MSG is bad for you.

[muwarrior69]

Because we beat a top-100 Pomeroy team by the same margin Xavier did 4 days earlier?

This is the problem of viewing teams with scrutiny instead of objectivity. I'll say this, in coming out and getting a win, we looked more like a tournament team than NC State, Syracuse, Arizona State, or Washington did.

TOO ME they don't look like tournament teams either; but obviously my eyes see things differently than yours and that is OK. It's just basketball.

... and congrats on the little one.

[tower912]

....to me...

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Rowsey said he screwed that up during the post game interview. Not sure if he was taking one for the team or if it was on him.

Mind games by Rowsey.  He knew Strus couldn't shoot if that wide open.

[brewcity77]

TOO ME they don't look like tournament teams either; but obviously my eyes see things differently than yours and that is OK. It's just basketball.

... and congrats on the little one.

Thanks! I think it's just the nature of the bubble. When you get down to the teams on the cusp, they'll have days they look great and days they look marginal. The difference is often being able to win even when you aren't at your best.

[muwarrior69]

....to me...

too shay!

[D'Lo Brown]

Why was Howard in with 11.5 up 1?
Why was Rowsey in with 11.5 up 1?

Why were both Howard and Rowsey in for defensive purposes up by 1 point without the ball??
One of the worst defensive duos were intentionally left in the game for the last possession for........wait for it......their D!?!

“Wow—did Marquette dodge one”
                           —RAF

Yep. But not like we have long defensive-minded guards to come off the bench and give some effort.

Does anyone wonder whether Wojo's chip on his shoulder about being a small guard has something to do with all this? If you went back and watched all the games you would see instances in every game where he subbed one in to have both on the floor for their defense. Obviously it doesn't make sense (and therefore I should avoid spending too much time thinking about it), but maybe he just has a convinction that they are capable of good D with both on the floor.

[tower912]

First big East tourney game for the freshmen.  With 11 seconds left in a one possession game, the solution is to take out the senior and sophomore leaders and replace them with freshmen....in their first big East tourney game.    I get that Cain and Greg are better defenders.  But context.  Tournament life at stake.  All the chips pushed to the middle.  I understand why Wojo doesn't go offense defense there.

[wadesworld]

Buzz had Cain, Elliott, Anim, Hauser, and Heldt on the floor for a possession inside a minute of the Creighton home game.  One of the freshman got easily beat baseline off the dribble for a layup in a matter of seconds.

If you have that group on the floor and you get your stop and rebound they get to send someone who either has shot very few free throws this year and is a freshman playing in MSG or someone who is a bad free throw shooter to the line to extend the game, or you're taking a timeout to get Howard and Rowsey back on the floor and trying to inbound it against DePaul's length which gave us some trouble throughout the game.

[Lighthouse 84]

Buzz had Cain, Elliott, Anim, Hauser, and Heldt on the floor for a possession inside a minute of the Creighton home game.  One of the freshman got easily beat baseline off the dribble for a layup in a matter of seconds.

Who's Buzz?

[zcg2013]

First big East tourney game for the freshmen.  With 11 seconds left in a one possession game, the solution is to take out the senior and sophomore leaders and replace them with freshmen....in their first big East tourney game.    I get that Cain and Greg are better defenders.  But context.  Tournament life at stake.  All the chips pushed to the middle.  I understand why Wojo doesn't go offense defense there.

This is absolutely correct. In yesterday's instance, we expect our leaders to step up and finish the game. We were lucky Strus didn't finish us off, but Survive and Advance.

[Archies Bat]

Buzz had Cain, Elliott, Anim, Hauser, and Heldt on the floor for a possession inside a minute of the Creighton home game.  One of the freshman got easily beat baseline off the dribble for a layup in a matter of seconds.

If you have that group on the floor and you get your stop and rebound they get to send someone who either has shot very few free throws this year and is a freshman playing in MSG or someone who is a bad free throw shooter to the line to extend the game, or you're taking a timeout to get Howard and Rowsey back on the floor and trying to inbound it against DePaul's length which gave us some trouble throughout the game.

Also, might they have been thinking about having the right folks on the floor IF DePaul had scored?  If DePaul scored with Cain and Elliott on the floor, it would have necessitated a time out, giving DePaul a chance to set a good defense.

[skianth16]

First big East tourney game for the freshmen.  With 11 seconds left in a one possession game, the solution is to take out the senior and sophomore leaders and replace them with freshmen....in their first big East tourney game.    I get that Cain and Greg are better defenders.  But context.  Tournament life at stake.  All the chips pushed to the middle.  I understand why Wojo doesn't go offense defense there.

Love the bolded. That's why March is so much fun.

Your reasoning is probably right. But I think Greg and Jamal can handle that pressure. They've logged a good number of Big East minutes already, and they've played in big games. I know coaches often lean on their older guys and the team leaders in tournament games, but having the best defenders, who also happen to be a lot bigger/longer, on the floor in crunch time still  seems like the logical choice in most cases. Maybe winning in the BET isn't always about logic, though.

