MUScoop
MUScoop => Hangin' at the Al => Topic started by: RubyWiscy on January 25, 2009, 08:15:38 AM
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Playing and beating ND on Monday will do little to enhance MU's pedigree this season (at least according to some on this board.) Consider:
1. ND does not have a winning record in league play. Thus, it is not one of the top teams in the BEast and cannot be counted as a good win for MU.
2. ND may not even be ranked in the top 25 on Monday robbing the Three Amigos of a chance to break MU's 4 year record of beating top 25 teams.
3. ND, having lost to UCONN yesterday, has no great home winning streak for MU to break.
As I see it, the problem for Buzz is how to motivate his players to get up for the game on Monday. You saw what happended the 2nd half vs. DePaul yesterday. When there is so little to gain from a win, it can create nightmares for a coach.
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I think the motivation is easy. The media has an ND love affair, so trust me the game will still be HUGE. Also, how about this for motivation - If you win you stay on top of the Big East and move further up the top 10? I think Marquettte's biggest issue yesterday was the fact that it was only their 2nd game in two weeks. Long ammounts of downtime kill teams when they are flying high.
To think there is no motivation is just silly. ND can beat Marquette, this is not going to be easy.
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+1 This game will be tough
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Buzz has talked before about how winning on the road is +1 for you, losing at home is -1, and everything else is +/- 0. He'll get them mentally ready for a road game.
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ND v. MU is a big game under any circumstances--one of the so called "rivalry games." With MU battling to stay atop the BEast standings with all the difficult games ahead, this game is huge. ND has already played some of the big dogs in the conference, we haven't yet. MU needs to build as much of a cushion as possible going into that home stretch. Despite ND's record now, it isn't a reach to say MU-ND may be real close in the standings at the end of conf play, which will obviously impact seeds in the BEast and NCAA tourneys. ND will have its chance against the cupcakes later to build some momentum--we have a great chance to put some nice distance between us with a head to head win. Go MU!!!
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MU vs ND - I have to believe there is built-in motivation. On top of that, we are undefeated int he BEast. I think our guys and coaching staff would like to stay that way. We know the meat of the conference is ahead of us. We therefore know we need to win at all costs, every game we can.
That said, ND can beat us. They have weapons. They are battle-tested having gone up agaisnt some of the best in the BEast. We need this game. We want this game. We need to rock them in their house. We need the road win.
I think we are motivated. We must be.
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MU needs every tie breaker it can get. The WVU win is looking very handy in that respect. A nice win against ND would be great for that as well as kicking a team when they are down, which in the BE is the best time to kick them. I am sure Gtown, Vill and even Cincy is wishing for us to win.
At least one of the pre-season upper half BE teams is not going to meet expectations and disappoint...might as well be Notre Dame.
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As an Alum (granted an older one at this point), there is no team I would rather beat than Notre Dame. Cincy, Louisville, UW ... they are bonus wins. I really hate ND.
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As an Alum (granted an older one at this point), there is no team I would rather beat than Notre Dame. Cincy, Louisville, UW ... they are bonus wins. I really hate ND.
+ 1. Whenever ND loses (in any sport) it is good. When they lose to Marquette - ahhhh - that is a little piece of heaven :)
GO MARQUETTE!!
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+ 1,000,000
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ND v. MU is a big game under any circumstances--one of the so called "rivalry games."
What is this, the 1,000 game between MU and ND? I think they've played more games against each other than just about any other rivalry. if they can't get up for this game, then there is little they can get excited about.
This will be far from "Ho Hum."
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As an Alum (granted an older one at this point), there is no team I would rather beat than Notre Dame. Cincy, Louisville, UW ... they are bonus wins. I really hate ND.
That pretty much sums it up for me too.
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Let's not compare the 2nd half vs DePaul to facing ND. That game was always in hand and the team did what was needed to finish it off. They most likely were looking forward a little to the game 2 days later. This team knows what is needed to finish in the top 4 of the conference and that means continue winning every game possible. Right now their goal is to secure a top 4 finish so the BE tourney grind doesn't overwhelm their limited bench.
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Right now their goal is to secure a top 4 finish so the BE tourney grind doesn't overwhelm their limited bench.
This has been a talking point of a lot of people on this board as of late. ND, UConn, Louisville, Georgetown, and Syracuse also rely primarily on 7-8 players every game with the rest of the bench picking up under 10 minutes a game. And Marquette has 9 players that average over 10 minutes a game. (OOC games are something to look at with most conference games in the BE having teams use only 7 or 8 players and this stat only takes into account games where the player is active.) MU is not the only team that does this and as the season wears on, this becomes more and more prevalent with the vast majority of top teams. Apart from UNC, not many teams rotate more than 8 players for the majority of the time.
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The number of players MU plays is not a big probelm. It is a problem that the subs virtually contribute no offense. The bad thing about Notre Dame losing yesturday is that if we win this game and they lose to Pittsburg the next game the annoucers will still be saying we have not beaten anyone. If they had won yesturday, their home streak would still be going and a win would have been big news and a loss would not have been bad, because nobody beats them their. Now we do not have that excuse if we lose. Our next three games are going to do a lot to determine how good we are. I believe we can win all three, but we certainly could lose to Notre Dame and Georgetown. I was never worried about losing to DePaul yesturday, but if we lose to ND and Georgetown all of a sudden winning at DePaul becomes a big issue. My goal is still 10-3 going into the last five games, but I do think 13-0 is possible. I also think 13-0 and finishing with 5 losses for a 13-5 record is possible.
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Motivation will be abundant. This would be MU's biggest win of the year to date.
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Motivation will be abundant. This would be MU's biggest win of the year to date.
and that's from the Badgerhater ;D
Seriously, i can't believe anyone would consider tomorrow's game "low key" guess you get goosebumps thinking about SH, SJU, and Rutgers?
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I think the OP was a bit tongue-in-cheek.
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This game is going to be rough. I've been to two MU@ND games and both were pressure cooker affairs. While there's a lot of TEAMS in the Big East who are scary, I think the JACC is one of the few BUILDINGS in the Big East that is scary for any visiting team because it can get loud in a hurry (I would also put the BC, Villanova's Pavillion, Pitt's Peterson Events Center, and Freedom Hall in that group). And frankly, our history there is not good. It is a bit of a house of horrors for us.
You know tomorrow is going to be a knock-down, drag-out affair; the kind of game that reveals character. After losing to UConn, I have a feeling the Irish would be more than happy to take out any frustrations on us, and if we get into foul trouble (See: Tennessee), that game could turn ugly fast.
And a rivalry game win is always huge. Regardless of records. When the records are both good, then it becomes epic.
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Wow, to think the ND game is diminished in importance must take someone who has no clue about the ND & MU rivalry. No Marquette fan wants to lose to those ND nobs.
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If our defense shows up we'll be fine, because ND doens't really have a defense to speak of. An offensive firepower that loves shooting at the joyce center.
I'll take MU by 5
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http://www.jsonline.com/sports/goldeneagles/38309839.html (http://www.jsonline.com/sports/goldeneagles/38309839.html)
Our players will be ready.
I was at the game on Saturday and I think the lack of motivation was because our players knew they were that much better, or DePaul was that much worse. It looked like our boys would just jack up shots and expect DePaul to just mess up their opportunities... which they did.
I don't think there is any way they will not bring their hearts to this one.
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As an Alum (granted an older one at this point), there is no team I would rather beat than Notre Dame. Cincy, Louisville, UW ... they are bonus wins. I really hate ND.
+1
Two favorite teams Warriors and whoever is playing ND