indiscriminately. I know it’s hard switching back and forth between your screen names. I said HIGH SCHOOL recruiting...not transfers or walk-ones.
Serious question ... does it matter where a recruit comes from?
It doesn't to me, and I don't think many complained (or at least complained with merit) that the previous coach's best players came from Texas and Georgia and North Carolina, not Illinois and Minnesota. I'm getting old and forgetful, but I can't recall a single impact player Buzz brought in from the Land of Lincoln. (Steve Taylor, Reggie Smith = not impact players).
The other thing to remember is that Chicago hasn't produced a ton of high school talent in recent years, for various reasons, including top kids leaving the state to prep elsewhere.
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Serious question ... does it matter where a recruit comes from?
It doesn't to me, and I don't think many complained (or at least complained with merit) that the previous coach's best players came from Texas and Georgia and North Carolina, not Illinois and Minnesota. I'm getting old and forgetful, but I can't recall a single impact player Buzz brought in from the Land of Lincoln. (Steve Taylor, Reggie Smith = not impact players).
The other thing to remember is that Chicago hasn't produced a ton of high school talent in recent years, for various reasons, including top kids leaving the state to prep elsewhere.
Why wouldn’t you at least try to recruit in a market an hour and a half drive? You have to pay your dues...you a program like MU just can’t show up.
As to Chicagoland talent...are you serious? Wisconsin put together F4 runs with Frank and Ben. Kentucky with Ulis and Davis. Pryor at Georgetown from ND Prep. Matthews at Michigan. Brunson from Stevenson.
Hell, even O’Mara from X. The Rolling Meadows freshman is supposed to be #1 in the country. You have to make a presence. If Wojo has other pipelines, that’s a great place to be efficient...but a program needs to plant long term roots in your backyard (MKE and Chicago) too.
As to Buzz
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Why wouldn’t you at least try to recruit in a market an hour and a half drive? You have to pay your dues...you a program like MU just can’t show up.
As to Chicagoland talent...are you serious? Wisconsin put together F4 runs with Frank and Ben. Kentucky with Ulis and Davis. Pryor at Georgetown from ND Prep. Matthews at Michigan. Brunson from Stevenson.
Hell, even O’Mara from X. The Rolling Meadows freshman is supposed to be #1 in the country. You have to make a presence. If Wojo has other pipelines, that’s a great place to be efficient...but a program needs to plant long term roots in your backyard (MKE and Chicago) too.
As to Buzz
How do you know he isn't making a presence? Honestly asking
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How do you know he isn't making a presence? Honestly asking
Again Cheeks, read threads completely before you post indiscriminately. As I said earlier, if MU has, great.
But you very well know if MU has, there would be news/buzz on it just as there has been for every recruit MU has been after in the five years he has been here. The please read the 1.1 million message recruiting thread for your proof.
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Why wouldn’t you at least try to recruit in a market an hour and a half drive? You have to pay your dues...you a program like MU just can’t show up.
As to Chicagoland talent...are you serious? Wisconsin put together F4 runs with Frank and Ben. Kentucky with Ulis and Davis. Pryor at Georgetown from ND Prep. Matthews at Michigan. Brunson from Stevenson.
Hell, even O’Mara from X. The Rolling Meadows freshman is supposed to be #1 in the country. You have to make a presence. If Wojo has other pipelines, that’s a great place to be efficient...but a program needs to plant long term roots in your backyard (MKE and Chicago) too.
Are you serious?
Frank Kaminsky and Anthony Davis were high school classes of 2011. Brust was high school class of 2010. Rodney Pryor graduated high school in 2011 and was so highly recruited he went to JUCO and then Robert Morris, before going to Georgetown as a grad transfer.
These are not recent classes. These are kids that left high school 4+ years before Wojo first recruiting class at Marquette. Very relevant to your complaints about him not recruiting of Chicago. It's telling that you could only name one player (Brunson) who Wojo could have even recruited to Marquette.
Two more points ... I named several Chicago-area players Wojo did recruit or is recruiting. No comment?
The Rolling Meadows freshman is actually a sophomore, and not #1 in country.
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Are you serious?
Frank Kaminsky and Anthony Davis were high school classes of 2011. Brust was high school class of 2010. Rodney Pryor graduated high school in 2011 and was so highly recruited he went to JUCO and then Robert Morris, before going to Georgetown as a grad transfer.
