1. They weren't prepared for this large of a crowd. Poor planning.
2. 11 year old, midway through the second half. " you're right dad. First team to stand still on offense loses."
3. Markus clearly not right. Forced to play too many minutes.
4. Shoot like crap, lose.
5. Actually like the arena.
6. Sat with two old roommates. The last time we watched a game together was the Kansas final four game in a suburban bar. Joking we may never do this again.
6. Wojo honks as a coach.
Got little from the freshman today. That hurt.
Same genius who beat SJU. Too much standing still. Haven't lost many games because of bad offense. Did today.
I just got back from the game. Only the second game I have been able to watch live this year but my thoughts:
-New arena- Good view and the seats are close to the court. Entry, concessions and bathrooms congested but doable. It could have been Bradley Center South but there was very little to cheer about.
-Poor decisions, shot selection and turnovers lost this game.
-The team needs to value each possession and play smarter, which is a reflection of the coach.
-If some of the open looks earlier in the second half would have fallen, the momentum may have swung, but when it did, it was too little too late.
-Rowsey is a fifth year Senior but makes poor decisions with his early fouls, shot selection.
-Rowsey complained to the refs throughout the game.
-Rowsey and Howard need to be held accountable for chucking up shots they could get at any time.
-Not sure why Hauser did not get more touches- especially in the first half-but he did miss some open looks.
-Elliot appears to be weak with both hands at this time.
-Cain would benefit from becoming a stronger dribbler so he could get to the rim.
-Anim has put more arc on his FT's and looks better at the line. I am looking forward to his continued development.
-Getting beat by Maric and Strus was difficult to swallow as they look like they should be playing at the YMCA or at least "The Valley".
- Wojo will work out but this loss was unacceptable.
Cyrus and Cain are bigger guards and they gave Howard and Rowsey problems on both ends.
Quote from: Danny Noonan on February 24, 2018, 03:57:00 PM
I just got back from the game. Only the second game I have been able to watch live this year but my thoughts:
-New arena- Good view and the seats are close to the court. Entry, concessions and bathrooms congested but doable. It could have been Bradley Center South but there was very little to cheer about.
-Poor decisions, shot selection and turnovers lost this game.
-The team needs to value each possession and play smarter, which is a reflection of the coach.
-If some of the open looks earlier in the second half would have fallen, the momentum may have swung, but when it did, it was too little too late.
-Rowsey is a fifth year Senior but makes poor decisions with his early fouls, shot selection.
-Rowsey complained to the refs throughout the game.
-Rowsey and Howard need to be held accountable for chucking up shots they could get at any time.
-Not sure why Hauser did not get more touches- especially in the first half-but he did miss some open looks.
-Elliot appears to be weak with both hands at this time.
-Cain would benefit from becoming a stronger dribbler so he could get to the rim.
-Anim has put more arc on his FT's and looks better at the line. I am looking forward to his continued development.
-Getting beat by Maric and Strus was difficult to swallow as they look like they should be playing at the YMCA or at least "The Valley".
- Wojo will work out but this loss was unacceptable.
You're wrong about Strus. He's a very good player. Hidden on DePaul, but he's a legit Big East wing.
Quote from: RJax55 on February 24, 2018, 04:03:28 PM
You're wrong about Strus. He's a very good player. Hidden on DePaul, but he's a legit Big East wing.
Yep if he played for a team where he could get more open looks he'd be very good
I think the game was lost by failing to play like a disciplined team and instead playing more like DePaul with the sloppy turnovers and ill-advised shots. There was a time when MU was shooting well in the first half and threatening to put the game away. If continue to play that way we go into the half with a 10+ point lead and DePaul starts to feel the game is a loss. The rebounding was terrible and I feel that the zone would have helped that even though zone is usually bad for rebounding. Our guys are not good at getting into position during the scramble that results from a guy getting into the paint with all the switching etc. The zone allows our center and forwards to stay in decent rebounding position. We're not very good at box outs anyway in man or zone. And for what ever reason when Andrew and Markus are on the floor at the same time neither seems to play well of each other and the other guys just stand around setting picks which makes the offense stagnant. Bottom line we are a low level BE team this year more equal to DePaul than the top half of the league. Hopefully next year its different.
