Hoya suxa

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Brother Ners,

You are making the same mistake you did with Dawson and JJJ. I didn't realize it until now but your "play a half exclusively in zone" is the same argument as "JJJ/Dawson won't play well unless they get at least 25 minutes" argument that you used to obsess about." You see something work once, like the zone vs Creighton,  and decide that it is the end all be all. When it doesn't work later and the coach moves away from it,  you blame the coach and say that the coach didn't give it adequate enough time to work. But you have your cause and effect backwards. The zone didn't work against Creighton because we used it exclusively in the second half. We used the zone exclusively in the second half because it was working. She thing with JJJ/Dawson. The reason they played well wasnt because they got 25 minutes (or whatever the magic number was), they got minutes because they were playing well.  Wojo will try things but if it's not working he will switch to something better.

The zone didn't work last night so we moved away from it. I'm waiting for synergy to post the numbers,  but I'm pretty sure GTWN scored against every single zone possession. If the zone was working,  we would have used it more.

[4everwarriors]

Higher seeded team is "home" and wheres da liter colored jerseys, hey?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Yes! I thought the exact same thing while watching. It makes sense that Heldt would get out of the way

I was just glad that we didn't foul and give up the layup to give GT the win.  MU loves themselves soft fouls leading to 3 pt plays.

[jsglow]

Chick makes a great point. GTown not taking timeout was brilliant. Confusion worked in their favor.

[warriorchick]

I was just glad that we didn't foul and give up the layup to give GT the win.  MU loves themselves soft fouls leading to 3 pt plays.

I know, right?  There must have been at least 5 "and one" situations last night.  That must be some sort of school record.

[StillAWarrior]

Chick makes a great point. GTown not taking timeout was brilliant. Confusion worked in their favor.

I think it was also a very good demonstration of the fact that 3.5 seconds is a ton of time.  I often see players panic where there is 3.5 seconds left and chuck up a 3/4 court shot.  Mulmore showed that you can run the length of the floor in that time.  Sure, it's not always easy to do if you're being defended, but there is time.

[fjm]

I think it was also a very good demonstration of the fact that 3.5 seconds is a ton of time.  I often see players panic where there is 3.5 seconds left and chuck up a 3/4 court shot.  Mulmore showed that you can run the length of the floor in that time.  Sure, it's not always easy to do if you're being defended, but there is time.

3.5 is plenty of time. Like the 4 seconds Markus had at the end of the providence game at home. Woof.

But I digress. Got the win last night! I like W's. Let's get the CU win to close out the BC and try to make some noise at the BEAST tourney.

Lock up that top NIT seed (NCAA would be amazing though)

[Mr. Nielsen]

If anyone else posted about this, I missed it.

Does anyone think that maybe the reason that last Hoya bucket in regulation went basically uncontested was because at least some of the guys on the floor thought that Sam's shot was a 3-pointer?  I sure did watching at home.  If they weren't looking at his feet (and there certainly wasn't time to look up at the scoreboard), it wasn't unreasonable to think that.

I thought it was a three on replay. Hard to tell.

[cheebs09]

I know, right?  There must have been at least 5 "and one" situations last night.  That must be some sort of school record.

I’m going to guess the record for “and-1’s” was set in the Dan Fitzgerald era. His best skill was giving those up.

[willie warrior]

If anyone else posted about this, I missed it.

Does anyone think that maybe the reason that last Hoya bucket in regulation went basically uncontested was because at least some of the guys on the floor thought that Sam's shot was a 3-pointer?  I sure did watching at home.  If they weren't looking at his feet (and there certainly wasn't time to look up at the scoreboard), it wasn't unreasonable to think that.

I thought so too, and there was no time to show the replay. Sam was on the line.
That being said, Rowsey did nothing to slow the guy down--he is useless on defense. Heldt got the hell out of the way so he could not get called for a foul and possibly give up an and 1 that would have given GT the victory. I swear Wojo cannot coach defense, because there should have at least been 3/4 pressure after Sams made shot. Glad it still worked out for us. But there are so many weaknesses with this team on defense, and that is on Wojo.

[Loose Cannon]

If anyone else posted about this, I missed it.

Does anyone think that maybe the reason that last Hoya bucket in regulation went basically uncontested was because at least some of the guys on the floor thought that Sam's shot was a 3-pointer?  I sure did watching at home.  If they weren't looking at his feet (and there certainly wasn't time to look up at the scoreboard), it wasn't unreasonable to think that.

I thought it was a 3 as well.  Really feeling happy

[tower912]

Ewing really rolled the dice, not using his last time out.  Took advantage of the celebration and disorder and got his fastest player the ball near half court  already going full speed.  So disorganized that we never saw a decent replay showing the play.    I am guessing that everyone was anticipating a stopped clock, either to review whether it was a 3 or a timeout.  As I posted last night, if MU had been in a position to contest the entry pass and committed a foul, there would have been screaming.   Damn if you do...

[Lennys Tap]

I’m going to guess the record for “and-1’s” was set in the Dan Fitzgerald era. His best skill was giving those up.

LOL. The "ticky-tack" foul was Fitz's specialty.

[MU82]

If anyone else posted about this, I missed it.