These are not recent classes. These are kids that left high school 4+ years before Wojo first recruiting class at Marquette. Very relevant to your complaints about him not recruiting of Chicago. It's telling that you could only name one player (Brunson) who Wojo could have even recruited to Marquette.
Two more points ... I named several Chicago-area players Wojo did recruit or is recruiting. No comment?
The Rolling Meadows freshman is actually a sophomore, and not #1 in country.
Is MU actually recruiting them, i.e., showing up to their games, making visits, etc.?
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Are you serious?
Frank Kaminsky and Anthony Davis were high school classes of 2011. Brust was high school class of 2010. Rodney Pryor graduated high school in 2011 and was so highly recruited he went to JUCO and then Robert Morris, before going to Georgetown as a grad transfer.
These are not recent classes. These are kids that left high school 4+ years before Wojo first recruiting class at Marquette. Very relevant to your complaints about him not recruiting of Chicago. It's telling that you could only name one player (Brunson) who Wojo could have even recruited to Marquette.
Two more points ... I named several Chicago-area players Wojo did recruit or is recruiting. No comment?
The Rolling Meadows freshman is actually a sophomore, and not #1 in country.
You are the one that brought Buzz and the lack of talent in Chicagoland, not me. I gave you the proven examples from that pool. Buzz was at least in on most of that talent and either lost or passed (I won’t get into his many high school misses).
So, back to the point of the topic, just to be clear I get your position...Wojo should just forget the Chicagoland talent pool? Makes sense then.
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I thought we were in on Brunson early, but were out of it fairly early.
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You are the one that brought Buzz and the lack of talent in Chicagoland, not me. I gave you the proven examples from that pool. Buzz was at least in on most of that talent and either lost or passed (I won’t get into his many high school misses).
This isn't rocket science, good doctor.
You complained about Wojo's lack of Chicago recruiting, so I named some of the Chicago-area players he did recruit or is recruiting. And I pointed out that the previous coach lightly recruited Chicago as well, with little such consternation from Scoop ... and with talents like Ben Brust and Rodney Pryor there to be had.
I honestly don't recall Buzz being in on many high-level recruits from Chicago (and please do yourself a favor and don't tell us he was in on Jabari Parker). Who am I missing?
So, back to the point of the topic, just to be clear I get your position...Wojo should just forget the Chicagoland talent pool? Makes sense then.
Yes, a totally accurate summation of what I wrote.
No wait, it's not. It's something you just made up.
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I thought we were in on Brunson early, but were out of it fairly early.
Yep...but his dad was going back to Philly to coach (didn’t happen due to a harassment charge...but it was clear Jalen was Philly-bound.
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Buzz tried to get Charles Matthews
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This isn't rocket science, good doctor.
You complained about Wojo's lack of Chicago recruiting, so I named some of the Chicago-area players he did recruit or is recruiting. And I pointed out that the previous coach lightly recruited Chicago as well, with little such consternation from Scoop ... and with talents like Ben Brust and Rodney Pryor there to be had.
I honestly don't recall Buzz being in on many high-level recruits from Chicago (and please do yourself a favor and don't tell us he was in on Jabari Parker). Who am I missing?
Yes, a totally accurate summation of what I wrote.
No wait, it's not. It's something you just made up.
My bad...I missed your earlier thread on Wojo...I pulled a Chicos. Mea culpa
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Buzz tried to get Charles Matthews
Yep. Definitely one. Paul White, also.
And, of course, Malek Harris.
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Yep. Definitely one. Paul White, also.
And, of course, Malek Harris.
Nunn too. Incredibly, he passed on Ulis early.
Btw, Buzz losing Matthews to UK may have been the last straw from him...I think in February. I have heard that was when he went to the interim admin to get the Larry Williams extrajudicial academic standards pulled back to the NCAA minimum, he was told to wait for the new administration to take over....and that was that (although it was ugly anyway).
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Sorry late to the party... was busy pre-occupying myself with other non-basketball thoughts over the last few days to maintain sanity.
Not that you asked, but here's Benny's thoughts...
