Improvement

[mviale]

The team played much better with Mcneal in the lineup last night.  I see improvement and these are good losses for our team as we can learn from our shortcomings.

Uconn will be tough, but I think we can compete and win if we play a full 40 minutes.

[IAmMarquette]

Agreed. McNeal is proving to be the spark plug for this team. Losing him for the PC game definitely hurt. His defensive intensity and willingness to attack on offense (with mixed results) are invaluable.

As for UCONN, what is Calhoun's defensive style? Does he stick with man-to-man like Coach K or Bobby Knight? Zone a la Boeheim? Switch it up? UCONN's defensive strategy could decide this game.

[ecompt]

I hope I am wrong, but I think if we play our absolute best we still lose by 15 points. Calhoun will have his guys ready to pay us back for last year.

[MU71]

We certainly play better with McNeal in the lineup - no doubt about that.  
Good losses though?  Is there such a thing?  We certainly learned a lot from the ND State and Wisconsin losses - we looked remarkably similar in the Providence game.  And we certainly learned from the Providence loss as our offense looked remarkably similar in the Syracuse game.

Someone here did mention that Calhoun is strictly a man-to-man coach which should give us a chance if it's true.  Unfortunately, I think we still have a heap of improving to do and I still don't see where it's going to come from.

[Final Four or Bust]

The team played much better with Mcneal in the lineup last night.  I see improvement and these are good losses for our team as we can learn from our shortcomings.

I think the team played better because Syracuse didn't have the talented inside big men that Providence had.  They were longer and more athletic, but not better on the offensive end.  Providence was outstanding down low in the post.

McNeal helped, but I don't think he would have made much of a difference in Providence, especially if we can't press.

[rocky_warrior]

I hope I am wrong, but I think if we play our absolute best we still lose by 15 points. Calhoun will have his guys ready to pay us back for last year.

IMO, people here have been (and still are) overestimating this year's UConn.  They may still win, but it won't be a blowout.  IF we had to play them later in the year, I'd be more concerned.  But as of now, they're a young team, and Marquette is certainly capable of beating them.

Of course, we were capable of beating Providence and Syracuse too - so we'll see.  Wow...only 2 days before that game.  I like conference play (though I don't like losing)!