MUScoop

Posted this to settle a debate amongst some older alums at work.

I personally think 08-09 because we went from final four contenders to out in the second round. 

The other options were chosen for what should be pretty obvious reasons given the year before. 

This is a good question. I think last year was up there. 08-09 didn't seem disappointing to me taken as a season...more a disappointing finish.

Quote from: PuertoRicanNightmare on November 04, 2014, 04:44:36 PM
This is a good question. I think last year was up there. 08-09 didn't seem disappointing to me taken as a season...more a disappointing finish.

Not so much a disappointing finish as a case of what might have been if DJ had stayed healthy.  That group was really flowing until then.

77-78, and it ain't close

We were 24-3, ranked 2-3 most of the season, returning 4 of 5 starters from the NC team.  Upset by Miami of FOhio.  C'mon man.

A big thank you, Bert!!!!!

Voted 13-14 as being a younger alum, I really only experienced this one and 08-09.  

While 08-09 did have very lofty expectations, those expectations drastically changed with Dom James' injury.  And yeah, maybe you could argue that should play into it, but for me personally, it altered the disappointment.

13-14, the expectations were maybe not as high as 08-09, but they were not much lower.  Many of us here (including myself) were expecting another deep tourney run and a league title.  To go from that to missing the tournament was a drastic disappointment.  But then to add on that and not even get invited to the NIT?  That makes this by far the most disappointing.

And again, maybe the other options prior to 08-09 have every reason to be more disappointing than 13-14, and yeah I could do more research myself to understand those better.  But I voted on disappointment that I felt personally

Quote from: WarriorInNYC on November 04, 2014, 04:49:12 PM
Voted 13-14 as being a younger alum, I really only experienced this one and 08-09.  

While 08-09 did have very lofty expectations, those expectations drastically changed with Dom James' injury.  And yeah, maybe you could argue that should play into it, but for me personally, it altered the disappointment.

13-14, the expectations were maybe not as high as 08-09, but they were not much lower.  Many of us here (including myself) were expecting another deep tourney run and a league title.  To go from that to missing the tournament was a drastic disappointment.  But then to add on that and not even get invited to the NIT?  That makes this by far the most disappointing.

And again, maybe the other options prior to 08-09 have every reason to be more disappointing than 13-14, and yeah I could do more research myself to understand those better.  But I voted on disappointment that I felt personally

I'd agree with this on some levels but I factored the D james injury into the disapoontment. 

Quote from: Ellenson for an mu-rara on November 04, 2014, 04:48:44 PM
77-78, and it ain't close

We were 24-3, ranked 2-3 most of the season, returning 4 of 5 starters from the NC team.  Upset by Miami of FOhio.  C'mon man.

A team that could win the National Championship was one of  the worst loss's in MU history.  That team was good, really good.  The ref again was an issue on the technical, but I would say
the worst loss in MU history, no doubt about it was the Ohio St. loss, the ref even admitted he took the game from MU.  Dean Memminger in 91 games never fouls out, gets 3 charging
fouls on him in the game and fouls out, they were like 28-0 or something then, think 70-71 year.

I think it depends on how you define the disappointment - i.e., whether you're talking about a time when the season came to a sudden and unexpected end, or whether you're including something that happens earlier in the season to weaken the team and lead to an end that we see coming, but didn't see at the beginning of the season.

As for the former, I'd say 77-78.  70-71 is also in the discussion...but we knew Ohio State was really good, so it wasn't quite the shock of losing the "gimme" over Miami in 78.

As for the latter, I'd argue that 71-72 was the biggest disappointment.  Undefeated, ranked 1 or 2, and on a possible collision course with UCLA.  Then Chones goes pro.  We were still a good team, but no longer a NC contender.  The loss of Dominic James in 08-09 was similar to this (different reason, same result), but I'd still put it lower.  In that year, we looked like we had the pieces of a Final Four team when we lost an All Conference caliber player...whereas in 71-72 we looked like a Final Four lock when we lost a consensus All American.