I don't think it was coaching, and I don't think it was talent. Too many guys with bad days at once. Not everyone has their "A" game every day, today no one did. In particular, Elliott seemed out of it. And Rowsey.
We lost it on offense, not defense. How often has that happened?
That second half was brutal. Rebounding seemed non-existant.
Why do people keep saying our defense wasn't an issue? We played DePaul. Defensive rebounding was atrocious (that's defense). Playing man without fouling was atrocious (that's defense). Obviously our offense was really bad but so was our d
Observations from the game:
- Rebounding was brutal to say the least. Tough to watch. Not sure how that was Wojo's fault.
Shooting was just slightly less brutal, especially the first 10 minutes of the second half. Way too many open looks that these shooters normally hit just were not going in. While can't blame Wojo for the shooting woes, he is responsible for not making adjustments to get us out of the shooting funk. That's where he failed the team today.
DePaul is a better team this year than in the past. I don't think they are any immediate threat to the top of the BE in the immediate future but they are taking baby steps in the right direction.
This was my third time at their new arena and it is a nice place to watch games. Not ruling out a trip there next weekend for the women's BE tournament but the parking does stink.
I'm thinking we're done for the NCAA and maybe can get into the NIT.
(I'll just never understand the vitriol of some of the posters here.)
Baseball season.
(I hope they play well down the stretch and I might even consider attending an NIT game.)
Ma and Pa throwin' in da towel. Da equivalent of da fat lady singin', aina?
I give credit to DePaul and their Coaching Staff. The Blue Demons played well and had a clear idea of what they sought ought to achieve . In particular , their defensive structure really made it hard for our guys to get clean looks. They had some big guys on our little guys. The reason MU shot so poorly was we rarely had an open shot. As the shot clock went down we were forced to chuck it. Obviously DePaul really worked hard for the boards. They kept getting multiple put backs and enough of those eventually went down which really made a huge difference in the outcome. Tough to lose a game with so many of our good fans in attendance.
At this point we now have to beat Georgetown and Creighton , then we need to make it to the final of the Big East Tournament if we want to go dancing. Not sure that would be enough, thus we may have to win out through BET.
BET is going to be a gauntlet, because right now it looks like we would be playing St. Johns in the first game.
Quote from: RJax55 on February 24, 2018, 04:03:28 PM
You're wrong about Strus. He's a very good player. Hidden on DePaul, but he's a legit Big East wing.
Yeah, that may have been a bit of an over-reaction to the loss. He does have size and can hit the shot when left open.
Quote from: Herman Cain on February 24, 2018, 05:14:17 PM
I give credit to DePaul and their Coaching Staff. The Blue Demons played well and had a clear idea of what they sought ought to achieve . In particular , their defensive structure really made it hard for our guys to get clean looks. They had some big guys on our little guys. The reason MU shot so poorly was we rarely had an open shot. As the shot clock went down we were forced to chuck it. Obviously DePaul really worked hard for the boards. They kept getting multiple put backs and enough of those eventually went down which really made a huge difference in the outcome. Tough to lose a game with so many of our good fans in attendance.
At this point we now have to beat Georgetown and Creighton , then we need to make it to the final of the Big East Tournament if we want to go dancing. Not sure that would be enough, thus we may have to win out through BET.
BET is going to be a gauntlet, because right now it looks like we would be playing St. Johns in the first game.
Yeah, that #3 seed and Sweet 16 sort panned out. Maybe Ike will be the savior next year.......
At least you have now come back to earth about what has to be done in next two weeks.
Quote from: nyg on February 24, 2018, 05:26:54 PM
Yeah, that #3 seed and Sweet 16 sort panned out. Maybe Ike will be the savior next year.......
At least you have now come back to earth about what has to be done in next two weeks.
I definitely preferred his 0-30 prediction that lead to an NCAA bid.
Quote from: TSmith34 on February 24, 2018, 05:35:42 PM
I definitely preferred his 0-30 prediction that lead to an NCAA bid.
Fake News.
TAMU loves to talk about a team's floor and a team's ceiling.
Today we saw the bAsement.
Zero 2nd half offensive rebounds. Zero.
Andrew taking 12 of the 26 2nd half shots. Andrew seems to only play well at home.
