Anyone really concerned about an upset during the non-Conf Season?

[MarquetteDano]

With all of the injuries to our frontcourt, I am very concerned.  A less talented team, with some bigs, that can slow down the game, can really keep in the game against us right now.  Particularly if Burke gets into early foul trouble.

Looking at the schedule, I presume we will be underogs versus N.C. State and Tennessee.  We may be even against Wisconsin.  I am hoping Otule plays against N.C. State on Dec 22nd.

If you take those three games out, we have 10 pre-season games.  We need to go 10-0 in those games, but I have this feeling we will go 9-1.  Assuming we win one of the three more difficult games, we would only be 10-3.  Not crap, but we will have two marquee wins (Dayton and one of the other three) and then an upset.

Let's get healthy.  I actually have a better feeling this year in the Big East than I do the in the non-Conference season.  If we are healthy for the Big East season, I can see us going 11-7 or 12-6, which would be phenomenal (a little Crean salute  ) given how tough it will be this year.

Let's Heal-Up!

[jmayer1]

We definitely will not be underdogs against NC State, last year they were 4-12 acc and 15-16 overall.  Also, I would think we would have to be favorites against UW as we are at home.

Also, judging from his quotes, I don't think Buzz will let the guys have a letdown.

[muarmy81]

Let's wait and see how this coming week unfolds.  After the OTule injury I was actually concerned over the Houston Baptist game. (Due to their experience and somewhat talented Transfers from other programs)  After it was all said and done our Big 4 put the team on their back and got a solid win.  I don't think they'll be able to carry the team like that against BE competition but if they stay hungry and Buzz continues to develop a  feel as the HC we should be OK through non-conference play.  We may have a few close ones but a W is a W and that buys us some time until Fulce and Otule get healthy.

[ErickJD08]

I am very concerned about this season.  I know we are only one game in but Burke's performance showed that he did not improve at all during the offseason and he is just an incompetent on the court as he ever was.  I bet he will not start by the time conference play starts. 

I didn't actually watch the game, can any elaborate on Hazel's and Butler's points and play.  Were the baskets garbage or did he actually use some skill?

[bilsu]

I think Otule/Fulce injuries will cost us two non-conference games and an additional 2 Big East games due to lost of development of these two players while they wre out with injuries. I really like Buzz's new offense, but I no longer think we will beat Wisconsin. While they are not as big as last year, they have several players over 6'8". 10-3 non-conference and 8-10 Big East. NIT bid.

[mu_hilltopper]

Yup, I'm real concerned, not just about OOC, but the BE season as well.  I was hugely optimistic with only 6 losses this year .. but that was before injuries to our new guys.  Not only do they not help us w/UW, UT, NCState, Dayton .. but when they get back, they will be way behind in their development.

The number of times MU will be in foul trouble this year is going to be unreal, and we're going to lose a couple games just based on guys like Lazar and Burke fouling out because they had to play.

I had 6 losses, which yeah, was pretty optimisitc.  After thinking more about it, with these injuries and how they put our new guys back .. I want to adjust my prediction to about 10-12 losses.  

[jmayer1]

I have no idea why everybody is freaking out.  We lost two new guys for a month.  We may miss them a bit, but I'm not about to say we are going to go 8-10 in the Big East or end up in the NIT.  In my personal opinion, that is just asinine.  For the time being MU will make due.  Hayward and Butler at the 4 will be just as good at the 4 as Hayward and Fitz were last year.  Burke and Hazel (for the time being) will prolly be a little worse than Barro and Burke were last year, but I highly doubt they will cost us any non-conference games that we would have considered gimmes before.  If MU loses more than 10 games this year I would be shocked. 

People need to take a deep breath and realize MU is still gonna have a talent advantage every night it hits the court in the non-conference season with the possible exception of Tenn.  The frontcourt may be undersized, but I believe the 4 uperclassmen should more than make up for that.

[madtownwarrior]

the sky is falling, the sky is falling - NIT bound - what a joke of a fan...

[ChicosBailBonds]

With all of the injuries to our frontcourt, I am very concerned.  A less talented team, with some bigs, that can slow down the game, can really keep in the game against us right now.  Particularly if Burke gets into early foul trouble.