For me, it was 03-04.
Went from the Final Four to the NIT, losing to the likes of TCU (twice!) and Southern Miss (by 22 points in a virtual home game) along the way.
Granted the team had lost Wade and Jackson, but they still had a pair of future NBA players (Diener and Novak), two more senior starters (Merrit and Sanders), another senior getting lots of minutes off the bench (TT) a top 50 recruit (Mason) and a JUCO All-American (MJax) on that roster. A deep NCAA run may have been unlikely, but finishing 6-9 down the stretch with some really bad losses was brutal.

Darn I forgot about the coulda been perfect season year. That's my bad guys but I'm too lazy to edit this

For me the most disappointing season was 87-88, Dukiet's second year. First losing season in over 20 years and not much of any hope on the horizon.

Quote from: Pakuni on November 04, 2014, 05:30:18 PM
For me, it was 03-04.
Went from the Final Four to the NIT, losing to the likes of TCU (twice!) and Southern Miss (by 22 points in a virtual home game) along the way.
Granted the team had lost Wade and Jackson, but they still had a pair of future NBA players (Diener and Novak), two more senior starters (Merrit and Sanders), another senior getting lots of minutes off the bench (TT) a top 50 recruit (Mason) and a JUCO All-American (MJax) on that roster. A deep NCAA run may have been unlikely, but finishing 6-9 down the stretch with some really bad losses was brutal.

About on par with last season..coming off an Elite 8..with more returning experience than ever before..no injuries of any consequence...and MISSING the damn NIT after being picked to win the conference. 

13-14, its like no one wanted to win.

03-04 no question.  I was so juiced from the final 4 I couldn't wait for basketball to start.  Sure we lost Wade but I felt we'd finally broken through the glass ceiling.  Returning to the NIT. bummer.

Worst coaching performances since Al:

- 03/04, a complete too tanned tommy abortion
- 13/14, Buzz completely loses a team
- Every year Dukiet coached

MU BBall gives both pain and joy in generous quantities.

Can we count all the Bob Dukiet years as one?

Also, I totally agree on the 03-04 season. The NIT game was the only time I have ever prayed for MU to lose just to end the pain and humiliation.

surprised that 94-95 has only one vote.  I figured some of you 90s alums would be ranting about how it seemed like MU was about rebound with the back to back appearances and sweet 16 but then flopped and didn't even win the NIT

Quote from: WolverineWarrior85 on November 04, 2014, 06:57:25 PM
For me the most disappointing season was 87-88, Dukiet's second year. First losing season in over 20 years and not much of any hope on the horizon.

This.  Had to seriously wonder whether Marquette days being relevant for basketball were over.

Quote from: Ruby on November 04, 2014, 07:58:58 PM
Can we count all the Bob Dukiet years as one?

Also, I totally agree on the 03-04 season. The NIT game was the only time I have ever prayed for MU to lose just to end the pain and humiliation.

I think you're thinking of 04-05 and Western Michigan. 03-04 was a loss at Iowa St. in the NIT quarterfinals.

Both bad seasons, though.

Quote from: Ellenson for an mu-rara on November 04, 2014, 04:48:44 PM
77-78, and it ain't close

We were 24-3, ranked 2-3 most of the season, returning 4 of 5 starters from the NC team.  Upset by Miami of FOhio.  C'mon man.

I agree with this, both the choice and "it ain't close."

2003-04 was pretty damn bad, though.

Quote from: BagpipingBoxer on November 04, 2014, 08:13:11 PM
surprised that 94-95 has only one vote.  I figured some of you 90s alums would be ranting about how it seemed like MU was about rebound with the back to back appearances and sweet 16 but then flopped and didn't even win the NIT

I actually never felt that way that season.  I thought desne did a good job with a team that had lost alot from the year before.  We started off very slow, but deane slowed the tempo and our defense was outstanding as our inexperienced guys became prime time player we really became an excellent team.  That team was far better than some teams in the ncaa tourney that year but could not overcome our early losses.  The NIT final was an absolte heartbreaker, the charged call on Pieper 20 years later is still a despressingly horrible call.  Amazing game if u were impartial.

