Tough loss yesterday. Right now we're just not good enough to beat a top 10 team (and as much as it pains me to admit it UW is a top 10 team) on the road. Lots of big, dumb, rats on Scoop loudly and angrily jumping off what they perceive to be a sinking ship. Good riddance. That said, no Marquette coach, player or fan is happy with where this team stand right now. What's gone wrong? Can it be fixed?
1. As Chicos says (over and over again) it's a guards game. We unexpectedly lost our best guard (and best player) when VB went pro. Talented, experienced likely replacement Todd Mayo remains a head case/enigma. Talented, inexperienced JJJ is a freshman who is not yet ready. As a result of all of this, a guard slot that once seemed to have too much talent for the minutes available sees a former walk on logging 25+ minutes a game - a strength turned into a glaring weakness.
2. Point Guard. Junior Cadougan was gone, but Duane Wilson arrived. Some thought he would get 30 minutes immediately, others thought he would split time with Derrick Wilson. His injury has left us one dimensional and shallow at the position - a push to a strength from last season has turned into a weakness.
3. McKay and Steve Taylor Jr. - many thought McKay would be a starter and a big contributor from the jump. Others thought he'd be a valuable back up. Instead, nothing. Same with STJ, though hopefully he's still being held back by his knee injury.
No mystery, really. When four guys being counted on heavily are either gone or not contributing you have major problems. Nobody, Buzz included, expected us to have to play Derrick and Jake (especially Jake) the big minutes they now get. Unless somebody (Todd, JJJ, Du Wilson, Dawson at guard or Burton or STJ if Jamil moves to PG) takes some of those minutes it could be a much tougher year than expected. But I'm not throwing in the towel and judging from yesterday's effort neither is the team.
Lenny Man, I agree. But anytime ya lose your best playa, guard or otherwise, and you haven't reloaded as a blueblood should, it's gonna be felt. Facts are the front court isn't good enough to make up for the deficiencies of the backcourt. Hence, the "guard's game" scenerio gains traction. That said Dawson and Thomas suck as major D-1 guards.
Our guards stink period. Buzz needs to get his head out of the sand and replace them.
Quote from: Stretchdeltsig on December 08, 2013, 01:20:12 PM
Our guards stink period. Buzz needs to get his head out of the sand and replace them.
This. The trade deadline is farther into the season right? What other schools would be willing to make a trade for some starting guards?
We are not that far from being a good team. We had a chance to win at the buzzer at Arizona St without Mayo. We led 52-51(?) against San Diego St with a sick Gardner. We were down three late at UW without Mayo. All of Buzz's teams have been successful, because they won more than their fair share of the close games. Right now we are 0-3 in games that were in question with 2 minutes to go. 1-3 if you count, if you count the home game that got closer than it should have at the end of the game.
Quote from: bilsu on December 08, 2013, 01:47:56 PM
We are not that far from being a good team. We had a chance to win at the buzzer at Arizona St without Mayo. We led 52-51(?) against San Diego St with a sick Gardner. We were down three late at UW without Mayo. All of Buzz's teams have been successful, because they won more than their fair share of the close games. Right now we are 0-3 in games that were in question with 2 minutes to go. 1-3 if you count, if you count the home game that got closer than it should have at the end of the game.
This season feels a lot like 2009-10. If this team figures it out by January/February like the 09-10 team did, we'll be okay. There is a lot of room for improvement, but at least there are signs the improvement can come. If Derrick can play consistently like he did out west, if Jamil asserts himself as he has a few times this season, if Mayo can really establish himself and not take himself out of games with off-court incidents, if the freshmen can get their defense to the point where they are at least getting regular major minutes...suffice to say a lot of ifs, but if those come together, we can still be very good.
But we're not there yet.
Quote from: Stretchdeltsig on December 08, 2013, 01:20:12 PM
Our guards stink period. Buzz needs to get his head out of the sand and replace them.
Because you can do that in mid-season in college basketball. Good call. As for next year, you mean like Cohen, Hill, healthy Duane Wilson?