Here's the deal: Marquette is simply better than Kansas.
We are much deeper, much quicker and much tougher. Oso dominated Dickinson - I mean, it wasn't close.
We need to stop acting surprised here. We need to expect this sh!t. We're effen good!
Hell, we didn't shoot particularly well, had a few too many turnovers, got nothing from the guy who led us in scoring the previous night, and didn't have anything close to "wow" games from our great starting backcourt. And we still kicked their asses.
Just as Kolek, Oso, O-Max, Kam, Mitchell and Jop improved markedly in Year 2 under Shaka, so have SJ, Ross and Gold.
Sean Jones, left for dead by some Scoopers after last season, is this year's "revelation." Stevie Mitchell, left for dead by some Scoopers yesterday, was making plays all over the place today.
Oso is a freakin' stud. An unselfish winner and leader who might just now be realizing how good he is.
My wife and I couldn't believe Self quit when he did. But Dickinson looked totally gassed, like he couldn't get up and down the court even one more time. He no doubt was frustrated getting outplayed by a bazillion miles by Oso.
It was a mercy-killing by Self, trying to save his best players' legs for tomorrow's consolation game. Ya gotta love that!
Really, the only thing that surprised me tonight was that we outrebounded them. But the way we did it - by scrapping and clawing for every long rebound, getting to just about every ball that hit the floor first, using our quickness and athleticism - that didn't surprise me very much.
So now here we are, hours away from playing Purdue to see which team will be ranked #1 in the next AP poll.
Shaka and his guys deserve it, so do we fans, and we need to stop being amazed by it all.
Appreciate it and enjoy the ride.
Agree with all of it. This is NOT a once-in-a-generation team. It's a program that's become elite and that means we will be seeing this for some time. We should, indeed, get used to it.
We've got our Jay Wright.
Quote from: MU82 on November 22, 2023, 12:39:00 AM
Here's the deal: Marquette is simply better than Kansas.
We are much deeper, much quicker and much tougher. Oso dominated Dickinson - I mean, it wasn't close.
We need to stop acting surprised here. We need to expect this sh!t. We're effen good!
Hell, we didn't shoot particularly well, had a few too many turnovers, got nothing from the guy who led us in scoring the previous night, and didn't have anything close to "wow" games from our great starting backcourt. And we still kicked their asses.
Just as Kolek, Oso, O-Max, Kam, Mitchell and Jop improved markedly in Year 2 under Shaka, so have SJ, Ross and Gold.
Sean Jones, left for dead by some Scoopers after last season, is this year's "revelation." Stevie Mitchell, left for dead by some Scoopers yesterday, was making plays all over the place today.
Oso is a freakin' stud. An unselfish winner and leader who might just now be realizing how good he is.
My wife and I couldn't believe Self quit when he did. But Dickinson looked totally gassed, like he couldn't get up and down the court even one more time. He no doubt was frustrated getting outplayed by a bazillion miles by Oso.
It was a mercy-killing by Self, trying to save his best players' legs for tomorrow's consolation game. Ya gotta love that!
Really, the only thing that surprised me tonight was that we outrebounded them. But the way we did it - by scrapping and clawing for every long rebound, getting to just about every ball that hit the floor first, using our quickness and athleticism - that didn't surprise me very much.
So now here we are, hours away from playing Purdue to see which team will be ranked #1 in the next AP poll.
Shaka and his guys deserve it, so do we fans, and we need to stop being amazed by it all.
...but I am amazed by it all, just not surprised. It was a thing of beauty as they attacked like a pack of wolves, a swarm of killer bees stinging their prey and a shiver of sharks going in for the kill.
Quote from: muwarrior69 on November 22, 2023, 08:29:39 AM
...but I am amazed by it all, just not surprised. It was a thing of beauty as they attacked like a pack of wolves, a swarm of killer bees stinging their prey and a shiver of sharks going in for the kill.
Enjoy it and be amazed by it. Don't get complacent.
All right ... I'll let y'all be amazed. But not effen surprised!
This didn't just sneak up on anybody, it's been building for 2+ years. We returned 8 of 9 guys from a outstanding team that won the championship of an outstanding conference.
Even if I remove my Marquette bias, this team SHOULD be a national championship contender. National panels of sportswriters and coaches agreed before the season even started.
We're really, really good.
Quote from: muwarrior69 on November 22, 2023, 08:31:49 AM
I'll raise you, John Wooden.
Might wanna pump the brakes on that one......
Fun watching Marquette.
Long season ahead.
Crazy things can happen in March.
One game at a time.
Focus on task at hand.
Quote from: MU82 on November 22, 2023, 08:41:18 AM
All right ... I'll let y'all be amazed. But not effen surprised!
This didn't just sneak up on anybody, it's been building for 2+ years. We returned 8 of 9 guys from a outstanding team that won the championship of an outstanding conference.
Even if I remove my Marquette bias, this team SHOULD be a national championship contender. National panels of sportswriters and coaches agreed before the season even started.
We're really, really good.
82 take the compliment. I said I was not surprised that they played so well. I am with you here.
Quote from: NCMUFan on November 22, 2023, 09:07:31 AM
Fun watching Marquette.
Long season ahead.
Crazy things can happen in March.
One game at a time.
Focus on task at hand.
I agree that the team should take one game at a time (which they will, as only one game will be scheduled on any given day or night), and that the team should focus on the task at hand (which seems very much the norm for Shaka's squad).