Soon after half, MU had a 80% chance of winning. This game was lost in the 10 minutes out of the halftime.
Defense was good. Offense horrid.
Thought in game adjustments and substitutions poor in 2nd. As a simple philosophy, you drive to the hoop and try to get fouled if not hitting. DePaul pressed way out on the perimeter and we didn't take advantage of it. We did none of that. Statistically worst offensive game of the year.
A nit. In a three possession game (7points), wtf are we waiting 10 seconds to foul? Making two free throws is still a three possession game.
Quote from: 4everCrean on February 24, 2018, 04:18:38 PM
I don't think it was coaching, and I don't think it was talent. Too many guys with bad days at once. Not everyone has their "A" game every day, today no one did. In particular, Elliott seemed out of it. And Rowsey.
We lost it on offense, not defense. How often has that happened?
Totally agree. I think everyone is frustated by the loss. I too was there and we had an outstanding MU home crowd. Lately, Wojo has been the target of peoples frustration and i think at times well deserved. Today i really dont believe so.
First half if we simply rebound the ball and dont turn it over we are up 15+. Now Wojo is ultimately in charge butmany of those turnovers were simply unforced and many if the rebounds were thru our hands. Wojo didnt tell them to fumble rebounds or too throw the ball away on half of our firt half breaks.
Second half Rowsey was terrible, wojo has stressed Rowsey as a pass first PG. 16 assists in our two wins, 1 today and many many stupid im going to put the team on my back shots. Howard too, great shooter last year within the offense, this year a hero ball chucker.
Whats Wojo gonna do bench them both? And play whom? Elliott and Cain? They are Freshman matching up against bigger strionger upper classmen and struggled today. No one clicked. Wojo kept trying different things. Went big, went small, tried zone, the zone didnt werk either. Man defense was sufficient but could finish the possesions with boards.
We struggled offensively an howard and especially Rowsey decided to shoot us out of it.
Alot of credit goes to Depaul, they had 6" and 20lbs and at least two yrs of experience on their matchup across the board today, on top of it and most importantly they played smarter than us. In a year or two sam, jamal, theo, joey, cain, morrow etc will all be older, stronger and smarter.
I understand No one wants to give depaul any credit and the only reason we could have lost is because Wojo sucks. But depaul does have BE players n they out played us today with physical n mental maturity. Coaches lose gamrs but not this one.
Not a ton of comments on the Wintrust but all seem generally favorable. I was so-so on the arena.
First, an improvement over Allstate in that was built for basketball.
However, the concession layout (despite way understaffed) was very Allstate-ish. Certainly not club level. All concessions were out in the hall, with no TVs.
The Blue Demon room reminded me of a grade school cafeteria.
I didn't like the Uppers including the student porch. They felt set too far back, more built for concerts.
The Lowers and Sky Boxes were great for hoops though. Great bathrooms.
Was entry slow or parking bad? I was at pregame and ingress was great via sky bridge. MU fans were late filling in.
All in all, meh. Mostly pluses but if our new arena is like this, we won't be pleased.
Quote from: Mr. Sand-Knit on February 24, 2018, 07:37:34 PM
Totally agree. I think everyone is frustated by the loss. I too was there and we had an outstanding MU home crowd. Lately, Wojo has been the target of peoples frustration and i think at times well deserved. Today i really dont believe so.
First half if we simply rebound the ball and dont turn it over we are up 15+. Now Wojo is ultimately in charge butmany of those turnovers were simply unforced and many if the rebounds were thru our hands. Wojo didnt tell them to fumble rebounds or too throw the ball away on half of our firt half breaks.
Second half Rowsey was terrible, wojo has stressed Rowsey as a pass first PG. 16 assists in our two wins, 1 today and many many stupid im going to put the team on my back shots. Howard too, great shooter last year within the offense, this year a hero ball chucker.
Whats Wojo gonna do bench them both? And play whom? Elliott and Cain? They are Freshman matching up against bigger strionger upper classmen and struggled today. No one clicked. Wojo kept trying different things. Went big, went small, tried zone, the zone didnt werk either. Man defense was sufficient but could finish the possesions with boards.
We struggled offensively an howard and especially Rowsey decided to shoot us out of it.