Looking at the schedule, I presume we will be underogs versus N.C. State and Tennessee.  We may be even against Wisconsin.  I am hoping Otule plays against N.C. State on Dec 22nd.

If you take those three games out, we have 10 pre-season games.  We need to go 10-0 in those games, but I have this feeling we will go 9-1.  Assuming we win one of the three more difficult games, we would only be 10-3.  Not crap, but we will have two marquee wins (Dayton and one of the other three) and then an upset.

Let's get healthy.  I actually have a better feeling this year in the Big East than I do the in the non-Conference season.  If we are healthy for the Big East season, I can see us going 11-7 or 12-6, which would be phenomenal (a little Crean salute  ) given how tough it will be this year.

Let's Heal-Up!

I have us losing at UT, NCSU even if Otule plays.  9-9 in Big East, buts till NCAA bound. 

[Mayor McCheese]

I truly think a lot of you are underestimating what the three seniors + Hayward will do for us all year long.  You can count on just about 65 points a game from the 4 of them... at least.

[bma725]

I truly think a lot of you are underestimating what the three seniors + Hayward will do for us all year long.  You can count on just about 65 points a game from the 4 of them... at least.

It's not a question of their ability to score, it's a question of the team's ability to stop anyone in the post with Burke and Hazel at the 5.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I truly think a lot of you are underestimating what the three seniors + Hayward will do for us all year long.  You can count on just about 65 points a game from the 4 of them... at least.

This is a NCAA team and a damn good one.  That's not the reason I picked them at 9-9 (though I probably should have been 10-8).  I think the Big East is the best it's ever been from 1 to 12.  MU got a very tough draw having to play at Louisville, Pitt, ND, plus the home and aways with G'Town & Nova.  And S. Florida gives nearly everyone fits down in Tampa, though they seem to come up short each year.  The last 5 games are insanely tough. 

To me, it's more about the schedule then anything along with the loss of Mbakwe and Barro which has me concerned with depth.  This team could win the whole Big East, too.  I watched the game again today and thought Buzz did a good job.  Hoping it continues.

[bilsu]

I look at the whole picture. The last five regular season games are as tough as anyone in the country. Which means we need to build a cushion before that, so these potential losses do not take us out of consideration. We will not get a bid if we do not beat any of the ranked teams on our schedule. A month ago I expected to beat UW. I think we are the underdog in that game now. I figured we were losing to Tennessee anyways, I was not worried about NC ST and I still think we will beat them. However, a team like Dayton or someone else is going to sneak a win out on us. So now we are 10-3 vs 12-1 and some of our cushion is gone. It also hurts the Big East's non-conference record, which could effect whether the Big East gets 8, 9 or 10 bids. Assuming Otule and Fulce are back for the Big East they are now behind were they would have been and this hurts in a conference that is as strong as ours. I have said from the start that it will be tougher for MU to get an NCAA bid than to win a game in the NCAA tournament.
The idea that MU will not lose 10 games is ridiculous. They have not lossed less than 10 games since Wade left. While this team has a lot of talent it is short on size and three point shooting. The key probably for this team is to avoid the blowouts they had last year.

[77ncaachamps]

the sky is falling, the sky is falling - NIT bound - what a joke of a fan...

That may not be far from the truth if we lose DJ, Jerel, Wes or Lazar for an period of time.

Otule and Fulce's injuries HURT!

[jmayer1]

I have said from the start that it will be tougher for MU to get an NCAA bid than to win a game in the NCAA tournament.
The idea that MU will not lose 10 games is ridiculous. They have not lossed less than 10 games since Wade left.

If MU does not make the tourney without any of Dom, Wes, Jer, or Lazar missing significant time I would be the first person in line on the fire Buzz bandwagon.

In the last 3 regular seasons, MU has lost 9, 9, and 10 games (reg season) and I don't believe DWade was on any of those teams.

As I said there is no reason this team should lose more than 10 games (10-2 NC, 10-8 BE worst case scenario).

It is unbelievable how pessimistic and unrealistic some fans are.

[Daniel]

With all the injouries, Buzz has a lot of adversity to deal with.  Let's see how he does with what he has, how he makes adjustments and how he takes the most advantage he can of our opponents given what we have to put ont he floor.  With his offense, we are far more explosive than I have seen in a while - first game, I like the adjsutments he made at half time - we were up 8 at half, and came out in half two fired up and smoking hot and won by 31.  Too early to tell, but maybe Buzz has the knack of making adjustments after he sees what is happpening on the floor - Al was awesome at that.

