So very impressed with the MU crowd that spontaneously chanted old favorites during the game; they seemed to perk up the UCLA crowd, which led to a tremendous game-ending flurry. (I did listen to Mic's postgame presser and the UCLA post-game shows, and they blamed the refs.)
I love the re-nationalization of the MU name under Shaka. Yesterday, I was at the supermarket wearing my obligatory tattered Marquette Warriors tee, buying munchies for the game (I live in SoCal). A Gen Z-er said, somewhat startled, "Hey, you play UCLA tonight." Kansas tonight, Texas soon, Hawaii.... When people look at the top 25 every week, they see our name. Great to see.
I did see the board here criticize Walton, but he loves MU. He went on and on 3-4 years ago as part of the Pac-12 network coverage of the MU-UCLA game in LA. He has a warm spot for MU. I did love last night when he kept saying the "Warriors, I mean Golden Eagles." At the game a few years back in Westwood, I grinned foolishly when Walton said, "Say what you want. One thing is clear: Marquette uniforms back in the day were 'fly.'"... His kid Luke Walton is named after Maurice Lucas of MU.
We were so flat yesterday, and I am hoping that Cam and Kolek will not be flat two games in a row.
One point Shaka made was key... Kolek had 9 assists and the rest of the team had only two... I think he is going to address this fact in practice today. Passing was feeble yesterday.
Go Warriors, I mean Golden Eagles!
You are correct on Walton giving Marquette lots of praise. He talked about Al, Luke, Fiserv Forum and the huge fan support for being a smaller school. His style takes a lot to get used to but he had lots of great things to say about Marquette. Even mentioned the Hilltoppers name!
The MU crowd included Wade. SO glad he was there. Just his presence courtside and going into the locker room at the half must have given all of Marquette a big emotional lift.
Quote from: TrojanWarrior on November 21, 2023, 11:38:49 AM
I did see the board here criticize Walton, but he loves MU.
I did note this. I told my wife, "Thank goodness he likes Marquette. Otherwise, he'd be completely insufferable because it would be nothing but UCLA love."
I don't need an analyst to wax on about teams and people from the past. I want them to tell me what is going on. I don't care about Sydney Wicks. I don't care about Marcus Haynes.
Walton is awesome. Enjoy him while we have him.
#betterthansimpkinsagain
Walton and other UCLA players showed up at the nonstop MU party at the King's Inn in Greensboro the Sunday evening after NC State beat them in the semifinals in 1974. In those days the teams played a stupid third-place game so all the teams had to stick around for Monday.
So he knew about MU fans early on...
I think Walton is fun in small doses. I wouldn't want him to do every MU game, but having him at the Maui and telling tales of the good old days is a neat wrinkle. Besides, like has been mentioned, we won't have him forever.
Also, almost no analyst is out there breaking down the action with any real level of detail anyway.
Walton may be an awesome guy but he was horrible as an announcer last night. It was so bad I muted them for the whole second half. Never done that before. It was absolutely terrible.
Quote from: StillAWarrior on November 21, 2023, 11:46:00 AM
I did note this. I told my wife, "Thank goodness he likes Marquette. Otherwise, he'd be completely insufferable because it would be nothing but UCLA love."
The PAC. "Conference of Champions!" ;D,
Glad he likes Marquette, but he really is insufferable overall even if some of his stories are entertaining.
I don't quite get all the Walton hate on here. Muting the whole 2nd half??? What did he do that was so offensive?
Quote from: tower912 on November 21, 2023, 11:54:16 AM
Walton is awesome. Enjoy him while we have him.
#betterthansimpkinsagain
Yeah he doesn't even announce games. He does something absolutely unique that is more like performance art. Just have to enjoy the ride with him, he's a treasure.
Quote from: The Sultan of Semantics on November 21, 2023, 11:53:03 AM
I don't need an analyst to wax on about teams and people from the past. I want them to tell me what is going on. I don't care about Sydney Wicks. I don't care about Marcus Haynes.
I enjoy it.
Quote from: tower912 on November 21, 2023, 11:54:16 AM
Walton is awesome. Enjoy him while we have him.
#betterthansimpkinsagain
+1
I can take him every 3-4 years...for his comments about MU. Where else do we get that on a national stage?
Walton talks like a stoner who survived his own life, but last night, when he said, "When I was researching...this and that..." and then went on with a conclusion. I believe him. How the hell he pulled out the Hilltoppers reference is amazing? I am old and he is an icon of an era that I grew up watching. When NCAA b-ball was amazing and when we sent college kids to beat the Russian pros. Still remember the great UCLA - ND game as a kid... Besides, I have not heard the word Havlicek in 25 years.
