Burke fouls out. 0 points. 1 shot. 2 boards?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Is that box score correct?

[rocky_warrior]

yup.  But to be accurate, I think the "shot" was a missed FT attempt. 

Bad night for Burke.  But Butler and Hazel combining for 17 and 6 so far.  Now that's encouraging.

[ChicosBailBonds]

yup.  But to be accurate, I think the "shot" was a missed FT attempt. 

Bad night for Burke.  But Butler and Hazel combining for 17 and 6 so far.  Now that's encouraging.

I was hoping Burke could fatten up on a dog like Houston Baptist.

[Blackhat]

The point total is the last thing I look at for Burke.   I'm worried about rebounding and defense out of our 5 spot this year and Burke is our best post defender but did get called for a lot of ticky tacks by Higgins. Needs to work the boards a lot better. 

[ecompt]

That kind of stat line is not going to cut it in the Big East. Dwight's got to do some of the same things Ooze did for us last year.

[tower912]

Cue Murf saying Buzz is misusing Burke just like Crean did.   ....Burke's got the best post moves on the team!   In the right offense he would be productive!   

[4everwarriors]

DKCL said it best. The real reason Buzz is so emotional and cries often is that he has to try to win and work with the bigs Crean left him.

[Murffieus]

The offense Buzz came out with last night took a 180 degree turn from the offense i saw at the "madness scrimmage". That offense was very postup friendly----but last nights offense was essentially one pass with a wing either taking it toward the hoop and either finishing or dishing. Very reminiscent of crean's "attack offense" except that the tempo was quicker in regard to the time used up in the possession cycle (Crean went a lot deeper into the time cycle).

As far as Burke------too much weight lifting has caused him significant agility in his upper body-----plus he was never in possession last night to get the ball in postup position.

IMO, Buzz needs to go a lot deeper into the shot clock before taking the shot-----keep the more talented teams from a lot of possessions.

In short I wasn't impressed with the "latest" offense-----structurally as I remarked here, I liked the other offense a lot more!

[ecompt]

Buzz knows a post-up offense won't work if your post-up can do nothing with the ball. You keep talking about Dwight's post-up moves as if they really exist; they don't. He is there to block out and play some defense. ANY basket he scores is gravy.
Any games we win this year will be because of our quickness. Taking the shot clock down and limiting possessions spells doom.  I know our offense, which produced 95 points, is not as intricate as Bo's revolutionary swing offense, which leads to early NCAA disappointment every year, but it's what Buzz feels works best right now.

[nyg]

I hope he improves just a tad more than this effort against Houston Baptist.  Burke and Otule will have their hands full.  Thabeet had 23 points and 17 rebounds last night, then there is Tyler Smith from Tenn., Harongody, Samuels, Blair, Summers...... Oh boy

[79Warrior]

Buzz knows a post-up offense won't work if your post-up can do nothing with the ball. You keep talking about Dwight's post-up moves as if they really exist; they don't. He is there to block out and play some defense. ANY basket he scores is gravy.
Any games we win this year will be because of our quickness. Taking the shot clock down and limiting possessions spells doom.  I know our offense, which produced 95 points, is not as intricate as Bo's revolutionary swing offense, which leads to early NCAA disappointment every year, but it's what Buzz feels works best right now.

totally agree. Dwight really is a backup being forced into a starting role due to our lack of size. If he fouls out this quick against a bunny then we are in for a tough time.

[THEGYMBAR]

Only disappointment in my mind was the minutes played. I just wish he could foul out in 13 minutes next time. If we are looking for Burke to be a "player" this year we are in trouble. I would keep him seat belted at the far end of the bench.

[ecompt]

He could foul out in six minutes against UW, especially if Bo brings his refs with him..

[Daniel]

This was the biggest disappointment of the night for sure.  He is going to have to play, so we need rebounds, some defense w/o fouls and a few points here and there.  Tall order for a short team.

Next year, we have two 6' 10" guys and a 7 footer - if they can play, look out - we won't be small anymore.

This year, we have to play bigger and tougher - we must have Burke perform!

[mviale]

agree - this is crean's team and next year we will see the result of more well rounded recruiting.