Let's see what Buzz can do and how motivated this team is day in and day out.  One game at a time, one win at a a time.  And when we get Fulce and Otule back, we will be better even tho they lost valuable training time and game time.

[Marquette84]

Its hard to understand the concern after the biggest season-opening win in 16 years.  Not since the 41 point victory over NC A&T in 1993 have we had such a big first game victory.

Furthermore, a 31 point victory over a team with a potential NBA player in Gordon Watt strikes me as far more impressive than last seasons' 8 point win over IUPUI (who also had a potential NBA in George Hill), 2007's 11 point win over Hillsdale, or 2006's 17 point win over West Carolina. 

The fact that we achieved this 31 point win despite two players expected to be significant contributors on the bench doesn't give me cause for concern--it increases my optimism. 

[robmufan]

If Wes is going to play the way he has started this season, with contributions from Butler, I think we will be fine.  Villanova did very well with a 4 guard set and really nothing inside.  We have 3 great guards, esp. now that Dom is a passer!  Throw in Lazar and I think we will make it through the Non-conference with minimal damage. 

With that said, I think TN will be a tough game!  But other than that, I think our speed once again will be able to take over WI.

[nola03]

Its hard to understand the concern after the biggest season-opening win in 16 years.  

The concern is there because Marquette doesn't play all 30 of their remaining games against transitional NAIA/Division I programs. Having 8 players under 6'7'' versus HBU is no problem. Having that against the likes of UW, Tenn, NC State and even UWM, Dayton, and UNI will be a problem.

[robmufan]

If Marquette is the team that forces the tempo, I don't believe teams like UW will be able to keep up

[muwarrior87]

If Marquette is the team that forces the tempo, I don't believe teams like UW will be able to keep up

+1

[muarmy81]

If Marquette is the team that forces the tempo, I don't believe teams like UW will be able to keep up

And Wiscy barely beat 0-4 Long Beach last night at the Kohl Center.  They were only up 1 with 1 minute to play...I still think we beat UW and NC State.

And I'll say we beat Tennessee. (Mainly cuz I'll be in Nashville for the game) 

[MU B2002]

And I'll say we beat Tennessee. (Mainly cuz I'll be in Nashville for the game) 

+1

We match up well with TN, they have 2 6-10 guys on the team, and neither of them are contributers.  I think they play a really similar style to MU, and it will come down to the guard play (and there are not many teams out there that I would rank above MU).  Also, they have no depth at PG, as one of the guys competing for the starting job is now ineligible.  IMO

[MUViking]

I am very concerned about this season.  I know we are only one game in but Burke's performance showed that he did not improve at all during the offseason and he is just an incompetent on the court as he ever was.  I bet he will not start by the time conference play starts. 

I didn't actually watch the game, can any elaborate on Hazel's and Butler's points and play.  Were the baskets garbage or did he actually use some skill?

Had to respond to this.  Let me get this straight-- you have a strong opinion on Burke's game, and yet you "didn't actually watch the game"????  Seriously????

[NYWarrior]

Had to respond to this.  Let me get this straight-- you have a strong opinion on Burke's game, and yet you "didn't actually watch the game"????  Seriously????

C'mon.......0 points, 0 shots, 2 boards, and 5 fouls in 13 minutes for a starting senior against a lesser opponent in the season opener.  With a stat line like that -- against lousy career numbers -- you don't need to have watched the game to have a strong opinion about how awful Burke was, and that his productivity remains a huge issue for this team.

[MUViking]

C'mon.......0 points, 0 shots, 2 boards, and 5 fouls in 13 minutes for a starting senior against a lesser opponent in the season opener.  With a stat line like that -- against lousy career numbers -- you don't need to have watched the game to have a strong opinion about how awful Burke was, and that his productivity remains a huge issue for this team.

But the premise was that Burke "did not improve at all during the offseason and he is just as incompetent on the court as he ever was."  I agree that Burke was not particularly good on Friday night, and we definitely need him to play better.  But to make such final statements after not even watching the game seems unfair.