Crowd was great, love walton, hes super fun.
Quote from: TrojanWarrior on November 21, 2023, 12:15:39 PM
Walton talks like a stoner who survived his own life, but last night, when he said, "When I was researching...this and that..." and then went on with a conclusion. I believe him. How the hell he pulled out the Hilltoppers reference is amazing? I am old and he is an icon of an era that I grew up watching. When NCAA b-ball was amazing and when we sent college kids to beat the Russian pros. Still remember the great UCLA - ND game as a kid... Besides, I have not heard the word Havlicek in 25 years.
I was at that game. Remember Walton lumbering up and down the court.
Quote from: Scoop Snoop on November 21, 2023, 12:00:56 PM
The PAC. "Conference of Champions!" ;D,
Glad he likes Marquette, but he really is insufferable overall
Not if you turn every time he says it into a drinking game. ;D
I don't "hate" Walton, I'm glad he likes Marquette and I wish him nothing but good health and happiness. I just prefer announcers who add some insight about the teams and athletes I'm watching, as opposed to waxing poetic about random players from when I was a teenager or younger.
During one important juncture of the game, he was going on and on about David Meyers being an all-time great if only he didn't have back problems.
Crucial analysis for the moment.
I did like when he said Joplin fouled Bona's elbow with his face, and said there should be a flagrant called. More of that, fewer Sidney Wicks recollections please.
Quote from: MU82 on November 21, 2023, 12:33:05 PM
I don't "hate" Walton, I'm glad he likes Marquette and I wish him nothing but good health and happiness. I just prefer announcers who add some insight about the teams and athletes I'm watching, as opposed to waxing poetic about random players from when I was a teenager or younger.
During one important juncture of the game, he was going on and on about David Meyers being an all-time great if only he didn't have back problems.
Crucial analysis for the moment.
I did like when he said Joplin fouled Bona's elbow with his face, and said there should be a flagrant called. More of that, fewer Sidney Wicks recollections please.
I used to enjoy his zany style. He would throw in some fun nuggets and the interchange between him and his usual pbp guy were gold.
Time has passed him by and there's not much if any substance there anymore.
My favorite Walton moment was when he pondered whether Oso Ighodoro and Andre Iguodala are related.
Quote from: StillAWarrior on November 21, 2023, 12:41:01 PM
My favorite Walton moment was when he pondered whether Oso Ighodoro and Andre Iguodala are related.
That did crack me up.
Quote from: panda on November 21, 2023, 12:40:44 PM
Time has passed him by and there's not much if any substance there anymore.
Methinks he mostly cares about only one substance.
Quote from: MU82 on November 21, 2023, 12:44:23 PM
That did crack me up.
Methinks he mostly cares about only one substance.
Lol
Quote from: real chili 83 on November 21, 2023, 12:16:58 PM
I was at that game. Remember Walton lumbering up and down the court.
He didn't lumber. He was very agile for 6'11". Quicker than most centers that he played.
Quote from: warriorchick on November 21, 2023, 12:17:14 PM
Not if you turn every time he says it into a drinking game. ;D
We played "the drink every time Walton says something wrong" game. What happened in the 2nd half? We passed out 12 minutes into the game.
Quote from: jficke13 on November 21, 2023, 11:58:59 AM
I think Walton is fun in small doses. I wouldn't want him to do every MU game, but having him at the Maui and telling tales of the good old days is a neat wrinkle. Besides, like has been mentioned, we won't have him forever.
Also, almost no analyst is out there breaking down the action with any real level of detail anyway.
Walton can be pretty funny at times but sometimes his partner needs to explain his jokes. If you don't know they are jokes then it can also sound like a homer. I think last night he made a comment about this is the best he has ever seen Mack or someone play giving the guy props for his performance. He then followed it up with something like "this is also the best that I have Buyuktuncel play." The joke being the guy was 0-7 but it was also his first game.
He's the Grateful Dead of announcers. Just roll with it and it can be enjoyable especially for us older Scoopers who lived through many of his tangential ramblings. We only get him once a year or so. Much preferable to guys like Gillen or Simpkins.
Back to the MU crowd, kudos to all who made the trip. Looked great on tv. MU should've provided you all with gold tees to wear.
Quote from: Spaniel with a Short Tail on November 21, 2023, 01:07:44 PM
He's the Grateful Dead of announcers. Just roll with it and it can be enjoyable especially for us older Scoopers who lived through many of his tangential ramblings. We only get him once a year or so. Much preferable to guys like Gillen or Simpkins.
