Just a few .games to consider before this board does a Chernobyl. O wait, wait! It's too late, isn't it?
UW @ MU The Baylor game. Xavier @ Creighton. Xavier @ DePaul. UNC being the preseason #1 team. Gonzaga's losses. There's plenty more. What do you have to offer?
A few have gone Chernobyl. Most have kept at least a slight bit of sanity. MU got whooped. Don't let it escalate. Beat Georgetown.
Kansas lost at Iowa State by 15 a couple games ago. They also had a 23 point home loss to TCU. The same TCU lost at Kansas State last night by 21.
Let's turn it around. Win the next two and everything is fine.
Snoop
Great post. My level of concern is about a 2 and believe they right the ship moving forward. I talked to several non MU fans yesterday and all of them expected UConn to win. Only negative is that several friends watched and took pleasure in the poor performance.
It is funny but I was not overly excited about the game all day yesterday. I thought there was a good chance we would see the result that we saw. Positive note, the game was early and I was done being angry/disappointed at a reasonable hour.
We lost 6 games. I think just about everyone would have accepted before the season started a 19-6 record as of Feb 8 . And UConn is a very very good team. Stay focused, keep the faith and win the next game. Goo Marquette!
We lost. We should have lost. UConn three point shooting differential helped UConn win by more than they should have.
Also... coaching note. Pls play Joplin less. He can't guard anyone. pls. He is the only defender capable of losing his man every possession on this team. He couldn't attack Alex Karban last night.
Pls. In BE play, opponents shoot 40.1% from three when he is in the game, taking 40.1% of attempts from three. Opponents shoot 29.9% on 34.9% attempts when he is off.
Prior to the season, f any MU fan had been offered 19-6 with two losses to teams that were at some point ranked #1, they would have leapt at it.
UConn was really good last night. MU wasn't. Moving on.
Tower
UConn beats almost every team in the country last night. I noted in another post, it was small victory not losing by 30+ points. UConn was that good last night.
Quote from: Goose on February 08, 2023, 08:18:16 AM
Tower
UConn beats almost every team in the country last night. I noted in another post, it was small victory not losing by 30+ points. UConn was that good last night.
We agree.
Alabama went to Oklahoma a week or so ago and lost by 24. Three nights later they beat Vandy by 57. It's a long season, things happen.
A little ass kicking in the dog days of the season sometimes does wonders for a team's focus.
Quote from: Goose on February 08, 2023, 08:03:51 AM
Snoop
Great post. My level of concern is about a 2 and believe they right the ship moving forward. I talked to several non MU fans yesterday and all of them expected UConn to win. Only negative is that several friends watched and took pleasure in the poor performance.
It is funny but I was not overly excited about the game all day yesterday. I thought there was a good chance we would see the result that we saw. Positive note, the game was early and I was done being angry/disappointed at a reasonable hour.
Goose, I'm going to go onto the Ancestry site right after posting because we simply must be related somehow. The bolded was
exactly my take, down to a T.
On another note, and a very important one at that, I should have included UCONN's BE losses in my original post. And the carnage of the top 25 teams this season (especially the top ten) has been mind boggling.
The heavy criticism of our players, although they were certainly not at their best, fails to take into account just how huge UCONN's part in the game was, especially their defense. I pointed out twice already that as much as I loved seeing Ben shine, that supports my take. Namely, that they were not focused on him.
Snoop
I have always felt that UConn and Creighton were the two best overall teams in the BE. Both are beatable, but very good teams. UConn pounded MU far more than MU laid in egg. For anyone that believes in February Fade, last night was a bigger deal. For me, it was a loss that was overdue and against a very talented, hungry team. The minute Hawkins drained the first basket I was already 50% checked out.
Even during their rough patch where they went 2-6, Uconn's metrics were off the charts. They are #6 in KenPom (8 in offense, 20 in defense); they are a tough matchup for us...no shame in losing in their building.
Worst defensive game by a Shaka team in a decade. Third worst in his career. Find a student manager to flush thrice.
Quote from: Goose on February 08, 2023, 08:03:51 AMPositive note, the game was early and I was done being angry/disappointed at a reasonable hour.
I had to watch the game about 2 hours later than it started, so I put my phone on airplane mode to avoid spoilers. The first half was frustrating me because they kept making crazy shots and the refs gave them a bit of help they clearly didn't need, but when we didn't come out strong in the second, I skipped much of the second and was able to let go of it pretty quick.
