Storm thoughts.

[GGGG]

We miss Traci Carter.  No true PG.  We lost this game because their guards kept our guards from getting us into our offense.

Hmmmm...  I'm not one to think that teams need a "true PG," but having him bring up the ball while Markus or Rowsey is playing off the ball is a nice thought.

[tower912]

Remember 5 days ago when everyone was singing KR's praises, that he had turned the corner and was the senior leader the team needed?      Ahhhhhh, memories.     

Markus may have hit his wall.   The team looked better with Rowsey in the game.    He has already made the adjustments that Howard still needs to figure. otu. 

[MerrittsMustache]

MU is a jump shooting team that can't rebound or defend. When shots aren't falling, they can't win.

Lost in the ecstasy of the big wins were that MU gave up 94 points, including 54 in 2nd half, against Creighton and that Nova's ice cold 3-point shooting had as much to do with that game's outcome as anything MU did.

Disappointing loss tonight. Better be ready for DePaul this weekend or this season could spiral quickly.

[Mutaman]

My view from the blue seats:

1. Our offense seems to be: dribble up court and if you don't turn it over, dribble around and then jack up a three.
2. St Johns was bigger, faster, quicker, smarter, better coached, and played with more intensity. Thought we were lucky to get w/i 14.
3. The whole affair was pretty amateurish: an announcer consistently screaming, bad music being played throughout, shooting t-shirts into the crowd, $11.50 for a warm beer. Westminster is next week- hope its a classier affair.

get em next time. Don't get too up when you win or too down when you lose.

[rocky_warrior]

2. St Johns was bigger, faster, quicker, smarter, better coached, and played with more intensity. Thought we were lucky to get w/i 14.

Ouch.  Better coached is a kick in the nuts to Sam Wojo.  I wouldn't go that far.

[MattyWarrior]

No gifted athletes on our squad, why think you can win in a playground game?  And no true point
guard,awful to watch start to finish!

[Mutaman]

Ouch.  Better coached is a kick in the nuts to Sam Wojo.  I wouldn't go that far.

First time I've seen St Johns all year and was impressed with Mullin (Although I've always marked out for him): Put the constant pressure on and Marquette didn't know what hit them, Team played with real intensity throughout,  Attacked the paint consistently. team does lack fundamentals and would put up a bad three at times when they could have broken it open, but they were well coached.

Wojo's body language when he was walking off the floor looked like I felt. That's 4 straight really bad loses at the Garden. Maybe more, I lost count.

[Lennys Tap]

Hmmmm...  I'm not one to think that teams need a "true PG," but having him bring up the ball while Markus or Rowsey is playing off the ball is a nice thought.

Interesting thinking, Sultan. Traci left because he could not beat out Markus or Rowsey, but wouldn't he be better teamed with either than Cheatham is? He's a much better ball handler, a better on ball defender and the way Haanif is shooting it we wouldn't be giving up scoring punch either. Traci, Howard (or Rowsey), Rhinehardt (or JJJ), Sam and Luke is a better line up than what we've been trotting out there.

[ecompt]

Ouch.  Better coached is a kick in the nuts to Sam Wojo.  I wouldn't go that far.

Don't know if Mullin is a much better coach but he already was familiar with the Big East when he got the job. Wojo doesn't have the people he needs to compete with the big boys. He'd better hope next year's class is the answer.

[The Lens]

Agree on the Traci talk.  There is a place for him on THIS team.  Long term he might be forgotten but this team could use him and still have M2NBA or Rowsey off the ball. 

Also, if HC is going full yips, then adjustments should be made.   I'd live and die with JJJ.  All this talk of Hannif's defense, this is the worst MU defensive team in 15+ years.  He can't be that great. 

Finally, continued to be impressed with the progress of Matt Heldt.  Tough kid. 

[GGGG]

Interesting thinking, Sultan. Traci left because he could not beat out Markus or Rowsey, but wouldn't he be better teamed with either than Cheatham is? He's a much better ball handler, a better on ball defender and the way Haanif is shooting it we wouldn't be giving up scoring punch either. Traci, Howard (or Rowsey), Rhinehardt (or JJJ), Sam and Luke is a better line up than what we've been trotting out there.

