Optimism/Happy Thread

[Shark]

Okay guys, tonight's loss was about as sad as it gets. This board has been getting more and more negative as the season comes to a close (Can't blame you to be honest).

Now hey, last year when MU was about to get bumped in the first round by 14-seed Davidson, it would of been easy to abandon ship. Let's just keep hope for the season. If they could pull that off they can pull off a BE Tournament run right? Right? I don't know but thinking about it makes me feel better.

So let's have a thread to calm down. Let's talk about:
-Big East Tournament scenarios
-Next Year
-Good signs by Juniors, Sophomore's, Freshmen
-Happy things in general

[netty24]

Next year should be an interesting one. Here is what I am hoping/excited to see:

-Hoping that Todd gets a shot to start at PG. Todd is obviously light years ahead of Derrick offensively, and IMO not too far behind defensively
-Excited to see what an offseason of development can do for Deonte. Hopefully he can cut down on mental mistakes, improve defensive awareness, and start to extend the range of his jumper to the 3pt line. I expect him to get 25-30 mpg based on what he has shown this season
-Excited to see what kind of offensive spark that Ahmed Hill/Duane can bring to the offense at the 2G spot
-Excited to see what a (hopefully) healthy offseason can do to help Steve develop physically and improve his defense
-Excited to see if Fischer and Paige can come in right away and compete. We desperately need a rim protector next year.
-Excited to see how Buzz adjusts his coaching style in response to his shortcomings this year (i.e. late game timeouts, rotations, etc)
-Hoping that Juan transfers, as it would be best for both parties. He has not improved whatsoever, is completely inept on offense and below average on defense. He just looks in over his head at Marquette and I wish the best for him and hope that he can find more minutes at a different school, as he does seem like a good, hard-working kid.

If I was Buzz my line up would be:                             
1- Dawson, Duane/Derrick
2- Todd, Ahmed/Duane/Sandy
3- JJJ, Marial/Sandy
4- Deonte, Steve, Malek/Marial
5- Fischer, Paige

I think Dawson and Todd should be the frontrunners for the PG position, with Duane getting a look as well. Derrick, IMO, should only be used as a defensive specialist who comes in for 5-10 mpg to get 4 fouls and beat up the opposing PG. We gave him the chance to start this year, and it obviously hasn't worked. The 2G spot should be heavily competitive with multiple players who have the ability to drive/hit from deep. IMO JJJ still has the highest ceiling of anyone on this team, as his defensive and offensive potential are very high, and therefore should receive the most minutes at the 3. At the 4, we should have two great options in Deonte and Steve. I think Burton has the highest offensive ceiling on the team, and I look for him to score ~10-12 ppg next year. Paige sounds like a little bit of a project, so i assume that Fischer will play around 30-35 minutes at C. This is not the biggest lineup, and would struggle a bit with defensive rebounding, but I think it would be our best offensive lineup and set us up for the brightest future, as we would have 4 underclassmen getting solid minutes. I expect next year to be similar to this one, as there may be some growing pains as the underclassmen attempt to mesh, but in 2 years I expect us to be back making a deep run in the NCAA's.

[NersEllenson]

Next year should be an interesting one. Here is what I am hoping/excited to see:

-Hoping that Todd gets a shot to start at PG. Todd is obviously light years ahead of Derrick offensively, and IMO not too far behind defensively
-Excited to see what an offseason of development can do for Deonte. Hopefully he can cut down on mental mistakes, improve defensive awareness, and start to extend the range of his jumper to the 3pt line. I expect him to get 25-30 mpg based on what he has shown this season
-Excited to see what kind of offensive spark that Ahmed Hill/Duane can bring to the offense at the 2G spot
-Excited to see what a (hopefully) healthy offseason can do to help Steve develop physically and improve his defense
-Excited to see if Fischer and Paige can come in right away and compete. We desperately need a rim protector next year.
-Excited to see how Buzz adjusts his coaching style in response to his shortcomings this year (i.e. late game timeouts, rotations, etc)
-Hoping that Juan transfers, as it would be best for both parties. He has not improved whatsoever, is completely inept on offense and below average on defense. He just looks in over his head at Marquette and I wish the best for him and hope that he can find more minutes at a different school, as he does seem like a good, hard-working kid.