Alabama got boatraced by Oklahoma, Tennessee by Colorado, Arizona by Utah (and Oregon and Wazzu), and all of them are on the 2-line or better and all those losses are to non-tourney teams. Numerous other good teams have taken hard losses (Kansas, Baylor, TCU, Xavier, Iowa State) and are still trending toward good seasons. No use in moping, better to just accept the bad night and move on.
OK, as a famous Green Bay resident once said R-E-L-A-X!!!!!!
We're going to be fine. Absent a loss to Georgetown Saturday night, we have no really embarrassing losses. Our worst losses of this season are to the Rodent and to Mississippi State. They were early and the team was finding itself.
The one thing that continues to concern me is rebounding. When you don't rebound, you better shoot well. When your shooting is off, or you launch desperation threes, you get a bad loss. UConn is the kind of team that gives Marquette problems -- big, burley and very, very physical. Mississippi State played the same way. When the shots fall, we can beat these teams. When they don't, it's ugly.
Crap happens. Wipe, flush and move on.
The worst thing to happen this season is that MU got ranked in the Top 10 and the expectations game .. going from 9th in the BE to 9th in March .. makes every failure a huge blow.
Quote from: Goose on February 08, 2023, 08:37:35 AM
Snoop
I have always felt that UConn and Creighton were the two best overall teams in the BE. Both are beatable, but very good teams. UConn pounded MU far more than MU laid in egg. For anyone that believes in February Fade, last night was a bigger deal. For me, it was a loss that was overdue and against a very talented, hungry team. The minute Hawkins drained the first basket I was already 50% checked out.
We are
definitely related, cousin!
Quote from: tower912 on February 08, 2023, 07:36:01 AM
A few have gone Chernobyl. Most have kept at least a slight bit of sanity. MU got whooped. Don't let it escalate. Beat Georgetown.
Yep. I think Georgetown is a key game. Need to right the ship quickly. X is around the corner.
Quote from: mu_hilltopper on February 08, 2023, 09:27:55 AM
The worst thing to happen this season is that MU got ranked in the Top 10 and the expectations game .. going from 9th in the BE to 9th in March .. makes every failure a huge blow.
Arby's is offering the COLE 'n Cheddar Special this week, while supplies last.
This was the first loss that wasn't a winnable game at the end. Relax.
Quote from: MDMU04 on February 08, 2023, 08:24:49 AM
Alabama went to Oklahoma a week or so ago and lost by 24. Three nights later they beat Vandy by 57. It's a long season, things happen.
A little ass kicking in the dog days of the season sometimes does wonders for a team's focus.
This is how I feel. This game may be exactly what was needed to get the edge back. Maybe I'm wrong, and there's no such thing as moral victories, but if they start playing elite again after this and use it as a learning opportunity and personal growth then I'll take the silver lining where I can get it.
Being ranked in top ten was a bad thing? I love it.
Quote from: UWW2MU on February 08, 2023, 09:52:23 AM
This is how I feel. This game may be exactly what was needed to get the edge back. Maybe I'm wrong, and there's no such thing as moral victories, but if they start playing elite again after this and use it as a learning opportunity and personal growth then I'll take the silver lining where I can get it.
If inevitable (I think it was), better now than in the Big Dance. Make the most of the brutal lesson.
As Patrick Ewing said, it's not about how many times you get knocked down, it's about how many times you get back up. Apparently that's still true even if you lose 29 straight conference games.
Anyway, I think the team regroups and finds a way to win on Saturday and then Fiserv will be on fire Wednesday when Xavier comes to town.
Quote from: Goose on February 08, 2023, 08:18:16 AM
Tower
UConn beats almost every team in the country last night. I noted in another post, it was small victory not losing by 30+ points. UConn was that good last night.
don't you think it's likely that last nights result will be repeated in Omaha?
Quote from: ATWizJr on February 08, 2023, 10:36:03 AM
don't you think it's likely that last nights result will be repeated in Omaha?
No. Creighton doesn't shoot it well and they only have 5 players. They get 0 from their bench on a nightly basis.
Quote from: ATWizJr on February 08, 2023, 10:36:03 AM
don't you think it's likely that last nights result will be repeated in Omaha?
I think that depends on the next couple of games and if the team starts to get some of their offensive efficiency back. If they start to look crisp on offense again I think we battle Creighton to the end and could pull out a win.
I look forward to Saturday's game to see if even an hint of an offensive turnaround starts to occur.