Agree on the Traci talk.  There is a place for him on THIS team.  Long term he might be forgotten but this team could use him and still have M2NBA or Rowsey off the ball. 

Also, if HC is going full hope, then adjustments should be made.   I'd live and die with JJJ.  All this talk of Hannif's defense, this is the worst MU defensive team in 15+ years.  He can't be that great. 

Finally, continued to be impressed with the progress of Matt Heldt.  Tough kid. 

This is why I hate mid year transfers.  There is so much more of the season to be played.  Unless you are truly unhappy, like Luke was apparently at IU, give the season a chance at least.  Even in Traci's case, he is going to sit out a year and a half.  Why do that when you could have played *this* year?

Even next year with JJJ leaving, there were minutes to be had by Traci.

[rocky_warrior]

Agree on the Traci talk.  There is a place for him on THIS team.  Long term he might be forgotten but this team could use him and still have M2NBA or Rowsey off the ball. 

That's the part that sucks (and I don't understand his mid-year decision).  He could still be on THIS team, transfer over the summer, and have the same amount of eligibility left.  Best of luck Traci, but we could have used you help still this year.

[dgies9156]

What Villanova and Creighton giveth, Providence and St. John's takes away.

Ugly game and my fear is this cost us the season.

[muwarrior69]

I can see more teams full court pressing us. We just can't handle the pressure. Every team in conference is just so much more athletic than us.

[GoldenDieners32]

I can see more teams full court pressing us. We just can't handle the pressure. Every team in conference is just so much more athletic than us.

Guards are too small. Need to recruit some taller athletic bigs. But remember Markus Howard is still 17 he can still grow

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Performances in single games are not predictive of future success or failure. MU played near their floor tonight. They might play near their ceiling in the next one. Most nights, they will be somewhere in between. Its going to be bumpy, buckle up.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

1.   I counted 7 fouls on SJU, two travels, one over and back, all not called in the first half.   Not to mention that Sam finally drew a charge and got called for a foul.    First half only.    It evened out somewhat in the second.   

Didn't watch the game, had a tasting for my wedding. Recorded it and watched it when I got home. Unfortunately already had it ruined after a phone call from Dad that started with me saying "Dad I haven't watched it yet please don't say anything." Didn't work.

I looked for this stretch and I saw what you meant. There was about a three minute stretch towards the end of the first half where it seemed like all the calls went against Marquette. Looking at all of them individually, I don't think any were grievously bad calls. Most of them could have gone either way. The worst was the blocking foul on Sam and the missed travel by Owens IMHO. Those two alone were worth 5 points (not including the impact of giving Sam his second foul). Individually, fine with each call, it was tough to see that many calls in a short period go one way. Se la vie.

The last minute of that first half was brutal. I think that really sucked the wind out of our sails. Ponds hits an NBA range 3 (his only one of the night), HC hands Ponds the ball on a silver platter, Markus dribbles the ball off his leg, Markus misses a wide open three and JJJ makes a great take to the bucket but can't get the ball to fall. Rolled everywhere but in.

Thought this loss more than any other was on Wojo. I would have zoned the crap out of SJU. SJU plays street ball and MU wasn't athletic enough to stop it. I understand not wanting to give up the three when SJU was having their best 3P shooting game of conference play, but you need good ball movement and discipline to beat a zone. SJU has neither. I think a zone would have forced SJU to chuck bad three pointers and we could have one the game.

He had a brutal line, but I didn't hate JJJ on offense tonight. Didn't turn the ball over. Made good strong takes to the hoop but it was not his night. The three he missed was wide open. Defense on the other hand....

I said this elsewhere, but I'm fine with Cheatham not being a scorer. But if he can't hang on to the ball, he isn't going to stay on the court.

Heldt looked solid. Liked Luke in the first half.

Katin has had two bad shooting nights in a row. Need him to snap out of it.

Markus can drain the three with the best of them. Has shown some ability to get to the hoop among the trees, but hasn't been successful lately. A piece of his game to definitely work on. Maybe get some tips from Rowsey....why does it seem like Rowsey only goes off in losing efforts?