Does anyone think that maybe the reason that last Hoya bucket in regulation went basically uncontested was because at least some of the guys on the floor thought that Sam's shot was a 3-pointer?  I sure did watching at home.  If they weren't looking at his feet (and there certainly wasn't time to look up at the scoreboard), it wasn't unreasonable to think that.

I wasn't sure. My wife yelled: "That was a 3!" I thought maybe they'd check the monitor after the game to make sure - and maybe they did. It clearly was a 2, though.

I don't really blame Rowsey for not stepping in there on GT's last regulation bucket. It was a total scramble situation and if he commits a foul, people are screaming at him about that. I applaud the GT kid for making a play ... and I'm glad that, in the end, it didn't matter!

[CTWarrior]

LOL. The "ticky-tack" foul was Fitz's specialty.

I still call a ticky-tack foul leading to a 3 point play a Fitz, much like I still call an illegal screen a Grimm.

[avid1010]

Joey 6'9
Bailey 6'9
Morrow 6'7 load
Ike 6'10

No more getting pushed around.    A graduate PG away from some serious damage.

was thinking the same thing last night when seeing joey on the bench...no morrow though?

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

was thinking the same thing last night when seeing joey on the bench...no morrow though?

Morrow cannot travel with team per NCAA transfer rules. Been that way all season, and for all previous transfers.

[warriorchick]

I still call a ticky-tack foul leading to a 3 point play a Fitz, much like I still call an illegal screen a Grimm.

At least we are not calling them Heldts anymore.

[onepost]

At least the people crying for a 2-3 and our two best scorers to only average 40 combined minutes per game are quiet tonight.

This wasn't hard.  We played 1 great half of basketball going 2-3 and with only one of Howard/Rowsey in the game.  No doubt it was some great basketball.  But we also then played the worst team in the Big East and got a win with it.  Cool, not sure what we can take away form that, some people think it spells out the blueprint to MU success.  Others see it for what it is and it's a win we should've had.

So really other than one 20 minute half of basketball, our man to man is much better than our zone defense.  And without question we are a better team when both Howard and Rowsey are on the floor together.  Are there times where the ball stops moving because one/both of them go into hero ball mode, and at those times we'd be better off with only one of them in?  Sure.  But like when our season turned last year by inserting Rowsey into the starting lineup to go along with Howard, those two paired with Hauser leaves a tough defensive gameplan for our opposition.

I feel like this is a direct shot at me, which is fine.  But I A) never said we should exclusively go zone or B) never said you should limit Howard and Rowsey's minutes to 40/game or something that low.  In the DePaul game, the ball 100% got stagnant and I felt it was due in large part to getting Markus and Rowsey back out there together and others, as a result, not moving with the same urgency as we did sans-Markus.  They're two of the best offensive players in college basketball, it happens.  And on the defensive end, I watched us stay in man, rack up fouls, and give up 20 offensive boards against a dreadful DePaul offense, while they were shooting 18% from 3 at the same time.  My opinion would have been to mix in the zone with guys like Jamal and Greg in lieu of Markus/Rowsey for a stretch and see if we could get out of our incredible funk to start the second half.

The Big 3 were incredible last night, but I like our offense best when guys like Jamal and Greg are slashing/getting catch-and-shoot opportunities and Sacar is making baseline cuts/showing a willingness to drive.  Even the Cain/Froling pick-and-pop last night was one of my favorites plays of the game because infrequently (especially in Froling's case) used guys were confident enough to make a big play.  That didn't happen against DePaul.  But hey, Wojo is paid a lot of money to make adjustments and the ball moved great last night with the two of them out there together.  We were again pretty terrible in a man, but when you hit 18 threes you're gonna win most games.  We're an inherently flawed team, and I just hope we can get 2 more wins.

[CTWarrior]

At least we are not calling them Heldts anymore.

As a team we are pretty good at not getting very many of those, particularly with the amount of screening we do for our shooters.

[avid1010]

Morrow cannot travel with team per NCAA transfer rules. Been that way all season, and for all previous transfers.

had no idea...what's the thought behind that rule?

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

The problem was we were disorganized and were running back with our backs to the ball.  Mulmore didnt actually pick up the ball to almost half court with the clock stopped.  Had we had the prescence of mind to have a guy on the free throw line forcing him to pick up the ball and ideally make him zig or zag it would have dramatically reduced his time and in all likely hood forced a deep dep running shot from 3. 
With MUs luck this year he would have made it. 
Wojo did say in the post game with the celebration, youth and confusion that tgey did not defend it well or properly.  Film room learning experience for the kids, would have been nice to have seen them defend it a little more maturely .  Thankfully it didnt cost us. Thats partially on wojo kids should have better known what to do there especialky out of a timeout.
Having coached tho that is a very difficult thing.  You can discuss all the scrnarios in practice n in the timeout, but so many diferent things can happen, make miss, 2 or 3 , how much time is left etc.  then on top of it all in those situations kids forget, get caught up in the moment, misunderstand, blood flow to the brain stops, etc etc etc crazy things happen in those situations n sometimes it costs you, some times it goes exactly as planned and sometimes u just get lucky and get the hell out of there like a thief in middle of the night.

[willie warrior]

n

ND sucks

Yes, that goes without saying. But I will also. No Dick sucks.

[GGGG]

I thought it was a three on replay. Hard to tell.

He clearly had a foot on the line.

[MuMark]

He clearly had a foot on the line.

Yeah it wasn't really close to a 3.