1. Lots of bias affirmation today.
2. JJJ got lots of minutes, played well. Still too many out of control turnovers.
3. Derrick played elite defense on Gibbs.
4. Steve with a stellar game
5. Derrick with more turnovers than usual, including a near unforgivable one.
6. Wojo took the air out of the ball too soon again.
7. Can't blame Carlino for dribbling around and chucking today.
8. Defensive effort was superb all day.
9. Bad free throw shooting is contagious.
10. Seton Hall played worse than MU did. Grab it, embace it, run home.
Still cant decide if the team plays better with or without carlino. I wanna say they dont..?
Quote from: tower912 on February 07, 2015, 01:11:17 PM
1. Lots of bias affirmation today.
2. JJJ got lots of minutes, played well. Still too many out of control turnovers.
3. Derrick played elite defense on Gibbs.
4. Steve with a stellar game
5. Derrick with more turnovers than usual, including a near unforgivable one.
6. Wojo took the air out of the ball too soon again.
7. Can't blame Carlino for dribbling around and chucking today.
8. Defensive effort was superb all day.
9. Bad free throw shooting is contagious.
10. Seton Hall played worse than MU did. Grab it, embace it, run home.
In all seriousness Tower, what is your definition of elite defense?
Quote from: GoldenZebra on February 07, 2015, 01:12:55 PM
Still cant decide if the team plays better with or without carlino. I wanna say they dont..?
Do the Lakers play better without Kobe? Is Kobe a great player? Interesting questions.
In all seriousness, blocking a jump shot at 6'1, stopping a breakaway lay up, holding Gibbs down for the first 37 minutes equals elite defense on Gibbs.
Quote from: Wojo'sMojo on February 07, 2015, 01:14:52 PM
In all seriousness Tower, what is your definition of elite defense?
That is called...the big slurp.
6. yep - and nearly lost it again.
One of the easiest ways to win is to score more points, and you don't do that when you stop at the free throw line instead of taking an open layup, or throw the ball to the top of the key instead of a point blank putback.
Quote from: GoldenZebra on February 07, 2015, 01:12:55 PM
Still cant decide if the team plays better with or without carlino. I wanna say they dont..?
We just won on the road without Carlino against a team that decisively beat us with Carlino. So I would respectfully disagree.
Quote from: tower912 on February 07, 2015, 01:16:12 PM
In all seriousness, blocking a jump shot at 6'1, stopping a breakaway lay up, holding Gibbs down for the first 37 minutes equals elite defense on Gibbs.
I disagree that he played elite defense today, but thanks for telling me your reasoning for thinking he did.
Wojo sure as hell is a great bench coach down the stretch, ain'a?
Quote from: Wojo'sMojo on February 07, 2015, 01:19:32 PM
I disagree that he played elite defense today, but thanks for telling me your reasoning for thinking he did.
Yep. He had a dunk this year also, which makes him man of the year.
Quote from: Texas Western on February 07, 2015, 01:18:04 PM
We just won on the road without Carlino against a team that decisively beat us with Carlino. So I would respectfully disagree.
This team played totally different without Carlino. They are capable of playing this way with Carlino on the court as well. If they can play with this sort of fire with Carlino hot from 3 we can steal a few more this season.
Quote from: Texas Western on February 07, 2015, 01:18:04 PM
We just won on the road without Carlino against a team that decisively beat us with Carlino. So I would respectfully disagree.
Making that determination out of a two game sample makes a ton of sense.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400588447
Wojosmojo, the play late in the first half when he stuck with Gibbs all of the way to the rack, contested the driving lay up and then got the defensive rebound, forcing Gibbs to foul....
That was elite defense. Gibbs shot 4-12 for the game from the floor. Elite defense.
Quote from: Texas Western on February 07, 2015, 01:18:04 PM
We just won on the road without Carlino against a team that decisively beat us with Carlino. So I would respectfully disagree.
I think Seton Hall should be looking at this the same way. That Whitehead kid absolutely killed them with stupid play after stupid play. They made their comeback after sitting him down and he didn't play when they killed us.
Our offense wasn't tremendous after the first 8 minutes or so, but defense was solid and finally for once the other team missed many open 3s and FTs.
This is the first game that Wojo looked upset we were taking the air out of the ball. With about 3 mins left, we had two poor possessions in a row after wasting clock. Wojo called timeout, ran a quick play to get Taylor a shot. Next possession we got a steal, had a 3 on 2 and pushed the ball for a Taylor dunk. Don't think the stalling today was on Wojo, just an inexperienced team not sure how to close games.
UGLY last 5 minutes of the game.
I am starting to worry that Wojo is not a good coach. A team that struggles to score in general and doesn't have their best offensive player, can't afford to pull the ball when they have 3v1 and 4v2 opportunities with a lot of time left in the game. I understand this team lacks skilled players but the collapse the last 5 minutes of the game when Seton Hall made their run, can only be blamed on coaching. (This is a trend not an exception).
Thank goodness we pulled out the win, the team needed it but the win was a more of a gift from Whitehead playing awful and some of the worst shots taken at the end of a 1 point game with 20 some seconds left.
Quote from: g0lden3agle on February 07, 2015, 01:21:24 PM
This team played totally different without Carlino. They are capable of playing this way with Carlino on the court as well. If they can play with this sort of fire with Carlino hot from 3 we can steal a few more this season.
They can't play in real life this way with Carlino , he upsets the team chemistry . We are better off without him. We just won on the road against a quality team because we had multiple contributors .
Quote from: MUEagle1090 on February 07, 2015, 01:25:55 PM
This is the first game that Wojo looked upset we were taking the air out of the ball. With about 3 mins left, we had two poor possessions in a row after wasting clock. Wojo called timeout, ran a quick play to get Taylor a shot. Next possession we got a steal, had a 3 on 2 and pushed the ball for a Taylor dunk. Don't think the stalling today was on Wojo, just an inexperienced team not sure how to close games.
If it ain't Wojo, then it sure as hell must be his extension on the court--the elite one.
Quote from: Wojo'sMojo on February 07, 2015, 01:14:52 PM
In all seriousness Tower, what is your definition of elite defense?
Holding the opposing team's best player to 33% shooting
Quote from: tower912 on February 07, 2015, 01:22:08 PM
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400588447
Wojosmojo, the play late in the first half when he stuck with Gibbs all of the way to the rack, contested the driving lay up and then got the defensive rebound, forcing Gibbs to foul....
That was elite defense.
Just like the one at the 1:54 mark where he fouled Gibbs and gave him an And 1 opportunity that brought them to 55-54?
This is where you lose me - stop trying to polish the turd. Derrick was very shaky today. His defense was solid today, but stop trying to make it as though we just witnessed Jimmy Butler on Tu Holloway.
Quote from: Texas Western on February 07, 2015, 01:18:04 PM
We just won on the road without Carlino against a team that decisively beat us with Carlino. So I would respectfully disagree.
If you watched the game, you would have seen that Seton Hall lost the game more than Marquette won it. They were completely out of control and immature on the offensive end and played terrible post defense against a team that could literally only score from the underneath the basket. We were 1-10 from 3 and I don't know how many jump shots we even made beyond that.
It's easy to make sweeping judgments if you look at the result of the game from a great distance but that isn't at all what happened. We clearly needed Matt's leadership at the end of the game.