Wiz,
A lot can happen between now and Omaha. That said, I think UConn is a tough out for MU, even more than Creighton. I felt for the last few weeks that Creighton was a better opportunity to get a big road over UConn. Now, if they do not clean things up it will be tough to win there.
MU hired a big time coach to figure this stuff out. I noted things from last night that looked troublesome to me and maybe not to the coaching staff. I would have to think that Shaka has a list of items he can blast the team on for last night and hopefully he does.
Sitting here today, I think they clean things up and beat X and Creighton. Again, that is sitting here today and hopefully I feel the same was having pregame drinks next Wednesday night.
It was inevitable that MU would fall back to earth at some point, and UConn is a very, very good team that played a near perfect game. My concern was not that UConn shot the ball so well but that most of the 3's they hit were wide open shots. And, under the basket, they simply manhandled our guys. It happens, but our guys did not come prepared to play last night while UConn was amped and ready to go from the opening tap.
UConn, X, and Creighton are the three best teams in the conference with MU and Providence both behind those three. Yes, any of the five can beat any of the others on a given night, but, truth is, either X or Creighton is likely to win the conference in regular season. UConn got off to a slow conference start and cannot win the regular season now but can certainly win the BE tournament. I have to acknowledge that we are not going to win the regular season and probably not the tournament either.
But, MU can still realistically finish up with a 15-5 BE record, which is an astounding achievement for this team in Shaka's second year. These guys have given us a lot of excitement and enjoyment this year, and I am not going to let last night's game ruin that. Sure, they could still win out, but it's not likely. They are a team with some very obvious weaknesses, and we have all known that for a while now. But, no matter what happens in the remaining games, they have been a hell of a lot of fun to watch, have improved by leaps and bounds over last year, and have given all of us reason to be very optimistic about MU's b'ball future.
Their challenge now is to bounce back on Saturday against GT. Forget X and Creighton next week - just go beat the hell out of GT. If they do that, and I think they will, next week will get a lot easier.
Quote from: rgoode57 on February 08, 2023, 11:02:03 AM
I have to acknowledge that we are not going to win the regular season and probably not the tournament either.
Beat Xavier next week and it will be hard to NOT win at least a share of the conference title.
Quote from: Goose on February 08, 2023, 08:03:51 AM
Snoop
Great post. My level of concern is about a 2 and believe they right the ship moving forward. I talked to several non MU fans yesterday and all of them expected UConn to win. Only negative is that several friends watched and took pleasure in the poor performance.
It is funny but I was not overly excited about the game all day yesterday. I thought there was a good chance we would see the result that we saw. Positive note, the game was early and I was done being angry/disappointed at a reasonable hour.
Good to know that you can stay friends despite basketball.
Quote from: rgoode57 on February 08, 2023, 11:02:03 AM
It was inevitable that MU would fall back to earth at some point, and UConn is a very, very good team that played a near perfect game. My concern was not that UConn shot the ball so well but that most of the 3's they hit were wide open shots. And, under the basket, they simply manhandled our guys. It happens, but our guys did not come prepared to play last night while UConn was amped and ready to go from the opening tap.
UConn, X, and Creighton are the three best teams in the conference with MU and Providence both behind those three. Yes, any of the five can beat any of the others on a given night, but, truth is, either X or Creighton is likely to win the conference in regular season. UConn got off to a slow conference start and cannot win the regular season now but can certainly win the BE tournament. I have to acknowledge that we are not going to win the regular season and probably not the tournament either.
But, MU can still realistically finish up with a 15-5 BE record, which is an astounding achievement for this team in Shaka's second year. These guys have given us a lot of excitement and enjoyment this year, and I am not going to let last night's game ruin that. Sure, they could still win out, but it's not likely. They are a team with some very obvious weaknesses, and we have all known that for a while now. But, no matter what happens in the remaining games, they have been a hell of a lot of fun to watch, have improved by leaps and bounds over last year, and have given all of us reason to be very optimistic about MU's b'ball future.
Their challenge now is to bounce back on Saturday against GT. Forget X and Creighton next week - just go beat the hell out of GT. If they do that, and I think they will, next week will get a lot easier.
If we beat X next Wednesday and lose to the Blue Jays we split our games with the top 3 teams and UCONN. So why is MU behind them? The silver lining in last nights game is that our bench scored 32 of our 72 points.
rgoode
By no means do I believe MU came back to Earth last night. They have played like a top ten team for much of the season and lost to a better, hotter team last night. MU's basketball future started the day Shaka was hired. It is now time to win.
