Oops

[Nukem2]

First, the Positive:
- Markus was excellent and did everything he possibly could
- Bailey was also solid.  His defense was very good and he was a confident contributor on offense
- Ed got pulled for trying a 15 footer and the team got to finish the game without his bad hands, turnstile defense and turnovers (yes, that's a positive)
- Jayce showed some real hustle and some great work on the boards

Then the negative:
- Wojo was totally out-coached.  Cooley had the (obvious) strategy to win and Wojo had nothing to counter it.  The strategy is not too complex.  Pressure Markus, abuse Markus to the greatest extent that the refs will allow.  Use about 15 fouls on him.  Wojo needs to come up with a way to win when this happens.
- Bench and supporting cast really didn't show up
- Theo
- The timeout (bad coaching)
- Not fouling (bad coaching)
- No rebound on BB's missed FT (bad coaching)
- No respect from the referees.  (bad coaching) Especially when Markus was getting abused the way he was.  There were several plays where he was fouled 2 or 3 times with no call. 

MU has superior talent to PC, the leading scorer in the NCAA, good size, good length, and a deeper bench.  When this combination loses the way MU did, it's on the coaches. 

I'm not saying Fire Wojo.  I'm saying he needs to be accountable for losses and needs to do more to put the players in a position to win.

Seton Hall is next, and they will do what PC did, but even better.  Wojo needs to figure out how to win with pressure on Markus.

Sorry, this one was on the players right from the start.  One can quibble about some items, but it rae
ly came down to execution.

[willie warrior]

Are we still on a good trajectory with Wojo? He’s never inspired confidence in me. That’s a bad bad loss

This...is...not...a...tourney...team!

[1SE]

@Creighton was the kind of W we would need to be in the BE top 3.
Home Providence was the kind of L we need to avoid to being in the BE bottom 3.

We'll have more opportunities for both. Hopefully we can get some of the Ws and avoid any more of those Ls.

[4everwarriors]

Just watched the postgame presser.  This is verbatim:

Reporter: At the end of overtime, did you think about putting rebounders in during Brendan's free throws, and then when you used that timeout in between free throws, how did you decide to end that instead of saving that?

Wojo: Yeah well umm, I thought, I...I...was sure Brendan was gonna make it (smiles), and uh, you know we...you know we had to get a stop, and we...we knew we may have to utilize a timeout after that.

1. That is just BAD COACHING.  No wonder the players don't know what to do.

2. What is he even talking about?  Embarrassing.

Can you imagine Cooley answering those questions that way?  Not a chance.

Da dude iz know Mensa member, aina?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

My argument is that you take an in game approach to fouling if up by three.  Providence looked tight from the free throw line all night.  In a pressure situation I like my chances when fouling them.  Worse comes to worse, they hit both, then you inbound to Howard who's basically 100% from FT line. 

They hadn’t hit a three in the second half. They ran a good play and hit a semi contested shot. With seven seconds left you don’t foul.

[Strokin 3s]

Sorry, this one was on the players right from the start.  One can quibble about some items, but it rae
ly came down to execution.

This guy gets it.

And not to single out one play within a game as the whole outcome would’ve shifted differently and this person otherwise played a very good game but Bailey stepping into the lane on that missed free throw and giving the guy a second chance and then having him make it was the difference between OT and winning in regulation.  Literally turned to my friend and said, “we better not lose by a one point”.

[NickelDimer]

Just watched the postgame presser.  This is verbatim:

Reporter: At the end of overtime, did you think about putting rebounders in during Brendan's free throws, and then when you used that timeout in between free throws, how did you decide to end that instead of saving that?

Wojo: Yeah well umm, I thought, I...I...was sure Brendan was gonna make it (smiles), and uh, you know we...you know we had to get a stop, and we...we knew we may have to utilize a timeout after that.

1. That is just BAD COACHING.  No wonder the players don't know what to do.

2. What is he even talking about?  Embarrassing.

Can you imagine Cooley answering those questions that way?  Not a chance.

This is pretty revealing and a really, really bad look for Wojo. He essentially admitted that based on his expectation of Bailey hitting the third ft, he hadn’t made any contingency plan. I mean that’s very basic, fundamental coaching.

[Mike Deane's Seat Belt]

combo of bad in game coaching and having a team (aside from one player) full of mid major level talent.   

The fact that bailey is possibly our second best player is highly concerning. 

[4everwarriors]

This is pretty revealing and a really, really bad look for Wojo. He essentially admitted that based on his expectation of Bailey hitting the third ft, he hadn’t made any contingency plan. I mean that’s very basic, fundamental coaching.

Da dude's sure his 50% FT shoota's gonna drain all 3? Dat, write der y'all, sez it all wit regards ta hour head coach, aina?

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

This guy gets it.

And not to single out one play within a game as the whole outcome would’ve shifted differently and this person otherwise played a very good game but Bailey stepping into the lane on that missed free throw and giving the guy a second chance and then having him make it was the difference between OT and winning in regulation.  Literally turned to my friend and said, “we better not lose by a one point”.

The MU English Department took an L last night as well.

[Dr. Blackheart]

This guy gets it.