Quote from: BagpipingBoxer on November 04, 2014, 08:13:11 PM
surprised that 94-95 has only one vote.  I figured some of you 90s alums would be ranting about how it seemed like MU was about rebound with the back to back appearances and sweet 16 but then flopped and didn't even win the NIT

I'm surprised that year was on the list, to be honest.
Having lost Mac, Key and Logtermann (40 points/19 boards per game the previous season), not to mention KO, I don't think anyone was expecting big things out of the 94-95 team.

None of the above. 2011-12 was a final 4 team had Otule not gotten hurt. Our biggest weakness that year was interior defense and Patrick Young made us pay.

Quote from: ChitownEllenson on November 04, 2014, 09:47:17 PM
None of the above. 2011-12 was a final 4 team had Otule not gotten hurt. Our biggest weakness that year was interior defense and Patrick Young made us pay.

I dont think so.

Not the most disappointing, but definitely one of the most disheartening. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3935112

During my time as a fan, 2013-14 without question.  Other years came to an unexpected end or had injuries and were disappointing for sure, but none of the seasons had the hoopla that the 2013-14 season had (e.g., predicted to win our conference, predicted to have all players returning, etc.).  My fandom started more recently than some, but 2013-14 was the most disappointing season for me by far.

Quote from: Cooby Snacks on November 04, 2014, 09:36:51 PM
I think you're thinking of 04-05 and Western Michigan. 03-04 was a loss at Iowa St. in the NIT quarterfinals.

Both bad seasons, though.

04-05 was miserable, start off 13-1 and end struggling to score 40 points against Western Michigan in the NIT...poor Joe Chapman forced into playing PG. God I hate the tanned melon head.

Quote from: ChitownEllenson on November 04, 2014, 09:47:17 PM
None of the above. 2011-12 was a final 4 team had Otule not gotten hurt. Our biggest weakness that year was interior defense and Patrick Young made us pay.

Definitely not a Final Four team we would've lost in the Elite 8 to Louisville.  Also Young nor Murphy lit us up we were significantly outmatched by Beal and when we weren't we shot ourselves in the foot as both Jae and DJO shot terribly, only Mayo had a decent shooting night.  

Quote from: River rat on November 04, 2014, 09:43:47 PM
I actually never felt that way that season.  I thought desne did a good job with a team that had lost alot from the year before.  We started off very slow, but deane slowed the tempo and our defense was outstanding as our inexperienced guys became prime time player we really became an excellent team.  That team was far better than some teams in the ncaa tourney that year but could not overcome our early losses.  The NIT final was an absolte heartbreaker, the charged call on Pieper 20 years later is still a despressingly horrible call.  Amazing game if u were impartial.

Interesting.  I put it on here because when I came to the defense of Deane getting us to the NIT championship, and two ncaa tournaments a bunch of alums said that the NIT championship year was a huge let down coming off the Sweet 16. 

Quote from: BagpipingBoxer on November 04, 2014, 10:42:33 PM
Interesting.  I put it on here because when I came to the defense of Deane getting us to the NIT championship, and two ncaa tournaments a bunch of alums said that the NIT championship year was a huge let down coming off the Sweet 16. 

Maybe a let down at first
But like i said the young guns really came around led by the young kid that evryone fell in love with in aaron hutchins.  Momentum built throught the season and carried forward into a wonderful season the next year.  Arkansas touney came now that was a horrible disappointment... Shoot 35% n we roll couldnt hit ghe water if we fell out of a boat n lose to a 12 seed in the second round, sad.

Quote from: BCHoopster on November 04, 2014, 05:12:49 PM
A team that could win the National Championship was one of  the worst loss's in MU history.  That team was good, really good.  The ref again was an issue on the technical, but I would say
the worst loss in MU history, no doubt about it was the Ohio St. loss, the ref even admitted he took the game from MU.  Dean Memminger in 91 games never fouls out, gets 3 charging
fouls on him in the game and fouls out, they were like 28-0 or something then, think 70-71 year.

Nailed it, no question. The youngans here will have to read the first hand accounts, but this team was on pace to meet UCLA and, IMHO, would have beaten the Bruins on a neutral court in the Tourney. This was the most balanced and complete Warrior team in my memory with a stud at each position. Al woulda had them ready for prime time if not for the bf'in' in Athens.

