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DePaul set to face a dominant defender
Marquette's McNeal guard steals show, plays with heart
By Shannon Ryan
Tribune staff reporter
11:25 PM CST, January 25, 2008
MILWAUKEE
Speaking about defense, Jerel McNeal sounds like both an algebra teacher and a linebackers coach.
An approach that combines analytical thinking and an aggressive attitude has made the Marquette junior guard one of the Big East's most accomplished defenders, an irritant to any opponent's offense.
"I try to simplify it as much as possible," McNeal said. "The person I'm guarding, I try to take away all his strengths. One of the things I pride myself on is to try to take away a man and a half a game. I want to make my guy a complete non-factor and help out with my teammates' guy."
Marquette (13-4, 3-3) comes into Saturday's game against DePaul on a two-game losing streak, falling from 13th to 21st in the national rankings. Louisville shot 49 percent and enjoyed a 40-28 rebounding edge in beating the Golden Eagles, and UConn shot 54 percent and had a 34-19 rebounding advantage.
In the tightly packed Big East standings, Saturday's game will help the winner distinguish itself. The Blue Demons (9-9, 4-2) have not won at the Bradley Center since 2000, but they beat Marquette last season at Allstate Arena.
"It's very important that [McNeal] comes out and sets the tone with that defensive energy and ball pressure and that he picks up rebounding," Marquette coach Tom Crean said. "That's what he does best."
McNeal, a Chicago native from Hillcrest High School, leads the Big East with 2.35 steals per game and is Marquette's top rebounding guard with 4.5 per game. He averages 13.4 points, and his shooting percentage has climbed to 46.8 from last year's 41.7.
As last season's Big East defender of the year with 76 steals, he is in charge of stifling an opponent's top threat, which means he probably will spend time covering DePaul senior guard Draelon Burns.
Burns, a Milwaukee native who expects about 15 friends and family members at the sold-out game, averages 17.9 points.
As much as McNeal's long arms and quick hands help him defend, attitude is his top asset.
"He's a guy I'd love to have on my team," DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said. "His whole chest is filled with his heart. Every play to him is so important. He's absolutely fearless. Guys you don't want have the tadpole two-chamber hearts. He's got an eight-chamber heart."
McNeal is a wiry 6 feet 3 inches. When he arrived at Marquette he occasionally pestered Crean for a chance to guard bigger players, such as Jeff Green, Georgetown's standout 6-9 forward, and Demetris Nichols, a 6-8 forward from Syracuse now with the Bulls.
"If you ever pull him off of somebody, that will get the nostrils flaring," Crean said.
McNeal credits his defensive toughness to growing up on the South Side and idolizing Scottie Pippen.
"I can have a 0-for-20 night and not get many shots," he said, "but there's nothing worse than the feeling you get when an opponent is scoring on you."
McNeal spent childhood afternoons begging brother Jeremy, older by five years, and Jeremy's friends, to let him in their pickup games.
"They beat him up quite a bit," his father Edward McNeal recalled. "I told him, 'You've got to continue to compete if you want to play with the big boys.' "
McNeal found one way to prove himself was to shut down those big boys.
"You almost had to humiliate yourself just to get a shot to prove yourself," McNeal said. "Eventually one day you get a shot and you make the best of it."
McNeal applied that motto at Hillcrest, where he was a football linebacker until his sophomore year. As a senior, he led Hillcrest to a sectional final by averaging 20 points, nine rebounds and six steals per game.
"In high school he took everything personal," said Maurice Acker, McNeal's best friend and teammate at Hillcrest and Marquette. "He went to another level."
Few colleges pursued him because of his size and sub-par shooting. The first to send him a letter and later offer a scholarship was Marquette.
That Marquette realized his upside and valued his defensive skills meant something to McNeal, who turned down Purdue and Dayton.
"A lot of people got offered scholarships because of one thing they could do," he said. "But there's a thousand things they can't do that I can."
Despite a broken thumb that sidelined him at the end of last season, he argued until the last second to play in Marquette's first-round NCAA tournament loss to Michigan State.
McNeal is determined to move past the first round, where Marquette has been bounced each of the two last seasons.
"I look at it as almost my responsibility to come in and provide the energy," McNeal said. "If I don't get my teammates excited and ready to go, then I haven't done my job for that night."
For McNeal, his job comes one defensive stop at a time.
"I look at it as almost my responsibility to come in and provide the energy," McNeal said. "If I don't get my teammates excited and ready to go, then I haven't done my job for that night."
After the last couple games, I couldn't have said it better myself (although I tried) - of course energy is one thing, translating into actual defense and rebounding is something else. Enough talk - looking forward to a good game toninght, and a strong rest of the season.