You could make a montage of what not to do in end-of-game situations just using MU this year. Time out, no time out, it doesn't seem to make a difference (except that it's even more frustrating to see them fail out of a TO).
Do they not practice such scenarios in all the months of practices? It's a kick in the teeth (for us, for the players) to see the guys play their butts off for 39 and a half minutes and repeatedly finish so ineptly when the game is on the line. I don't want to be piling on the coaches, but this seems like a major flaw on their part.
Dead ball situations are a sign of a well coached/poorly coached team.
Quote from: panda on January 10, 2026, 08:03:38 PMDead ball situations are a sign of a well coached/poorly coached team.
You could make this claim about a ton of stuff that happens on the court
Quote from: jesmu84 on January 10, 2026, 08:07:48 PMYou could make this claim about a ton of stuff that happens on the court
All teams practice (or should practice) those situations at the end of practice and perfect them.
Certainly not saying Shaka can't handle these situations, because we've seen his Marquette teams execute, but this team absolutely cannot and there is a big time disconnect.
Really exciting game, crowd was really into it. When the last play was called and Chase heaved it, there was a collective wtf Shaka. I can only believe that we thought Nova was going to foul, otherwise the ball has to go to NJ, or at the very least Chase needs to drive and dish. What an abomination of an ending. The guys tried to to win in spite of Shaka in this one. Damn, really wanted to pull it out.
Quote from: panda on January 10, 2026, 08:21:02 PMAll teams practice (or should practice) those situations at the end of practice and perfect them.
Certainly not saying Shaka can't handle these situations, because we've seen his Marquette teams execute, but this team absolutely cannot and there is a big time disconnect.
So which is it?
Quote from: jesmu84 on January 10, 2026, 08:27:34 PMSo which is it?
I'm copy and pasting here
this team absolutely cannot and there is a big time disconnect.
The way it happened on the floor, NJ was not an option. I don't know how it was drawn up. How it played out is that NJ floated to the sideline. Nova defender high sided him with a hand in the passing lane, essentially face guarding him.
Quote from: panda on January 10, 2026, 08:30:03 PMI'm copy and pasting here
this team absolutely cannot and there is a big time disconnect.
So is shaka a poor coach or have we seen his team execute in these situations?
You don't seem to have made a definitive statement.
Quote from: jesmu84 on January 10, 2026, 08:31:44 PMSo is shaka a poor coach or have we seen his team execute in these situations?
You don't seem to have made a definitive statement.
Sorry - to clarify his past teams executed in late game situations but this team cannot. There is a disconnect this season.
Quote from: panda on January 10, 2026, 08:45:15 PMSorry - to clarify his past teams executed in late game situations but this team cannot. There is a disconnect this season.
Agreed!
That was a pretty inexperienced lineup on the floor for MU and Ross hasn't been playing well. I think it was a mistake to call the TO.
Quote from: tower912 on January 10, 2026, 08:30:44 PMThe way it happened on the floor, NJ was not an option. I don't know how it was drawn up. How it played out is that NJ floated to the sideline. Nova defender high sided him with a hand in the passing lane, essentially face guarding him.
Please don't confuse the issue with facts!
Quote from: Xact on January 10, 2026, 09:20:59 PMPlease don't confuse the issue with facts!
Huh? You know you're allowed to counteract what the opponents are doing with screens and other assorted strategies. It may have occurred to someone on Marquette's sideline that Nova would try to deny James.
No matter what the defense was doing, having a mediocre 3 point shooter catch the inbound pass and chuck an off balance 25 footer after about one second was probably not the most ingenious play we could have come up with.
Yeah, the Phillips missed 3 on the previous possession I can live with. (open shot, in the run of play, good shooter) The lack of a play after time out resulting in a 35 foot heave by a bad shooter is a big problem.
