Old Thoughts & Notes

[oilcan]

"When I married my wife, she was homely. But she looks better everyday. Always count your blessings."  When I said this last Saturday I wasn't really talking about my wife. I was talking about Marquette's shooting woes.  I suggest you always look on the bright side. My wife agrees.

I remember when the players practiced and then shot free throws before they could shower. You'd sit on the bleachers and this guy would hit five and miss and sit down and this guy would hit a few and sit down. Some guys would say, "Just miss so we can get out of here."  Steve Novak and Travis Diener both hit over 100 in a row. Back in the day when players couldn't get into the gym during the summer they tied rope around their waists and pulled cars across the parking lot.

I tell my friends that Mr Logo NBA isn't really Jerry West. It is in fact Travis Diener. They laugh at me, but I don't care, at all.

MILWAUKEE - Travis Diener understands there have long been skeptics.

As a freshman at Fond du Lac High School, he played on the varsity basketball team. Was it because his uncle was coach, or because he was good enough? All of, he remembers, 5-foot-8 and maybe 140, 145 pounds, he helped the Cardinals make it to the state tournament in Madison.

Between his junior and senior years in high school, Diener helped the AAU team on which he played win three national tournaments, earning MVP honors in all three. As a prep senior, he was a unanimous all-state selection and a Parade Magazine fourth team all-American.

As a sophomore at Marquette, the scrawny Diener - he had grown to all of 6-1 and 165 pounds - took over at point guard for coach Tom Crean's team, replacing the graduated Cordell Henry. Dwyane Wade was the brightest star. Could Diener be in charge of the solar system? Unless you were in another galaxy, you know how much Diener contributed to Marquette's run to the Final Four.

What Travis said about Steve Novak:

Steve is a year younger than me, so I got to play three years with him. Steve's ability to shoot the ball was beneficial for me and our team just because the spacing and he made me look good because, if you passed it to him it was usually going in, so it made me look good as a point guard. You love to play with guys that can really shoot the ball as a point guard. He was such a great shooter and everybody would always be telling him what you need to work on other things. He did that, but he never lost focus on his greatest skill and that was shooting the ball and he's always in the gym, I mean countless hours. He would always be drilling that, you know, being on the gun shooting and I'll never forget, he's one of the hardest workers I've played with.

[DoctorV]

So are we saying that the shooting will get better or get worse?

Or are we saying that Travis and Teve quality players aren't on this squad?

Or are we saying that the team needs more practice shooting?

Has anyone seen this years team practice? There were only 2 open practices and those may have been structured differently due to being open to the public but I wonder how much time is spent per practice simply shooting jumpers, given the emphasis on the 3?

If Shaka, Nevada or any other assistant coach is in here they can answer too 😂🤪

[oilcan]

Of course the shooting pct will shoot up quickly once we get into Big East play. It feels funny saying that because it's going to get tougher starting on Saturday. There should be some easy wins in there but remember we're playing two teams that could make the sweet sixteen.  I know for a fact that Novak and Deiner can not suit up anymore. Darn it. However, the guys that are out there on the court will play the hard pressing defense and learn how to relax and shoot the ball effortlessly, even when they're tired.

[wadesworld]

I'd be interested to see our shooting percentages (and PPP) at home vs. on the road. The rims at Fiserv seem to be some of the tightest out there. I wasn't surprised we shot much better when we played in Charleston.

[rocky_warrior]

So are we saying that the shooting will get better or get worse?

Or are we saying that Travis and Teve quality players aren't on this squad?

Or are we saying that the team needs more practice shooting?

We don't know    My best guess is our offense and defensive numbers will improve as the season goes on, but we'll probably end around ~50 defensively, and sub 100 offensively.  These guys aren't going to become sharpshooters.

[oilcan]

And we played UCLA on the the new? floor not the Buck's floor. I saw it, you saw it. It's the floor's fault. Scrub the floor. Get that bear smell out of here.  Let's move on. We're better than that. Just sayin'.

[Newsdreams]

I'd be interested to see our shooting percentages (and PPP) at home vs. on the road. The rims at Fiserv seem to be some of the tightest out there. I wasn't surprised we shot much better when we played in Charleston.

Background issues

[NCMUFan]

We will see if we have a fun game to watch or a repeat of St. Bonnie, Badgers or Bruins game.