Quote from: willie warrior on February 07, 2015, 01:16:52 PM
That is called...the big slurp.
Nah, I thought he played his worst offensive game in some time. Dreadful. I missed Carlino today because he couldn't sit Derrick down on offense. But I thought his defensive work on Gibbs was very good.
Quote from: willie warrior on February 07, 2015, 01:29:08 PM
If it ain't Wojo, then it sure as hell must be his extension on the court--the elite one.
I think it had been wojo up until today. Today, he was visibly frustrated when we pulled the ball out on potential fast breaks and he called a timeout and we immediately pushed the ball. Re watch the last 4 mins. After wojos timeout we didn't really stall at all. In fact, Jajuan went to the hoop early in the clock and missed. We had a few bad turnovers. But we didn't really stall after the TO.
Quote from: MUEagle1090 on February 07, 2015, 01:25:55 PM
This is the first game that Wojo looked upset we were taking the air out of the ball. With about 3 mins left, we had two poor possessions in a row after wasting clock. Wojo called timeout, ran a quick play to get Taylor a shot. Next possession we got a steal, had a 3 on 2 and pushed the ball for a Taylor dunk. Don't think the stalling today was on Wojo, just an inexperienced team not sure how to close games.
I saw the same thing.
Quote from: Texas Western on February 07, 2015, 01:28:23 PM
They can't play in real life this way with Carlino , he upsets the team chemistry . We are better off without him. We just won on the road against a quality team because we had multiple contributors .
It's one game. If the team is capable of playing this way without Carlino, they are capable of playing this way with him. Some of that is on Carlino, some of that is on the the other players. Carlino tries to do it all down the stretch. During our losing streak, I saw no one else stepping up to do anything. We are a much better team with Carlino than without him.
Quote from: MUEagle1090 on February 07, 2015, 01:25:55 PM
This is the first game that Wojo looked upset we were taking the air out of the ball. With about 3 mins left, we had two poor possessions in a row after wasting clock. Wojo called timeout, ran a quick play to get Taylor a shot. Next possession we got a steal, had a 3 on 2 and pushed the ball for a Taylor dunk. Don't think the stalling today was on Wojo, just an inexperienced team not sure how to close games.
Agree, the only thing I'll put on him today was the lack of a TO after they started pressing, but after the timeout we started pushing it again.
Quote from: MUEagle1090 on February 07, 2015, 01:25:55 PM
This is the first game that Wojo looked upset we were taking the air out of the ball. With about 3 mins left, we had two poor possessions in a row after wasting clock. Wojo called timeout, ran a quick play to get Taylor a shot. Next possession we got a steal, had a 3 on 2 and pushed the ball for a Taylor dunk. Don't think the stalling today was on Wojo, just an inexperienced team not sure how to close games.
Problem is the guy who was guilty of what you speak of was our senior veteran PG.
Look, did some of you watch the same game I did?
I saw a team that for the first time was in control of themselves. I saw a team that played well together and played within themselves. They probably took some shots they should not have but overall, they played as they should today.
Time will tell whether this was a turning point on this season (perhaps not), but I liked what I saw in a team that played under control and stuck it in the throats of the Pirates. We drove the basket more in this game that we did most of last year. Plus, I think we were really good at avoiding our own faults, like chucking up a long bomb we know we are not going to make.
I can hardly wait for some front line strength in Henry next year. With Henry, Luke and STjr, we're going to be formidable. And, with some depth, we could make some people pay for this year.
jsglow and I are on a plane right now, so this is the first game this season we have not watched.
Obviously, we are bad luck. Anyone want to take over our season tickets?
Quote from: TAMU Eagle on February 07, 2015, 01:36:14 PM
It's one game. If the team is capable of playing this way without Carlino, they are capable of playing this way with him. Some of that is on Carlino, some of that is on the the other players. Carlino tries to do it all down the stretch. During our losing streak, I saw no one else stepping up to do anything. We are a much better team with Carlino than without him.
The "problem" if you will with Carlino trying to do it all down the stretch is this:
Who is he usually on the floor with? Derrick, Duane, Juan and Luke.
Luke can't create a shot.
Teams don't defend Derrick honestly - they hedge off of him toward either Duane or Carlino.
Duane still does not finish well going to the basket at all.
By default, much like Mayo last season - somebody has to take charge at the end of the games and when you are handcuffed with 3 guys with MAJOR offensive limitations there's only so much you can do.
Get Carlino out there with JJJ and Duane, and you have a much more threatening and diversified lineup - and Carlino probably doesn't feel like he needs to do it all.
Quote from: tower912 on February 07, 2015, 01:11:17 PM
2. JJJ got lots of minutes, played well. Still too many out of control turnovers.
3. Derrick played elite defense on Gibbs.
So you qualify JJJ's good game with the fact that he had too many turnovers (3), but then immediately follow it up by saying Derrick played "elite" defense (more than a slight exaggeration) with no mention of his
4 turnovers (one of which was a crucial mental mistake in the backcourt in crunch time) or 0/6 from the field, 1/4 from the FT line to qualify it. Odd.
Quote from: yetipro on February 07, 2015, 01:31:46 PM
If you watched the game, you would have seen that Seton Hall lost the game more than Marquette won it.
MU outplayed them for almost the entire game?
Quote from: Ellenson Family Reunion on February 07, 2015, 01:43:18 PM
So you qualify JJJ's good game with the fact that he had too many turnovers (3), but then immediately follow it up by saying Derrick played "elite" defense (more than a slight exaggeration) with no mention of his 4 turnovers (one of which was a crucial mental mistake in the backcourt in crunch time) or 0/6 from the field, 1/4 from the FT line to qualify it. Odd.
Continue through the thread to where I said that Derrick was awful on offense. Note #5 where I say that Derrick with more turnovers than usual today, including a near unforgivable one late. Nothing odd but lack of reading comprehension.
Quote from: warriorchick on February 07, 2015, 01:42:05 PM
jsglow and I are on a plane right now, so this is the first game this season we have not watched.
Obviously, we are bad luck. Anyone want to take over our season tickets?
Hope it is warm wherever you're coming from Chick and Glow
All the Big East hates that we won today
Quote from: dgies9156 on February 07, 2015, 01:45:22 PM
Hope it is warm wherever you're coming from Chick and Glow
Going. A week in Vegas. It's 70 degrees there right now. ;D
If anything, Carlino would have at least shot the ball instead of running the clock down as much as MU did in the the last several minutes. I felt like we needed that gunner mentality then, because noone wanted to take charge and score.
Quote from: MUEagle1090 on February 07, 2015, 01:25:55 PM
This is the first game that Wojo looked upset we were taking the air out of the ball. With about 3 mins left, we had two poor possessions in a row after wasting clock. Wojo called timeout, ran a quick play to get Taylor a shot. Next possession we got a steal, had a 3 on 2 and pushed the ball for a Taylor dunk. Don't think the stalling today was on Wojo, just an inexperienced team not sure how to close games.
He was sitting on two time outs. Seniors making the turnovers. Really an area of development for the staff (not just Wojo) is the end of game situationals.
Quote from: LAZER on February 07, 2015, 01:43:35 PM
MU outplayed them for almost the entire game?
Not to mention we make even 60% of our free throws and the game would never have been close.