Having James inbound the ball was, I think, a mistake. You are taking your best shooter (for thew day, at least) and putting him in a non-shooting position - or, at the very least, in a more difficult position to get a shot. Why not 1) put Phillips in the game along with James; 2) have Parham inbound the ball; 3) run James off a couple of screens from the far side of the court and try to get him in a good position to receive the inbounds pass in a decent shooting spot. Having the ball end up with Ross 35 feet away made no sense. I think Shaka made it easy for "nova to defend and hard for our guys to get a decent opportunity.
Actually, in the past Marquette has been good drawing up inbound plays that go back to the inbounder, but from that SLOB position they needed to set a screen and have NJ go over to the top of the key rather than letting him go to the corner where the angle was cut off. Just a poorly designed end of game play, IMO.
I am of the opinion that what was drawn up is not what was run. Which happens. Particularly with 3 freshmen, one sophomore, and a senior on the floor.
I, too, think that NJ should have followed his pass and tried to get a hand off.
Quote from: tower912 on January 11, 2026, 08:15:21 AMI am of the opinion that what was drawn up is not what was run. Which happens. Particularly with 3 freshmen, one sophomore, and a senior on the floor.
I, too, think that NJ should have followed his pass and tried to get a hand off.
If this is the case, certainly a good thought, then Ross made another poor decision and was selfish. I get wanting to be the guy and feel like you need to be the guy, but sometimes being the guy is making the best decision for the team. Super disappointed, and also super impressed with the effort. Maybe time to adjust Ross'(s) roll and keep the ball in his hands less
Yes. Chase has had 4 end of game opportunities. To be fair, one of them was a blatant foul. It would be helpful if he cashed a couple in.
Quote from: 21Jumpstreet on January 10, 2026, 08:26:56 PMReally exciting game, crowd was really into it. When the last play was called and Chase heaved it, there was a collective wtf Shaka. I can only believe that we thought Nova was going to foul, otherwise the ball has to go to NJ, or at the very least Chase needs to drive and dish. What an abomination of an ending. The guys tried to to win in spite of Shaka in this one. Damn, really wanted to pull it out.
Very much the same feeling at the end of regulation against Dayton, except that time we didn't even get a shot up. Collective WTF???
Do you think Ben Johnson could come by in February and give Shaka some tips on how to finish games?
Just watched it 5x.
After James IB the ball, it looked like Phillips tried to screen to free James in the left corner but Nova's D covered it. Ross was the next option, and that ended up being yucky.
Perhaps we should have done whatever (screens etc) to free James to receive the IB pass so he could create an open shot for others or himself.
But Nova would have simply let James drive to the hoop for a layup while covering the perimeter. James almost certainly wouldn't have been able to create his own open 3 because he needs a lot of space and time to get off his jumper.
There obviously were other options, too, but as has been pointed out a bazillion times on Scoop already, we do not have good shooters. Aside from James, we were 4-for-22 from 3 yesterday.
Not absolving Shaka - he's in charge of bringing in shooters. Just saying this current edition of MU hoops doesn't have a lot of options in this situation.
Had Phillips not missed his previous attempt so badly, he might have been my choice for the shot. But Ross did hit two 3s in the game, so I can see why he was the second option.
In the end, another frustrating ending to a winnable game.
Quote from: MU82 on January 11, 2026, 03:28:46 PMJust watched it 5x.
After James IB the ball, it looked like Phillips tried to screen to free James in the left corner but Nova's D covered it. Ross was the next option, and that ended up being yucky.
Perhaps we should have done whatever (screens etc) to free James to receive the IB pass so he could create an open shot for others or himself.
But Nova would have simply let James drive to the hoop for a layup while covering the perimeter. James almost certainly wouldn't have been able to create his own open 3 because he needs a lot of space and time to get off his jumper.
There obviously were other options, too, but as has been pointed out a bazillion times on Scoop already, we do not have good shooters. Aside from James, we were 4-for-22 from 3 yesterday.