[MUfan12]

Murf- Judging by his comments, I have a very, very tough time believing Buzz designed the offense for shots off the first pass. I'm positive that a three from McNeal or Acker off the first pass in the halfcourt is not a desired option.

[jficke13]

If Burke does what he did to Hibbert and G'town last year we're golden. He didn't appear in the box score because physically forcing a man to the high elbow and out of his game every defensive possession isn't a stat, but he's game was phenomenal for just that reason. We really don't need him to provide points or even boards. If he forces the opposition's bigs out of their offensive scoring zone he's doing everything I want him to.

[Murffieus]

Buzz knows a post-up offense won't work if your post-up can do nothing with the ball. You keep talking about Dwight's post-up moves as if they really exist; they don't. He is there to block out and play some defense. ANY basket he scores is gravy.
Any games we win this year will be because of our quickness. Taking the shot clock down and limiting possessions spells doom.  I know our offense, which produced 95 points, is not as intricate as Bo's revolutionary swing offense, which leads to early NCAA disappointment every year, but it's what Buzz feels works best right now.

Well I guess if your not able to teach Hazel and reteach Burke how to postup----the next best thing is to go back to the "attack offense" concept-----but the attack concept always runs into a brick wall as the season goes on when teams jam the middle and force us to take treys.

When I saw that very friendly postup offense at the madness scrimmage-----I thought here's a guy that gets it-----but after Houston Baptist all we have is more of the same, which in the past gives us a great Nov/Dec/Jan and declining production after that.

[ecompt]

Buzz is playing the cards that were dealt him, which is all he can do. I'm not saying we have to fire away 10 seconds into the shot clock, but in order to win we have to speed the game up. As for declining production late in the season, that may be due to the competition we're facing rather than the game plan we're using. If we were playing in the Big Ten that wouldn't be the case, but when you're playing Louisville, Pitt, UConn, Nova, Notre Dame and Gtown down the stretch you're running into some very serious athletes. Let's see what Buzz does next year when he actually has some size to work with.

[jmayer1]

Well I guess if your not able to teach Hazel and reteach Burke how to postup----the next best thing is to go back to the "attack offense" concept-----but the attack concept always runs into a brick wall as the season goes on when teams jam the middle and force us to take treys.

When I saw that very friendly postup offense at the madness scrimmage-----I thought here's a guy that gets it-----but after Houston Baptist all we have is more of the same, which in the past gives us a great Nov/Dec/Jan and declining production after that.

If you don't have guys with postup moves, which we don't, why would you try to feature them? 

You constantly say here that Burke had great postup moves when he came here but then bulked up too much, yet on the other board you have repeatedly said OTule needs to get stronger.  Which is it?  You can't have both.

You act like any guy over 6' 6" can be taught how to postup but everyone knows that just isn't the case.  Some guys get it, some guys don't.  Unfortunately MU doesn't have anybody who gets it right now and to expect anything more than solid D and some rebounds is a pipe dream.

[Daniel]

I believe Burke will improve as we go through the season - he's a senior, this is it for him - and he can't get much worse than game 1.  If Buzz and staff can set him on the right track, he can be a valuable asset, as he was several times last year.  I think he will get tougher and more effective as we move through the season and will earn more minutes.  Now the fouls. . . that is a key to his game - lots of fouls, tough to be tough.

[muarmy81]

If you don't have guys with postup moves, which we don't, why would you try to feature them? 

Unfortunately MU doesn't have anybody who gets it right now and to expect anything more than solid D and some rebounds is a pipe dream.

Actually,
Wes and Jerel looked pretty solid posting up within the offense.  We created some good scoring opportunities when we had the guards posting up.

[Hards Alumni]

If you don't have guys with postup moves, which we don't, why would you try to feature them? 

You constantly say here that Burke had great postup moves when he came here but then bulked up too much, yet on the other board you have repeatedly said OTule needs to get stronger.  Which is it?  You can't have both.

You act like any guy over 6' 6" can be taught how to postup but everyone knows that just isn't the case.  Some guys get it, some guys don't.  Unfortunately MU doesn't have anybody who gets it right now and to expect anything more than solid D and some rebounds is a pipe dream.

completely agree.  Burke has never been a great player... he is a starter only because of his size and now, experience.