Quote from: Ellenson for an mu-rara on November 04, 2014, 04:48:44 PM
77-78, and it ain't close

We were 24-3, ranked 2-3 most of the season, returning 4 of 5 starters from the NC team.  Upset by Miami of FOhio.  C'mon man.

I agree with this. I was sitting in the stands at the Miami of Ohio game stunned at what happened. Personally, I look at that season as the beginning of  our decline from blue blood status. 

Quote from: BagpipingBoxer on November 04, 2014, 10:40:39 PM
Definitely not a Final Four team we would've lost in the Elite 8 to Louisville.  Also Young nor Murphy lit us up we were significantly outmatched by Beal and when we weren't we shot ourselves in the foot as both Jae and DJO shot terribly, only Mayo had a decent shooting night.  

If we're playing the game of "what ifs" then what if Chris and Davante were healthy all year (Davante missed about 7 games)? We might have won a few extra games which would have made us the Big East champs and then we don't get blown out against L'ville in the conference tournament and maybe we're a higher seed than the 3 seed that year. Again, a bunch of what ifs, but it makes ya think.

As far as my vote I'll go with 77-78 followed by the year Chones left, and I'm only 26.

If we're complaining about Deane seasons, I'm more more apt to complain about '98 than '95.  Start off 10-0 & ranked and that turned into an NIT Elite 8.  He couldn't control Hutch and to quote the great Al McGuire, you him a lot more than he needs you.  Crean's last 2 NIT seasons were up there for me.   

I don't think anyone mentioned 90-91 yet.

Anglavar and Powell returning as seniors.  Highly regarded incoming class of Key, McIlvaine, Brakes & Logtermann. Three transfers eligible (Curry, Zulauf & Stewart) with a year's experience with O'Neill's system.  Coming off an NIT season after the dark days under Dukiet.

Result: Stewart leaves early in the season and MU winds up with an 11-18 overall record (ever-so-slightly better than Dukiet's low point of 10-18), and a 5th place tie (with Evansville) in the 8-team MCC (precursor to the Horizon).

 

Quote from: The Equalizer on November 05, 2014, 04:55:27 PM
Result: Stewart leaves early in the season and MU winds up with an 11-18 overall record (ever-so-slightly better than Dukiet's low point of 10-18), and a 5th place tie (with Evansville) in the 8-team MCC (precursor to the Horizon). 

God, that's a depressing sentence. That makes '13-14 sound like '02-03.

As a younger alum, hard to realize how bad things used to be at MU.

Quote from: Texas Western on November 05, 2014, 12:33:46 AM
I agree with this. I was sitting in the stands at the Miami of Ohio game stunned at what happened. Personally, I look at that season as the beginning of  our decline from blue blood status. 

I agree that 77-78 was bad since we were an elite program with a write up in Sports Illustrated about the team during the season and talent up and down the roster. But how many people saw the writing on the wall at that point? When Hank retired, many thought Majerus would lead us back. Instead he quits after three so-so seasons and in comes Dukiet. 87-88 was the beginning of the all-time low point leading to losing seasons three of the next four years.

Quote from: swoopem on November 05, 2014, 08:20:05 AM
If we're playing the game of "what ifs" then what if Chris and Davante were healthy all year (Davante missed about 7 games)? We might have won a few extra games which would have made us the Big East champs and then we don't get blown out against L'ville in the conference tournament and maybe we're a higher seed than the 3 seed that year. Again, a bunch of what ifs, but it makes ya think.

As far as my vote I'll go with 77-78 followed by the year Chones left, and I'm only 26.

Makes yah think yes.  But still can't see us getting past Louisville Kentucky Kansas or maybe Ohio state back then. even if Gardner and Otule both are never injured that season. Maybe I'm just pessimistic though.

I choose 13-14. 03-04 wasn't disappointing it was what we knew it would be. 08-09 wasn't disappointing, just an upset with an inexperienced coach. 13-14 was off an elite eight with all the big players returning. It was expected that Marquette would/could make a deep run. Finishing without an NIT bid is disappointing.

Quote from: Chip Chipman on November 04, 2014, 10:37:35 PM
04-05 was miserable, start off 13-1 and end struggling to score 40 points against Western Michigan in the NIT.