Hauser also came to play. Really think that he got there in time to draw the charge. If he did, might have changed the whole momentum of the game.

Glad we have Depaul coming up next. There's a chance for a cathartic beatdown. Not a guarenteed win....no game in the BEast is....but I think they could provide an opportunity for our guys to remember what winning feels like.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Forgot to add. MotherFing Kassoum Yakwe. Lit us up for 19 rebounds and 13 blocks in our two regular season games last season. This season, he comes in averaging 3 points a game. Goes off for a season high of 14. Had never reached double digits before. GAH!

[1SE]

What Villanova and Creighton giveth, Providence and St. John's takes away.

Ugly game and my fear is this cost us the season.

Yeah, disappointing. There we were in a position to take care of business, or even drop one we shouldn't, and still probably be dancing. Now we're going to have to snag another that we *should* lose. Of course, even then, I'm not sure we still aren't going to lose another we *should* win. Maddening.

[mileskishnish72]

This team, pure and simple, is not very good. They have got to learn that the game is 50 percent defense. I don't even care about the dance because it would be one and done. There's always next year.

[Herman Cain]

Went to the game last night. Obviously was disappointed. I have been watching The Johnnies all year long and was fearful they would pick us to have a good game against. They are very athletic with big league talent at the guard spots. Coach  Mullin has worked hard to get his team to play some semblance of a team game and it appeared to come together last night. Clearly our coaching staff didn't have enough of an answer to win a tough Big East road game.

We need to rally the troops against a DePaul team that has played tough all year. Hopefully we will have the Chicago MU contingent out in full force .

[MerrittsMustache]

Didn't watch the game, had a tasting for my wedding. Recorded it and watched it when I got home. Unfortunately already had it ruined after a phone call from Dad that started with me saying "Dad I haven't watched it yet please don't say anything." Didn't work.

Been there many a times! 

Hauser also came to play. Really think that he got there in time to draw the charge. If he did, might have changed the whole momentum of the game.

I thought that Sam's foot was on/inside the semicircle but, as a result of replay angles, I couldn't tell if he got it out in time to be set and draw the charge. Officials will usually point to the semicircle if the player is inside it on a play like that, but I didn't see him do that so maybe it had nothing to do with it. Either way, it was a big call.

why does it seem like Rowsey only goes off in losing efforts?

Rowsey in 5 BE wins: 16.0 min, 11.4 pts, .760/.737/.833 with 5.0 FGA/gm

Rowsey in 5 BE losses: 21.4 min, 12.8 pts, .439/.393/.895 with 8.2 FGA/gm


What this tells me is that when Rowsey is hot, MU wins (nearly 74% from 3! Seriously?!). However, MU struggles when Rowsey is average but needs to be the primary offensive threat. His numbers are still excellent in the losses, but the team is better when someone else carries the load offensively. Rowsey can REALLY shoot it and he's great spotting up or coming off a ball screen, but it's very difficult for a 5'10" shooter to take over and carry a team on his back. He just doesn't have the size to go get a bucket when the team needs one.

Rowsey has far exceeded my expectations this season but he still has his limits. He can be the #2 or #3 scorer but he's just not going to consistently be "the man" on a top-tier Big East team. He's doing his part, but someone else needs to step up.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Hate to say it but HC is this year's chief.  His play gets weaker as the season progresses.  Perhaps he should sit out the rest of the year.  This team is better than it plays.  Why Coach?

[4everwarriors]

Did ya barf up da weddin' tastin' after watchin' da team's performance, hey?

[LAMUfan]

Thought this loss more than any other was on Wojo. I would have zoned the crap out of SJU. SJU plays street ball and MU wasn't athletic enough to stop it. I understand not wanting to give up the three when SJU was having their best 3P shooting game of conference play, but you need good ball movement and discipline to beat a zone. SJU has neither. I think a zone would have forced SJU to chuck bad three pointers and we could have one the game.

He did go 1-3-1 and it was b-a-d.  not sure what the answer would of been but they were getting into the middle at the line and creating easy buckets, just carving that zone up in the early part of the second half on top of having wide open looks from 3.  Look, they've got to win 5 more games in conference, which games basically doesn't matter, the season is not over after this one.