1) First and foremost, the title of this thread should have been some play on "broken heart" as in "Broke in Hartford" or "Broken Hartford".... it works on multiple levels, as follows:
2) It was a heartbreaking loss. Despite the perceived doom-and-gloom of the 5-12 matchup, the game plan was sound... collapse on Morant and force them to shoot from the outside. Unfortunately, Murray State shot a boggling 80% from downtown in the first half. Credit to them... whether they knew what was coming or not, they were able to make MU pay the only way they could. The most heartbreaking part, however: the tender behind the Marriott cash bar that was still set up for the celebration after the game (which obviously never happened).
3) The team is broken. MU had as many as three key injuries going into the game. One was well-known but extent was downplayed, one occurred very recently, and one's been rumored/lingering for a while now. That said, injuries are a part of the game, but obviously, the team that played Thursday was missing all of the strengths of the team in the first half of the Nova game in Philly.
4) My God, some Scoopers have gone off the rails with their own broken spirits. MU will be a preseason top-20 team next year, with an outside chance of being a top-10 team depending on how things play out. The calls for Wojo to be fired have gone to plaid.
5) There's a reason Hartford hasn't been a first-round NCAA site in twenty years, and IMO, should not host again for another 20 years. Of course take this with a grain of salt since MU fans have been in a brand new arena for a year, but the XL Center is a crater waiting to happen. The Bradley Center - with all of its flaws and under-funding over the years - was a Fiserv Forum compared to the XL... though the Bradley Center was 10 years' its junior, the upkeep of the XL reminded me more of a Wrigley Field pre-Ricketts. I felt like I should have seen nets in more than one place to keep concrete chunks from falling off the ceiling onto the heads of unsuspecting patrons. Moreover, restroom shortages, concourse bottlenecks, and steep & narrow aisles aside (think upper bowl at BC... now make that the entire lower bowl at XL), the place just felt dirty walking in.
But that's not the reason NCAA should overlook Hartford from site selection going forward... granted, traffic is what it is, but there was no police presence, no coordination, no planning for 15,000 leaving an arena all at once... the XL staff shuffled people out the nearest exit as soon as the game was over, and the crowd simply spilled out onto the streets, grinding vehicular traffic to a halt around the immediate vicinity of the arena... my daughter and I - waiting for the MUAA bus - had a choice of being trampled in foot traffic or stand on the curb where we were constantly being bumped into the street (we chose the latter). Fortunately, as mentioned the traffic wasn't moving, so we weren't in any immediate danger, but if cars were moving on Church Street, it's not an exaggeration to say that we would have been taking our lives in our hands waiting for the bus. Further, there was no shortage of confusion with movement in/about the arena, e.g. where to go for will call, what lines to stand in, etc. Every NCAA event I've been to has had either info booths stationed, if not "local ambassadors" standing all over, on the streets surrounding the arena to help direct people, answer questions, etc. I saw ZERO of this in Hartford.
Frankly, this isn't entirely on the NCAA... this is mostly on the host institution: UCONN. Which makes a hell of a lot of sense seeing as how misguided by their own hubris they are... instead of considering the needs of eight out-of-town contingents (who happened to be where the majority of the economic impact was coming from) and seeking to make a positive impression on others, they effectively catered to the locals by doing the bare minimum and treating this as just another game that the state of Connecticut should feel honored that they were hosting.
[Ironically, Hartford, the Carolina's host the first round every year... ya' think it might be because they actually do a good job planning for the events and maintaining their facilities instead of assuming that everyone will clamor for tickets just because they are given the privilege of doing so?]
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3) The team is broken. MU had as many as three key injuries going into the game. One was well-known but extent was downplayed, one occurred very recently, and one's been rumored/lingering for a while now. That said, injuries are a part of the game, but obviously, the team that played Thursday was missing all of the strengths of the team in the first half of the Nova game in Philly.
/quote]
Would you feel comfortable giving more specific details with regards to the bolded. At least listing the injured players and purported injuries?
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Sorry late to the party... was busy pre-occupying myself with other non-basketball thoughts over the last few days to maintain sanity.
Not that you asked, but here's Benny's thoughts...
