Recap: Houston Baptist
Nov. 15, 2008
Buzz Williams got emotional following MU's exhibition victory over Colorado State-Pueblo last Saturday, but held his emotions in check after picking up his first victory Friday against Houston Baptist.
That's not to say that he didn't get choked up at all, though.
"I got here about 5:30, and sat in my truck and cried," he said. "I was really excited because I like it when games count, like players do, because I like to compete. I tried to manage my emotions better today, so what I did was I went to the cleaners, I loaded the dishwasher for my wife, tried to do a lot of different things that I typically don't do just because I don't typically do them and I have to concentrate on them."
Don't expect him to spend too much time dwelling on it, though.
"I'm grateful, but like I told our guys, if we win we celebrate and if we lose we mourn, but let's go to bed at midnight and let's wake up in the morning and go back to work, because that's what workers do and that's what competitors do," he said.
-- We got our first look at what's going to have to be ultra-small ball for the next month or so, as freshman center Chris Otule joins sophomore forward Joe Fulce on the sideline with an injury.
Otule, who broke his left foot in practice earlier in the week, is expected to be out a month. Without him, 6-foot-8 Dwight Burke and 6-7 Pat Hazel are the tallest players on the Golden Eagles' roster.
"We needed him. He was coming around," said Williams. "Trust me, 60-70 days into his career, he was progressing. And now when he does come back it's going to take him time just to get back to where he was as of yesterday."
Burke got the start against Houston Baptist and was unimpressive, fouling out in 13 minutes while grabbing just two rebounds and going scoreless.
"When Dwight fouls five times in 13 minutes, two of which were within 30 seconds game-clock wise, that puts a tremendous amount of pressure not just on Pat Hazel, but on the rest of our team because of the complexion of our roster," he said. "And that's why on Wednesday when we signed all those guys we want 13 really, really, really good players. Because you can never predict what's going to happen.
"I've been saying we have to play without fouling. I don't believe in fouling regardless of the complexion of our roster. When you foul it stops the clock and you give them free points. And in the second half they scored 30 points and eight of them were from the free-throw line. That's almost a third of their points. You can't do that and win. Can't do that. Doesn't matter what your name is. You can do that."
Hazel, meanwhile, made the most of his playing time. He set career highs with 22 minutes and seven points, and tied a career high with three points.
"I think the thing that's happened is that Pat has realized that I've stopped practice more times as it relates to Pat Hazel's mistakes maybe than the rest of the team combined, because I have to coach every player," WIlliams said. "The value of a scholarship at Marquette is the same whether you're the best player or the next best player. I'm going to coach all of them the same. And I think he has improved.
"And here's the real deal: he's going to have to improve some more. I like the way that he's trending. But he's not good enough yet; he's got to keep getting better. And you can write the same thing about me."
-- Sophomore Jimmy Butler also had a solid first outing, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds in 24 minutes. He did miss a few layups and blow a few defensive assignments, but Williams said he's been impressed with his overall progression.
"I think that he is versatile," Williams said. "I think that he was better tonight than he was on Saturday. But here's the thing about Jimmy: he wants to get better. He works at it, he listens. He wants to do the right thing. But some of the things he's hearing out of my mouth, he hasn't ever heard out of a coach's mouth.
"But he's an incredible kid. He signed here seven days after I took the job here. I had never called him, never brought him for a visit. Hey, he'll always be on my team because I have an immense amount of respect and loyalty for anybody who would trust me in that manner. He's coming. But he's got to keep coming, because we're going to need him."
-- Because of the lack of bodies, Williams said he's already begun tweaking his practices.
"We've got to be really smart," he said. "I have to be accountable for what I'm doing with their bodies. We don't have 10 guys on scholarship that can practice. I'm dreaming up any possible thing I can dream up just so we can run dummy offense or press offense. It's hard to go live, and we can only go in short periods of time.
"So we'll practice tomorrow, we'll practice Sunday, we'll practice Monday and then we'll play Monday night. But that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to practice for four hours a day. We just have to be smart and efficient."
-- MU held the Huskies to 39.6% shooting for the game, and scored 36 points off 25 turnovers.
The Golden Eagles stepped up their efforts on that end of the court considerably to open the second half, which ultimately led to a game-ending 14-0 run.
