Reflections on Syracuse Elite Eight

[UticaBusBarn]

Now that a couple days have passed, it might be well to reflect on the Syracuse game ... fact wise, of course.

+ The Warriors, despite all, played rather good defense. At 55 points, the Orange had the second lowest point total of the last eight playing. Unfortunately, Marquette was last.

+ Syracuse shot 38 percent over-all, less than 30 percent from 3, and 63 percent from the free throw line. They were out-rebounded by MU 37 to 32 and on offensive rebounds 14 to 8.

+ Assists were a wash at 10 to 9 Marquette.

- Turn-overs (gulp!) 14 by Marquette, but only 6 for Syracuse.

- At the 12:36 mark the Warriors had 25 points, at 7:21 it was 30 points, and at 4:20 a grand total of 32 points had been scored by MU.

- As we all know, Marquette shot an unbelievable 22.6 percent (gulp, gag!) over-all for the game.

- MU shot 3 for 25 from 3 point land. As noted, most of the 3's were short. The Orange defense was so tight that the Warriors were not able to step into their shoots; they were stepping back. Shots come from the legs, not the arms.

In short, the Warrior defense was grinding and stayed in play until the bitter end. Meanwhile, the offense went out for a dog and beer at about the 12 minute mark of the second half and forgot to return.

As with all games, afterwards one can conjure up all sorts of second guesses. As in, why was Coach Williams so conservative? After all, the coaching staff set up an aggressive defense for Miami with the 5 (!) helping trap their 1 (Larkin) to great success. And, what happened to the attach plan from the second half of the first Syracuse game where Junior was running the point from the left wing and Wilson/Gardner, at times were playing the traditional point at the top of key?

In the end, this long Warrior fan can only conclude that legendary coach Abe Lemon had it right. In the NCAA tournament, he said, "if you ain't got guards, you ain't got sh*t."

Syracuse had the guard advantage and there was nothing the Warriors could do about it.

[96warrior]

Thanks for posting this. Watching the game, I just thought we looked horrible from top to bottom, start to finish. This is a great reminder that we hung in there, we were just overmatched by a very hot Syracuse team. Seeing the rest of the games over the weekend, all of the teams that aren't advancing went out in fairly similar fashion.

[Dr. Blackheart]

For the first 80% of the game, Syracuse had only six fouls called on them.  With the ^^, it was imperative that MU got to the free throw line at a high clip.  That was the only way MU was going to win, like they did at the BC. The officials were not going to call a physical game from the get go, so MU only had their three point shooting to fall back on.  With tired legs and great pressure, the boys' hearts were there but their touch was lacking.  Studly performance.

That said, our athletes, band, students, alums, families and MU coaches and adminstrators were 100% class.  Just a great set of days to celebrate Marquette.  Some highlights:

>>Over 800+ MU fans attending the MU vs. Gtown lacrosse game....with buses and food provided by MU AD.
>>80 year old grandpas with a smile on their face for the Elite 8 game like they were waiting for the Easter Bunny.  Their 11 year old grand kids excited for their grandpa, versuses the other way around.
>>Mrs. Buzz, with stitches in her side, camped at the door of the Marriott pep rally, individually thanking every fan headed out the door to the game day buses for attending the pep rally.

[connie]

Well said Utica.  Well said Dr.

[MUBurrow]

I was really surprised, and remain confused as to why Jamil wasn't used as a traditional zone breaker at the free throw line. I thought that with the exception of the mini run lead by davante in that role to close the first half, our best looks came with Jamil getting the ball in the high post from one of the guards on the wings.

Given his height and ability to shoot, he really was the only person that could consistently play that role (except for Davante, who is really more of a third down back there). Talking to people before the game, I had said that everything hinged on how Jamil played. But he ended up spending most of his time a) on the wing or b) getting the ball at the top of the key on the swing rather than in the high post from the wing. The offensive tactics of this game are going to bother me for awhile this offseason.

[MU82]

Now that a couple days have passed, it might be well to reflect on the Syracuse game ... fact wise, of course.

+ The Warriors, despite all, played rather good defense. At 55 points, the Orange had the second lowest point total of the last eight playing. Unfortunately, Marquette was last.

+ Syracuse shot 38 percent over-all, less than 30 percent from 3, and 63 percent from the free throw line. They were out-rebounded by MU 37 to 32 and on offensive rebounds 14 to 8.

+ Assists were a wash at 10 to 9 Marquette.

- Turn-overs (gulp!) 14 by Marquette, but only 6 for Syracuse.

- At the 12:36 mark the Warriors had 25 points, at 7:21 it was 30 points, and at 4:20 a grand total of 32 points had been scored by MU.

- As we all know, Marquette shot an unbelievable 22.6 percent (gulp, gag!) over-all for the game.

- MU shot 3 for 25 from 3 point land. As noted, most of the 3's were short. The Orange defense was so tight that the Warriors were not able to step into their shoots; they were stepping back. Shots come from the legs, not the arms.

In short, the Warrior defense was grinding and stayed in play until the bitter end. Meanwhile, the offense went out for a dog and beer at about the 12 minute mark of the second half and forgot to return.

As with all games, afterwards one can conjure up all sorts of second guesses. As in, why was Coach Williams so conservative? After all, the coaching staff set up an aggressive defense for Miami with the 5 (!) helping trap their 1 (Larkin) to great success. And, what happened to the attach plan from the second half of the first Syracuse game where Junior was running the point from the left wing and Wilson/Gardner, at times were playing the traditional point at the top of key?

In the end, this long Warrior fan can only conclude that legendary coach Abe Lemon had it right. In the NCAA tournament, he said, "if you ain't got guards, you ain't got sh*t."

Syracuse had the guard advantage and there was nothing the Warriors could do about it.

We actually were 3-of-24 from 3-point range, which is bad enough. You probably only saw another miss in your dreams!!

Vander hit our first 3-point attempt and Davante hit our last. In between, our lads clanged 21 of 22 from behind the arc. That's not what Buzz meant when he told them to be consistent!!!