All good things must end

[tower912]

Kur was backing up, Watson went to the side and made a little swim move.  Not a foul.

[lawdog77]

Kur was backing up, Watson went to the side and made a little swim move.  Not a foul.

Agreed, but if that was Theo instead of Watson, a foul probably would have been called.

[swoopem]

I agree that Shaka has been great all year on substitutions, rotation, etc.  Just felt he kept him on the bench too long yesterday. 

I also agree that it probably would have been better to put the ball in Morsell's hands on the final possession, yet Shaka clearly feels Kolek is a playmaker and could either collapse D and kick to an open shooter or possibly get all the way to the rack and score on his own.  It's possible the thought was that they'd be able to create an open 3 and shoot for the win...

That’s what I was hoping for. I wanted a drive and kick to Kam for a dagger 3

If the plan was to drive to score then Morsell should’ve had the ball

Either way, we got a layup and a shot Lewis normally makes so I can’t be too upset at what happened. We should’ve tied the game but didn’t

[tower912]

Agreed, but if that was Theo instead of Watson, a foul probably would have been called.

Theo would have gotten a flagrant.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Watched the game on a delay yesterday. Thought for sure Justin's last shot was going to bounce in. Just missed the chance to tie. Friars continue to have a horseshoe up their arse

Rebounding was atrocious. Brew gave a masterthesis on the reasons why in another thread. Providence's entire offensive plan in the second half was to throw it at the rim and let Watson/Minaya/Croswell go get it and it worked.

Cooley ran a great defensive gameplan on us. They intentionally turned Kolek into a scorer instead of a passer. Kolek, to his credit, hit a few threes and layups to make them pay but we're not going to win many games when he gets a goose egg in the assists department. Part of that is on his teammates for not make shots but he wasn't getting the ball them as cleanly as he usually does because of how Providence was playing him.

Definitely felt like Greg ran the wrong way on that last play. Someone messed up somewhere because that was clearly not the play they meant to run.

3P shooting came back down to earth but I think that was more of Providence's defense then a regression to the mean.

Joplin is still frantic out there but I loved both his drive for a bucket and the hustle block he got a few minutes later. Lots of potential in that guy.

Hated the reffing in this game because it was inconsistent between halves. Didn't favor Providence or anything like that, just don't like when anything goes in the first half and then everything is called in the second half.

Beaten to a pulp on the boards, 26% 3P shooting, Minaya hitting 3 3s in a game for the first time all seasons...only lost by 2 on the road to what is now a top 15 team (even if their record is a bit fraudulent). This team knows how to defend and I love it.

[MUfan12]

Definitely felt like Greg ran the wrong way on that last play. Someone messed up somewhere because that was clearly not the play they meant to run.

Greg got faceguarded in the corner and panicked, and cut right into the cut Justin was making.

Timing was a mess too, starting with the initial screen.

[MU82]

MUfan, TAMU and tower, thanks for the info on Greg seemingly not being where he was supposed to be on that last play. I hadn't noticed that live, so I painfully just re-watched the last few minutes of the game.

If Greg had stayed in the corner, Kolek never would have been able to get him the ball anyway. His defender #10 was obviously told not to leave him by even an inch.

Also of note, after Horchler hit a FT to make it a 2-point game with 20.7 seconds left, Kolek took his time and strolled up the court as if he didn't have a care in the world. Shaka was desperately signaling for him to dribble toward the bench so he could call the time-out and have an inbounds play from the spot he wanted. That should have been communicated before the FT even was taken. Kolek could have saved at least 3 seconds if he had just quickly gone where he was supposed to.

On the Watson 3-point play ... I thought for sure Kur had to have been fouled, but after watching it 5 times it looked like a pretty ordinary swim move and that Kur was a little off-balance. Also, Morsell had a chance to grab that rebound before Watson did, or at least slap it away, but couldn't.

Like TAMU said, they called the game quite tight in the second half after letting it be a wrestling match in the first half, so sure, maybe Watson gets called for a foul there. But I'm not gonna blame the refs one iota for the loss.

I mean, our starting center committed a lane violation good for 2 PC points, missed a dunk to cost MU 2 points and grabbed 1 rebound in 25 minutes. Lewis had a meh game and it was his missed FT that forced us to foul at the end. And so on and so on. All that ... and giving up 22 second-chance points ... and yet we still lost by only 2 points on the road to ranked team. I'm still very high on Shaka's crew.

We Are Marquette!

[jesmu84]

I'm going to respectfully disagree with you for the simple reason that teams are going to have bad shooting games.  Keep in mind Providence shot like 38% and 8-26 from distance.  Where they killed us was 2nd chance points.  I think they scored 23 on the offensive glass.  We have to find a way to get better in this area.

Sure.

But we've been rebounding poorly all season. So that's likely not going to be changing anytime soon. That's in the DNA of this team.

Our winning streak came when we were shooting better. If we shoot poorly, we're gonna have a tough time because of the rebounding issues inherent in this team.