Please don't misunderstand. I am not giving up on them by any means. But, I am trying to be realistic. If they go 15-5 in conference games, it is a remarkable feat. And, I will be cheering for them every minute of every game. But, you know as well as I do how hard it will be to win in Omaha. And X does not seem to be missing Freemeantle even a little - Nunge just has become more dominant. If they win both of those games, I will be as happy as anyone.
And, I agree that Shaka coming to MU was perhaps the second biggest day in MU basketball history - second only to the day Al arrived.
Marquette came all the way back down to earth by dropping a spot in KenPom and a spot in Net.
I'd swear to Christ almighty if I wasn't a Christian
Quote from: rgoode57 on February 08, 2023, 11:02:03 AM
It was inevitable that MU would fall back to earth at some point, and UConn is a very, very good team that played a near perfect game. My concern was not that UConn shot the ball so well but that most of the 3's they hit were wide open shots. And, under the basket, they simply manhandled our guys. It happens, but our guys did not come prepared to play last night while UConn was amped and ready to go from the opening tap.
UConn, X, and Creighton are the three best teams in the conference with MU and Providence both behind those three. Yes, any of the five can beat any of the others on a given night, but, truth is, either X or Creighton is likely to win the conference in regular season. UConn got off to a slow conference start and cannot win the regular season now but can certainly win the BE tournament. I have to acknowledge that we are not going to win the regular season and probably not the tournament either.
But, MU can still realistically finish up with a 15-5 BE record, which is an astounding achievement for this team in Shaka's second year. These guys have given us a lot of excitement and enjoyment this year, and I am not going to let last night's game ruin that. Sure, they could still win out, but it's not likely. They are a team with some very obvious weaknesses, and we have all known that for a while now. But, no matter what happens in the remaining games, they have been a hell of a lot of fun to watch, have improved by leaps and bounds over last year, and have given all of us reason to be very optimistic about MU's b'ball future.
Their challenge now is to bounce back on Saturday against GT. Forget X and Creighton next week - just go beat the hell out of GT. If they do that, and I think they will, next week will get a lot easier.
I don't really disagree with most of this. But if you are gonna make this analytics based "who they actualy are" team differentiation then I would drop Xavier from that top group.
I would tier them like this.
1. Uconn and Creighton
2. Xavier and Marquette
3. Providence
4. Nova and Hall
5. Johns
6. Butler, Depaul, and GT
Xavier is 9th in defense. 4th overall in conference play efficiency. And they kinda lucked out in both the Creighton and MU home games.
Quote from: jfp61 on February 08, 2023, 01:09:36 PM
I don't really disagree with most of this. But if you are gonna make this analytics based "who they actualy are" team differentiation then I would drop Xavier from that top group.
I would tier them like this.
1. Uconn and Creighton
2. Xavier and Marquette
3. Providence
4. Nova and Hall
5. Johns
6. Butler, Depaul, and GT
Xavier is 9th in defense. 4th overall in conference play efficiency. And they kinda lucked out in both the Creighton and MU home games.
I think UConn is tier one with Creighton tier 2. Analytics say X is closer to PU, though they're elite offense seperates them enough. I'd put those 4 together because PU is more balanced than X and Quette. I'd drop St. John's into a bottom 4. They're terrible
Schedule L. Onward.
Quote from: CountryRoads on February 08, 2023, 10:20:51 AM
As Patrick Ewing said, it's not about how many times you get knocked down, it's about how many times you get back up. Apparently that's still true even if you lose 29 straight conference games.
That was Chumbawamba.
JUST WIN BABY!!!!!!
Time to kick some Hoya Ass!
Pretty cool perspective here from who I believe is Stevie Mitchell's mother on Instagram. Shared by a few players and coaches.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoZ5hSQgYkn/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
The caption goes along PERFECTLY with this thread...perspective. So for anyone that doesn't believe culture is real or that a February fade is coming.
We are good!! The culture that has been built at MUBB is truly Inspiring!! It's easy to Love when things are good, but true togetherness will withstand the test of the game🙏🏾💙💛
#keepgoing #keepbuilding
✨
✨
✨
Advice I would give to a Mom who is navigating the recruiting process, is to look at how a team responds when things just didn't go their way!
College sports are building the leaders of tomorrow and who do you want influencing your child during the prime of their young life?
The coaches, the coach's families, the athlete's families, the administration, the student life, and most importantly the players!