Not absolving Shaka - he's in charge of bringing in shooters. Just saying this current edition of MU hoops doesn't have a lot of options in this situation.
Had Phillips not missed his previous attempt so badly, he might have been my choice for the shot. But Ross did hit two 3s in the game, so I can see why he was the second option.
In the end, another frustrating ending to a winnable game.
Had to find a way to get the ball into NJ's hands, he would have drawn defenders and then you kick to ross, parham or even MP for a clean look rather than chase's 35 ft fall away over 3 defenders.
But hey, I don't get paid millions of dollars to figure this out so what do I know.
Trying Chase over and over again with the same result. Someone told me is that called the first sign of insanity haha
Quote from: 1SE on January 11, 2026, 04:05:26 PMHad to find a way to get the ball into NJ's hands, he would have drawn defenders and then you kick to ross, parham or even MP for a clean look rather than chase's 35 ft fall away over 3 defenders.
Again, if you're Nova, why wouldn't you just let James drive all the way to the hoop while covering all shooters on the perimeter?
Quote from: MU82 on January 11, 2026, 04:12:54 PMAgain, if you're Nova, why wouldn't you just let James drive all the way to the hoop while covering all shooters on the perimeter?
I was thinking the same. Let em take the two, game over. Then again, let Chase chuck it, game over.
Quote from: MU82 on January 11, 2026, 04:12:54 PMAgain, if you're Nova, why wouldn't you just let James drive all the way to the hoop while covering all shooters on the perimeter?
If he doesn't draw defenders, then he shoots.
But again, I'm not paid millions of dollars to draw up a play which gets me a 35 ft fadeaway 3 for a guy who is 7/38 from beyond the arc since December.
Quote from: MU82 on January 11, 2026, 04:12:54 PMAgain, if you're Nova, why wouldn't you just let James drive all the way to the hoop while covering all shooters on the perimeter?
Unless this is like Wojo forgetting the time & score, I'm hoping our team knew they needed a three and wouldn't have driven for a buzzer beating layup that left us a point short.
Though considering our past game winning attempts, maybe I give them too much credit.
Quote from: MarquetteMike1977 on January 11, 2026, 04:12:04 PMTrying Chase over and over again with the same result. Someone told me is that called the first sign of insanity haha
At least he shot the ball this time. That's something right?
James was the only Warrior making 3s, and Nova obviously knew that.
If you throw the IB pass to James, unless MU sets some kind of incredible screen that gets him wide open, there's no way Nova lets him take the kind of wide-open 3 he needs to take. He's not Donovan Mitchell - he can't rise up and fire 3s while closely guarded.
So he either has to drive it to the hoop - which does MU no good - or he has to look for a teammate, all of whom are closely guarded unless Nova makes a major mistake.
And there's only 7 secs when the play starts. And there's no Ben Gold available (not that he'd be helpful the way he's shooting).
This is the problem when you have no real 3-point threats available. Which of course is on Shaka.
Quote from: WarriorFan on January 11, 2026, 06:03:08 AMYeah, the Phillips missed 3 on the previous possession I can live with. (open shot, in the run of play, good shooter) The lack of a play after time out resulting in a 35 foot heave by a bad shooter is a big problem.
This is the one I had a problem with. Only down a point, you have way more options, especially with two timeouts available. They were lost and could have used a TO to set something up.
Freshman with a reputation as a shooter playing in crunch time for the first time got a look and shot.
Just watched the game last night and I would take that shot any day. He will be part of the solution going forward. Might as well start getting used to those situations.
Stevens or Nigel would have been the other two I would have liked shooting that ball if it had somehow worked out that way.
Quote from: 1SE on January 11, 2026, 12:07:50 PMDo you think Ben Johnson could come by in February and give Shaka some tips on how to finish games?
Eh, Shaka's opponent would need a big halftime lead and then to just sit on the ball during the 2nd half and take the shot clock violation each possession.