St. John's Game

[CTWarrior]

He came across this way, but it wasn't true. I remember talking to someone who worked behind the scenes for ESPN. One day Vitale comes into the studio and says "hey, tell me about ________!"

It was some mid-major school. So the guy does some quick research and gets the name of their star player and a couple stats. Vitale goes on camera and dives into his schtick. "Oh baby, watch out for _________! I love these guys, they space you out and shoot the lights out. As a team they hit XX from three and can make life tough for any of the big boys. And don't forget *Star Player Name*, he's a diaper dandy as good as anyone in the country. They could be taking someone to upset city, baby!"

Don't get me wrong, he made the sport accessible and exciting to the casual fan, but he didn't possess nearly the breadth of knowledge he espoused. That he didn't end up actually calling games for those teams in the tourney kept him from getting exposed on the fly.

I think all announcers do that.  He used to make cogent points about what was happening in the game with some strategy tidbits, etc.  The kind of stuff I personally like to hear announcers talk about.  We are 20 years removed from him doing that, if not more.  He is just nails on the blackboard for me now.  I just want to watch the game, you know?  Talk to me like I was sitting next to you and make comments that you would think I want to hear.  Let the play-by-play guy describe who did what.

[mileskishnish72]

Another favorite ploy of his is to (loudly) pronounce: "Oh, man, you need a time-out, Coach!"
when he sees (off-camera) that a coach is standing for a TO.

My wife just leaves the room when he's on.

OK, I appreciate the interest he generated in the past, but his schtick is lame beyond belief now.

[PGsHeroes32]

MU opens  minus 7.5

Damn. Have a feeling that line will drop a bit

[BrewCity83]

Another favorite ploy of his is to (loudly) pronounce: "Oh, man, you need a time-out, Coach!"
when he sees (off-camera) that a coach is standing for a TO.

My wife just leaves the room when he's on.

OK, I appreciate the interest he generated in the past, but his schtick is lame beyond belief now.

I just wanna hear, "TIME FOR A T-O, JAMIE BAA-BEE!!!" a coupla times on Saturday.

[Bocephys]

MU opens  minus 7.5

Looking forward to the meltdowns after our comfortable 8 point win.

[JWags85]

I think all announcers do that.  He used to make cogent points about what was happening in the game with some strategy tidbits, etc.  The kind of stuff I personally like to hear announcers talk about.  We are 20 years removed from him doing that, if not more.  He is just nails on the blackboard for me now.  I just want to watch the game, you know?  Talk to me like I was sitting next to you and make comments that you would think I want to hear.  Let the play-by-play guy describe who did what.

I think thats the point.  All announcers key in on a player or two from smaller schools they aren't used to.  But they will read a scouting report, look at stat lines, etc... Obviously play up their strengths so you almost fear the dude averaging 14 from Oral Roberts, but they don't fall into generic exaggerations.  Calling random dudes Diaper Dandies and PTPers when they are not even mid major stars or just the 5th starter on a good ACC team makes him look like a hack.

Like Jon Rothstein and his copy/paste Twitter sayings

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I said this in another recent thread, but y'all pay a lot more attention to the announcers than I do.

[skianth16]

Biggest game of the season.  Time for some revenge.

I get why Wojo or Markus might say this. But as a fan, this doesn't make sense. Tonight's game is nowhere near as important as the Nova game this weekend. As much as I want to see our guys beat up on the one conference team that beat us so far, it won't move the needle for us in rankings or seedings the way Saturday's game will.

[MU82]

I get why Wojo or Markus might say this. But as a fan, this doesn't make sense. Tonight's game is nowhere near as important as the Nova game this weekend. As much as I want to see our guys beat up on the one conference team that beat us so far, it won't move the needle for us in rankings or seedings the way Saturday's game will.

Well, Saturday's game will be a lot more meaningful if we will have beaten StJ first because it will will be for the conference lead, no?

But let's not get all semantical here ... Warriors are gonna win da boata dem (as my Sout-Side Chicago fadder-in-law says), anyway!

[wadesworld]

I get why Wojo or Markus might say this. But as a fan, this doesn't make sense. Tonight's game is nowhere near as important as the Nova game this weekend. As much as I want to see our guys beat up on the one conference team that beat us so far, it won't move the needle for us in rankings or seedings the way Saturday's game will.

A home loss and sweep by St. John's will do much more damage than a home loss to Nova, absolutely no doubt about that.

Saturday doesn't mean nearly as much if you go into it with a 2nd conference loss already.

[TallTitan34]

A home loss and sweep by St. John's will do much more damage than a home loss to Nova, absolutely no doubt about that.