We're not better overall without carlino. We need our guys like Steve and jjj to play with confidence and not default to carlino late in the clock. Our guys seemed looser today and played well on both ends because of it. I do think we need to give our 3 bench guys some time because they can contribute positively. Can't say well we have 8 guys and they had a bad possession so wojo yanked them. If we can get all 8 playing with confidence, we might win a few more this year and be formidable in the big east tourney.
MU won points in the paint 42-22. Luke, Steve and JJJ thank you for the 38 points of the 57.
Juan and Derrick 2-8 on free throws and seven turnovers. MU with two points in the last three minutes
Isn't this great we even kick some of the players on this team even when we win. Just keep in mind as bad as you might thing some of our players are they are in all likelihood better than you will ever become. Shame we always need a fall guy and kick the weaker ones down. Fortunately this team plays like a team and not the way some on this blog think.
Today the stall was 100% on the players. I have no idea about the other games, but Wojo clearly was pissed after we pulled back in 3 on 1 and 2 on 4 situations. That ended after Wojo got them in the huddle. The aggressive play thereafter saved us.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 01:30:50 PM
Just like the one at the 1:54 mark where he fouled Gibbs and gave him an And 1 opportunity that brought them to 55-54?
This is where you lose me - stop trying to polish the turd. Derrick was very shaky today. His defense was solid today, but stop trying to make it as though we just witnessed Jimmy Butler on Tu Holloway.
Yes Ners, I am sure that you would be dunking all over Derrick back at the Rec Center or in your CYO league, or in your small HS league, Aina?
Talk about a turd.
Quote from: warriorchick on February 07, 2015, 01:42:05 PM
jsglow and I are on a plane right now, so this is the first game this season we have not watched.
Obviously, we are bad luck. Anyone want to take over our season tickets?
I missed most of the game and caught the last 5 minutes when I got home. It was down hill the entire time I watched so I guess i am in that "bad luck club" as well. Couldn't watch the last minute. Came here and saw we won.
http://marquette.scout.com/story/1511296-signature-win-in-wojo-era-mu-57-shall-54?s=415
Wojo's postgame quotes. Challenged Steve to be more physical, JJJ had a good week of practice.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 01:37:10 PM
Problem is the guy who was guilty of what you speak of was our senior veteran PG.
What are you going to do when the season is over and you can no longer complain about our senior point guard? It's only a game and there are far more important things in life.
Quote from: Dr. Blackheart on February 07, 2015, 02:18:59 PM
MU won points in the paint 42-22. Luke, Steve and JJJ thank you for the 38 points of the 57.
Juan and Derrick 2-8 on free throws and seven turnovers. MU with two points in the last three minutes
Yes.....Great work inside from the team today.
Derrick played 40 minutes, was 0 for 6 from field, 1 for 4 from Free throws (two fronted misses), 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 turnovers. Played great defense on Whitehead when in man to man, but completely imploded in last three minutes.
Team need a shooter big time for next year, with Fischer and Ellenson kicking out to open man. This year, have Carlino in spots, but everyone else, ugh.
First road win in a year, wow. Good for the youngsters to close out a game.
Quote from: tower912 on February 07, 2015, 01:11:17 PM
1. Lots of bias affirmation today.
2. JJJ got lots of minutes, played well. Still too many out of control turnovers.
3. Derrick played elite defense on Gibbs.
4. Steve with a stellar game
5. Derrick with more turnovers than usual, including a near unforgivable one.
6. Wojo took the air out of the ball too soon again.
7. Can't blame Carlino for dribbling around and chucking today.
8. Defensive effort was superb all day.
9. Bad free throw shooting is contagious.
10. Seton Hall played worse than MU did. Grab it, embace it, run home.
11. Thank God for Isaiah Whitehead.
It's hard to win on the road in league play. It's even harder without your leading scorer and only 7 guys scholarship guys. Great effort all around. Take it and run.
I thought everyone stepped up and were better at attacking without having carling in there as a crutch to bail anyone out. Effort was great today.
12. MU played hard again. Nice to see effort rewarded, no matter how it came about.
Quote from: muwarrior69 on February 07, 2015, 02:42:39 PM
What are you going to do when the season is over and you can no longer complain about our senior point guard? It's only a game and there are far more important things in life.
I'll be glad we've finally turned the page and start winning games on a regular basis again.
I had very few comments on Derrick today btw. We didn't have any choice but to have him out there today. He is what he is - and when him playing max minutes isn't taking away time from far more talented underclassmen - it doesn't really bother me - even if he is awful and we win. When a guy like JJJ rides the bench for 25+ minutes per game, that's when I have issues with Derrick and his minutes getting maxed. Duane and Carlino can both play PG as needed. Period.
Quote from: muwarrior69 on February 07, 2015, 02:42:39 PM
What are you going to do when the season is over and you can no longer complain about our senior point guard? It's only a game and there are far more important things in life.
Don't worry complainers complain they just change the target. Sometimes its a player, sometimes it is a coach, sometimes it's a blogger or maybe it is anything else but it is always the negative view of life.
Incidentally the age lifespan of chronic complainers is shorter than those with an optimistic positive attitude. Maybe we all need to look more on the positive side but then again some just can not help themselves or change. When you think about it, it is just sad.
Quote from: willie warrior on February 07, 2015, 01:29:08 PM
If it ain't Wojo, then it sure as hell must be his extension on the court--the elite one.
It's Wojo, and it's something he picked up from his mentor. The one consistent criticism you will hear about Coach K is that he takes the air out of the ball too soon when they get leads.
Quote from: Class71 on February 07, 2015, 03:13:39 PM
Don't worry complainers complain they just change the target. Sometimes its a player, sometimes it is a coach, sometimes it's a blogger or maybe it is anything else but it is always the negative view of life.
Incidentally the age lifespan of chronic complainers is shorter than those with an optimistic positive attitude. Maybe we all need to look more on the positive side but then again some just can not help themselves or change. When you think about it, it is just sad.
+10000000
I can't even imagine hating everything about everything all the time. Sure would bog quality of life down a bit.
Quote from: Class71 on February 07, 2015, 03:13:39 PM
Don't worry complainers complain they just change the target. Sometimes its a player, sometimes it is a coach, sometimes it's a blogger or maybe it is anything else but it is always the negative view of life.
Incidentally the age lifespan of chronic complainers is shorter than those with an optimistic positive attitude. Maybe we all need to look more on the positive side but then again some just can not help themselves or change. When you think about it, it is just sad.
Speaking for myself, I am not a constant complainer. I have greatly despised our point guard play for the last two seasons. I find it miserable to watch an offensively challenged point guard play over 30 minutes a game and am glad it is coming to an end very soon. Then my complaining will be done.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 03:05:59 PM
I'll be glad we've finally turned the page and start winning games on a regular basis again.
I had very few comments on Derrick today btw. We didn't have any choice but to have him out there today. He is what he is - and when him playing max minutes isn't taking away time from far more talented underclassmen - it doesn't really bother me - even if he is awful and we win. When a guy like JJJ rides the bench for 25+ minutes per game, that's when I have issues with Derrick and his minutes getting maxed. Duane and Carlino can both play PG as needed. Period.
Having a burger boy on the team won't have anything to do with it. A more experience Duane either. Had we just gotten ride of Derrick last year we would have two national championships.