Back to the MU crowd, kudos to all who made the trip. Looked great on tv. MU should've provided you all with gold tees to wear.
I've got to say, after seeing some of the stuff the Purdue fans were wearing, I was quite happy to see the Marquette fans looking...how shall I say this diplomatically...less "Indianaish". Y'all looked great. Keep it up tonight. Be loud.
Quote from: BLWarrior91 on November 21, 2023, 11:43:52 AM
You are correct on Walton giving Marquette lots of praise. He talked about Al, Luke, Fiserv Forum and the huge fan support for being a smaller school. His style takes a lot to get used to but he had lots of great things to say about Marquette. Even mentioned the Hilltoppers name!
Absolutely, he is very favorably disposed towards MU.
Bill would benefit from less-is-more. He doesn't need to fill up absolutely every second with talk.
Quote from: Jockey on November 21, 2023, 12:48:00 PM
He didn't lumber. He was very agile for 6'11". Quicker than most centers that he played.
He did lumber at times because of his back issues. But, otherwise, he was very agile.
And foot issues.
Bill Walton was a complete joy to watch as a basketball player. IMO, he was one of the all time great talents to ever play center, especially in college. I do not think you can throw around enough compliments of him as a player. Injuries rob him of an all time NBA career but does not diminish his greatness.
For the record, I hated Bill Walton the player, but respected his talent a great deal. Nobody in my lifetime could make an outlet pass to start a fast break after grabbing D rebound better than Walton. It was a thing of beauty.
While talking with my son about last night's game, he said Walton's schtick can be fun for a little while but it's tough listening to it for a lot of a game - especially if you actually care about that particular game. Much easier to listen to him tell stories about Pete Trgovich if you're watching Washington State vs. Stanford and have no vested interest in the game. I agreed with that point.
Quote from: Norm on November 21, 2023, 12:09:37 PM
I don't quite get all the Walton hate on here. Muting the whole 2nd half??? What did he do that was so offensive?
People lie. Nobody turns a game on mute. That's just odd behavior.
Quote from: tower912 on November 21, 2023, 11:54:16 AM
Walton is awesome. Enjoy him while we have him.
#betterthansimpkinsagain
100%. Met him at a conference a couple of years ago. He signed an action pic from his time with the Celtics that I framed and donated to the Blue&Gold auction. Good dude.
Quote from: Jockey on November 21, 2023, 12:48:00 PM
He didn't lumber. He was very agile for 6'11". Quicker than most centers that he played.
Kareem would agree !
The fact that no one has mentioned this makes me think few if any know of Walton's success in overcoming a horrifically bad stuttering issue. He was almost never interviewed as a UCLA player because he couldn't emote a complete sentence without stuttering badly. The late, great broadcaster (and Olympian) Marty Glickman helped him overcome it. I will never begrudge Walton for talking a lot. He's making up for a lot of stolen opportunities.
I believe we get Bilas tonight.
Quote from: Goose on November 21, 2023, 01:44:23 PM
Bill Walton was a complete joy to watch as a basketball player. IMO, he was one of the all time great talents to ever play center, especially in college. I do not think you can throw around enough compliments of him as a player. Injuries rob him of an all time NBA career but does not diminish his greatness.
For the record, I hated Bill Walton the player, but respected his talent a great deal. Nobody in my lifetime could make an outlet pass to start a fast break after grabbing D rebound better than Walton. It was a thing of beauty.
I agree with all these sentiments, but, um..., Wesley Unseld.
Wes Unseld was very good at throwing the outlet pass. I am not going to say either was better.
Quote from: Scoop Snoop on November 21, 2023, 12:00:56 PM
The PAC. "Conference of Champions!" ;D,
Glad he likes Marquette, but he really is insufferable overall even if some of his stories are entertaining.
. He is insufferable. Met him once when he was a Celtic. He was a jerk.
Quote from: StillAWarrior on November 21, 2023, 12:41:01 PM
My favorite Walton moment was when he pondered whether Oso Ighodoro and Andre Iguodala are related.
Mine was when the UCLA player was getting treatment for his neck by the trainer and Walton was commenting on vibrators and large bracing. I almost spit my drink out when he said "Vibrators" in reference to the injury
Quote from: Bo Ryan's Massage Therapist on November 21, 2023, 03:50:35 PM
Mine was when the UCLA player was getting treatment for his neck by the trainer and Walton was commenting on vibrators and large bracing. I almost spit my drink out when he said "Vibrators" in reference to the injury
There was a trainer using a massage gun on that player's groin area at the same time that he was having ice put on his neck. My guess was cramping in his legs, and they were using the ice to cool of his body temperature. No clue if that makes sense to do, but that was my thought.