Alot of credit goes to Depaul, they had 6" and 20lbs and at least two yrs of experience on their matchup across the board today, on top of it and most importantly they played smarter than us. In a year or two sam, jamal, theo, joey, cain, morrow etc will all be older, stronger and smarter.
I understand No one wants to give depaul any credit and the only reason we could have lost is because Wojo sucks. But depaul does have BE players n they out played us today with physical n mental maturity. Coaches lose gamrs but not this one.
Glad you supported the program and went to the game. Key point , the competition in our league is worthy. Every possession is a battle. Our guys simply lost too many of the micro battles. Need to regroup and beat Georgetown now.
Quote from: Dr. Blackheart on February 24, 2018, 07:55:53 PM
Not a ton of comments on the Wintrust but all seem generally favorable. I was so-so on the arena.
First, an improvement over Allstate in that was built for basketball.
However, the concession layout (despite way understaffed) was very Allstate-ish. Certainly not club level. All concessions were out in the hall, with no TVs.
The Blue Demon room reminded me of a grade school cafeteria.
I didn't like the Uppers including the student porch. They felt set too far back, more built for concerts.
The Lowers and Sky Boxes were great for hoops though. Great bathrooms.
Was entry slow or parking bad? I was at pregame and ingress was great via sky bridge. MU fans were late filling in.
All in all, meh. Mostly pluses but if our new arena is like this, we won't be pleased.
Thanks for the report. Over time I think this facility is a solid asset for DePaul.
Quote from: Herman Cain on February 24, 2018, 08:07:34 PM
Thanks for the report. Over time I think this facility is a solid asset for DePaul.
From what I could tell, it's a decent arena when it's half full. Anything more than that makes it a pain to attend. Walkways outside the seating areas are small and crowded, and there isn't much room at the few concession areas, which makes it nearly impossible to get a beer or a hot dog. Any stadium that takes 20 minutes to work through the beer line is not going to make fans happy.
Kind of awful sound system too. Everything sounded tinny and way too loud coming out of those speakers. Jumbotron camera guy had a lot of weird, sorta creepy zoom ins on fans that weren't paying attention too. In general, it wasn't a great environment, in my opinion. Great area for an arena, but execution once you get through the doors was less than stellar.
They weren't prepared for the size of crowd that showed up. Everyone tried to enter at the Indiana Cermak corner and there was a huge back up. Finally, personnel started announcing you could go over to the hotel and enter via the sky walk. Parking issues were exacerbated by two large events going on at McCormick place.
Thought the layout was garbage. There was enough room for 1.5 people to get through behind the concession lines. Sightlines seemed fine. Also, what is the point of having concourses above the seating area if you curtain them off during play? Sure hope they don't do that at the new arena.
Marquette was up 35-28 early in the 2nd half. Sam Hauser, the #2 3-point shooter in NCAA had a wide open look for a 3.
And missed.
DePaul went on a huge run after that to win the game.
If that shot goes in, maybe things turn out different. Sometimes shots go in, sometimes they don't.
The freshmen played like freshmen in a conference road game. Cain taking off on a turnover and nearly getting hit in the back by a pass from Theo. Elliott falling over while dribbling.
Markus was clearly still limited. Rowsey getting two fouls in the first 90 seconds forced him MH into too many minutes.
Thick bodies going through thin, small bodies for rebounds.
Sacar having a lead pass for a layup on a breakaway go off his fingers like a Lions wide receiver.
MU will lose every game where they shoot that poorly.
In the second half against Creighton, the game against St John's, and the first half against DePaul, we went 1 midget and were the better team. In the second half against DePaul, we tried Rowsey and Howard together again and got decimated.
This was probably the most concerning game for me in the Wojo tenure, because he went away from what's been working and it cost us. Defensively, we got killed on the glass while our best rebounder sat. Maybe Froling wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know. Maybe giving Howard some rest and going with a longer lineup wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know. Maybe driving inside and not settling for threes wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know.
This wasn't just bad luck, this was going away from what's been working. Worse, it was going back to the tendencies that led to us losing games previously. My concern is that Wojo can't help himself from trying to make Howard and Rowsey work together when it hasn't been a recipe for success all season.
Quote from: brewcity77 on February 25, 2018, 09:13:06 AM
In the second half against Creighton, the game against St John's, and the first half against DePaul, we went 1 midget and were the better team. In the second half against DePaul, we tried Rowsey and Howard together again and got decimated.