You are the company you keep!
My concern is this. Our offensive success this season has been predicated on cuts and ball movement inside the 3 point circle. Our last three opponents have decided to limit that by not doubling and packing it in and daring the penetrator to score with a defender between him and the basket or daring us to make 3s. If we don't make them, we are going have trouble, especially if our guys who can get to the basket (O-Max) can't finish. I get the feeling the Georgetown is going to be a dogfight until the end.
I am interested in how we will counteract it.
I think we are playing better defense for the same reason we are playing worse offense. We have scouted our opponents and are taking away what they like to do. Against UConn, we made them take threes (they made them) and when we did have good defensive possessions they just killed us on the boards anyway.
Quote from: GoldenEagles03 on February 08, 2023, 03:43:30 PM
Pretty cool perspective here from who I believe is Stevie Mitchell's mother on Instagram. Shared by a few players and coaches.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoZ5hSQgYkn/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
The caption goes along PERFECTLY with this thread...perspective. So for anyone that doesn't believe culture is real or that a February fade is coming.
We are good!! The culture that has been built at MUBB is truly Inspiring!! It's easy to Love when things are good, but true togetherness will withstand the test of the game🙏🏾💙💛
#keepgoing #keepbuilding
✨
✨
✨
Advice I would give to a Mom who is navigating the recruiting process, is to look at how a team responds when things just didn't go their way!
College sports are building the leaders of tomorrow and who do you want influencing your child during the prime of their young life?
The coaches, the coach's families, the athlete's families, the administration, the student life, and most importantly the players!
You are the company you keep!
Beautiful!
Quote from: ATWizJr on February 08, 2023, 10:36:03 AM
don't you think it's likely that last nights result will be repeated in Omaha?
Do you mean this coming Saturday?
Quote from: Uncle Rico on February 08, 2023, 12:50:44 PM
Marquette came all the way back down to earth by dropping a spot in KenPom and a spot in Net.
I'd swear to Christ almighty if I wasn't a Christian
No worries, Carty. Someone on this board will do it for ya, hey?
So, left unsaid, Shaka left all of
his second half time outs on the table. Message: ass kicking? Or bad coaching?
Ass kickin', hey?
Let's get 20 wins this Saturday.
20 wins don't occur for poor teams.
Others have made a different argument.
Goose
I had a meeting and couldn't watch the game live. I was very careful to not see the result and started watching my DVR recording. We feel behind so quickly, I had to check my phone and saw the result. Was able to zip through it quickly and delete it!
Quote from: mileskishnish72 on February 08, 2023, 04:26:09 PM
Do you mean this coming Saturday?
do we play in Omaha this Saturday?
Quote from: CTWarrior on February 08, 2023, 04:04:30 PM
My concern is this. Our offensive success this season has been predicated on cuts and ball movement inside the 3 point circle. Our last three opponents have decided to limit that by not doubling and packing it in and daring the penetrator to score with a defender between him and the basket or daring us to make 3s. If we don't make them, we are going have trouble, especially if our guys who can get to the basket (O-Max) can't finish. I get the feeling the Georgetown is going to be a dogfight until the end.
I am interested in how we will counteract it.
I think we are playing better defense for the same reason we are playing worse offense. We have scouted our opponents and are taking away what they like to do. Against UConn, we made them take threes (they made them) and when we did have good defensive possessions they just killed us on the boards anyway.
I disagree with the above. Teams are playing for the three because they know we over rotate and they end up with open threes. You don't play better defense by giving someone a better shot worth an extra point. According to KP, we are the 241st defense team against 3pt% while UConn is the 63 best 3pt% team. By comparison our offense is 129th so it doesn't seem like we would plan to force the 63 best team at shooting 3s against the 241 best defense for stoping them. UConn also didn't shoot an abnormal amount of threes but they hit 52%. In the prior game they hit 50% against Georgetown.
Over the last 5 games we were playing better defense because we were playing SH, DePaul, Nova and Butler. Nova exposed our 3 weakness. butler slowed the game down and kept themselves in the game with the 3 ball. After our game against UConn our defense efficiency went down.
Shaka needs to figure out how to fix the three point defense as well as rework some of the offense.
Everyone is gunning for us now and it's the time of year where they don't have a lot of chance to beat a resume maker. We need to regroup after a punch to the mouth.
The Marquette ladies beat UConn and Geno is pissed. Might not help Shaka &Co, but I'll take it!
