Proud of Our Team

[Herman Cain]

Great effort all season long by the whole team. Very proud of our Warriors.  Was a fun and exciting season . We can build off this and the future is bright.

[wadesworld]

MUFNY the voice of reason.

[RushmoreAcademy]

Great post. The guys played tough, and I had a lot of fun watching. Can't wait til the first secret scrimmage.

[GooooMarquette]

Proud indeed.  Warriors moving in the right direction.

[DJO's Jaw]

We succeeded this year in spite of our obvious deficiencies. I'm very proud of this team. Despite how it ended, I'm optimistic for next year. We are Marquette!

[mayfairskatingrink]

Great post. The guys played tough, and I had a lot of fun watching. Can't wait til the first secret scrimmage.

They played tough tonight?

[skianth16]

They played tough tonight?

I'm in this camp. What about getting outscored by 20 in the second half is tough? Are they good kids who worked their tails off? No doubt. Were they tough tonight? Nope.

[TFlegend]

Proud?  Ehhh...That's probably a little strong.      Glad they made the tourney, but what about the last two games would make you proud?

[Hards Alumni]

Reality is harsh.

Marquette overachieved all year and then massively underperformed tonight.  People need to acknowledge that.

Overall, it was a good season and I hope it can be built on.

[jaygall31]

Defense was always going to catch up to us. And bite. It sure did.

[esotericmindguy]

Great post. The guys played tough, and I had a lot of fun watching. Can't wait til the first secret scrimmage.

Played tough? Good lord. We have a different definition.

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Glad I didn't watch the second half. Just don't have horses for the big dance.
Proud of our guys though
.looking forward to next year

[CTWarrior]

Played tough? Good lord. We have a different definition.

Yeah, I kinda did a double-take when I read that too.   We were a lot of things tonight, some good, some not so good, but "tough" is not a word I would associate with tonight's performance.

[skianth16]

Losing sucks. Getting embarrassed on the biggest stage in the game cuts way deeper than that. People need to quit acting like this isn't painful.

We got out-everythinged tonight. Outplayed, outhustled, outcoached, flat out outclassed. The second half was completely indefensible. We had no answers at all.

Is there a silver lining to this season? Yes, their names are Markus and Sam (not Steve). Are there valid concerns about the program moving forward that were exposed in the last few weeks? That's a yes as well. For now, at least.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Losing sucks. Getting embarrassed on the biggest stage in the game cuts way deeper than that. People need to quit acting like this isn't painful.

Is it painful? For who? For the fans? I was pissed for about 5 minutes after the game. That was the time it took me to get to a bar with a bunch of my buddies who had been out for St. Patrick's Day. Closed down the bar and had greasy street tacos on the way home. I had a great time. Already looking forward to next season.

For the program? Honestly, I think everyone outside of the die hard fans and those in the basketball program will forget the score of this game by Sunday. They'll even forget that the game was a blowout by Monday. Hell, they will probably forget that we lost in the first round before the Sweet 16. At most, people will remember that we made the tournament this year. This loss doesn't hurt the program at all.

The players/coaches? Yeah. It probably stings them a helluva lot. I hope they use this and let it fuel them to make the tourney again and to never let a loss like this happen to them again.

[mu_hilltopper]

Marquette overachieved all year and then massively underperformed tonight.

The only thing I'd disagree with in that sentence is "all year." 

MU overachieved in sporadic bursts, winning games versus superior opponents, then appearing completely lost versus the average.

[Hards Alumni]

The only thing I'd disagree with in that sentence is "all year." 

MU overachieved in sporadic bursts, winning games versus superior opponents, then appearing completely lost versus the average.

Fair point.  I wonder if everyone is happy with an inconsistent team that beats some top schools but loses to average teams... or if they'd be more happy with consistency... which would mean not beating teams like Villanova, but not losing to St. John's and Georgetown.

[damuts222]

I'm very proud of our team. Look at where we were last year and how many new pieces we had on the team this year, Howard, Hauser, Katin, Rowsey. I would have loved to at least won the game last night against SC, but to those that are extremely disappointed I wonder what your expectations were going into the season. Personally they met my expectations/hopes, which was to make the tourney.

We will again be a team next year with a lot of new pieces to shuffle but we will be getting some much needed size and bulk next year with Froling, Cain, John, Eke. I'm proud of this team and excited for the future.