Quote from: tower912 on February 07, 2015, 01:11:17 PM
1. Lots of bias affirmation today.
2. JJJ got lots of minutes, played well. Still too many out of control turnovers.
3. Derrick played elite defense on Gibbs.
4. Steve with a stellar game
5. Derrick with more turnovers than usual, including a near unforgivable one.
6. Wojo took the air out of the ball too soon again.
7. Can't blame Carlino for dribbling around and chucking today.
8. Defensive effort was superb all day.
9. Bad free throw shooting is contagious.
10. Seton Hall played worse than MU did. Grab it, embace it, run home.
Skipped through a lot of the thread, so haven't read a lot of the commentary up to this point.
My thoughts:
JjJ played very well today. Did a great job driving and was doing great distributing the ball. He was really trying to feed Luke and was doing a great job at it. Late in the second half he started to get into trouble again with driving into nearly impossible situations.
Derrick played fantastic defense and I thought really helped drive the offense in the first half. He had a LOT of uncharacteristic turnovers, some really really bad ones.
Teve played very well.
Duane and Cohen looked like freshman.
I thought Wojo nearly cost us this one, really should have pushed it harder when they pressed us and took too long to get Luke back into the game after his 4th foul.
Quote from: BallBoy on February 07, 2015, 03:40:13 PM
Having a burger boy on the team won't have anything to do with it. A more experience Duane either. Had we just gotten ride of Derrick last year we would have two national championships. more NCAA appearances
Fixed it for you.
Quote from: Wojo'sMojo on February 07, 2015, 03:29:30 PM
Speaking for myself, I am not a constant complainer. I have greatly despised our point guard play for the last two seasons. I find it miserable to watch an offensively challenged point guard play over 30 minutes a game and am glad it is coming to an end very soon. Then my complaining will be done.
Good luck to you my friend. Life is far too short.
Quote from: Wojo'sMojo on February 07, 2015, 03:29:30 PM
Speaking for myself, I am not a constant complainer. I have greatly despised our point guard play for the last two seasons. I find it miserable to watch an offensively challenged point guard play over 30 minutes a game and am glad it is coming to an end very soon. Then my complaining will be done.
+1
I had a four year history of being VERY supportive and optimistic about all things MU basketball here, prior to late November of last year. Ironically, by many who criticize me today for being so critical of Derrick/Wojo - they used to tell me to take off the Blue and Gold glasses and stop being so supportive of the team/Buzz. Seriously. No joke.
However, these last two years have been so bad, and when some here choose to completely polish consistent turd performance - that isn't optimism. It's actually delusion.
Quote from: 79Warrior on February 07, 2015, 01:55:47 PM
Not to mention we make even 60% of our free throws and the game would never have been close.
This was what I was getting at. We shot 55% from the free throw line, 10% from 3, gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, and saw an 8-0 or 10-0 run with minutes left in the game. I love MU basketball and if anyone deserved this win, they certainly did given how hard they have continuously fought.
However to the point that we played better without Matt, I think the game itself did not bear that out at all. If purely looking at the final score and the fact that he didn't play, yes maybe it would be better that he stays on the bench. But IMO we would have been in much better shape, especially at the end of the game, had he played.
We won period. Wojo's late game coaching is questionable. Hopefully he will get better with more experience.
Quote from: tower912 on February 07, 2015, 02:40:58 PM
http://marquette.scout.com/story/1511296-signature-win-in-wojo-era-mu-57-shall-54?s=415
Wojo's postgame quotes. Challenged Steve to be more physical, JJJ had a good week of practice.
Of course JJJ had a good week of practice. Has to have a reason for why he's been burying him on the bench for 25+ minutes most nights. JJJ must have been converting on his drives and in transition in practice at a much higher level this past week. LOL. The kid is a slasher, scorer and playmaker. Fed Luke better and more frequently today than any of our other guards have all year. Take the shackles off of JJJ, and he'll give you 14+ per 30 minutes played. And he's only going to get better with more game experience.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 03:49:11 PM
+1
I had a four year history of being VERY supportive and optimistic about all things MU basketball here, prior to late November of last year. Ironically, by many who criticize me today for being so critical of Derrick/Wojo - they used to tell me to take off the Blue and Gold glasses and stop being so supportive of the team/Buzz. Seriously. No joke.
However, these last two years have been so bad, and when some here choose to completely polish consistent turd performance - that isn't optimism. It's actually delusion.
No one is dillusional, the record speaks for itself, but some are obsessive. We all have our eyes open but the horse has been dead for a very long time. You my friend can simply not accept the reality and let go. Unfortunately I, nor anyone else, will reach you because you simply can not understand. Just try to see life from another perspective, we are not challenging the reality of MU basketball. There is simply a better way than getting so excited about what you can not change. You can not change MU basketball, just how we deal with where they are this year. Seriously give it some thought. We are all disappointed and since we can not change it we look for the positives and encourage the whole team. Like it or not, they are our team and that is the reality we need to accept. They all play hard, they all try, yes they mostly fail but when they win it is so sweet for them and that in itself is special.
Any team is going to play different with a regular player out. Wojo came up with a gameplan, the players executed and it worked. Good job all around today. A little luck at the end for a change was greatly appreciated as well.
Is Carlino overall a plus or a minus on this team? Well, you can ask that of every player. One of the exciting aspects of college ball is every year the lineup changes. If you're not happy with Carlino, wait a year. If you like him, enjoy his huge 3s while they last.
Quote from: ChicosBailBonds on February 07, 2015, 01:15:24 PM
Do the Lakers play better without Kobe? Is Kobe a great player? Interesting questions.
Haha! You're kidding, right? Interesting questions? Well, if you find questions that have a 100% clear, obvious, no question about it answer to be "interesting" then I guess those questions are interesting.
Between last season and so far this season when Kobe has been out a majority of the Lakers' games they are 40-92. When Kobe has been healthy over the past about 15 years their worst record has been 42-40 almost 10 years ago (34-48 in 2005 but he was out for a month that season). Since the 2002-2003 the Lakers have had 6 seasons in which they have won less than 50 games, and 2 seasons in which they were under .500. 1 of those 6 seasons was a 61 game season in which they won 41 games, so that would've dropped that number to 5 seasons if it were a full 82 game season. Of those other 5 seasons, Kobe missed a month or more in 3 of them (including both seasons they were under .500). And these numbers started immediately
following a Lakers 3-peat. Yeah, that's so interesting! In fact, I think the Lakers are better off without Kobe! Just like Marquette without Carlino, when they put up their 4th lowest point total of the season and scored 13 points less against the same opponent than they did when they played them with Carlino!
Interesting.
Or just plain stupid.
I'm guessing you think the Bulls were better off without Jordan, too.
Quote from: GoldenZebra on February 07, 2015, 01:12:55 PM
Still cant decide if the team plays better with or without carlino. I wanna say they dont..?
MU has been losing games, because Carlino and Duane try to take them over at the end of the game and end up taking impossible shots.
The loss would of been on Derrick, if we lost today. However, we got screwed when he got called for offensive basket interference in the first half. That was a bad call that could of cost us this game.
Quote from: bilsu on February 07, 2015, 04:48:04 PM
MU has been losing games, because nobody other thanCarlino and Duane are either able or willing totry to take them over at the end of the game and end up taking impossible shots.
FIFY
Quote from: WarriorInNYC on February 07, 2015, 03:42:38 PM
Skipped through a lot of the thread, so haven't read a lot of the commentary up to this point.