[brewcity77]

On the final play, pretty sure Greg was supposed to be in the corner. No way he and Justin were supposed to go to the same spot, and Morsell was in the opposite corner if Tyler had been able to make the turn. Just an offensive miscue.

[Goose]

TAMU

I agree with 100% of your post with a big agreement on the team defense. We have waited a long time to see this type of defense and it is a complete joy to watch. While disappointed in the loss, I walked away from the game with a very positive attitude. That type of defense is going to win a lot of basketball games.

[MU82]

On the final play, pretty sure Greg was supposed to be in the corner. No way he and Justin were supposed to go to the same spot, and Morsell was in the opposite corner if Tyler had been able to make the turn. Just an offensive miscue.

Yes, agree, and I just said that. But had he stayed in the corner it wouldn't have changed anything IMHO. His defender #10, was right on top of him. Greg moved to try to get open.

The play was dependent on Kolek being able to beat Horchler, get into the clear, and force help to arrive ... but once Horchler did a good job staying on Kolek, the play was blown up. I was calling for Morsell to trigger the play from the middle of the floor, but maybe that wouldn't have worked, either.

I wonder if Shaka ever gave a thought to not using the time-out there and just letting the play develop, so Cooley wouldn't have been able to set up his defense.  Doesn't seem, and I'm not saying that would have been the right strategy. Just wondering.

[tower912]

Shaka called timeout to sub in offense.  Greg and Kam came in, Kur and OMP went out.

[Newsdreams]

Shaka called timeout to sub in offense.  Greg and Kam came in, Kur and OMP went out.

Shaka in post radio interview said the play was designed to have help come down low when Kolek penetrated so he could pass to an open shooter, but he said Cooley made the right decision no help no collapsing inside.

[MU82]

Shaka called timeout to sub in offense.  Greg and Kam came in, Kur and OMP went out.

Agree.

Shaka in post radio interview said the play was designed to have help come down low when Kolek penetrated so he could pass to an open shooter, but he said Cooley made the right decision no help no collapsing inside.

Agree. "Out-coached" is a word that sounds really strong and I know it bothers some, but Cooley had his guys ready both at the end of the half and the end of the game for what Shaka wanted to do in both situations.

The only way the play at the end of the game works is if Kolek can cleanly beat his man and if Providence then helped. I think we'd have had more options if Morsell had worked the lane, but again, I concede that's just an opinion and Cooley might have been ready for that, too.

[Miss Katie’s]

Also of note, after Horchler hit a FT to make it a 2-point game with 20.7 seconds left, Kolek took his time and strolled up the court as if he didn't have a care in the world. Shaka was desperately signaling for him to dribble toward the bench so he could call the time-out and have an inbounds play from the spot he wanted. That should have been communicated before the FT even was taken. Kolek could have saved at least 3 seconds if he had just quickly gone where he was supposed to.

Agreed.  Even the announcers were commenting on Shaka frantically trying to signal him. 

[MUfan12]

Yes, agree, and I just said that. But had he stayed in the corner it wouldn't have changed anything IMHO. His defender #10, was right on top of him. Greg moved to try to get open.

You're probably right, but if there's a cleaner cut for Lewis without another defender being dragged into it, maybe that's an option for Ty.

[MU82]

You're probably right, but if there's a cleaner cut for Lewis without another defender being dragged into it, maybe that's an option for Ty.

Perhaps. It looked like Lewis had already started his cut into the lane when Elliott was going toward that space, but maybe it made it easier for Providence to defend Lewis. Certainly possible.

[VanderBlueFanClub]

I feel like this game showed how much of an X-Factor Justin Lewis really is. Also could see teams focusing a lot on shutting him down so we need a second player to step up. And in this game Kolek stepped up and Darryl played decent, but sometimes he gets to caught up in the refs. But when JLew is shut down we really need Darryl to step up and play well.

[MU82]

I feel like this game showed how much of an X-Factor Justin Lewis really is. Also could see teams focusing a lot on shutting him down so we need a second player to step up. And in this game Kolek stepped up and Darryl played decent, but sometimes he gets to caught up in the refs. But when JLew is shut down we really need Darryl to step up and play well.

I actually thought Darryl did step up. If everybody did their jobs as well as he did his, we'd have won by 10.

[MarquetteMike1977]

 I was calling for Morsell to trigger the play from the middle of the floor, but maybe that wouldn't have worked, either.

Agree. Morsell did well triggering from the middle of the floor when Villanova got within 3. Reminded me of when Wade went baseline versus Dayton at the buzzer and lost control of the ball. From then on Crean and Wade wanted the game ending plays triggered from the middle of the floor and had success.

[MarquetteMike1977]

ONeill said when the game got tight at the end he wanted Tony Miller or some one to get the ball to Damon Key although Jimmy Mac did not always like that haha. Getting the ball to Justin Lewis might also be a decent option along with Morsell or Kolek triggering from the middle of the floor.