As I see it there is one key to this team winning, and that is to come out and play tight defense in the post. I think that we can get away with letting them shoot the 3, but if Gardner and Otule do not come up big defensively then we are in BIG trouble. Todd wrote this morning that UNC has not lost when they out rebound their opponent. I also look for Eric Williams to have a decent game tonight, he is going to have to help buy giving the other two a breather. This team will win tonight because WE ARE MARQUETTE!!!!!
Agree with your points. Also believe that it is important for us to take out their key players by getting them in foul trouble. Otule and Gardner should go to the hoop often to draw fouls. And, it goes without saying that all the players should drive to the basket and close hard - either making the basket or drawing the foul or both. Marquette will win.
I feel like drawing fouls will be tough to do against UNC...I think they may get a couple "benefit of the doubt calls". If the refs are going to call it close, it also doesn't bode well for us as O'tule will get in trouble, Ox can't run at UNC pace, and then we lose are girth in the middle.
I think we can win, i just don't think we can rely on foul trouble for UNC to do it.
I think we really need Fulce to come up big in this game, even if only for 5-10 minutes. Let's be honest, Otule and Gardner won't combine for 40 minutes. Outside of those two, especially with JFB likely guarding Barnes or Marshall, Fulce is our best defender down low. He's also our best rebounder period. In the few minutes he plays, he can give us a lot if he can just protect the paint and keep them off the glass. I'm looking for a big game from Fulce tonight.
Keys to victory:
JFB - Shuts down Harrison Barnes (holds him to less than 15)
Otule - Is able to give us 30 minutes - which means he is staying out of foul trouble
DJO - He's got to just keep shooting it even if he misses a few, but would like to see him get off early, run some early offense for him
Crowder/Henson match up - Both can cause challenges for the other offensively. But Jae will have to keep Henson off the glass
Cadougan - Will he be the good Junior or the average Junior?
We need hot shooting. We need all five guys to rebound. Personally I'd like to see a slower pace but that's for my heart, cause big score shifts are not good for my stress level.
Chance of being blown out is moderate cause of UNC's length.
We just need to get after it man, scrap, scrap and scrap!!!!!
Lets go marquette!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Starting to get jacked, it's the Sweet Sixteen fellas!!
Ners--I agree that we need O'Toule to log as many quality minutes as well. I think this will be VB's coming out party and he will be tickling the twine tonight. He is playing with more and more confidence of late.
I feel very, very good right now. Had high level of confidence last week and have similar feeling. Let's get busy!!!
Much talk about getting UNC in foul trouble, but MU cannot. Otule and Crowder must limit their fouls to give them a chance. I see UNC to start by feeding the ball to Zeller and Henson inside early to get those fouls.
Come on boys, you can do this.
The time for talk is over. Lets go get some.
Some keys: Rebound!! We're used to playing against teams with more length than us and it is key to attack the boards and limit second chance points for the Heels. If Jae and Otule stay on the court (meaning out of foul trouble) this would help this goal immensely. Even though Otule's rebound ration isn't great he is a big body and boxes out allowing for Jae and JFB to hit the glass.
Hit timely shots. Obviously we'll need to continue to shoot the ball well to score. Attacking the basket is a must but finishing will be tough with Hensen's wing-span and athleticism. He's not the DPOY for nothing. Getting him and Zeller into Foul trouble would be fantastic as despite all their talent N.C. is not that deep.
Pressure D, turn them over and create transition baskets. Marshall is a stud, but we have the athletes and tenacity to turn him over.
Limit their transition baskets. This is key but will be tough as we need to crash the boards which can leave us vunerable for bust-outs.
If we basically play Marquette Basketball and we can win this! I am so Jacked. GO MARQUETTE!
I am expecting a relaxed confidence from the guys tonight. Sort of like WVU. Come out quick, with energy and control the action early. A lul mid first half, control later in the half.
I really think DJO may come out on fire. Buycks will penetrate and hit some nice baskets. Try to get Otule in the action early.
Defensively, a helter skelter, if you will , approach. Try to push UNC out of it's comfort zone. Attacke the guards to keep it out of the middle.
Good game, big win.
That's how I seel it!
Quote from: brewcity77 on March 25, 2011, 01:59:16 PM
I think we really need Fulce to come up big in this game, even if only for 5-10 minutes...I'm looking for a big game from Fulce tonight.
I was thinking the same thing. If we win, it will be because Fulce made a key contribution.
nyg---Stupid falls cannot happen tonight. We cannot have Crowder and O'toule commit suspect fouls. Basically if our boys the game of the year we can this frickin game.
It's time to do work
Play hard, play smart, play loose with no fear. Whatever happens, happens.
Turnovers. We need to cause them and not give the ball up. I'm talking about traveling on the break and/or against the press. We have trouble on a number of keys, but w can control this one - or hope to. Taking steps has been as much a weakness as driving the lane uncontrollably against bigs and forcing bad shots. Keep the ball and take the good or beat shot and we win.
While I agree that feeding the post and driving to get the Carolina bigs in foul trouble would be great, the other possibility is that they accumulate a bunch of blocked shots which essentially become turnovers. I think we probably wil have trouble with Carolina's length inside and we'll need to rely on hitting some outside shots. Carolina's bigs are long and fast (relatively). Depends how the refs call it - blocked shots and charging calls = Carolina win, foul trouble for the Carolina bigs = Marquette win
I agree with the thought of playing loose, we have nothing to lose tonight. The pressure is all on UNC
Warrriorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssss.... Come out and plaaaaaa-aaaaaaayyyyyyyy....
For old-school punk fans...this song always gets me fired up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skHEnHY5NGY
It's less than two hours from tip off! I'm sitting with my lap top waiting for the game, dressed in my long sleeve Marquette gold t-shirt. Getting really excited.... if we fight hard and scrap, we will win this game. C'mon Warriors!!!!!
Quote from: msbjim on March 25, 2011, 03:43:08 PM
It's less than two hours from tip off!
You didn't get a math degree at Marquette, did you? And I'm guessing you were early for a lot of classes.