1) First and foremost, the title of this thread should have been some play on "broken heart" as in "Broke in Hartford" or "Broken Hartford".... it works on multiple levels, as follows:
2) It was a heartbreaking loss. Despite the perceived doom-and-gloom of the 5-12 matchup, the game plan was sound... collapse on Morant and force them to shoot from the outside. Unfortunately, Murray State shot a boggling 80% from downtown in the first half. Credit to them... whether they knew what was coming or not, they were able to make MU pay the only way they could. The most heartbreaking part, however: the tender behind the Marriott cash bar that was still set up for the celebration after the game (which obviously never happened).
3) The team is broken. MU had as many as three key injuries going into the game. One was well-known but extent was downplayed, one occurred very recently, and one's been rumored/lingering for a while now. That said, injuries are a part of the game, but obviously, the team that played Thursday was missing all of the strengths of the team in the first half of the Nova game in Philly.
4) My God, some Scoopers have gone off the rails with their own broken spirits. MU will be a preseason top-20 team next year, with an outside chance of being a top-10 team depending on how things play out. The calls for Wojo to be fired have gone to plaid.
5) There's a reason Hartford hasn't been a first-round NCAA site in twenty years, and IMO, should not host again for another 20 years. Of course take this with a grain of salt since MU fans have been in a brand new arena for a year, but the XL Center is a crater waiting to happen. The Bradley Center - with all of its flaws and under-funding over the years - was a Fiserv Forum compared to the XL... though the Bradley Center was 10 years' its junior, the upkeep of the XL reminded me more of a Wrigley Field pre-Ricketts. I felt like I should have seen nets in more than one place to keep concrete chunks from falling off the ceiling onto the heads of unsuspecting patrons. Moreover, restroom shortages, concourse bottlenecks, and steep & narrow aisles aside (think upper bowl at BC... now make that the entire lower bowl at XL), the place just felt dirty walking in.
But that's not the reason NCAA should overlook Hartford from site selection going forward... granted, traffic is what it is, but there was no police presence, no coordination, no planning for 15,000 leaving an arena all at once... the XL staff shuffled people out the nearest exit as soon as the game was over, and the crowd simply spilled out onto the streets, grinding vehicular traffic to a halt around the immediate vicinity of the arena... my daughter and I - waiting for the MUAA bus - had a choice of being trampled in foot traffic or stand on the curb where we were constantly being bumped into the street (we chose the latter). Fortunately, as mentioned the traffic wasn't moving, so we weren't in any immediate danger, but if cars were moving on Church Street, it's not an exaggeration to say that we would have been taking our lives in our hands waiting for the bus. Further, there was no shortage of confusion with movement in/about the arena, e.g. where to go for will call, what lines to stand in, etc. Every NCAA event I've been to has had either info booths stationed, if not "local ambassadors" standing all over, on the streets surrounding the arena to help direct people, answer questions, etc. I saw ZERO of this in Hartford.
Frankly, this isn't entirely on the NCAA... this is mostly on the host institution: UCONN. Which makes a hell of a lot of sense seeing as how misguided by their own hubris they are... instead of considering the needs of eight out-of-town contingents (who happened to be where the majority of the economic impact was coming from) and seeking to make a positive impression on others, they effectively catered to the locals by doing the bare minimum and treating this as just another game that the state of Connecticut should feel honored that they were hosting.
[Ironically, Hartford, the Carolina's host the first round every year... ya' think it might be because they actually do a good job planning for the events and maintaining their facilities instead of assuming that everyone will clamor for tickets just because they are given the privilege of doing so?]
Benny,
You're wrong about the Hartford snafu. I was literally just going to post this from yesterday's paper. NCAA and CBS/Turner are to blame on the turnaround time between sessions and Hartford got the shaft. Hartford planned ahead knowing the timing.
Jeff Jacobs: NCAA, CBS should be on the hook for leaving fans hanging in Hartford
https://www.nhregister.com/sports/jeffjacobs/article/Jeff-Jacobs-NCAA-CBS-should-be-on-the-hook-for-13711521.php
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Would you feel comfortable giving more specific details with regards to the bolded. At least listing the injured players and purported injuries?
I think we're all well aware of the injury to Markus' wrist after the tunnel shot at MSG.
As to the other two.... despite the parties being reliable, things weren't said directly to me, so not my place. That said, they don't seem to be injuries that need to be covered up, so they'll probably be revealed in time.