Saturday doesn't mean nearly as much if you go into it with a 2nd conference loss already.

Unless you sweep Nova.  Then the St. John's losses don't matter.  Discounting the other conference games of course.

But yes, lets win tonight.  Hot take I know.

[CTWarrior]

I said this in another recent thread, but y'all pay a lot more attention to the announcers than I do.

I don't particularly pay attention to the announcers.  But Vitale is impossible to ignore.  You have to listen to help keep track of fouls, etc. 

[skianth16]

A home loss and sweep by St. John's will do much more damage than a home loss to Nova, absolutely no doubt about that.

Saturday doesn't mean nearly as much if you go into it with a 2nd conference loss already.

Then I guess the DePaul game next Tuesday is the most important game of the year since that can hurt us more than any other game the rest of the year.

And a win Saturday, regardless of the outcome tonight, absolutely matters for our tournament resume. And it matters in the fight for the conference championship. And for seeding in the BET. I just don't see any way Saturday's game means less in the long run than tonight.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

I get why Wojo or Markus might say this. But as a fan, this doesn't make sense. Tonight's game is nowhere near as important as the Nova game this weekend. As much as I want to see our guys beat up on the one conference team that beat us so far, it won't move the needle for us in rankings or seedings the way Saturday's game will.

Actually its every bit as big a game as Saturday.  This teams sole focus should  be on winning a BE title.  Therefore they all count the same. 

[79Warrior]

Then I guess the DePaul game next Tuesday is the most important game of the year since that can hurt us more than any other game the rest of the year.

And a win Saturday, regardless of the outcome tonight, absolutely matters for our tournament resume. And it matters in the fight for the conference championship. And for seeding in the BET. I just don't see any way Saturday's game means less in the long run than tonight.

Every game matters in the quest to win the BE. We are in great position now. Just keep winning.

[skianth16]

Actually its every bit as big a game as Saturday.  This teams sole focus should  be on winning a BE title.  Therefore they all count the same.

Come on. They don't all count the same. On March 17, when the committee is discussing seeding, do you think they'll bring up a win over St. John's or a win over Nova? A loss to either is probably not even mentioned. Same for the conference championship and conference seeding. A win over Villanova matters more because they are the only team we're really competing with at this point. Plus, just from a fan standpoint, beating the reigning national champ and defending conference champ means a heckuva lot more than beating St. John's.

I expect Wojo and the team to offer the PR puffery to the press about every game counting the same and how the next game is always the most important. But we all know they care more about the Villanova game. Teams circle some games on the calendar. Nova at home on NMD is one of them. As fans, we don't have the same PR standard. It's OK to acknowledge one game being bigger or more important than another. That's part of the fun of being a fan.

[Goose]

As MU sits today, every game is a really big game. They have put themselves in a A+ position and need to take care of business. While I picked SJU in the Scoop contest, if MU shoots the ball well, I think they get the win. In watching a lot of ball of late, MU's shooting is a very high level compared to many teams. That really is the biggest take away I have had watching other games. A lot of teams really struggle to put it in the net.

[wadesworld]

Come on. They don't all count the same. On March 17, when the committee is discussing seeding, do you think they'll bring up a win over St. John's or a win over Nova? A loss to either is probably not even mentioned. Same for the conference championship and conference seeding. A win over Villanova matters more because they are the only team we're really competing with at this point. Plus, just from a fan standpoint, beating the reigning national champ and defending conference champ means a heckuva lot more than beating St. John's.

I expect Wojo and the team to offer the PR puffery to the press about every game counting the same and how the next game is always the most important. But we all know they care more about the Villanova game. Teams circle some games on the calendar. Nova at home on NMD is one of them. As fans, we don't have the same PR standard. It's OK to acknowledge one game being bigger or more important than another. That's part of the fun of being a fan.

If St. John's beats us tonight they sit 3 games back in the standings but would have the tiebreaker with us having the sweep.  So it's in essence a 2 game difference, which is the difference between Marquette and Villanova if Marquette loses tonight.

I'd sure hope the team isn't looking to Nova as a bigger game than tonight.  If so there are some issues.  Have some pride, SJU made a mockery of you a month ago, and it's your only conference loss.  If there's a game Marquette should've had circled it should've been this one.

Having said that, tonight is the biggest game of the year.  We'll revisit the statement in 11 hours or so.

[CTWarrior]

Come on. They don't all count the same. On March 17, when the committee is discussing seeding, do you think they'll bring up a win over St. John's or a win over Nova? A loss to either is probably not even mentioned. Same for the conference championship and conference seeding. A win over Villanova matters more because they are the only team we're really competing with at this point. Plus, just from a fan standpoint, beating the reigning national champ and defending conference champ means a heckuva lot more than beating St. John's.