My thoughts:
JjJ played very well today. Did a great job driving and was doing great distributing the ball. He was really trying to feed Luke and was doing a great job at it. Late in the second half he started to get into trouble again with driving into nearly impossible situations.
Derrick played fantastic defense and I thought really helped drive the offense in the first half. He had a LOT of uncharacteristic turnovers, some really really bad ones.
Teve played very well.
Duane and Cohen looked like freshman.
I thought Wojo nearly cost us this one, really should have pushed it harder when they pressed us and took too long to get Luke back into the game after his 4th foul.
Duane looked like a freshman today? Really? He is one of two players on this team that can create his own shot? The rest cannot!!!
He looked like a freshman today? Really? As he drained his 2 clutch FT's at the end of the game. And Derrick--how did he do as he clanged his FT's and shots. The guy that is getting 33+ minutes per game. Did he play like a Senior captain?
The love of Derrick by some knows no bounds. He is a good kid, but he got 40 minutes today with less than his usual anemic production.
Oh, I forgot, he had a dunk this year. But nobody guards him on the perimeter.
But Duane looked like a Freshman today!!!
Quote from: bilsu on February 07, 2015, 04:53:19 PM
The loss would of been on Derrick, if we lost today. However, we got screwed when he got called for offensive basket interference in the first half. That was a bad call that could of cost us this game.
What was that call? Unreal. It looked as if the red on the far side who made the call was signaling an arm bar. That wasn't even close.
Quote from: willie warrior on February 07, 2015, 05:31:03 PM
Duane looked like a freshman today? Really? He is one of two players on this team that can create his own shot? The rest cannot!!!
He looked like a freshman today? Really? As he drained his 2 clutch FT's at the end of the game. And Derrick--how did he do as he clanged his FT's and shots. The guy that is getting 33+ minutes per game. Did he play like a Senior captain?
The love of Derrick by some knows no bounds. He is a good kid, but he got 40 minutes today with less than his usual anemic production.
Oh, I forgot, he had a dunk this year. But nobody guards him on the perimeter.
But Duane looked like a Freshman today!!!
Derrick scored one, normal offensive game. But had 4 turnovers, not normal and 20 shots he did not take
Quote from: tower912 on February 07, 2015, 01:11:17 PM
5. Derrick with more turnovers than usual, including a near unforgivable one.
According to Velasquez, 4 is his most of the year. I didn't know the number, but I knew it wasn't pretty.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 03:05:59 PM
I'll be glad we've finally turned the page and start winning games on a regular basis again.
Not sure how you can look at next year's roster and think we're going to be all the much better compared to this year.
Quote from: g0lden3agle on February 07, 2015, 05:54:17 PM
Not sure how you can look at next year's roster and think we're going to be all the much better compared to this year.
Please. If you haven't figured out his reasoning you haven't been paying attention. For the last 15 months. Nonstop. Incessantly. Whether or not one point contradicts another. Logic and reason be damned.
Quote from: connie on February 07, 2015, 06:00:50 PM
Please. If you haven't figured out his reasoning you haven't been paying attention. For the last 15 months. Nonstop. Incessantly. Whether or not one point contradicts another. Logic and reason be damned.
Who's the scapegoat next year then? I have my popcorn ready
Quote from: g0lden3agle on February 07, 2015, 05:54:17 PM
Not sure how you can look at next year's roster and think we're going to be all the much better compared to this year.
You just don't get it, man. By next year Wojo will have read Ners' comments enough to learn how to coach.
Quote from: g0lden3agle on February 07, 2015, 06:01:40 PM
Who's the scapegoat next year then? I have my popcorn ready
We're all waiting with baited breath. Obviously we have to start with Wojo ruining someone. I think we should start a poll, but he tends to do that all by himself.
Quote from: Class71 on February 07, 2015, 04:21:28 PM
No one is dillusional, the record speaks for itself, but some are obsessive. We all have our eyes open but the horse has been dead for a very long time. You my friend can simply not accept the reality and let go. Unfortunately I, nor anyone else, will reach you because you simply can not understand. Just try to see life from another perspective, we are not challenging the reality of MU basketball. There is simply a better way than getting so excited about what you can not change. You can not change MU basketball, just how we deal with where they are this year. Seriously give it some thought. We are all disappointed and since we can not change it we look for the positives and encourage the whole team. Like it or not, they are our team and that is the reality we need to accept. They all play hard, they all try, yes they mostly fail but when they win it is so sweet for them and that in itself is special.
Nice post 71. I understand your position on the matter and agree they are our team and they all play hard. You could say that those who share the opposite opinion of me are just as obsessive. And, quite frankly - it is truly questionable if their eyes really are open, given some of the hyperbole and exaggeration they engage in to try to support their notion.
The volume of my comments on Derrick would be greatly reduced if I wasn't subjected to read things such as: He's a better PG than Junior Cadougan and Dwight Buycks. He is the LEAST of the team's problems. He isn't/wasn't the main problem on team last year.
As soon as the pig on the lipstick comments stop, I certainly can hold up my end of the bargain - yet even today, in this very thread we are subject to: Derrick played elite defense on Gibbs. Elite? That word has almost become a joke around here of sorts for how many times that has been associated with Derrick.
Then again I probably should just realize they seriously cannot be that ignorant and believe what they write and are simply trolling me.
Quote from: MUSF on February 07, 2015, 03:15:17 PM
It's Wojo, and it's something he picked up from his mentor. The one consistent criticism you will hear about Coach K is that he takes the air out of the ball too soon when they get leads.
Well, then Wojo needs to try something else--and he sure as hell ain't K.
Quote from: connie on February 07, 2015, 06:50:04 PM
We're all waiting with baited breath. Obviously we have to start with Wojo ruining someone. I think we should start a poll, but he tends to do that all by himself.
You'll be waiting a long time Connie. As no matter who Wojo rolls out there next season, NONE of them will be so incredibly overmatched at their position that it is beyond comprehension as to what he is thinking.
Is it not INCREDIBLY ODD that in a game where even his most die hard supporters generally have conceded he was AWFUL, and without our leading scorer, that we go on the road, and somehow pretty much control a game from start to finish against a team that just blew us out on the road just 10-days earlier??
Gee, wonder if it had anything to do with JJJ going from 7 minutes of PT to 35? Seton Hall goes from scoring 80 points to 54? Bama has advanced stats that show our defense in Big East play was Number 1 in the conference and that coincided with JJJ playing a much bigger role. Yet, once he was relegated to 10-15 minutes per game our defensive rating in Big East tumbled? Yet, I read here ALL the time how bad of defender JJJ is - because he gambles and goes for steals on occasion. Yet the team D numbers show radically better when he plays. Perhaps he's our Elite defender? LOL.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 06:56:59 PM
Nice post 71. I understand your position on the matter and agree they are our team and they all play hard. You could say that those who share the opposite opinion of me are just as obsessive. And, quite frankly - it is truly questionable if their eyes really are open, given some of the hyperbole and exaggeration they engage in to try to support their notion.
The volume of my comments on Derrick would be greatly reduced if I wasn't subjected to read things such as: He's a better PG than Junior Cadougan and Dwight Buycks. He is the LEAST of the team's problems. He isn't/wasn't the main problem on team last year.
As soon as the pig on the lipstick comments stop, I certainly can hold up my end of the bargain - yet even today, in this very thread we are subject to: Derrick played elite defense on Gibbs. Elite? That word has almost become a joke around here of sorts for how many times that has been associated with Derrick.