I think 2004-2008 can all be lumped together.

04-05, Lose first NIT game vs Western Michigan
05-06, Lose first Tournament game vs Alabama
06-07, Lose first Tournament game to MSU (held scoreless for about 9 minutes)
07-08, Win first tournament game vs Kentucky, lose second game vs Stanford

Quote from: The Equalizer on November 05, 2014, 04:55:27 PM
I don't think anyone mentioned 90-91 yet.

Anglavar and Powell returning as seniors.  Highly regarded incoming class of Key, McIlvaine, Brakes & Logtermann. Three transfers eligible (Curry, Zulauf & Stewart) with a year's experience with O'Neill's system.  Coming off an NIT season after the dark days under Dukiet.

Result: Stewart leaves early in the season and MU winds up with an 11-18 overall record (ever-so-slightly better than Dukiet's low point of 10-18), and a 5th place tie (with Evansville) in the 8-team MCC (precursor to the Horizon).

 

That season was, for me, not disappointing and was actually encouraging.  I remember thinking the few games I saw that season that we finally had some real players again.  Particularly Curry and Key.  We just needed a true PG to bring it together, and finding one PG is easier that 3 quality bigs.  I thought Gates was that guy, but it turned out that Miller was.

I voted for 77-78 even though I was a CT high schooler at the time.  If I had been a big MU fan at that time, that would have been a crusher. 

Quote from: WolverineWarrior85 on November 04, 2014, 06:57:25 PM
For me the most disappointing season was 87-88, Dukiet's second year. First losing season in over 20 years and not much of any hope on the horizon.

This.  My memory of it is very vague as I had largely given up on MU hoops.  We were living out east and MU really wasn't part of our lives.  A mere handful of years out of school and we had no relationship with our alma mater.  THAT's disappointment to the point of not caring.
 

Quote from: Blue Horseshoe on November 06, 2014, 10:46:54 PM
I think 2004-2008 can all be lumped together.

04-05, Lose first NIT game vs Western Michigan
05-06, Lose first Tournament game vs Alabama
06-07, Lose first Tournament game to MSU (held scoreless for about 9 minutes)
07-08, Win first tournament game vs Kentucky, lose second game vs Stanford

Each their own but that's harsh.

'05-'06 a Freshmen dominated team went from an expected crushing in the Big East inaugural campaign to an NCAA berth and a very rare miss from Steve Novak to take that game into overtime. Can hardly consider that season a disappointment.

'06-'07 losing a stud like Jerel just as March begins was always going to result in a bad loss to end the campaign. As Sophomores, there can't be disappointment felt for how the Amigos built upon their impressive rookie seasons.

Quote from: Golden Avalanche on November 07, 2014, 08:58:02 AM
'05-'06 a Freshmen dominated team went from an expected crushing in the Big East inaugural campaign to an NCAA berth and a very rare miss from Steve Novak to take that game into overtime. Can hardly consider that season a disappointment.

I remember being in Vegas watching that game.  When I saw Novak open in the corner for the shot, I stood up, turned my back to the TV and announced to the whole bar that it was going to OT.  There was no way he was going to miss that.

I looked like a huge a-hole, haha

'77- '78 to me was the most disappointing season. Even with a great deal of talent and hype going into the season you could sense things were different. Losing a game to Loyola in mid season was all I needed to know about how much things has changed in a season. The boys went into the season highly ranked and we have not been ranked that high ever since.

The '70-'71 loss to Ohio State was the toughest loss and ranks very high in biggest disappointments. Hank's first year still was tougher for me.

Quote from: Ellenson for an mu-rara on November 04, 2014, 04:48:44 PM
77-78, and it ain't close

We were 24-3, ranked 2-3 most of the season, returning 4 of 5 starters from the NC team.  Upset by Miami of FOhio.  C'mon man.

Anybody under the age of 50 has NO idea how devestating that loss was. I said it before in here, we were the latter day equivalent of a 16 beating a 1. It was ugly and a dismal excuse for what we expected from Marquette.

What we privately said was, "Where's Al when we need him!"

It wasn't just one loss. It was the beginning of the end for Marquette basketball. It took until 2003 to get us back to even close to where we were.