This was probably the most concerning game for me in the Wojo tenure, because he went away from what's been working and it cost us. Defensively, we got killed on the glass while our best rebounder sat. Maybe Froling wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know. Maybe giving Howard some rest and going with a longer lineup wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know. Maybe driving inside and not settling for threes wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know.
This wasn't just bad luck, this was going away from what's been working. Worse, it was going back to the tendencies that led to us losing games previously. My concern is that Wojo can't help himself from trying to make Howard and Rowsey work together when it hasn't been a recipe for success all season.
Normally id agree that the AR Markus line up is a concern, but the way DePaul was missing shots I can't fault wojo for rolling the dice and going with both at the same time. They're too good offensively, especially with Sam. Against DePaul betting that our best offensive lineup will just be able to outscore them is one if the safer bets. Unfortunately no bet is guaranteed.
Quote from: Its DJOver on February 25, 2018, 09:20:27 AM
Normally id agree that the AR Markus line up is a concern, but the way DePaul was missing shots I can't fault wojo for rolling the dice and going with both at the same time. They're too good offensively, especially with Sam. Against DePaul betting that our best offensive lineup will just be able to outscore them is one if the safer bets. Unfortunately no bet is guaranteed.
I don't know how you can defend that decision. Inexcusable that Wojo reverted to his "comfort zone" lineup yesterday. He built a lead in the first half with only Howard on the floor and never went back to it in the second. Just a really poor job of coaching yesterday
Quote from: NickelDimer on February 25, 2018, 09:36:41 AM
I don't know how you can defend that decision. Inexcusable that Wojo reverted to his "comfort zone" lineup yesterday. He built a lead in the first half with only Howard on the floor and never went back to it in the second. Just a really poor job of coaching yesterday
How many games have we had this year where Markus Andrew and Sam are all cold shooting? Our rebounding definently suffered by having both of them out there but betting on one of them getting got enough to carry us to a W is a pretty safe bet. Unfortunately it didn't happen.
For all the idiots gnashing their teeth about markus and Rowsey playing together yesterday. I am pretty certain they played leas than 10 minutes together.
Again, frustarting to lose but most if the panic and babble has been inaccurate.
Wojo has now lost three games against DePaul in four seasons. Buzz, in six seasons and nine games, lost only once. Crean, in nine seasons and fifteen games, lost four times.
Regardless of how any of us want to characterize the current state of the program (one more year, fire everyone, still rebuilding, staff learning, etc.), there needs to be a serious step back and look at the fact that we now have three losses to a program that has a conference winning percentage in the past thirteen years of .155%. This is a serious red flag in my eyes. DePaul's current team, as well as past teams, are both horrendous.
Quote from: Mr. Sand-Knit on February 25, 2018, 10:07:59 AM
For all the idiots gnashing their teeth about markus and Rowsey playing together yesterday. I am pretty certain they played leas than 10 minutes together.
Again, frustarting to lose but most if the panic and babble has been inaccurate.
Markus played 16 first half minutes, 1 with Rowsey, who played 4 first half minutes.
Markus played 15 second half minutes, Rowsey played 19. So that's at least 14 minutes of second half overlap when it all went to hell.
Considering how we found success in the previous 4 halves of basketball, I just find that utterly confounding.
Hated Wintrust.
Have a second entrance, exit.
More concessions. People were still waiting 10 minutes into second half.
Bathrooms are half the size of Allstate.
Sight lines are much better.
Design seemed weird, why the breaks in the upper deck.
From what I heard, this wasn't yesterday where the lines were bad.
Quote from: GoldenWarrior11 on February 25, 2018, 10:11:05 AM
Wojo has now lost three games against DePaul in four seasons. Buzz, in six seasons and nine games, lost only once. Crean, in nine seasons and fifteen games, lost four times.
Regardless of how any of us want to characterize the current state of the program (one more year, fire everyone, still rebuilding, staff learning, etc.), there needs to be a serious step back and look at the fact that we now have three losses to a program that has a conference winning percentage in the past thirteen years of .155%. This is a serious red flag in my eyes. DePaul's current team, as well as past teams, are both horrendous.