Then again I probably should just realize they seriously cannot be that ignorant and believe what they write and are simply trolling me.
I disagree with you on Derrick, but I would never say he was better than Junior or Buycks, I honestly don't think anyone on here has ever said that.
But last year he wasn't the biggest problem. Put Junior or Buycks on last years team and we still don't make the tournament. We needed a star, a Jimmy, or Wes or a Crowder. We didn't have that dominant senior leader that could just take over games and lead by example. That was our biggest problem. We also had a coach, who forgot how to adapt our style to the team. Those were our biggest problems.
Quote from: warriorchick on February 07, 2015, 01:42:05 PM
jsglow and I are on a plane right now, so this is the first game this season we have not watched.
Obviously, we are bad luck. Anyone want to take over our season tickets?
I'd say yes, but I also missed the game due to vacation, so maybe I should too.
Quote from: forgetful on February 07, 2015, 07:09:36 PM
I disagree with you on Derrick, but I would never say he was better than Junior or Buycks, I honestly don't think anyone on here has ever said that.
But last year he wasn't the biggest problem. Put Junior or Buycks on last years team and we still don't make the tournament. We needed a star, a Jimmy, or Wes or a Crowder. We didn't have that dominant senior leader that could just take over games and lead by example. That was our biggest problem. We also had a coach, who forgot how to adapt our style to the team. Those were our biggest problems.
Ironically enough the guy who posted just after you did made that comment this week. Take it up with Brewcity77.
I disagree as I feel last year's team had enough star power out of Davante, Jamil and Todd. Those are 3, NBA D-League players. Jamil was absolutely handcuffed by being rolled out in a starting lineup with Derrick, Jake, Juan and Otule.
I do agree that Buzz was awful as a coach last season. And I only floated the stick it to the administration theory, as I cannot believe given what he showed as a coach his first 5 years on the job, he sincerely believe he was putting the team in the best position to win maxing Derrick and Jake's minutes together in the backcourt. No talented front court like Davante/Jamil could do much of anything with a backcourt pairing THAT deficient.
Quote from: MUSF on February 07, 2015, 03:15:17 PM
It's Wojo, and it's something he picked up from his mentor. The one consistent criticism you will hear about Coach K is that he takes the air out of the ball too soon when they get leads.
1002 times.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 07:07:44 PM
You'll be waiting a long time Connie. As no matter who Wojo rolls out there next season, NONE of them will be so incredibly overmatched at their position that it is beyond comprehension as to what he is thinking.
Is it not INCREDIBLY ODD that in a game where even his most die hard supporters generally have conceded he was AWFUL, and without our leading scorer, that we go on the road, and somehow pretty much control a game from start to finish against a team that just blew us out on the road just 10-days earlier??
Gee, wonder if it had anything to do with JJJ going from 7 minutes of PT to 35? Seton Hall goes from scoring 80 points to 54? Bama has advanced stats that show our defense in Big East play was Number 1 in the conference and that coincided with JJJ playing a much bigger role. Yet, once he was relegated to 10-15 minutes per game our defensive rating in Big East tumbled? Yet, I read here ALL the time how bad of defender JJJ is - because he gambles and goes for steals on occasion. Yet the team D numbers show radically better when he plays. Perhaps he's our Elite defender? LOL.
There is many problems with your narrative. The first being that you felt JJJ needed the time in replacement of Derrick. However, JJJ got his minutes with Derrick, who played badly, and the team still won. So why is it that three guys who you claim are three d-leaguers (they aren't) couldn't overcome him? So if JJJ gets his 25+ minutes and Derrick got his 30+ then why couldn't Mayo win? jamil? Gardner?
Either MU hit an opponent at the right time and JJJ benefited from that or Derrick wasn't the only problem. He was the constant.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 07:17:10 PM
Ironically enough the guy who posted just after you did made that comment this week. Take it up with Brewcity77.
I disagree as I feel last year's team had enough star power out of Davante, Jamil and Todd. Those are 3, NBA D-League players. Jamil was absolutely handcuffed by being rolled out in a starting lineup with Derrick, Jake, Juan and Otule.
I do agree that Buzz was awful as a coach last season. And I only floated the stick it to the administration theory, as I cannot believe given what he showed as a coach his first 5 years on the job, he sincerely believe he was putting the team in the best position to win maxing Derrick and Jake's minutes together in the backcourt. No talented front court like Davante/Jamil could do much of anything with a backcourt pairing THAT deficient.
Jamil last season was the single biggest disappointment of the Buzz era. You keep trying to blame Jamil's woes on Wilson or Buzz or Thomas or anybody but Jamil.
Quote from: MU82 on February 07, 2015, 09:24:31 PM
Jamil last season was the single biggest disappointment of the Buzz era. You keep trying to blame Jamil's woes on Wilson or Buzz or Thomas or anybody but Jamil.
I'd think as a coach you would realize that basketball is still a team game - and when a coach rolls you out with Derrick Wilson, Jake Thomas, Juan Anderson and Chris Otule - that's a little different than a Jae Crowder rolling out with DJO, Buycks, and Jimmy. And the same as Jimmy rolling out with Jae, DJO, Buycks, Cadougan and even Vander.
Quote from: BallBoy on February 07, 2015, 08:13:07 PM
There is many problems with your narrative. The first being that you felt JJJ needed the time in replacement of Derrick. However, JJJ got his minutes with Derrick, who played badly, and the team still won. So why is it that three guys who you claim are three d-leaguers (they aren't) couldn't overcome him? So if JJJ gets his 25+ minutes and Derrick got his 30+ then why couldn't Mayo win? jamil? Gardner?
Either MU hit an opponent at the right time and JJJ benefited from that or Derrick wasn't the only problem. He was the constant.
Not your best effort on this one bud. There are many problems with what you posted.
Yes, I've said JJJ should be getting a lot of Derrick's minutes. We don't need essentially 3 Point Guard type players all starting. And Carlino and Duane are better than Derrick. As is JJJ. I just want our best players on the floor max minutes.
JJJ's defense gets ripped by those of you who want to champion Derrick's, yet when JJJ plays 20+ minutes our defense is better. Take it up with Stat Expert Bama to give you the numbers on where we ranked in the Big East defensively before Wojo started to nail JJJ to the bench.
As for last season - Do you feel Derrick has improved this year?? In reality, he isn't that much better than he was last year - but he is better - so he's less of a burden, yet still a burden. Furthermore, when paired with Jake Thomas as his running mate last year, it just further exacerbated the problem. I ripped Buzz on that pairing all of last year - yet Jake at least could serve the purpose of floor spacer. Derrick?? He wasn't even guarded on the perimeter come conference play, and he wouldn't shoot, averaged about 4ppg in 35+ minutes per game, while the opposition used his defender to collapse the paint and make life hell on Davante and Jamil.
I'm still blown away how some want to point the finger and Davante and Jamil for what went wrong last year - guys who actually produced in spite of being paired with quite possibly the most overmatched backcourt in the history of the Big East/high major basketball. I mean one guard made 9, 2 pt FGs for the entire season and the other guard made 1, 3 point shot for the whole year while shooting 46% from the FT line, and not being guarded.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 09:38:56 PM
I'd think as a coach you would realize that basketball is still a team game - and when a coach rolls you out with Derrick Wilson, Jake Thomas, Juan Anderson and Chris Otule - that's a little different than a Jae Crowder rolling out with DJO, Buycks, and Jimmy. And the same as Jimmy rolling out with Jae, DJO, Buycks, Cadougan and even Vander.
