As much as I'm excited to see the new guys play and Lazar come into his own, I'd have to go with:
One last year of Cubillan floor-slaps :)
How about you guys? What are you most looking forward to?
Long, athletic wings flying all over the floor, applying ball pressure everywhere, and then having another one just as good sub in for them.
I'm looking forward to a young team playing way over their head a couple times and upsetting some teams with their athletic ability. (I think they will lay some eggs too...)
I am not looking forward to the first month of the season, when our players are learning the offense and defense. Lapses in our defense leading to easy buckets, confusion on offense and things moving slower than they should due to players not knowing where to be, moving mechanically... etc.... This is usually how it is with new players.
But, then, I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO seeing the improvement over the year and how explosive we'll be (winning or not), once the offense and defense become second nature to our guys and they start flying all over the place, getting steals, etc. I am looking forward to men coming off the bench without much drop off in talent, unlike the last 6 years or so.
But I expect a frustrating and slow start... hope I'm wrong, but I expect some early disappointments. I just remember how we looked at the beginning of last year until the 3 amigo's and Burke and Lazar knew what to do... we looked tentative at first and that was an experienced starting line up. I hope by the middle of December, we start to come into form and I hope we don't loose confidence early. As fans we need to be positive and cheer and help the players stay confident this year. Patience will be required.
That's why I'm relieved we have a cupcake schedule through Thanksgiving. Give these guys a chance to come together and learn how to play Buzz's system before they hit Old Spice and badger spice.
We may drop one of those early games, but I think this team will gel rapidly under Lazar's leadership.
I am looking forward to the first Debbie Downer retraction thread that starts...
"I take back every doubt and negative statement I had about XXXX, he is the man!"
1) The cheerleaders & Pom Pom squad girls. No matter how long it was between home games they always seemed to find me in the second level, up in row K. They always smiled and waved at me at some point during the game. What great memories they seemed to have.
2) Seeing how many season ticket holders actually show up to watch the Marquette/MSOE exhibition as I check out the view from the new seats.
3) Having actual season ticket holders around me every game instead of empty seats or walk up fans from the other team.
4) My seven yr old daughter is also looking forward to the new season. She really misses the bus ride over from the annex, the BC chocolate chip cookies and the dipping dots ice cream. Maybe this year she will actually watch most of the game.
Seriously. I'm looking forward to watching a very talented young team grow up during the season and challenge once again in the Big East. Hoping that maybe, Marquette might be considered a yearly NCAA contender with Buzz as the helm.
Favre retiring again when he has to play in Chicago in December. Oops, wrong thread.
I'm interested in seeing how many deep we go in the substitution pattern. I'm hoping we go 9 or 10 deep.
1) The point guard position. With an inexperienced freshman and no real backup, how that comes about in BE play.
2) Maymon. Is he a beast or not.
I'm looking forward to 1) Maymon dunking on some poor Badger, in the Kohl. Simply outstanding. 2) Watching the fast break of a team that could go 10 deep, with tons of interchangebale parts.
This team might need a few months to gel, but I have a feeling they're going to be FUN to watch.
Junior leading a break and tossing a lob to E Wil for a vicious dunk.
That and Lazar averaging 20 and 10
In a word... growth
I'm most looking forward to seeing which players grow the greatest amount during the year. Who is the 2009 Jimmy Butler? There's going to be plenty of opportunity, so who is going to grab the chance and run with it?
On a somewhat related tangent, I'm at a toss-up between which player I'm most looking forward to seeing this year. At one point, it was EWill because I thought he was being overlooked and had a really interesting skill-set. However, I've lately been leaning towards Maymon, just because I love, love, love the fact that so far he's talked a big game and then backed it up.
I am looking forward to:
1. Seeing Buycks and see if all of this hype is correct.
2. Hayward turning into a leader as he continues to do what he does best.
3. Watching Maymon and the rest of the new guys from my first season tickets since graduating.
A just and rightful return of the Warrior nickname.
Quote from: lurch91 on August 20, 2009, 12:14:56 PM
I'm looking forward to 1) Maymon dunking on some poor Badger, in the Kohl. Simply outstanding. 2) Watching the fast break of a team that could go 10 deep, with tons of interchangebale parts.
This team might need a few months to gel, but I have a feeling they're going to be FUN to watch.
I'm with lurch91, especially on point #1. I just hope May-Day isn't so jacked that he'll try and do too much every time he touches the ball on Dec. 12. It was great seeing Wesley as a junior go into the Kohl and play a key role down the stretch in securing the win. I also think Jeronne will have a great career at MU.
Quote from: Henry Sugar on August 20, 2009, 12:27:52 PM
Who is the 2009 Jimmy Butler?
