We may get more talented in the backcourt next year but until we get some height or bulk we are going to get eaten up by teams like Syracuse.
Or players that can shoot better than 50% from the FT line and maybe make an open layup. They look like the 12th best team in the Big East.
We were violated by their bigmen. Absolutely killed in the paint, blocks, and rebounds. Tough to win with a 6ft 6in center and rely on three point shooting. Shame, cause the team has heart, but no talent in PF/C position. Maybe in a few years, but next year???????? I doubt Otule is the answer.
I am sure the staff understands, but unless they get a talented guy, forsee trouble.
Quote from: NotAnAlum on January 23, 2010, 02:48:26 PM
We may get more talented in the backcourt next year but until we get some height or bulk we are going to get eaten up by teams like Syracuse.
Cuse shot 12.5% from the 3-point line today. I understand they have shot it relatively well on the year, but I would have loved to have seen MU force them to hit from outside rather than giving up 50+ points in the paint. I kept looking for an adjustment from Buzz, and it never seemed to really come on the offensive or deffensive end?
Losing Liam and Otule has hurt a lot.
Quote from: avid1010 on January 23, 2010, 03:09:48 PM
Cuse shot 12.5% from the 3-point line today. I understand they have shot it relatively well on the year, but I would have loved to have seen MU force them to hit from outside rather than giving up 50+ points in the paint. I kept looking for an adjustment from Buzz, and it never seemed to really come on the offensive or deffensive end?
Not trying to pick a fight or anything but what adjustment do you think he can make? Our team with knives, brass knuckles or big sticks doesn't have a prayer of stopping quality big guys that are 6" taller and 50 lbs heavier than the biggest guy on our team.
Quote from: avid1010 on January 23, 2010, 03:09:48 PM
Cuse shot 12.5% from the 3-point line today. I understand they have shot it relatively well on the year, but I would have loved to have seen MU force them to hit from outside rather than giving up 50+ points in the paint. I kept looking for an adjustment from Buzz, and it never seemed to really come on the offensive or deffensive end?
It's hard to make an adjustment when you are getting posted up by players 5-7 inches tallers and 30-50 pounds heavier. As Buzz has said, the best thing MU can do is apply a ton of ball pressure to make it difficult to feed the post. He could shift to a zone D, but they would just post the zone D with Jackson or Onawaku..and then you have Rautins launching 3's. Hey, Syracuse is rated #1 in RPI..a tough team to beat at their place.
Quote from: MarqBB77-03 on January 23, 2010, 03:11:45 PM
Losing Liam and Otule has hurt a lot.
You think? In addition, Buzzo better start recruiting some 6'8" or better studs.
Also, we definitely to design plays for Butler to take advantage of his abilities.
Otule is an answer if not the answer. Right now we have no answer. We should be scouring the globe for any player 6'8" or above with some meat on his bones, find one or two who are coachable, bring back Bo Ellis and let him coach them up, a la McIlvaine, McCaskill and Lovette.
Quote from: ATL MU Warrior on January 23, 2010, 03:15:58 PM
Not trying to pick a fight or anything but what adjustment do you think he can make? Our team with knives, brass knuckles or big sticks doesn't have a prayer of stopping quality big guys that are 6" taller and 50 lbs heavier than the biggest guy on our team.
Really? How did we hold Monroe in check to beat Georgetown.
Quote from: Ners on January 23, 2010, 03:16:56 PM
It's hard to make an adjustment when you are getting posted up by players 5-7 inches tallers and 30-50 pounds heavier. As Buzz has said, the best thing MU can do is apply a ton of ball pressure to make it difficult to feed the post. He could shift to a zone D, but they would just post the zone D with Jackson or Onawaku..and then you have Rautins launching 3's. Hey, Syracuse is rated #1 in RPI..a tough team to beat at their place.
I would have rather forced Rautins to hit a 3 then give up 50+ points in the paint. It may be a "pick your poison" situation, but it was pretty evident that Cuse was going to keep killing us inside till we forced them to do otherwise. That move never happened.
Even though we were easily outmatched down low, a veteran coach can still come up with something to try other than Lazar just bodying guys and trying to stay out of foul trouble. I wouldn't even mind seeing some hack a Shaq on Jackson. The guy only shoots like 50% from the line and we only had 4 fouls with about 3 to play. Use some of those earlier instead of letting him have uncontested baskets
Quote from: avid1010 on January 23, 2010, 03:22:04 PM
Really? How did we hold Monroe in check to beat Georgetown.
I would have rather forced Rautins to hit a 3 then give up 50+ points in the paint. It may be a "pick your poison" situation, but it was pretty evident that Cuse was going to keep killing us inside till we forced them to do otherwise. That move never happened.