If I was Buzz my line up would be:                             
1- Dawson, Duane/Derrick
2- Todd, Ahmed/Duane/Sandy
3- JJJ, Marial/Sandy
4- Deonte, Steve, Malek/Marial
5- Fischer, Paige

I think Dawson and Todd should be the frontrunners for the PG position, with Duane getting a look as well. Derrick, IMO, should only be used as a defensive specialist who comes in for 5-10 mpg to get 4 fouls and beat up the opposing PG. We gave him the chance to start this year, and it obviously hasn't worked. The 2G spot should be heavily competitive with multiple players who have the ability to drive/hit from deep. IMO JJJ still has the highest ceiling of anyone on this team, as his defensive and offensive potential are very high, and therefore should receive the most minutes at the 3. At the 4, we should have two great options in Deonte and Steve. I think Burton has the highest offensive ceiling on the team, and I look for him to score ~10-12 ppg next year. Paige sounds like a little bit of a project, so i assume that Fischer will play around 30-35 minutes at C. This is not the biggest lineup, and would struggle a bit with defensive rebounding, but I think it would be our best offensive lineup and set us up for the brightest future, as we would have 4 underclassmen getting solid minutes. I expect next year to be similar to this one, as there may be some growing pains as the underclassmen attempt to mesh, but in 2 years I expect us to be back making a deep run in the NCAA's.

Great post...lots of good insight.  Would only modify it, in that I fully expect Burton will be a 15ppg scorer next year..if not as high as 18ppg...his minutes should go up exponentially, and along with it will his scoring..

[tower912]

Assuming everybody stays......
-All of the newcomers other than Pierce are having stellar senior seasons.   
-A healthy Duane might have made a huge difference on this team.   Looking forward to seeing him a year stronger.
- Deonte is going to lead next year.    More than STjr, Juan, or Todd.   I really see Deonte leading. 
- Fischer is a mobile, versatile big.   The last time MU had a mobile, versatile big was..............
- Buzz gets a bunch of contact and practices with the returnees and newcomers next summer.   

[Shark]

I think next year will be a nice transition back to the traditional Marquette teams. It will be guard oriented and hopefully they will learn what a fast break is, because this year it's either Todd on the break or it's a missed layup.

I'd be happy if they tried a 10 deep bench next year where they use a full court press (4 guards one forward?) to wear other teams down. We know Buzz likes to run a deep bench, and with a lack of size next year a press could be ideal.

Also, does anyone else have a glimmer of hope in thinking that if Last nights Todd shows up for a season, he could be a potential All-American? Because outside of those silly 3-point fouls he was absolutely amazing. Put the team on his back.

[RushmoreAcademy]

Personally I'm going to enjoy the last few games I have watching Ox.  It's not always pretty, but I honestly, I've loved having him as part of MU and I'll miss watching him lumber around the court because we probably won't see a guy similar to him for awhile.

[muwarrior69]

I would like like to see a season where Buzz actually has 13 schollie players who stay and are injury free.

[GOO]

I think next year will be a nice transition back to the traditional Marquette teams. It will be guard oriented and hopefully they will learn what a fast break is, because this year it's either Todd on the break or it's a missed layup.

I'd be happy if they tried a 10 deep bench next year where they use a full court press (4 guards one forward?) to wear other teams down. We know Buzz likes to run a deep bench, and with a lack of size next year a press could be ideal.

Also, does anyone else have a glimmer of hope in thinking that if Last nights Todd shows up for a season, he could be a potential All-American? Because outside of those silly 3-point fouls he was absolutely amazing. Put the team on his back.

Not sure about the All-American reference, but Todd has changed my mind about him this year.  He has turned a corner. I don't think he will be the "club house" leader that we need, and for that D.Will will be needed next year (hopefully more in practice and holding people accountable for working hard, rather than playing a lot of minutes).  But, Todd is showing more and more this season and for the first time I can't wait to see what the future brings for him.

[Shark]

Not sure about the All-American reference, but Todd has changed my mind about him this year.  He has turned a corner. I don't think he will be the "club house" leader that we need, and for that D.Will will be needed next year (hopefully more in practice and holding people accountable for working hard, rather than playing a lot of minutes).  But, Todd is showing more and more this season and for the first time I can't wait to see what the future brings for him.

Yeah, I'm not gonna bet on Todd being an All-American. I just think he played good enough last night to have you believe he could potentially be THAT good next year. If nobody transfers I think next year has a lot of hope. I'd love to see Buzz utilize the bench like he does this year by using a full-court press from beginning to end. The team is going to be very athletic next year.

[PGsHeroes32]

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=41824.0

There is some optimism for ya