Several posters have mentioned the similarity between this years lost to NDSU and Winthrop. I know this may seem comforting given the way the rest of the 2005-2006 season turned out but I'm not sure the comparison is very valid.
First the Winthrop loss came in the second game that counted for that team. This is in the ninth, a big difference.
Furthermore that team started 3 players who where freshman and had never played with each other.
They were playing a team that had gone to the NCAA tournament the year before and returned NEARLY EVERYONE one their team.
It should not have surprised anyone that Marquette lost the Winthrop game. I never felt that it was that much of an upset. Remember that Marq when to Alaska AFTER the Winthrop game and started to gel there.
I'm not panicing but I do fear that the weakness shown in the NDSU game are not going to "fix themselves" as easily as the what we saw last year.
Unlike last years team, this year we have no legitimate outside threat. Teams will continue to clog the lanes with 3 guys playing a 2-3 zone, and our guards will drive and drive and drive, and get blocked and miss and turnovers. This is what NDstate did.
Without a 3 shot, this team will have many problems in the future.
I miss steve.
I only hope that is something coaching can fix. Cubillian is the only one who has made a decent 3 PT % and his shot looks to be like it should be "reworked" or he'll get it blocked anytime someone is close (pushes it too far forward). They are way too one dimensional (drive, drive, drive) right now.