"I thought defensively in the initial part of the second half we strung together some really good defensive possessions," he said. "We had extreme ball pressure, we were high on the floor, butt to the ball, belly to the man, hand in the passing lane. We're not playing huggy-huggy, we're not standing on the same boards as the guy that we're guarding.
"I thought we were pretty good. I thought there were some lapses in the second half where we weren't, and I called some time outs just because of that."
-- Offensively, MU shot 51.5% (34 for 66) and 73.3% from the free-throw line (22 for 30).
The Golden Eagles were also 5 for 22 from beyond the arc, with Jerel McNeal going 1 for 8. They were 8 for 26 against CSU-Pueblo, with McNeal going 3 for 10.
-- One of those missed threes, by Dominic James late in the second half, set the stage for an incredible hustle play by the senior guard.
Instead of watching the rebound, James hustled back downcourt, got into position and took a charge on Demetrus Judge. The play was especially impressive considering James literally took a knee in the face from Judge, who came soaring in from the right side while attempting a layup.
-- There was a weird sequence in the second half where, after Houston Baptist's Gordon Watts missed a free throw, Lazar Hayward scored on a spinning layup, only to see the basket momentarily waved off after the officials realized the Huskies were in the double bonus and Watts should have taken a second free throw.
Watts was ultimately awarded a second free throw, which he made, and then the Huskies were once again given the ball. Only after play began was it explained that Hayward's layup did indeed count.
-- Williams said the Golden Eagles have zero missed classes since he became coach.
"That's what matters. That speaks to the character of the kids, that they would do that," he said.
-- Delivered by Feed43 (http://feed43.com/) service
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/34505224.html
I haven't been crazy about some of Coach Williams' habits (day counting, weeping), but that was about as an informative, honest bit of information about Marquette basketball -- Hazel's practice habits, Butler's work, etc. -- as we've had in a LONG time! It's an over-used term, but that was "refreshing."
Buzz says "it's all about the players"----but he gets a huge picture (no player action photo)in the M J/S this morning and ALL of the quotes are from him!
Strikes me as ironic.
I guess it is ironic, but good for him!
He got his first win at MU and inked a great recruiting class this week. I'd say he deserves it.
Murff, Journalism 101: The story WAS Buzz. It was his first real game at MU. Everything else is a sidebar.
To me it's not so much of what Buzz has to say, but more about how he says it. That's refreshing when compared to the old turd. Nonetheless Buzz either should stop bawling or at least don't talk about it. What's he going to do if his team ever gets to the FF? I'm starting to think Buzz may have issues.
I can see that Buzz is an emotional guy - and maybe prior to this first game, he was really thinking hard how fortunate he has been, and how big a break getting this gig is to him - and he gets choked up. I can live with that, but I hope he's not bleary eyed all the time. Cry over Otule and Fulce, ok but let's get the hankies out and move on! Anyway, I like what I see from him - on the sidelines, what he says, etc.
Quote from: Murffieus on November 15, 2008, 09:50:19 AM
Buzz says "it's all about the players"----but he gets a huge picture (no player action photo)in the M J/S this morning and ALL of the quotes are from him!
Strikes me as ironic.
I didn't understand this either??? His first win as coach as MU and the story is about him, and then he has the nerve to pass all the credit on to his players. It's ridiculous that he didn't demand the photo in the MJS be of his players, and he should have sent his players to talk to the media and refused to give any quotes himself.
Quote from: RedWebster on November 15, 2008, 06:48:51 AM
I haven't been crazy about some of Coach Williams' habits (day counting, weeping), but that was about as an informative, honest bit of information about Marquette basketball -- Hazel's practice habits, Butler's work, etc. -- as we've had in a LONG time! It's an over-used term, but that was "refreshing."
+1
"if we win we celebrate and if we lose we mourn, but let's go to bed at midnight and let's wake up in the morning and go back to work, because that's what workers do and that's what competitors do"
Awesome quote.
Quote from: muman on November 15, 2008, 01:13:32 PM
"if we win we celebrate and if we lose we mourn, but let's go to bed at midnight and let's wake up in the morning and go back to work, because that's what workers do and that's what competitors do"
Awesome quote.
I want these kids in bed by 10:30pm sharp!