Quote from: TrojanWarrior on November 21, 2023, 11:38:49 AM
So very impressed with the MU crowd that spontaneously chanted old favorites during the game; they seemed to perk up the UCLA crowd, which led to a tremendous game-ending flurry. (I did listen to Mic's postgame presser and the UCLA post-game shows, and they blamed the refs.)
I love the re-nationalization of the MU name under Shaka. Yesterday, I was at the supermarket wearing my obligatory tattered Marquette Warriors tee, buying munchies for the game (I live in SoCal). A Gen Z-er said, somewhat startled, "Hey, you play UCLA tonight." Kansas tonight, Texas soon, Hawaii.... When people look at the top 25 every week, they see our name. Great to see.
I did see the board here criticize Walton, but he loves MU. He went on and on 3-4 years ago as part of the Pac-12 network coverage of the MU-UCLA game in LA. He has a warm spot for MU. I did love last night when he kept saying the "Warriors, I mean Golden Eagles." At the game a few years back in Westwood, I grinned foolishly when Walton said, "Say what you want. One thing is clear: Marquette uniforms back in the day were 'fly.'"... His kid Luke Walton is named after Maurice Lucas of MU.
We were so flat yesterday, and I am hoping that Cam and Kolek will not be flat two games in a row.
One point Shaka made was key... Kolek had 9 assists and the rest of the team had only two... I think he is going to address this fact in practice today. Passing was feeble yesterday.
Go Warriors, I mean Golden Eagles!
Depaul's home opener against the mighty Mastadons of Purdue Fort Wayne, which they lost, had a crowd of 931.
No typo https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401587157
It looked like MU probably about half that number, if not more, in Honolulu last night.
Quote from: Norm on November 21, 2023, 12:09:37 PM
I don't quite get all the Walton hate on here. Muting the whole 2nd half??? What did he do that was so offensive?
Nothing offensive. He's unprepared. I didn't mute though.
Quote from: Not A Serious Person on November 21, 2023, 04:30:20 PM
Depaul's home opener against the mighty Mastadons of Purdue Fort Wayne, which they lost, had a crowd of 931.
No typo https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401587157
It looked like MU probably about half that number, if not more, in Honolulu last night.
This was discussed about 2 weeks ago.
https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=63698.msg1583137#msg1583137
Quote from: wadesworld on November 21, 2023, 04:40:45 PM
This was discussed about 2 weeks ago.
https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=63698.msg1583137#msg1583137
Lol
Quote from: TSmith34, Inc. on November 21, 2023, 01:30:46 PM
Absolutely, he is very favorably disposed towards MU.
Bill would benefit from less-is-more. He doesn't need to fill up absolutely every second with talk.
I find Big bill enjoyable regarding MU references......but he.never.shutsup. Never.
Give it a 5 second rest every once in awhile.
Does Walton really think Sidney Wicks was a better college player than David Thompson?
Sidney Wicks was a better player than David Thompson, especially because of different skill sets. David Thompson was a big time, electric player and totally different from Wicks. For pure excitement I take Thompson, for overall body of work I take Wicks.
To be fair, Walton said best power forward. But was Wicks better than Christian Laettner? I never saw Wicks, but I think that's doubtful.
Sultan
Laettner was an unreal college player. Great combination of skill, size and arrogance.
Quote from: Hoops92 on November 21, 2023, 11:59:22 AM
Walton may be an awesome guy but he was horrible as an announcer last night. It was so bad I muted them for the whole second half. Never done that before. It was absolutely terrible.
I muted him in the first half. "Bloviating Bill" was a great center but lets leave it at that.
Quote from: MU82 on November 21, 2023, 02:23:22 PM
While talking with my son about last night's game, he said Walton's schtick can be fun for a little while but it's tough listening to it for a lot of a game - especially if you actually care about that particular game. Much easier to listen to him tell stories about Pete Trgovich if you're watching Washington State vs. Stanford and have no vested interest in the game. I agreed with that point.
This hits the nail on the head. MU was not playing great and was behind for quite a bit of the game. For MU fans his schtick was grating because of that, more so than it would have been had it been to other teams.