Really looking forward to watching him play and see if he develops a little more range. But I loved watching him work in the paint last year.
The always gorgeous Marquette cheerleaders.
I want to see who mixes best with who, and what combinations we wind up with working the best for the team... very much up in the air as of now, IMO.
Early on, the key for me is going to be point guard play. I have great faith in Junior being solid from the jump, but its unclear to me who else will get time at the position ... how much time? how does the style of play change? etc.
Also, watching Lazar eat people up and making America recognize the skills.
I'm looking forward to having justification for drinking bloody marys at 10AM on a Saturday and not returning home til 2AM.
The whole thing...I am stoked to see this group of players get better and develop...and I think they just might be better than most think this year.
1) Maymon --- hopefully he will be every bit as good as advertised.
2) Buycks --- it sounds like he has some serious talent and swagger.
3) Hayward and Cubillan --- senior leadership and clutch shooting on a team that is capable of surprising a lot of people.
Just in general, though, I am looking forward to both the depth of our team, and I think these guys coming in have a lot of athleticism.
I am excited about getting a look at what this team will be three years from now. My expectations/hopes are to see athletic players that have room to get better.
Reports I am hearing from the summer is that we have a ton of talent and potential. Hopefully that carries over into the season.
New Faces!
A whole new era of Marquette BBall begins this November!
These kids are gonna be fun to watch, I guarantee it!
Roseborro proving you guys wrong.
Quote from: bilsu on August 20, 2009, 04:00:54 PM
Roseborro proving you guys wrong.
How about Roseboro dunking on Harangody? ;D
In fact, I expect a lot more dunking in general...not that dunks are a priority since 2 pts are 2 pts, but authoritative finishes do put exclamation points on field goals and can definitely break down the morale of the opposing team and pump up our guys/crowd and silence opponents' crowds.
J-May sounds like he'll be better than Lazar was as a freshman, and that would be awesome. A lot of props have been given to Buycks as well, from his teammates and his old JUCO coach (he even thinks Buycks will play in the NBA).
I hope Junior is the second coming of Levance Fields, and I hope Otule can be serviceable.
I'm not really expecting Otule to start, but just imagine if he did...a 6'10 guy being replaced by a 7'2 dude off the bench?!
There's way too much goin' on for me to look forward for just one thing. I can't wait for college basketball to start!
Shoot, I dno if 2K Sports will make College Hoops 2K10 since they didn't make 2K9, but I think id even settle for EA's college basketball game for this upcoming year!
I think I'm most interested in seeing how Butler handles the transition from new guy to grizzled vet (and to a lesser degree, what this season means for Cubillan).
Erik Williams is the newcomer that intrigues me the most, but I also suspect he may have less impact this season than the majority.
Keeping pace with Nova as the only two Big East teams to make the NCAA tournament every year since we joined.
Though on the flip side, I also will not be surprised to see a young team blow a couple of games that they're supposed to win. Remember 05-06 and Winthrop, Rutgers, choking away the Nova game...
Seeing all the possible lineup combinations is going to be cool - subbing in and out with a deeper bench in general will be interesting to watch. I think it will be exciting b-ball whether we win or lose. . . but I'm hoping we win a lot :)
playing more solid defense and more productive offense as the year goes on.
I look forward to seeing how we really stack against competition. Are we for real or pretenders?
All the new guards...Johnson-Odom, Buycks, and Cadougan. I think Erik Williams will become a special player. But I'm most interested in seeing the development of Chris Otule.
My list every year starts like this.
1. Crushing Notre Dame
2. Dismantling Wiscy
I am very interested in the new guys and it will be exciting to watch them come together. This may be the most intriguing class coming into MU.
I am more interested in how they play in February. There could be some ugly games early. If they are playing well in February, I will be a bigger Buzz beleiver than I am now.
Quote from: Stone Cold on August 20, 2009, 09:20:36 PM
playing more solid defense and more productive offense as the year goes on.
This is a close second for me. I have some questions about the Buzz defensive philosophy and want to see how the team does now that it has length and size.
Quote from: PBRme on August 21, 2009, 09:10:30 AMMy list every year starts like this.
1. Crushing Notre Dame
2. Dismantling Wiscy
That's about the best way you can start the list. 1 and 2 might be interchangeable.
Quote from: MU_B2002 on August 21, 2009, 10:48:31 AM
Fixed. :-\
He could still show us up. Maybe he's leaving because UNC offered him a scholarship :p
Quote from: bilsu on August 20, 2009, 04:00:54 PM
Roseborro proving you guys wrong.
Just in case I jinx the guy, I will not pick anything else.