Lazar had picked up his 3rd foul 1 minute into the 2nd half- so he had to play somewhat soft defense...Boehim attacked him all 2nd half due to that fact. Rautins shoots 48% from the 3..so that would have hurt too. I'm not sure that many MU fans understand how hard it is to play undersized, and without much length. To even "pack it in" and drop our little knat guards (Acker and Cubiallan) provides little resistance to the post players of Jackson and Onauka's size..and furthermore due to their lack of length - they have a hard time recovering back to their man..thereby leaving the 3 point line uncontested.
Quote from: avid1010 on January 23, 2010, 03:22:04 PM
Really? How did we hold Monroe in check to beat Georgetown.
Georgetown for some reason didn't get him the ball in the post very much (probably had something to do with Freeman's big game), negating his size advantage. 'Cuse's main focus all game long was to feed the post and use their size. pretty simple.
Quote from: ATL MU Warrior on January 23, 2010, 03:39:30 PM
Georgetown for some reason didn't get him the ball in the post very much (probably had something to do with Freeman's big game), negating his size advantage. 'Cuse's main focus all game long was to feed the post and use their size. pretty simple.
Thanks for sharing. I didn't realize it was that simple. I knew Buzz was full of crap when he talked about how happy he was with the way MU kept Monroe from catching in productive areas of the court, and how effective the double teams were. Funny you mention Freeman's big game as it would suggest teams choose to focus on Monroe and leave him open. That scenerio worked well for MU, and I would have liked to see something similar after it was obvious Cuse wasn't going to stop pounding it inside until MU made a change. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered, and we had a slim chance at the end, but I still question why Buzz didn't make some kind of adjustment until the very end.
Quote from: skianth16 on January 23, 2010, 03:22:28 PM
Even though we were easily outmatched down low, a veteran coach can still come up with something to try other than Lazar just bodying guys and trying to stay out of foul trouble. I wouldn't even mind seeing some hack a Shaq on Jackson. The guy only shoots like 50% from the line and we only had 4 fouls with about 3 to play. Use some of those earlier instead of letting him have uncontested baskets
how would you like to have hack him Hayward and butler so they can foul out and they we could guard them with Fulce and Williams. thats osunds like a really good idea ::)
Monroe is soft. Yes, he has skills, but he avoids contact/physical play.... Which makes it much easier for an undersized opponent to guard him. The Syracuse bigs, although not as skilled as Monroe, are much more physical.
Quote from: RJax55 on January 23, 2010, 04:13:32 PM
Monroe is soft. Yes, he has skills, but he avoids contact/physical play.... Which makes it much easier for an undersized opponent to guard him. The Syracuse bigs, although not as skilled as Monroe, are much more physical.
Ding, Ding, Ding We have a winner. Its not just having a guy who happens to be 6'10". You have to be physical and we don't have anyone on the roster, nor anyone currently signed who could hold those guys out. Not much Buzz could do. Thats why good teams need a mix of players.
Quote from: RJax55 on January 23, 2010, 04:13:32 PM
Monroe is soft. Yes, he has skills, but he avoids contact/physical play.... Which makes it much easier for an undersized opponent to guard you. The Syracuse bigs, although not as skilled as Monroe, are much more physical.
I fail to see why that makes it okay for MU to make no adjustment until the final minutes of the game. I watched TC do a similar thing against Stanford and many complained about the lack of in game adjustment. I feel MU should have figured out a way to make Cuse hit from outside. Whether that means zone, a half court trap, a press or all five defenders with a foot in the lane...I would have liked to at least test Cuse from the outside. There's also no excuse for giving up so many easy baskets in transition. I didn't expect MU to win this game...I was just surprised to see an adjustment come so late in the game.
Quote from: RJax55 on January 23, 2010, 04:13:32 PM
Monroe is soft. Yes, he has skills, but he avoids contact/physical play.... Which makes it much easier for an undersized opponent to guard him. The Syracuse bigs, although not as skilled as Monroe, are much more physical.
Furthermore, Syracuse has bigS, plural. Georgetown has Monroe.
You can compare games all you want. Each is game different Fact is in today's games, Cuse had 10 blocks, seven alone by Jackson. MU had zero blocks. Thats unreal.
From a personnel perspective, MU probably matches up worse with Syracuse than with any other BE team. UConn is a close second.
Quote from: IAmMarquette on January 23, 2010, 04:36:54 PM
Furthermore, Syracuse has bigS, plural. Georgetown has Monroe.
And Julian Vaughn.
Today was obviously a case of being undermanned and undersized. There's just no way around it, and nothing that could be done about it. I was wondering if Jimmy Butler caught a later flight since he didn't show up until late in the second. Truth is, not his fault, when he and Lazar have to spend the afternoon chasing giants around.