Quote from: The Sultan of Semantics on November 21, 2023, 05:09:19 PM
To be fair, Walton said best power forward. But was Wicks better than Christian Laettner? I never saw Wicks, but I think that's doubtful.
Maybe I'm biased because Wicks was one of my faves, but I think Wicks was clearly superior.
Stats favored Wicks. He was a vastly superior defender and Laetner was closer to a C than a PF.
Walton did seem genuinely excited about running into Bo Ellis at the tournament.
I like Walton for the following reasons.
1. He genuinely likes and promotes MU.
2. He actually tries to do his homework on the players involved . He is not assigned to The Big East so he wouldn't know our league as well as , say John Fanta,but at least he tries.
3. Once the game starts he doesn't pull punches . He calls out bad plays even by stars and doesn't play favorites . Very similar to Johnny Miller , who used to broadcast Golf. I don't mind his comparisons , when he mentioned that a player on UCLA made a play reminiscent of Dave Myers, it actually was very accurate and painted the right mental picture
4 . On a personal note, A cousin of mine a Dr in LA on his medical team that worked to get his foot good enough to withstand the rigors of NBA competition. The 1 3/4 year stretch from 77 through the 58th game of the 78 season ,when the injury ended his ability to be a full time player, was a period of sustained excellence . My cousin frequently got friends and family tickets to Laker Blazer games at The Forum, which I was able to watch Walton and Lucas at their prime.
5 . Just for the record I also like Dickie Simpkins. Who is also always MU friendly in his broadcasts
Quote from: tower912 on November 21, 2023, 11:54:16 AM
Walton is awesome. Enjoy him while we have him.
#betterthansimpkinsagain
This.
He's a basketball treasure. And he's fun. And he annoys the joyless.
A wonderful trifecta.
Quote from: Lennys Tap on November 21, 2023, 07:28:22 PM
And he annoys the joyless.
Not one person who knows either me or my son would consider us to be "joyless." Dickey Simpkins and Pete Gillen also annoy us. That doesn't make us joyless, either.
Different people can have different tastes in food, beverages, sports teams, politicians, entertainers, athletes, etc. But I guess not in college basketball analysts.
Quote from: Goose on November 21, 2023, 05:00:44 PM
Sidney Wicks was a better player than David Thompson, especially because of different skill sets. David Thompson was a big time, electric player and totally different from Wicks. For pure excitement I take Thompson, for overall body of work I take Wicks.
Goose knows ball, aina?
Quote from: wadesworld on November 21, 2023, 04:40:45 PM
This was discussed about 2 weeks ago.
https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=63698.msg1583137#msg1583137
Sorry, I missed page 130 in a post from two weeks ago.
I'll be sure to run future ideas by you.
Bill Walton would say the best power forward he ever played with was Maurice Lucas. The NBA's first power forward. They won the first and only championship for Portland in 1977.
Oh, and bye the way, 1977, the year the Warriors won the natty, the Trailblazers won the NBA title, and Joe Montana and Notre Dame won the National Championship. I will always remember that year, even now, when I can hardly match my own socks or tie my shoes.
Quote from: Not A Serious Person on November 21, 2023, 08:46:28 PM
Sorry, I missed page 130 in a post from two weeks ago.
I'll be sure to run future ideas by you.
Yeah, kind of weird to just now be discussing DePaul's attendance against Purdue Fort Wayne from 2 weeks ago. So please do feel free to run those ideas by me first.
Are you all who are there surprised by the overall attendance? I know it's a way bigger venue than Maui, but this tournament has been as good as the elite 8 is likely to be and better than then final 4 - I would think any causal b-ball or even sport fan on the island would want to come for these games - this is the best basketball they're ever gonna see. Are the unsold tickets somehow difficult to get or really expensive or something?
Quote from: Mr. Nielsen on November 21, 2023, 02:41:25 PM
People lie. Nobody turns a game on mute. That's just odd behavior.
I absolutely turned the volume off in the 2nd half because of Walton.
Any truth to the rumor that the MU contingent drank a concession stand dry?
tower
I heard similar. Way to go, MU faithful.
There are very few beer stands at the Stan Sheriff Center. The line at the concession near the MU crowd was about 100 deep whern I got there last night! To it's credit there is some awesome local food at the game and the people are really gracious! Can't wait for game time!!!! Let's rock the Stan Sheriff Center once again!
Quote from: tower912 on November 22, 2023, 08:43:33 AM
Any truth to the rumor that the MU contingent drank a concession stand dry?
That is why Marquette is not allowed to play games in our neighbor to the North; our contingent will drink Canada Dry.