Fans are not bound to any of that. A lot of us here were talking before the tournament about getting to face Kansas once we beat UCLA ... and that didn't stop the team from beating UCLA. And then a lot of us here were talking about us having a chance to play for #1 once we beat Kansas ... and that didn't stop the team from beating Kansas. And us talking today about actually being ranked #1 once we beat Purdue will have no impact on how handily our heroes beat Purdue.
Fans looking ahead to even better things is one of the fun parts of fandom.
But yes, there's a long season ahead and crazy things can (and do) happen in March. I don't think anybody would dispute those things.
Remember those days when we played Rider or Northern Illinois or Southwestern Jackson State or <insert name of 200+ RPI team>...."hey the're doin good in their conference", "it was a neutral court"..."we'll get an RPI bump right?"..."I think we're off the bubble"....
No more my friends, no more!
I have a Dream!...MU wins the big dance in an undefeated season for the ages, handing UCONN only its 4th loss in the finals (do the math)....The rafters of FISERV soon crowded with standards bearing witness!
Hopefully I dont wake up 2:30-ish Hawaii Standard Time :o
Quote from: MU82 on November 22, 2023, 09:42:57 AM
I agree that the team should take one game at a time (which they will, as only one game will be scheduled on any given day or night)...
Technically -- for those of us in the eastern time zone at least -- they played the better part of two games on Tuesday. ;)
Quote from: StillAWarrior on November 22, 2023, 10:06:19 AM
Technically -- for those of us in the eastern time zone at least -- they played the better part of two games on Tuesday. ;)
I said only one game would be "scheduled" on any given day or night ... but you're absolutely right!
Lets not forget the contributions of Stevie either.
So happy for him that he got a 3 to go and so cool that Tyler had confidence in him to hit the shot. His defense was suffocating (5 steals!) and that steal when he was guarding Dickenson was so good.
His struggles on offense have not changed him on the defensive end and that is where we need him most.
We are having our hard earned Sally Field Moment.
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b2/b9/c6/b2b9c62b70c4ab71ed599a8903e892b6.jpg)
Quote from: IrwinFletcher on November 22, 2023, 10:45:37 AM
Lets not forget the contributions of Stevie either.
So happy for him that he got a 3 to go and so cool that Tyler had confidence in him to hit the shot. His defense was suffocating (5 steals!) and that steal when he was guarding Dickenson was so good.
His struggles on offense have not changed him on the defensive end and that is where we need him most.
Kolek was the one was 5 steals, actually. Stevie had 4. Amazing work on D from the backcourt.
Watching Oso's contributions on offense makes us sometimes overlook how well he is playing on defense. He's a big part of the reason we can chase and switch all over the floor. He is very good at staying vertical when contesting shots so as not to get in foul trouble. (Hopefully, I didn't put the jinx on him for this afternoon.)
Hard to believe I've been watching Marquette basketball for over 30 years, but next to the Kentucky game in 2003, I've never seen a more dominant performance by a Marquette team against a very, very good opponent.
The truly incredible thing is that this team is better top to bottom than the 2003 team. The depth demonstrated over the past three games starting with Illinois (running 9-10 players with little to no let-up) is something I've never seen and never experienced with a Marquette team.
MU82............Your best post ever! Well said.
Kansas this year is much more in the 15-20 range than 1 imo
*ducks
Still such an impressive wire to wire victory. Purdue will be a much, much taller task.
Quote from: warriorfred on November 22, 2023, 12:30:52 PM
Hard to believe I've been watching Marquette basketball for over 30 years, but next to the Kentucky game in 2003, I've never seen a more dominant performance by a Marquette team against a very, very good opponent.
The truly incredible thing is that this team is better top to bottom than the 2003 team. The depth demonstrated over the past three games starting with Illinois (running 9-10 players with little to no let-up) is something I've never seen and never experienced with a Marquette team.
Beating Baylor last year got it going.
Quote from: panda on November 22, 2023, 12:54:43 PM
Kansas this year is much more in the 15-20 range than 1 imo
*ducks
Still such an impressive wire to wire victory. Purdue will be a much, much taller task.
Agreed. Kansas coasts a bit with pre-season rankings because of the coach and brand. Adding Dickinson inflated them a bit, too. Not sure why, but he did. Big 12 will be a meat grinder again this year
Will still be a good win come March. Think a win over Purdue goes a lot further.
Quote from: Uncle Rico on November 22, 2023, 12:57:34 PM
Agreed. Kansas coasts a bit with pre-season rankings because of the coach and brand. Adding Dickinson inflated them a bit, too. Not sure why, but he did. Big 12 will be a meat grinder again this year
Will still be a good win come March. Think a win over Purdue goes a lot further.
Agreed - Purdue guards look so much better this year. This is going to be an awesome basketball game this afternoon.
Quote from: MUUWUWM on November 22, 2023, 12:57:25 PM
Beating Baylor last year got it going.
Have to admit, that game shocked me last year.
Quote from: panda on November 22, 2023, 01:04:13 PM
Agreed - Purdue guards look so much better this year. This is going to be an awesome basketball game this afternoon.
Tyler legacy game today is my bold prediction
Over the years I have always had a hard time believing how good a team I cheer for is because I am too close to it. I told my sons after NIU this team has a championship look and they do. They 100% look like a team playing to win a NC. The last time I felt that away about a team I support was the year the Packers won the SB with Favre. They just looked better than anyone else and this MU has a similar look.
They pass the eye test with flying colors, IMO.