Benny,
You're wrong about the Hartford snafu. I was literally just going to post this from yesterday's paper. NCAA and CBS/Turner are to blame on the turnaround time between sessions and Hartford got the shaft. Hartford planned ahead knowing the timing.
Jeff Jacobs: NCAA, CBS should be on the hook for leaving fans hanging in Hartford
https://www.nhregister.com/sports/jeffjacobs/article/Jeff-Jacobs-NCAA-CBS-should-be-on-the-hook-for-13711521.php
First off, it's a puff piece by a local reporter. Perhaps the NH Register constantly belittles Hartford the other 364 days/year, but this is an editorial from someone who - very likely - is relying on second-hand accounts from others to make his case.
That said, the turnaround had very little to do with the fact that there was no coordination with local law enforcement to accommodate mass movements of people to/from the XL. Granted, I only saw what happened on one side of the arena, maybe it was a finely tuned machine on the opposite side, but traffic - foot and vehicle - between sessions could not be described any other way than chaos.
I will admit that perhaps this is the way it always is in Connecticut, with people and traffic sharing the streets regularly, but I live in a metro area where Chicago has people stationed on nearly every corner in the loop to minimize pedestrian interference with traffic (and by doing so, vice versa). So maybe it's a case of "this is how it always is," but nevertheless, the fact remains that you have eight contingents coming in from locales where this "isn't how it always is" and the City of Hartford needs to be more accommodating, regardless of what's happening at Black Rock or in the broadcast truck.
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I think we're all well aware of the injury to Markus' wrist after the tunnel shot at MSG.
As to the other two.... despite the parties being reliable, things weren't said directly to me, so not my place. That said, they don't seem to be injuries that need to be covered up, so they'll probably be revealed in time.
First off, it's a puff piece by a local reporter. Perhaps the NH Register constantly belittles Hartford the other 364 days/year, but this is an editorial from someone who - very likely - is relying on second-hand accounts from others to make his case.
That said, the turnaround had very little to do with the fact that there was no coordination with local law enforcement to accommodate mass movements of people to/from the XL. Granted, I only saw what happened on one side of the arena, maybe it was a finely tuned machine on the opposite side, but traffic - foot and vehicle - between sessions could not be described any other way than chaos.
I will admit that perhaps this is the way it always is in Connecticut, with people and traffic sharing the streets regularly, but I live in a metro area where Chicago has people stationed on nearly every corner in the loop to minimize pedestrian interference with traffic (and by doing so, vice versa). So maybe it's a case of "this is how it always is," but nevertheless, the fact remains that you have eight contingents coming in from locales where this "isn't how it always is" and the City of Hartford needs to be more accommodating, regardless of what's happening at Black Rock or in the broadcast truck.
He was a writer & columnist for the Hartford Courant for 30 years before joining Hearst Media and now his column appears simultaneously in all the New Haven & Fairfield County newspapers.
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I think Benny B has the right of it with the injuries. And I think they contributed to late season fade. Markus is a given. I believe Sam is nearly a given. The third..... I don't know.
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I think Benny B has the right of it with the injuries. And I think they contributed to late season fade. Markus is a given. I believe Sam is nearly a given. The third..... I don't know.
Joey's foot would be my guess.
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He also had a sleeve on his knee at one point. Yeah, he never really punched through that freshman wall he hit in early February. Maybe his foot was bothering him and he lost even more quickness. I hope we all get to hear something definite soon. So that another endless debate can ensue.
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He was a writer & columnist for the Hartford Courant for 30 years before joining Hearst Media and now his column appears simultaneously in all the New Haven & Fairfield County newspapers.
Regardless of whether or not he's a homer, the simple fact remains that Hartford failed outside the XL Center.
For Christ's sake, has anyone seen any major sporting event since 2001 where the streets immediately outside the venue weren't closed off to vehicle traffic (or restricted to law enforcement & public transportation)?
Someone - literally - could have driven a U-Haul full of nitrate 50 feet from the doors of the XL Center just as the crowd was exiting and killed more than twice as many people than Al Qaeda needed two planes to kill in lower Manhattan. I apologize for the hyperbole, but it honestly would have been just that easy.
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The calls for Wojo to be fired have gone to plaid.
(http://i.imgur.com//42zru1H.gif)
Fantastic reference sir. This is why Benny is king.