[mu_hilltopper]

Good q .. I guess it's more fun to win surprisingly on occasion, than be consistently mediocre.

The inconsistency is from a faulty defensive system.   Even a RPI 300 team can beat anyone if they get hot from 3 one night.  MU did that with regularity.

MU couldn't surmount a cold shooting night as they were going to let their opponent get 75-90 points, which meant doom.

[GoldenDieners32]

We had a real good year and exceeded expectations. Next year I'm feelin a break out season. Cheatham and Duane will have to be leaders next year. November needs to come quick. Future looks bright for us

[Lennys Tap]

Yeah, I kinda did a double-take when I read that too.   We were a lot of things tonight, some good, some not so good, but "tough" is not a word I would associate with tonight's performance.

Yeah, one tough team on the court last night and it wasn't us.

[muwarrior69]

Losing sucks. Getting embarrassed on the biggest stage in the game cuts way deeper than that. People need to quit acting like this isn't painful.

We got out-everythinged tonight. Outplayed, outhustled, outcoached, flat out outclassed. The second half was completely indefensible. We had no answers at all.

Is there a silver lining to this season? Yes, their names are Markus and Sam (not Steve). Are there valid concerns about the program moving forward that were exposed in the last few weeks? That's a yes as well. For now, at least.

Life can be painful. This is not one of them. Its only a game.

[PGsHeroes32]

Losing sucks. Getting embarrassed on the biggest stage in the game cuts way deeper than that. People need to quit acting like this isn't painful.

We got out-everythinged tonight. Outplayed, outhustled, outcoached, flat out outclassed. The second half was completely indefensible. We had no answers at all.

Is there a silver lining to this season? Yes, their names are Markus and Sam (not Steve). Are there valid concerns about the program moving forward that were exposed in the last few weeks? That's a yes as well. For now, at least.

Meh

It was close for a half. And withint reach for 32 minutes.

It snowballed late. It happens. We know our D sucks.

I'm just glad we got in and avoided Dayton.

[GooooMarquette]

Is it painful? For who? For the fans? I was pissed for about 5 minutes after the game. That was the time it took me to get to a bar with a bunch of my buddies who had been out for St. Patrick's Day. Closed down the bar and had greasy street tacos on the way home. I had a great time. Already looking forward to next season.

For the program? Honestly, I think everyone outside of the die hard fans and those in the basketball program will forget the score of this game by Sunday. They'll even forget that the game was a blowout by Monday. Hell, they will probably forget that we lost in the first round before the Sweet 16. At most, people will remember that we made the tournament this year. This loss doesn't hurt the program at all.

The players/coaches? Yeah. It probably stings them a helluva lot. I hope they use this and let it fuel them to make the tourney again and to never let a loss like this happen to them again.

Impressive post at 3 am after closing a bar and eating greasy street tacos.

Seriously, you're right.  The loss hurts, but in the great scheme of things MU is better off as a program than it was before the season.  And as far as "painful" MU tournament losses, this one doesn't even make the top 10.  Maybe younger fans don't have that perspective yet, but this was just a blip on the screen.  Long term, we added one more notch on our impressive list of NCAA appearances, got great experience for our younger players, and saw Wojo take an important step forward in his progress as a coach. 

I am proud of our guys for working hard, steadily improving and getting us back to the dance.

[mayfairskatingrink]

Impressive post at 3 am after closing a bar and eating greasy street tacos.

Seriously, you're right.  The loss hurts, but in the great scheme of things MU is better off as a program than it was before the season.  And as far as "painful" MU tournament losses, this one doesn't even make the top 10.  Maybe younger fans don't have that perspective yet, but this was just a blip on the screen.  Long term, we added one more notch on our impressive list of NCAA appearances, got great experience for our younger players, and saw Wojo take an important step forward in his progress as a coach. 

I am proud of our guys for working hard, steadily improving and getting us back to the dance.

How did Wojo take a step forward in his progress as a coach?

IMO, he made one big move when he changed the starting lineup.  That energized the team for a little while, but the effect wore off.

How has Wojo's in-game coaching improved?  Was MU able to stop the opposing team's momentum any better in it's last game than earlier?  Was the defense any better in the last game than previously?

MU had some guys that could shoot and that was enough to get into the tourney in a very weak year overall in college basketball.