And not to single out one play within a game as the whole outcome would’ve shifted differently and this person otherwise played a very good game but Bailey stepping into the lane on that missed free throw and giving the guy a second chance and then having him make it was the difference between OT and winning in regulation.  Literally turned to my friend and said, “we better not lose by a one point”.

That was Koby not Bailey.

[Jay Bee]

Howard & Bailey: 58 points
Rest of Team: 22 points

That won't get it done.

Why can’t 72.5% being scored by the top two get it done? That’s cap

The game before our top two had 71.8% of the team’s points and we kicked Novas @ss

Smh

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

This is pretty revealing and a really, really bad look for Wojo. He essentially admitted that based on his expectation of Bailey hitting the third ft, he hadn’t made any contingency plan. I mean that’s very basic, fundamental coaching.

See here’s where I disagree. You don’t want to put it in a players head that he’s going to miss. That’s just asking for problems, especially with young kids.

I doubt Bailey wanted to hear his coach on the sidelines yell “grab the rebound” as he’s about to take his final shot. The players should know they need to crash the boards with reckless abandon. Fouls don’t matter at that point.

[CTWarrior]

See here’s where I disagree. You don’t want to put it in a players head that he’s going to miss. That’s just asking for problems, especially with young kids.

I doubt Bailey wanted to hear his coach on the sidelines yell “grab the rebound” as he’s about to take his final shot. The players should know they need to crash the boards with reckless abandon. Fouls don’t matter at that point.

While I agree with this, obviously a reminder would have been helpful.  "Brendan is gonna nail these, but if there is an unlucky bounce you gotta get that rebound or foul whoever does" ought to have done it.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

He subbed McEwen in for defense.  Understandable.  He should have had rebounders on the line just in case.

[DienerTime34]

This is pretty revealing and a really, really bad look for Wojo. He essentially admitted that based on his expectation of Bailey hitting the third ft, he hadn’t made any contingency plan. I mean that’s very basic, fundamental coaching.

Seriously, if you haven't watched this press conference yet, you should. Wojo didn't even have an explanation or a rationale for his decisions.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Why can’t 72.5% being scored by the top two get it done? That’s cap

The game before our top two had 71.8% of the team’s points and we kicked Novas @ss

Smh

Well, that 0.7% was the difference between winning and losing. 

[ATWizJr]

Sorry, this one was on the players right from the start.  One can quibble about some items, but it rae
ly came down to execution.

who selects the players?

[WhoaJoe2020]

They hadn’t hit a three in the second half. They ran a good play and hit a semi contested shot. With seven seconds left you don’t foul.

Let's be real.

Even if PC had missed that three, or Marquette had fouled and then closed out the game, there would still be the storyline about how Marquette (re: Wojo) barely beat a terrible PC squad.
This truly is a case of " you can't win for losing ".   For those of you too young to know the phrase I suggest you google it.

[Nukem2]

who selects the players?

Sorry bub, but was discussing specific games given the same set of actors however they may have come to be.   Is that hard to comprehend?

[Lennys Tap]

Let's be real.

Even if PC had missed that three, or Marquette had fouled and then closed out the game, there would still be the storyline about how Marquette (re: Wojo) barely beat a terrible PC squad.
This truly is a case of " you can't win for losing ".   For those of you too young to know the phrase I suggest you google it.

Let’s be real.

The storyline “Marquette lost at home to not very good (lousy?) Providence team is 100% accurate.

If we had squeaked by the storyline “Marquette squeaks by not very good (lousy?) Providence at home would be 100% accurate, also.

Reason? Last night Marquette played not very good (lousy?) Providence at home.

Why do you have problems with things that are obviously true?

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Why can’t 72.5% being scored by the top two get it done? That’s cap

The game before our top two had 71.8% of the team’s points and we kicked Novas @ss

Smh

You don't want the stats skewed this way for scoring...
You're too vulnerable on offense then, especially if any of the two get into foul trouble.  Not to mention, it makes it easier on the defense to guard you.

[brewcity77]

Let’s be real.

The storyline “Marquette lost at home to not very good (lousy?) Providence team is 100% accurate.

If we had squeaked by the storyline “Marquette squeaks by not very good (lousy?) Providence at home would be 100% accurate, also.

Reason? Last night Marquette played not very good (lousy?) Providence at home.

Why do you have problems with things that are obviously true?

Maybe, but that's a narrative that lasts until Saturday. Losing yesterday by a point is a narrative that will be relevant until Selection Sunday and possibly beyond.

[CountryRoads]

Not trying to discount the loss, but why does everyone think this is such a TERRIBLE loss. Providence has pretty much had the same guys for at least the last year or two and have played us pretty close each time with the exception of maybe at Providence last year. We lost more than they did from last years team. They did have a bad non-con, but it’s naive to think they aren’t comparable to the other 9 big east teams. 

[MikeDeanesDarkGlasses]

Not trying to discount the loss, but why does everyone think this is such a TERRIBLE loss. Providence has pretty much had the same guys for at least the last year or two and have played us pretty close each time with the exception of maybe at Providence last year. We lost more than they did from last years team. They did have a bad non-con, but it’s naive to think they aren’t comparable to the other 9 big east teams.

Because, MU lost the game - Providence didn't win it.  There were a lot of coaching mistakes in the game that turned a sure W into an L.