I expect Wojo and the team to offer the PR puffery to the press about every game counting the same and how the next game is always the most important. But we all know they care more about the Villanova game. Teams circle some games on the calendar. Nova at home on NMD is one of them. As fans, we don't have the same PR standard. It's OK to acknowledge one game being bigger or more important than another. That's part of the fun of being a fan.

Who cares about the committee?  We're in, and the matchups we get in the tournament are going to matter more than the seed.  If we split the next two games, it won't matter much if at all to our seed which team we beat.  We are in a position to win the Big East Regular Season.  All the games matter for that goal.

[skianth16]

If St. John's beats us tonight they sit 3 games back in the standings but would have the tiebreaker with us having the sweep.  So it's in essence a 2 game difference, which is the difference between Marquette and Villanova if Marquette loses tonight.

I'd sure hope the team isn't looking to Nova as a bigger game than tonight.  If so there are some issues.  Have some pride, SJU made a mockery of you a month ago, and it's your only conference loss.  If there's a game Marquette should've had circled it should've been this one.

Having said that, tonight is the biggest game of the year.  We'll revisit the statement in 11 hours or so.

If we lose tonight, we are still comfortably in second place in the BE standings. How does that make this game so important?

Looking at it another way, if you have to split the two games, which do you pick to win? That's a no brainer. (obviously we want to win all the games we play, but to think through which game means more, this is a simple little hypothetical)

And yeah, I can see the team getting hyped up for this game. But it only became that important to the team in January. The Nova game was circled in October.

We're obviously not going to agree on this, but I just think the whole PR view from fans is unneeded. Trying to explain how a game against a mediocre-ish St. John's team is more important than a game against the team we're chasing for a BE title who also happens to be the defending national champ... that's some mental gymnastics I'm just not flexible enough for.

[skianth16]

Who cares about the committee?  We're in, and the matchups we get in the tournament are going to matter more than the seed.  If we split the next two games, it won't matter much if at all to our seed which team we beat.  We are in a position to win the Big East Regular Season.  All the games matter for that goal.

You really think a win over St. John's is equal to a win over Nova? Like for serious?

[muguru]

If we lose tonight, we are still comfortably in second place in the BE standings. How does that make this game so important?

Looking at it another way, if you have to split the two games, which do you pick to win? That's a no brainer. (obviously we want to win all the games we play, but to think through which game means more, this is a simple little hypothetical)

And yeah, I can see the team getting hyped up for this game. But it only became that important to the team in January. The Nova game was circled in October.

We're obviously not going to agree on this, but I just think the whole PR view from fans is unneeded. Trying to explain how a game against a mediocre-ish St. John's team is more important than a game against the team we're chasing for a BE title who also happens to be the defending national champ... that's some mental gymnastics I'm just not flexible enough for.

Tonight is the absolute most important...simply because if they lose tonight, the game Saturday loses a TON of luster...like a TON. A loss tonight essentially means that they aren't really playing for the BE title on Saturday(or at least first place), and Saturday just becomes another game in reality. That's how huge tonight is...it sets the stage for Saturday for everything we all hope and think it will be for.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I think we pound SJU tonight.  Just a gut feeling. 

[StillWarriors]

As MU sits today, every game is a really big game. They have put themselves in a A+ position and need to take care of business. While I picked SJU in the Scoop contest, if MU shoots the ball well, I think they get the win. In watching a lot of ball of late, MU's shooting is a very high level compared to many teams. That really is the biggest take away I have had watching other games. A lot of teams really struggle to put it in the net.

Great point on the shooting. While I have appreciated how versatile Joey and Sam are, it really hit home watching the Seton Hall v. Butler game the other day. Butler repeatedly gave SH bigs several feet of space outside and it was clear there was no way they were going to take the wide open shot from 17 feet and out. Obviously that collapsed D then makes it so much more difficult to penetrate and attack inside. It really jumped out at me how comparatively MU is so much harder to guard and puts so much stress on a D with all the multi-faceted weapons available.

[skianth16]

Tonight is the absolute most important...simply because if they lose tonight, the game Saturday loses a TON of luster...like a TON. A loss tonight essentially means that they aren't really playing for the BE title on Saturday(or at least first place), and Saturday just becomes another game in reality. That's how huge tonight is...it sets the stage for Saturday for everything we all hope and think it will be for.

I don't buy this either. If we lose tonight, we'll have 2 conference losses. Then a win Saturday would put us just one game back with 7 games left. And one of those remaining games is against Nova. Win that, and then we both have 2 losses but we swept the series. I just don't see a loss tonight taking us completely out of the running for the title.