I'm partially in agreement with Ners. Is Jamil's lack of productivity a result of his passiveness and sometimes lack of effort? Yes. But he did often play with 4 other players who could not create anything and therefore in very suboptimal situations.
However, he got plenty of minutes with Gardner and Mayo, both good offensive players, and he still drifted around the 3 point line. So I'd say it's 70% on Jamil, but Buzz's starting lineups did not help at all.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 09:38:56 PM
I'd think as a coach you would realize that basketball is still a team game - and when a coach rolls you out with Derrick Wilson, Jake Thomas, Juan Anderson and Chris Otule - that's a little different than a Jae Crowder rolling out with DJO, Buycks, and Jimmy. And the same as Jimmy rolling out with Jae, DJO, Buycks, Cadougan and even Vander.
I don't really need to comment on your putting down another for "not realizing basketball is still a team game" while you obsessively focus all team deficits on one player because it wouldn't matter to you, but what the hell, I'm in a good mood tonight and feel like sharing the laughter.
Quote from: MUEagle1090 on February 07, 2015, 09:51:02 PM
I'm partially in agreement with Ners. Is Jamil's lack of productivity a result of his passiveness and sometimes lack of effort? Yes. But he did often play with 4 other players who could not create anything and therefore in very suboptimal situations.
However, he got plenty of minutes with Gardner and Mayo, both good offensive players, and he still drifted around the 3 point line. So I'd say it's 70% on Jamil, but Buzz's starting lineups did not help at all.
Yes, he did get some minutes with both Gardner and Mayo, yet I still feel people have a hard time understanding how bogged down our whole team got last year as a result of Derrick's limitations. I'm not trying to pile on the guy by saying that either. Many like to use O-Rating as a metric - Jamil regressed from a 110.4 on 21.1% usage (which is a good usage number) as a junior to 102.5 on 23.4% usage. That's a big drop in efficiency. Davante, after improving his O-Rating every year from Freshman year through Junior year, showed no improvement as a Senior. Some criticized his conditioning, yet his O-Rating was better in games he played more than 30+ minutes.
Davante and Jamil were both BEYOND frustrated last season with how Buzz coached.
Ners has his moments. He is right on the problem with last year. You had a starting lineup of 4 completely 1-dimensional guys. Jamil had a pretty raw deal on that one. Also, he was right that JJJ does need more minutes. Now, no one of scoop knows how practices go, but he has shown he has insane potential.
Personally, I like Derrick. I do think that he should play a bit less when Carlino is healthy because there is really no need to play 3 pg's. It hurts everyone involved and makes the offense very stagnant at times. The problem Ners has is that he's unrelenting. This is a rough season and we know what you think...but it's hard to really blame Derrick or Wojo based on what's on the roster right now. The experience on the roster is pretty much lacking talent and the talented guys are pretty inexperienced. Wojo is not only learning his way but he's doing so with a lot of roadblocks. I'm very impressed with this team this year. They could easily be a bubble team right now...not something I'd expected at the start of the year.
Let's hope for some more magic vs Xavier and see what happens after.
Quote from: connie on February 07, 2015, 09:57:32 PM
I don't really need to comment on your putting down another for "not realizing basketball is still a team game" while you obsessively focus all team deficits on one player because it wouldn't matter to you, but what the hell, I'm in a good mood tonight and feel like sharing the laughter.
It's hard to bail out a teammate that doesn't even need to be guarded on the perimeter, when he is your PG and engine of your offense. Offense usually starts with guards. They initiate the offense. Bigs are reliant on guard play. So Davante could pass out of a double/triple team to a wide open Derrick at the 3 point line - the right basketball play - and what would Derrick do? Nothing.
I don't look at a team and say - hey Davante Gardner, Jamil Wilson and Todd Mayo are the deficits on the team and point blame their way. Not when they are on the court with Derrick Wilson and Jake Thomas.
Quote from: Shark on February 07, 2015, 09:59:25 PM
Ners has his moments. He is right on the problem with last year. You had a starting lineup of 4 completely 1-dimensional guys. Jamil had a pretty raw deal on that one. Also, he was right that JJJ does need more minutes. Now, no one of scoop knows how practices go, but he has shown he has insane potential.
Personally, I like Derrick. I do think that he should play a bit less when Carlino is healthy because there is really no need to play 3 pg's. It hurts everyone involved and makes the offense very stagnant at times. The problem Ners has is that he's unrelenting. This is a rough season and we know what you think...but it's hard to really blame Derrick or Wojo based on what's on the roster right now. The experience on the roster is pretty much lacking talent, and the talented guys are pretty inexperienced. Wojo is not only learning his way but he's doing so with a lot of roadblocks. I'm very impressed with this team this year. They could easily be a bubble team right now...not something I'd expected at the start of the year.
Let's hope for some more magic vs Xavier and see what happens after.
Nice post Shark. And as you mention this roster has an experience problem. And much like last year, I'd prefer not to see us grind to the finish line without getting our talented underclassmen on the floor as much as possible - JJJ and Cohen. Sadly we lost Burton already. You mention we could easily be a bubble team right now - that's part of what makes it so frustrating. Imagine if Wojo had rolled hell or highwater at the start of the season with Burton and JJJ getting 25-27 and Juan and Derrick 13-15 minutes per game. Where might we be this season? But at minimum if not where this season, how much better off for next for them to have gotten a full season of lots of experience?
The class of Duane, JJJ and Burton was every bit as good as Jerel, Wes and Dom. And those guys as freshman took us to an NCAA along with Steve Novak. I simply feel Derrick and Juan playing 30+ per game, though they play their hearts out, simply wasn't the best chance for us to win this season.
Quote from: g0lden3agle on February 07, 2015, 05:54:17 PM
Not sure how you can look at next year's roster and think we're going to be all the much better compared to this year.
I think we'll be significantly improved. I fully expect a tourney birth next year.
Duane will improve from downtown and his ability to finish at the rim will improve.
Luke will be stronger and more experienced in the post. Would like to see him hit a jump shot. He made those in high school, doesn't even try it yet.
Sandy and jjj will be strong contributors.
We lose Juan and derrick contributing great leadership, the occasional rebound and head scratching offense for 30 min per game.
Henry is the real deal. Great handle for a big. Dynamic scorer and can play inside out. I expect him to average 17 a game next year.
Not sure what Wally and Steve will be for us.
Heldt should redshirt. Will be a great program guy down the road.
We might get some jucos ready to play day 1 too.
To think we'll be second last in conference next year is just crazy to me. If we can't win more games with 7 or 8 top 100 guys who are gaining experience then the problem isn't a lack of talent.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 10:11:14 PM
Nice post Shark. And as you mention this roster has an experience problem. And much like last year, I'd prefer not to see us grind to the finish line without getting our talented underclassmen on the floor as much as possible - JJJ and Cohen. Sadly we lost Burton already. You mention we could easily be a bubble team right now - that's part of what makes it so frustrating. Imagine if Wojo had rolled hell or highwater at the start of the season with Burton and JJJ getting 25-27 and Juan and Derrick 13-15 minutes per game. Where might we be this season? But at minimum if not where this season, how much better off for next for them to have gotten a full season of lots of experience?