Deeply flawed take, it actually matters if the opponent changes or not, how good they are, how good we are (rebuilds, etc). Your analysis suggests Depaul is the same during that duration, which is crazy. As an example, Depaul in three years of the Buzz era went 0-18, 1-17, 1-17 in the Big East and we still lost a game.
Let us look at the Ken Pom ratings since 2002 (first available) as our data source.
Crean Era (9-3 vs DP) = avg DePaul Ken Pom rating was 87.6. (made NCAA tournament once, two losing conference seasons, rated between 50th and 170th.)
Williams Era (8-1 vs DP) = avg DePaul Ken Pom rating was 180 (0-18, twice at 1-17 in Big East, 10 conference wins total in 6 seasons, rated between 150th and 206th)
Wojo Era (5-3 vs DP) = avg DePaul Ken Pom rating is 154. (15 conference wins in 4 seasons, rated between 100th and 183rd)
Where I would agree with you is that Wojo needs to be doing better against DePaul, especially with an average rating of 154, but DePaul has not been the same team in each of these eras.
Updated with data
Quote from: WarriorDad on February 25, 2018, 11:02:30 AM
Deeply flawed take, it actually matters if the opponent changes or not, how good they are. Your analysis suggests Depaul is the same during that duration, which is crazy. As an example, back to back years Depaul went 1-17 in the Big East with Ken Pom ratings approaching 200's during some of those coaches you mention, and we still lost a game.
Let's take the New Big East only. How many of those seasons did DePaul finish 9th or 10th, including this season? If you go back to 2009, DePaul has had only one season where it did not finish either last place or second to last place.
But let's continue to disregard the facts. Crossing my fingers in hopes we don't lose to both the 9th (DePaul) and 10th (St. Johns) place teams again next year.
Quote from: GoldenWarrior11 on February 25, 2018, 11:07:49 AM
Let's take the New Big East only. How many of those seasons did DePaul finish 9th or 10th, including this season? If you go back to 2009, DePaul has had only one season where it did not finish either last place or second to last place.
But let's continue to disregard the facts. Crossing my fingers in hopes we don't lose to both the 9th (DePaul) and 10th (St. Johns) place teams again next year.
Data updated above. We have to do better, but I'd rather use Ken Pom data. A 10th place finish one year might mean you are terrible, another year might mean you are mediocre and play in a difficult conference. The Ken Pom data looks at complete picture for that season.
Hate to say it but the season is over, no dancing for us this year unfortunately. Can't win games when your starting PG gets 2 fouls in the first 1:30 of the game. Can't rebound to save our lives. Embarrassing to lose to depaul
Quote from: GoldenEagles32 on February 25, 2018, 03:45:34 PM
Hate to say it but the season is over, no dancing for us this year unfortunately. Can't win games when your starting PG gets 2 fouls in the first 1:30 of the game. Can't rebound to save our lives. Embarrassing to lose to depaul
We will go to the NIT, gain additional experience and learn to play in a win or go home environment.
Quote from: WarriorDad on February 25, 2018, 04:58:32 PM
We will go to the NIT, gain additional experience and learn to play in a win or go home environment.
#Crapshoot
I guess people will continue to ignore that Wojo started the second half with the lineup people are crying about him going away from and the fact that DePaul went on a run against that lineup. Which is fine and fairly expected here.
I came to the conclusion that MU players just are not tough. Much easier to throw up a three than to run offense. The team took the easy road and lost because of it.
Quote from: GoldenWarrior11 on February 25, 2018, 10:11:05 AM
Wojo has now lost three games against DePaul in four seasons. Buzz, in six seasons and nine games, lost only once. Crean, in nine seasons and fifteen games, lost four times.
Regardless of how any of us want to characterize the current state of the program (one more year, fire everyone, still rebuilding, staff learning, etc.), there needs to be a serious step back and look at the fact that we now have three losses to a program that has a conference winning percentage in the past thirteen years of .155%. This is a serious red flag in my eyes. DePaul's current team, as well as past teams, are both horrendous.
Wojo can't get the team up for DePaul. Why? He seems to be lacking as a coach that he can't motivate the team or get them to play up. Shame on Wojo.
Quote from: T-Bone on February 25, 2018, 10:52:11 AM
Hated Wintrust.
