Haunted Hoops
Oct. 31, 2008
First off, there's nothing to worry about with Jerel McNeal. He sat out with a case of strep throat he's been battling most of the week.
As far as the rest of the evening, the Golden Eagles played 10- and 15-minute scrimmages, splitting the teams up differently each time.
Jimmy Butler scored seven points on 3-for-3 shooting to lead White to a 19-10 victory in the opener. Lazar Hayward scored eight of Blue's 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting; teammates Pat Hazel, Dwight Burke, Maurice Acker, David Cubillan and walk-on Robert Frozena combined to go 0 for 6.
In the nightcap, Hayward's offensive board and putback gave Blue a 28-27 victory. Butler had a chance to win it in the closing seconds for White, but missed a three-pointer from the deep corner.
Joe Fulce had nine points and four rebounds to lead Blue, while Wesley Matthews added seven points and Hayward and Acker six apiece. Hazel was the surprise leading scorer for White, finishing with nine points and three rebounds, while Butler and Dominic James added six points.
James also had four assists.
"I think anytime you can play with real officials and real fans, I think you get a better gauge for your team and their resolve as it relates to their confidence level in what you’re doing on both ends of the floor," said Williams. "I think we’ve gotten better since Madness, in relation to the scrimmage at Madness to the scrimmage tonight. And I think we’ll have a lot better gauge on Monday morning from the scrimmage on Sunday."
More on that later.
As far as how things have been progressing since practice opened, Williams said he's been generally pleased overall. He termed Tuesday's practice as the team's best ever, but then added Wednesday's was the worst. MU took Thursday off, and had a long day Friday, beginning early in the morning.
"We have a lot of returning players, but as it relates to the system, they’re all new to it. The coaches are all new to it. So every day is a growth process," Williams said. "Those first 20 practices that you have are the most crucial in regards to the initial development of your team. Every single day is going to be important for us in practice, but those first 20 are always the most beneficial because typically you’re not playing any games. Actually, I think we’ll get in more than 20 before we play our first one.
"To answer your question in a longer way, yeah, I think we’re doing the right stuff. I think we’ve got to continue to tighten up and become more efficient offensively and value the possession more on defense. We have to play without fouling. We can’t just stop the clock and add a team foul and let them get three points. We have to play without fouling, and we don’t have enough depth as of today – specifically when Jerel’s not playing – you can’t stop the clock and just give the other team three points. Can’t do that.
"So we’ve got to get better at a lot of things. We’ve got to get better at everything. But we’re trending in the right direction."
I also asked Williams how he thought his team's inside game was shaping up. What he had to say was very interesting.
"The first 30 days of Chris Otule’s existence at Marquette I think were the most miserable freshman existence that you could have. The second 30 days was the largest and most quick transformation I’ve ever seen in a freshman big kid," he said. "Our kids are throwing him the ball and he’s finishing. He’s making plays. He’s got to get better as a rebounder on both ends of the floor.
"He’s not where he needs to be, but what’s happening is he’s gaining confidence as a player and every single day we have practice he finishes the day in the weight room with Todd Smith, and Todd’s done a phenomenal job of helping Chris have passion in the weight room, and his body’s beginning to change. So he’s getting confidence and his body’s changing, and it becomes parallel – he’s gaining confidence because he’s getting stronger. His lateral quickness is getting better.
"Yeah, it’s going to be a story. But it won’t just be Chris. It’ll be Dwight, it’ll be Pat, it’ll be Chris, it’ll be Lazar. It’ll be all those guys, because we’re not good enough for it to be just one guy. It’s got to be all of them, and they’re all going to have to be accountable for every possession they play. But none of them can just give up fouls, because we need them to play, and we don’t need what is our most vulnerable position to stop the clock and use a team foul. We can’t do that. We just can’t."
Otule, for the record, combined for eight points, three rebounds and a blocked shot on Friday night.
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