Perhaps it is a bit early to cast final judgment on the Big 3, and I should wait until the tournament is over, but a few quick thoughts on James, Matthews, and McNeal.
In summation: arguably the best recruiting class to play four seasons for Marquette, an average big man away from a Final Four, and sadly, a slight disappointment because they never made it to the Sweet 16.
James - Prior to the injury, I thought highly of James, but way underestimated his ability as a point guard. I was extremely disappointed that his shot left him somewhere in his Sophomore year, but he recovered and turned into one of the best point guards in the country with his defense and assist/turnover ratio. He was so much better than many people knew. Losing him effectively ended the season.
Matthews - The rumor had been that Crean held Matthews back, and never knew how to use Matthews in Crean's set offense. After Matthews senior season, it seems the rumors were correct; Matthews was a lot better without Crean. A solid performer, good defender, and a tremendous athlete, one wonders what Matthews might have been with a better coach for three years?
McNeal - The Brett Favre of Marquette basketball. The most exciting and frustrating player to watch. Most games McNeal can be a lock-down defender and an offensive force, but other games it's hard to want him to touch the ball. Crazy-ass, out of control spinning shots, 23 footers with 23 seconds left on the shot clock, and assists hitting the top of the backboard, balanced by 7 for 7 three-point performances against Cincinnati. Like Favre, when he is on, McNeal is perhaps the best player in the country, when he is off, Cubillan seems like a decent option. It would have been nice if McNeal hit the shot to win it regulation against Syracuse, and perhaps this is the biggest knock against McNeal, for all his game changing ability, I'm cannot remember a game he won. James almost single-handedly beat Valpariso and came-up big against NC State. I cannot remember McNeal taking over a game and leading the team to victory. Just like Favre, I would rather have McNeal on my team, but . . .
In sum, the Big 3 consistently kept Marquette in the top 25, kept Marquette on national television, and took Marquette to the NCAA tournament with regularity. I cannot, and will not complain, but feel disappointed because they were an average big man from being a great team. While Crean deserves a ton of credit for recruiting them, he also deserves approbation for never getting the big 3 to the next level.
McNeal won the game at South Florida last year with his steal and lay up with 2 seconds left.
He also would have carried us to victory in the Stanford game had our former coach designed a defense to stop the one play Stanford ran 40 times in the same game.
Unfortunately I think its fair to say that I underestimated DJ's ability to give his teammates better looks until his injury. Yet imagine if his shooting ability was average, he would most definitely be the best pg in the nation, possibly after flynn last night who single handedly won SU the game.
McNeal and Matthews have noticeably missed DJ having to create their own shots either out of control or just shooting the 3. It seems as if McNeal has just begun to settle for outside shots and Matthews the same. Their shot selection hasn't been good but outside of Butler and sometimes Acker nobody else on the floor is looking to shoot.
I believe that the toughness of this team and DJ being out will make the NCAA tournament interesting. Throughout all of the regular season accolades on anyone, this is the postseason and McNeal and Matthews will have to shoulder the burden but I believe are up to the challenge. I still believe that MU can get to the Sweet 16 with or w/o a player I never thought I would miss as much as I have realized that past few games.
Thanks for reminding me about McNeal's performance at South Florida a few years ago. I stand corrected on that score. With respect to the Stanford game, if I recall, McNeal took the final shot in regulation and in overtime (before Stanford's game winner).
I don't mean to minimize McNeal's great performances, and diminish his contributions to the program; all-time leading scorer speaks loudly. I only hope that he quickly learns to create his own shot without James, and plays within his incredible. capabilities.
Unless this team makes a Sweet 16 run this year, I'd have to save the "Big 3" have been a slight disappointment. Granted, I'll long for them next year but for how good they are and how they have played together for all four years, to not make it to the second weekend of tourney play makes them slight underachievers in my book.
Of course, injuries take their toll and we've been hit by them at the worst possible time twice now in the four years of the "Big 3."
Quote from: OregonWarrior on March 08, 2009, 12:26:10 PM
Unless this team makes a Sweet 16 run this year, I'd have to save the "Big 3" have been a slight disappointment. Granted, I'll long for them next year but for how good they are and how they have played together for all four years, to not make it to the second weekend of tourney play makes them slight underachievers in my book.
Of course, injuries take their toll and we've been hit by them at the worst possible time twice now in the four years of the "Big 3."
Injuries are a big part, and having 3 standout guards with no big man and expecting them to make it to the 2nd weekend consistently is like a baseball team relying only on big bats to do well throughout the season. In either case, when the big guns go cold, what do you rely on? In baseball, it'd be good pitching. In basketball, it's a good center that you can have go to work. We did not have this, and the deficiency is most apparent when our guards are cold/injured.
Quote from: damuts222 on March 08, 2009, 09:10:46 AM
Unfortunately I think its fair to say that I underestimated DJ's ability to give his teammates better looks until his injury. Yet imagine if his shooting ability was average, he would most definitely be the best pg in the nation, possibly after flynn last night who single handedly won SU the game.
McNeal and Matthews have noticeably missed DJ having to create their own shots either out of control or just shooting the 3. It seems as if McNeal has just begun to settle for outside shots and Matthews the same. Their shot selection hasn't been good but outside of Butler and sometimes Acker nobody else on the floor is looking to shoot.
I believe that the toughness of this team and DJ being out will make the NCAA tournament interesting. Throughout all of the regular season accolades on anyone, this is the postseason and McNeal and Matthews will have to shoulder the burden but I believe are up to the challenge. I still believe that MU can get to the Sweet 16 with or w/o a player I never thought I would miss as much as I have realized that past few games.
Couple of things.
1. I think DJ being out was a lot worse on Jerel than it was on Wesley. Wesley is the only player on our team that can consistently create his own shot, which is why he is the best pro prospect on this team IMO.
2. With DJ in the Cuse game, Flynn wouldn't have been able to single handedly win the game for them. I know McNeal has a BEast D player of the year on his resume but I think his on the ball D is just above average. DJ is one of the best defenders on the ball in the country and probably the best I personally remember at MU
3. I wish I shared your optimism about the tourney. I have completely lost confidence in this team. At no time during the second half or OT of the Syracuse game did I think we had a chance to win. DJ was this teams soul and they seem to be more than a little lost without him. Don't get me wrong, I love the players on this team and I have enjoyed watching them for the last four years but this is simply not the same team without DJ. As I have said here many times, DJ is and has always been the most important player on this team.
Quote from: MUSF on March 08, 2009, 01:04:12 PM
2. With DJ in the Cuse game, Flynn wouldn't have been able to single handedly win the game for them. I know McNeal has a BEast D player of the year on his resume but I think his on the ball D is just above average. DJ is one of the best defenders on the ball in the country and probably the best I personally remember at MU
I completely agree with you on this point. Jerel looked sluggish when Flynn took him off the dribble, and looked very similar against A.J. Price. Jerel is a good defender in his instincts, not necessarily his raw athletic ability.