Have a second entrance, exit.
More concessions. People were still waiting 10 minutes into second half.
Bathrooms are half the size of Allstate.
Sight lines are much better.
Design seemed weird, why the breaks in the upper deck.
From what I heard, this wasn't yesterday where the lines were bad.
The beer line was pretty long, eh?
Quote from: muwarrior69 on February 25, 2018, 08:53:16 PM
The beer line was pretty long, eh?
Given what happened on court, definitely.
We arrived at the arena about 10:40. With garage A full, we were directed to C all the way down at 31st. Had to walk through all of McCormick Place (with about 50 others) only to be directed to the lines outside the Indiana/Cermak door. Didn't get to our seats until the 8 minute TV timeout, about 50 minutes after we first reached the arena. Awful.
Concession lines were 20+ minutes throughout the game. Keeping the curtains closed was dumb given the situation.
Beyond that, liked the arena. Sightlines were good. Much better feel than Rosemont.
On court performance made me wish we'd parked further away.
Quote from: tower912 on February 25, 2018, 08:57:37 AM
The freshmen played like freshmen in a conference road game. Cain taking off on a turnover and nearly getting hit in the back by a pass from Theo. Elliott falling over while dribbling.
Markus was clearly still limited. Rowsey getting two fouls in the first 90 seconds forced him MH into too many minutes.
Thick bodies going through thin, small bodies for rebounds.
Sacar having a lead pass for a layup on a breakaway go off his fingers like a Lions wide receiver.
MU will lose every game where they shoot that poorly.
Long suffering Lions fans understand this analogy well.
I paid $20 for a spot with SpotHero right on Indiana about a block north of the Indiana/Cermak entrance. Easy in/Easy out. I like the arena. As others have said the concession lines were ridiculous. Went out at halftime and didn't get back to my seat until the 16 minute timeout. They should have left the curtains open and why can't the monitors by concessions show the score too?
Quote from: brewcity77 on February 25, 2018, 09:13:06 AM
In the second half against Creighton, the game against St John's, and the first half against DePaul, we went 1 midget and were the better team. In the second half against DePaul, we tried Rowsey and Howard together again and got decimated.
This was probably the most concerning game for me in the Wojo tenure, because he went away from what's been working and it cost us. Defensively, we got killed on the glass while our best rebounder sat. Maybe Froling wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know. Maybe giving Howard some rest and going with a longer lineup wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know. Maybe driving inside and not settling for threes wouldn't have helped, but we'll never know.
This wasn't just bad luck, this was going away from what's been working. Worse, it was going back to the tendencies that led to us losing games previously. My concern is that Wojo can't help himself from trying to make Howard and Rowsey work together when it hasn't been a recipe for success all season.
I stayed away from Scoop for nearly 48 hours because I felt badly enough and didn't need it to multiply x1000.
Since logging on about an hour ago, I haven't read everything on the board because ... well ... that would really suck and I also don't have the time.
I was trying to decide where I'd throw in my 2 cents, and this post by you, brew, was a good jump-in point.
I happen to agree with everything you say here.
I have been a big pro-Wojo guy, and I still believe he can get us where we need to go long-term. But as I was watching the last 10 minutes or so, and then thinking about it afterward, I kept thinking this was the worst coaching performance of the Wojo Era.
You said it well, brewski. Wojo had numerous opportunities to use a one-midget lineup in the second half but wouldn't do it for some strange reason. Change for the sake of change ... even if that's what it would have been, why the hell not? If what you're doing is failing miserably, you try something else - especially when that something else is exactly what helped you win the previous two games!
It almost felt like the way 6th-year Buzz said, "F-U, I'm playing Derrick and Jake 35 mpg and I don't care if we lose because of it." The big difference is that Wojo truly had a couple of good options who had helped us tremendously the two previous games. Plus, Markus obviously was limited; playing him so many minutes was foolhardy and counterproductive.
It really was odd, given what had happened in the previous 2 games. It really was odd, given that, in general, I believe Wojo has done a good job handling the rotation.
What I will add is that, just like players, coaches occasionally have bad games, too. Unfortunately, this was a bad game for our head coach to have a bad game. It was a devastating loss, and it's hard to believe that an NCAA bid would be in the offing even if we win our last two plus one BET game.
