Marquette's season hinges on Hayward, help
By COLIN FLY AP Sports Writer
1:09 p.m. CST, November 4, 2009
MILWAUKEE - Soft-spoken Lazar Hayward has been thrust into the spotlight.
If Marquette is going to do anything beyond the putrid projections, Hayward must carry the scoring load for the Golden Eagles, become a vocal leader and teach nine underclassmen who've never logged a significant minute how to win in the formidable Big East.
Just how much does he mean to Marquette's chances this season?
"He means the world to this team," junior forward Jimmy Butler said. "Zar, man, everybody's hyping him about going to the NBA, but you don't ever hear him talk about it. You never hear him talk about nothing besides Marquette basketball and winning this season."
It's weighty pressure placed on Hayward, who appears to have only Butler as another experienced scoring threat with the departures of Dominic James, Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal.
Those three, along with Dwight Burke, had accounted for 64 percent of Marquette's points and 47 percent of the rebounds last season when the Golden Eagles reached the second round of the NCAA tournament and finished 25-10.
"I know I have to be a bit more of a vocal leader than when Dominic, Jerel and Wes were here," said Hayward, who averaged 16.3 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds last year. "All the young guys, they want to see how hard I'm working, they want to see the things I do on and off the court. That's one of the things I wasn't used to."
Hayward isn't naive about the burden.
"I'll be expected to do a lot, but it's what I came here for, it's what every kid trains for," he said. "Hard work pays off so if I figure if I just keep working hard, always have my teammates first, keep a positive mindset and at the end we'll see what happens."
At least he'll have a pair of senior guards in David Cubillan and Maurice Acker. Acker started when James went down with a broken left foot last season, but neither Acker nor Cubillan can carry Marquette, meaning Hayward and Butler will be asked to score often.
"It brings a lot of pressure because if something goes wrong, it's on us, it's not on the young guys," Butler said. "Everybody expects a lot more from the returners and the leaders and the so-called star players."
Still, if someone from the talented freshman class can step up, Marquette could end up rising above expectations. The schedule is challenging, but not brutal, with no teams currently in the Top 25 until conference play.
However, Marquette opens its Big East slate at No. 8 West Virginia and is home against No. 5 Villanova and No. 20 Georgetown before a trip to Philadelphia to play Villanova again.
If no one else is helping Hayward and Butler, it could end up being a long season.
"Every player that's back there is going to be in a position they've never been in their entire career," second-year coach Buzz Williams said. "They are all going to have to have a different expectation level on a daily basis than any that they've ever experienced."
Williams, a noted number cruncher, but wouldn't quantify just how much better -- or worse -- Marquette might be.
"As long as you're working, hopefully you're getting better," he said.
link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-bkc-marquettepreview,0,6595573.story
Besides Zar and Jimmy, I think Marquette will get significant points from DB, DJO, JM and JF. I am not fearing this year.
No offense...but the AP is not exactly the Chicago Tribune. Just a wire reprint. Just the nature of the newspaper business these days.
Quote from: NCMUFan on November 04, 2009, 06:05:02 PM
Besides Zar and Jimmy, I think Marquette will get significant points from DB, DJO, JM and JF. I am not fearing this year.
It was a fair piece. If the newcomers do not contribute, it is going to be a very long year for MU fans.
Quote from: SaintPaulWarrior on November 04, 2009, 07:04:17 PM
No offense...but the AP is not exactly the Chicago Tribune. Just a wire reprint. Just the nature of the newspaper business these days.
Hopefully the Trib will come around, they usually do, wait till HS football playoffs are over (although of course you can count on the sometimes perhaps superfluous coverage of that non jesuit catholic school in indiana too!)