Bottom Line: 10th in BEast

[bilsu]

I wasn't a big fan of allowing UConn to rejoin the BEast, but now it helps 10th place not seem as bad as it would've been in recent years.

Go MU!

Had Uconn not joined we would still of finished ahead of DePaul. We might have finished .500 in Big East, if you dropped the two games with Uconn and add back in the lost game against Georgetown.

[The Sultan]

Had Uconn not joined we would still of finished ahead of DePaul. We might have finished .500 in Big East, if you dropped the two games with Uconn and add back in the lost game against Georgetown.

Hang a banner.

[GoldenWarrior11]

Had Uconn not joined we would still of finished ahead of DePaul. We might have finished .500 in Big East, if you dropped the two games with Uconn and add back in the lost game against Georgetown.

The more competitive Big East programs are, the greater the ability for MU to attract recruits, coaches, fans and visibility to the program.  We should want to play the best as often as possible, and adding a program with four national championships in the past twenty years brings value to the Big East and to Marquette.

Between the Big East, Fiserv and our TV contract, there is no reason MUBB should be a tenth place program right now. Zero. That is a failure on the leadership of the program this year.

[cheebs09]

I agree not losing much but after those 3 I see no Big East type starters.  Who are the other starters that you are excited about?

I'm at the same place. Those 3 are nice pieces, but they aren't total game changers. The rest of the squad doesn't inspire confidence that we would be any more than a potential bubble team. Similar to the expectations of this year.

[Jockey]

Yesterday was the 1st time I remember that I was home and not busy and I didn't bother to turn on the game.

It's like being a fan of the Jets or Jaguars - why bother to endure the anguish?

Just laugh, instead.

[mu_hilltopper]

Had Uconn not joined ..

MU mens + womens = 0-3 (soon to be 0-4) vs. UConn.   I wonder how many seasons either program will take to notch a single win against the Huskies.

But we got some money or something, so yay.

[wadesworld]

I agree not losing much but after those 3 I see no Big East type starters.  Who are the other starters that you are excited about?

I don't see any sure fire starting level BE players. But I'm not sure Cain/Elliott are either (though Elliott has shown some things down the stretch here, so if he sticks around and stays healthy maybe he's okay as a 5th starter), and Theo would be a nice 5th starter on a team that has 4 consistent scoring threats. But he hasn't had that since his sophomore year. So I'm not sure you're losing a ton.

IF Carton, Lewis, and Garcia are all back next year, we will be a better team. The conference should be a better conference so there might not be a ton of progress made unless at least one of Mitchell, Aidoo, or a transfer are fairly major contributors.

[MuggsyB]

I don't see any sure fire starting level BE players. But I'm not sure Cain/Elliott are either (though Elliott has shown some things down the stretch here, so if he sticks around and stays healthy maybe he's okay as a 5th starter), and Theo would be a nice 5th starter on a team that has 4 consistent scoring threats. But he hasn't had that since his sophomore year. So I'm not sure you're losing a ton.

IF Carton, Lewis, and Garcia are all back next year, we will be a better team. The conference should be a better conference so there might not be a ton of progress made unless at least one of Mitchell, Aidoo, or a transfer are fairly major contributors.

This is fair although I think Oso has potential.  The biggest prob from a pure personnel standpoint is we don't have a 2nd guard that can create off the dribble.  I'm not defending DJ who was abysmal yesterday and has been inconsistent overall, but he has no one to take the pressure off of him.  Elliott has his moments spot shooting and in transition.  Torrence and McEwen have been very poor in our offensive sets to put it kindly. 

[panda]

This is fair although I think Oso has potential.  The biggest prob from a pure personnel standpoint is we don't have a 2nd guard that can create off the dribble.  I'm not defending DJ who was abysmal yesterday and has been inconsistent overall, but he has no one to take the pressure off of him.  Elliott has his moments spot shooting and in transition.  Torrence and McEwen have been very poor in our offensive sets to put it kindly.

We'll see about Oso, but he has a long ways to go offensively. This has been a lost year for him developmentally so he'll be coming into next year with barely any game experience.

[MU82]

I reject the notion that letting UConn into the Big East somehow hurt our men's basketball program.

We were 6-3 against them when when both teams were in the previous version of the Big East, and there were several very fine (including NCAA championship) UConn teams during those years. Going into this season, UConn hoops had been meh for several years; while we were going to 3 of 4 NCAAs, they were mostly sucking despite playing in an inferior conference. 

Are they back on the upswing under Hurley? It would seem so. That means it's up to Marquette to play up to their level, not for us to wish that a good program hadn't joined the BEast. It might take a new coach for us to do it, but it's both silly and defeatist to assume that it can't happen.

I mean, our previous coach - an unorthodox dude whose head-coaching resume included all of 1 losing season at a mid-major - ended up doing very well against Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun, for cripe's sake.

I know things seem hopeless now, so the tendency is to be negative about every single thing that has to do with Marquette basketball. But sports are cyclical. We'll be competitive again, and the optimist in me says we'll be at least Buzz-Crean level again.

[Afroman]

Although it was before the team was in the Big East, it says a lot when the Mike Deane years are looked back on with fondness.

[MU82]

Although it was before the team was in the Big East, it says a lot when the Mike Deane years are looked back on with fondness.

Only by people who are fooling themselves -- or were his drinking buddies.

[Silent Verbal]

Technically, we can get ninth all to ourselves. If we win out and Butler loses to Creighton, we'd have them on winning percentage.

Or as some might say, we could finish "alone in 9th" in the Big East.

[jesmu84]

The more competitive Big East programs are, the greater the ability for MU to attract recruits, coaches, fans and visibility to the program.  We should want to play the best as often as possible, and adding a program with four national championships in the past twenty years brings value to the Big East and to Marquette.

Between the Big East, Fiserv and our TV contract, there is no reason MUBB should be a tenth place program right now. Zero. That is a failure on the leadership of the program this year.

So the only thing holding Depaul back is lack of an NBA arena?