I'm still a long-term hopeful Warriors fan, still think we will be very good next season (though would feel better about it being an excellent season if we get a legit PG), still think Wojo has made progress as a coach.
And I still think those saying Wojo should be fired are goofy - if for no other reason than it simply is not going to happen. It's as practical as guru saying Kate Upton should date him; sure, it sounds wonderful to him, but I think she's busy that night.
But yeah, that second half sure was hard to watch, and a big chunk of that is on Wojo.
Quote from: wadesworld on February 25, 2018, 07:19:40 PM
I guess people will continue to ignore that Wojo started the second half with the lineup people are crying about him going away from and the fact that DePaul went on a run against that lineup. Which is fine and fairly expected here.
DePaul started the run against that lineup, but Howard came in pretty early in the second half. No later than the under-16 timeout when the score was tied. As soon as he came in, we went to a zone with Howard and Rowsey together at the top of it. We shifted into man shortly thereafter, but the 15-3 run that turned a 37-37 game into a 12-point MU deficit absolutely happened after Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey were both put in the game together.
Quote from: brewcity77 on February 26, 2018, 09:14:41 AM
DePaul started the run against that lineup, but Howard came in pretty early in the second half. No later than the under-16 timeout when the score was tied. As soon as he came in, we went to a zone with Howard and Rowsey together at the top of it. We shifted into man shortly thereafter, but the 15-3 run that turned a 37-37 game into a 12-point MU deficit absolutely happened after Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey were both put in the game together.
Yes, their biggest run of the game came when both midgets were back in the lineup. But I believe we went up 10? very late in the second half, and by half time the lead was already cut in half, and before Markus checked in for the first time in the second half it was cut to one, and maybe even zero (cut to one with 17:24 left in the second half, tied with 16:43 left in the second half...don't know exactly when Howard checked in, but he doesn't show up on the play-by-play before either of those times).
We were up 9 after our first possession after the under 4:00 timeout in the first half and then we were trailed after the first possession out of the under 16:00 timeout of the 2nd half, almost all of which had only 1 of Markus or Rowsey on the floor.
We had 31 points with 3:21 left in the first half and 35 points until 16:25 left in the second half. 4 points in 7 minutes of game time, in which we saw our 9 point lead turn into a tie game, with only 1 midget on the floor for almost that entire time. Maybe Wojo was trying to change just to change because what he had been doing wasn't working?
The fact of the matter is, outside of about 8 minutes in the first half, we played absolutely horrible basketball no matter who was on the court. Two midgets, one midget, going big, going small, it didn't matter. We played a horrendous game. We also saw one very good half of basketball with a one midget lineup and then we saw our team beat the worst team in the Big East at home. So I'd say the sample of that lineup is pretty questionable.
Quote from: wadesworld on February 26, 2018, 10:17:05 AM
The fact of the matter is, outside of about 8 minutes in the first half, we played absolutely horrible basketball no matter who was on the court. Two midgets, one midget, going big, going small, it didn't matter. We played a horrendous game. We also saw one very good half of basketball with a one midget lineup and then we saw our team beat the worst team in the Big East at home. So I'd say the sample of that lineup is pretty questionable.
Sure, the game against SJU at home was against a lower-tier opponent, but it was such a good, complete game. We looked like a totally different team compared to Saturday. Maybe it's just a fluke that arguably our best 40 minutes (60 minutes, if you include the second half at Creighton) of basketball came while playing more zone and with a longer lineup, but I think the smart money would say it's not.
We need these last 2 games. Win these last 2 and get 1 in the BET then i think we're in dayton
You guys won't believe this, but my cousin went to the game and he is STILL waiting in line for a beer.
Quote from: Eldon on February 26, 2018, 11:35:42 AM
You guys won't believe this, but my cousin went to the game and he is STILL waiting in line for a beer.
Thoughts and prayers.
Quote from: Eldon on February 26, 2018, 11:35:42 AM
You guys won't believe this, but my cousin went to the game and he is STILL waiting in line for a beer.
Has MU hit a shot yet?
Quote from: Eldon on February 26, 2018, 11:35:42 AM
You guys won't believe this, but my cousin went to the game and he is STILL waiting in line for a beer.
First post since the game that made me smile.
Thanks!