[GGGG]

How many freaking easy layups did our M2M defense give up?  How many fouls did we commit while in man? 

Teams are going to score..on a zone..and on M2M.  How or why anyone would think that because a team scores on a zone 1 out of 3 or hell 4 out of 5 possessions - that, that automatically makes it a worse option for this team is silly.

Wojo has ridden the zone exclusively for exactly one half of basketball, the 2nd half at Creighton.  That's it. 

At this point you ride it.

And really I trust Wojo more than the dude who compared John Dawson to Magic Johnson.

[GGGG]

Rowsey f*cked up the defensive rotation but he got the rebound and hit the foul shots. You aren’t taking him out with the game on the line like that.

[tower912]

Love the bolded. That's why March is so much fun.

Your reasoning is probably right. But I think Greg and Jamal can handle that pressure. They've logged a good number of Big East minutes already, and they've played in big games. I know coaches often lean on their older guys and the team leaders in tournament games, but having the best defenders, who also happen to be a lot bigger/longer, on the floor in crunch time still  seems like the logical choice in most cases. Maybe winning in the BET isn't always about logic, though.

So, we go with the freshmen, Depaul shoots and misses and someone other than Sam or Matt gets the rebound.   Depaul fouls immediately.  Now, in a 2 point game with a few seconds left, Cain is going to the line.  What is your confidence level?   

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Two small points.

1. Is it me or is DePaul a decent team? I feel like they should’ve won more games.
2. I’m not saying he plays lights out every game, but has Heldt had a “bad” game all season? I love that kid.

[skianth16]

At this point you ride it.

And really I trust Wojo more than the dude who compared John Dawson to Magic Johnson.

You have one option who's never lost a Big East game, and then you have Wojo, who has lost at least 25 or 30 BE games. And you take Wojo? 

[GGGG]

Two small points.

1. Is it me or is DePaul a decent team? I feel like they should’ve won more games.
2. I’m not saying he plays lights out every game, but has Heldt had a “bad” game all season? I love that kid.

I don’t think DePaul is *that* bad and I don’t think their coach is terrible. I can see where they are going. Not sure it will amount to much significant though.

[Jay Bee]

Two small points.

1. Is it me or is DePaul a decent team? I feel like they should’ve won more games.
2. I’m not saying he plays lights out every game, but has Heldt had a “bad” game all season? I love that kid.

1. They are awful. They cannot shoot. What they can do is clean the o-glass and play defense. They are very tall (avg ht). Not a great match up for MU. Nonetheless, they do in fact suck.

2. 6% usage last night.. Maric a monster game.. 22p, 10r, 127 ORtg, 24 usage. So.. umm.. maybe last night tbh?

[skianth16]

So, we go with the freshmen, Depaul shoots and misses and someone other than Sam or Matt gets the rebound.   Depaul fouls immediately.  Now, in a 2 point game with a few seconds left, Cain is going to the line.  What is your confidence level?

Fair point. But my confidence level that we'd get the stop we needed with Rowsey and Howard on the floor isn't real high either. It's a tough call with this year's team.

[loid walden]

We didn't deserve to win. DePaul played better defense, ran way better plays, had better schemes and had the best player on the court... We had better players in aggregate and more luck

[lawdog77]

Rowsey f*cked up the defensive rotation but he got the rebound and hit the foul shots. You aren’t taking him out with the game on the line like that.

I think Howard rotated pretty well on that last shot

[TheGym]

Buzz had Cain, Elliott, Anim, Hauser, and Heldt on the floor for a possession inside a minute of the Creighton home game.  One of the freshman got easily beat baseline off the dribble for a layup in a matter of seconds.

It was Sacar who got beat baseline, for some reason he was cheating to the help side defense and let the guy go right by him.  It did not work out, but I like the play by Buzz (aka Wojo).  A stop there and the game is ours to lose.

Leaving Rowsey and Howard in in the last 11 seconds last night was also the right call.  If DePaul scores you need those two to get a good look to win the game.  I am not surprised Rowsey missed that switch and we definitely got a bit lucky.

[Benny B]

We didn't deserve to win. DePaul played better defense, ran way better plays, had better schemes and had the best player on the court... We had better players in aggregate and more luck

I always understood that the team who scored more points was the one that deserved to win. 

There are no points for second place.

[NickelDimer]

First big East tourney game for the freshmen.  With 11 seconds left in a one possession game, the solution is to take out the senior and sophomore leaders and replace them with freshmen....in their first big East tourney game.    I get that Cain and Greg are better defenders.  But context.  Tournament life at stake.  All the chips pushed to the middle.  I understand why Wojo doesn't go offense defense there.

I also think Wojo’s plan is if DePaul scores earlier in the clock his offense is in the floor to inbound and go. No need for a timeout which allows the defense to get set