The class of Duane, JJJ and Burton was every bit as good as Jerel, Wes and Dom. And those guys as freshman took us to an NCAA along with Steve Novak. I simply feel Derrick and Juan playing 30+ per game, though they play their hearts out, simply wasn't the best chance for us to win this season.
I'm sad Burton is gone too but I didn't think he looked the same. He definitely seemed to be feeling sad due to his mom....add in the new system and that is what happens. We will all miss him but it's sort of one of those casualties to life situations. Can't really blame PT with the obstacle of him losing his support system. I still feel like JJJ and Cohen have gotten some great opportunities this year and I feel like they have played well when given the time. Moving forward this team just needs to keep battling and building.
There's always going to be a "what-if" scenario in sports....you just have to let them go. I'm happy they won today and I'll be happy as long as the team keeps battling. These guys will only continue to grow from the opportunities that are presented with each and every close game. I will miss Juan and Derrick mostly due to their class and leadership. It's obvious that they are not next-level talents but you have to respect their effort and their constant commitment to helping the young guys. I hope we are able to close out some more games and get them some wins before they leave. Not the best players ever but gotta give them their due.
Quote from: NersEllenson on February 07, 2015, 10:11:14 PM
Nice post Shark. And as you mention this roster has an experience problem. And much like last year, I'd prefer not to see us grind to the finish line without getting our talented underclassmen on the floor as much as possible - JJJ and Cohen. Sadly we lost Burton already. You mention we could easily be a bubble team right now - that's part of what makes it so frustrating. Imagine if Wojo had rolled hell or highwater at the start of the season with Burton and JJJ getting 25-27 and Juan and Derrick 13-15 minutes per game. Where might we be this season? But at minimum if not where this season, how much better off for next for them to have gotten a full season of lots of experience?
The class of Duane, JJJ and Burton was every bit as good as Jerel, Wes and Dom. And those guys as freshman took us to an NCAA along with Steve Novak. I simply feel Derrick and Juan playing 30+ per game, though they play their hearts out, simply wasn't the best chance for us to win this season.
This is why people have a hard time with your ideas. Ones like this are absurd. The three best defenders in that group are Dom, Wes and Jerel. The 3 best shooters are Wes, Jerel and Duane (at least one of them made it in). The best PG, Dom. The best 2G, Jerel. The best 3, Wes. And Steve Novak>>>>>anyone on last years team.
Quote from: Dr. Blackheart on February 07, 2015, 01:54:05 PM
He was sitting on two time outs. Seniors making the turnovers. Really an area of development for the staff (not just Wojo) is the end of game situationals.
This is really a great point. I can understand that coming from where the team is coming from, Wojo never would have predicted a need for this many late game situation plays and tactics. Let's reserve judgement until next year. I bet this is issue #1 for the staff this summer.
OK...saw the game.
1. Derrick played fine defense, but was terrible offensively. He played 40 minutes...which no one should do.
2. JJJ's energy was GREAT! Hopefully he can continue to increase his efficiency. Clearly something has clicked in the last week or so.
3. STJ sighting. Good to see.
4. Agreed that Wojo et. al. need some growth in late game situations. I have no doubt that will happen.
Quote from: The Sultan of Sunshine on February 08, 2015, 07:27:28 AM
OK...saw the game.
1. Derrick played fine defense, but was terrible offensively. He played 40 minutes...which no one should do.
2. JJJ's energy was GREAT! Hopefully he can continue to increase his efficiency. Clearly something has clicked in the last week or so.
3. STJ sighting. Good to see.
4. Agreed that Wojo et. al. need some growth in late game situations. I have no doubt that will happen.
You are right about Derrick playing fine defense. he generally plays fine defense every game. But elite, it is not. I assume he plays because of his fine defense. Of course, he lacks in some other very important areas like: shooting; FT's; and ability to thread the needle on passes. I would go so far to say that Derrick's shooting is the poorest we have had out of a PG in decades. Which includes Tony Miller, Dom and others. Maybe somebody will think of one that was poorer.
I don't know why people use the "elite" phrase as a back handed insult. It's not as though *he* called himself that. He's smart and physical, and does a lot of the dirty work that needs to be done. Is he Jimmy Butler or Dominic James? No. But he is good on that side.
Quote from: warriorchick on February 07, 2015, 01:42:05 PM
jsglow and I are on a plane right now, so this is the first game this season we have not watched.
Obviously, we are bad luck. Anyone want to take over our season tickets?
I was pretty sure it was me. Was out and when I could get home and turn it on MU was up 9 with SH at the line. Marquette followed with:
-Horrible Derrick TO
-Horrible JJJ drive/turnover
-Missed layup by Duane
-STJ offensive board that instead of going up for an easy two he pulled back out
-Bad looking Juan three
-Horrible JJJ drive/wild shot
-Missed front end of 1-and-1 by JJJ
Ugh. Thankfully Duane calmed down and sunk his FT
Quote from: willie warrior on February 07, 2015, 05:31:03 PM
Duane looked like a freshman today? Really? He is one of two players on this team that can create his own shot? The rest cannot!!!
He looked like a freshman today? Really? As he drained his 2 clutch FT's at the end of the game. And Derrick--how did he do as he clanged his FT's and shots. The guy that is getting 33+ minutes per game. Did he play like a Senior captain?
The love of Derrick by some knows no bounds. He is a good kid, but he got 40 minutes today with less than his usual anemic production.
Oh, I forgot, he had a dunk this year. But nobody guards him on the perimeter.
But Duane looked like a Freshman today!!!
Yes, Duane looked like a freshman today. 2-8 from the field with 2 turnovers and 4 fouls. He looked like a freshman. He will continue to improve. Was very happy to see him hit those FTs at the end of the game, especially after the recent misses he has had at the end of games.
And yes, Duane is one of very few players on this team who can create his own shot. Not sure what that has to do with my comment as he clearly did not create enough shots today. Also don't see what my "Duane looking like a freshman" comment has to do with Derrick Wilson at all. Derrick did not play well yesterday.
Jerry Meyer @jerrymeyer247 7 minutes ago
This Jaren Sina transfer from Seton Hall is one of the biggest red flags I've ever seen.
http://247sports.com/Bolt/Seton-Hall-loses-starting-guard-35575226
Sophomore guard Jaren Sina is transferring from Seton Hall according to college basketball writer Jerry Carino.
Carino sites chemistry issues within the team as the impetus for the transfer.
Sina, who was averaging seven points and 2.3 assists per game, will not finish the season with the Seton Hall team.
A three-star prospect coming out of Gladstone (N.J.) Gill St Bernard S School, Sina considered Alabama, Northwestern and others before choosing Seton Hall.
Quote from: The Sultan of Sunshine on February 08, 2015, 07:27:28 AM
OK...saw the game.
1. Derrick played fine defense, but was terrible offensively. He played 40 minutes...which no one should do.
2. JJJ's energy was GREAT! Hopefully he can continue to increase his efficiency. Clearly something has clicked in the last week or so.
3. STJ sighting. Good to see.
4. Agreed that Wojo et. al. need some growth in late game situations. I have no doubt that will happen.
If you've been racking your brain trying to figure out what that "something" was that clicked in the last week - it's called playing time. (Whether "earned" or by default of Carlino being out.)