If we do just a serviceable job on the defensive glass, we can get out and run a little. This will take away from the half court stagnation and open the game up a bit. It's also a fun way to play, which I think the guys could use right now. Have fun, play loose, get after it!
Quote from: 21Jumpstreet on February 09, 2023, 08:34:13 AM
If we do just a serviceable job on the defensive glass, we can get out and run a little. This will take away from the half court stagnation and open the game up a bit. It's also a fun way to play, which I think the guys could use right now. Have fun, play loose, get after it!
It's become accepted that Marquette simply is never going to be a very good rebounding team because of the defensive system Shaka uses and because we lack the size/bulk. Deflections and, ultimately, steals help make up for the rebounding deficit.
But after Tuesday's game, even Shaka looked at that box score and said, "We have to rebound better."
Quote from: MU82 on February 09, 2023, 08:36:36 AM
It's become accepted that Marquette simply is never going to be a very good rebounding team because of the defensive system Shaka uses and because we lack the size/bulk. Deflections and, ultimately, steals help make up for the rebounding deficit.
But after Tuesday's game, even Shaka looked at that box score and said, "We have to rebound better."
For sure, and there is a pretty big gap between never going to be very good and atrocious. Shaka knows ball.
Quote from: Viper on February 09, 2023, 08:07:57 AM
The Marquette ladies beat UConn and Geno is pissed. Might not help Shaka &Co, but I'll take it!
Yep! Geno is
such an a** hole! Very punchable face.
Quote from: MU82 on February 09, 2023, 08:36:36 AM
It's become accepted that Marquette simply is never going to be a very good rebounding team because of the defensive system Shaka uses and because we lack the size/bulk. Deflections and, ultimately, steals help make up for the rebounding deficit.
But after Tuesday's game, even Shaka looked at that box score and said, "We have to rebound better."
The thing is Shaka has said that about rebounding often, and it has not improved much on a consistent basis. So, is he just saying it, or the team is just not doing it, or what? It is odd because he has said this often.
Quote from: Daniel on February 09, 2023, 09:36:46 AM
The thing is Shaka has said that about rebounding often, and it has not improved much on a consistent basis. So, is he just saying it, or the team is just not doing it, or what? It is odd because he has said this often.
Valid question. I don't know the answer.
Quote from: Daniel on February 09, 2023, 09:36:46 AM
The thing is Shaka has said that about rebounding often, and it has not improved much on a consistent basis. So, is he just saying it, or the team is just not doing it, or what? It is odd because he has said this often.
Prior to the UConn game, we had 4 consecutive games of giving up 6 ORs or less. Now at least part of that was due to facing poor rebounding teams but we've had bad rebounding games against those kinds of teams before
Quote from: ATWizJr on February 08, 2023, 09:56:14 PM
do we play in Omaha this Saturday?
Was referring to the Huskies, Wiz. It would help us.
I am kind of expecting a close loss at Creighton and I am ok with it. Now that UConn is a loss it is critical to hold serve and win the home Xavier game. That would give us a split against the top teams. Win the other bunnies and we are probably co-champs. Win the games we are favored and lose the one we won't be. We will be just fine.
Right now, my fear is that we end up in the 4-5 game against UConn. That would likely be another early exit from Big East tournament. We need to get at least a three seed in Big East tournament.
Quote from: Daniel on February 09, 2023, 09:36:46 AM
The thing is Shaka has said that about rebounding often, and it has not improved much on a consistent basis. So, is he just saying it, or the team is just not doing it, or what? It is odd because he has said this often.
Can one learn how to rebound, box out? Can one know how to teach rebounding and box out?
Quote from: muwarrior69 on February 09, 2023, 03:55:32 PM
Can one learn how to rebound, box out? Can one know how to teach rebounding and box out?
Every Marquette player has been taught how to box out by numerous coaches, almost surely starting in middle school.
Marquette switches every screen and is constantly moving on defense. So the first problem is that MU often ends up with our 1s and 2s trying to keep the opponent's 4s and 5s off the boards. The second problem is it's not always easy to identify an opponent to box out when you've switched 2, 3, 4 times during a possession -- kind of similar to the challenges of boxing out when you play zone (as MU does occasionally). Finally, Marquette is simply a smaller team and more of a finesse team than many others.
These aren't excuses, just facts.
Beyond that, there's the effort part. And yes, it did seem we were outworked for at least a few of those rebounds vs. UConn -- those are what Shaka is especially upset about.