Guards down the stretch!

[77fan88warrior]

We missed FT's down the the stretch but why do we have our 2 shortest guards playing D?

[4everwarriors]

'Cause some people contend it's a guard's game. LOL

[Blackhat]

DJO should of been in a lot more down the stretch....it'll be nice when Buzz doesn't have a terrible guard on the roster in the future and we can stop asking "why are they playing?"

[77fan88warrior]

'Cause some people contend it's a guard's game. LOL

It's a guards game when you are undersized and you leave a 5"4" guy in on defense. Take your agenda elsewhere because our guards got smoked down the stretch!

[ErickJD08]

We missed FT's down the the stretch but why do we have our 2 shortest guards playing D?

I agree to a certain degree but the last two 3 pointers were f'ing hard shots and I think you would have needed significantly taller guard (we don't have those) to really contest them without fouling.

[77fan88warrior]

I will take 6'2" over 5'8"? Nothing personal.

[ErickJD08]

I will take 6'2" over 5'8"? Nothing personal.

You would need someone 6'5+ to be about to really contest the shot without fouling... I thought the defense was fine.

[77fan88warrior]

Are you kidding me about the shots down the stretch? I think the Buzz apologists might be worse than Crean's tonight.

[bma725]

Who exactly do you want him to put in?

You want just DJO and Buycks in there?  Ok, but have you seen DJO's defense?  It's mostly bad, bordering on absymal.  And who exactly would bring the ball up the court, since neither of them are capable of doing it?

And don't tell me you're suggesting they go big and put in Fulce or Williams, they would have been worse options in different ways.

[77fan88warrior]

I believe we had a few to's down the stretch?

[77fan88warrior]

You would need someone 6'5+ to be about to really contest the shot without fouling... I thought the defense was fine.

Would you rather try to attempt a shot over DJO or Acker?????

[bma725]

Would you rather try to attempt a shot over DJO or Acker?????

Given how he's played defense so far, DJO wouldn't have even been in position to contest the shot.

Further, go back and watch the possession where they almost forced DPU into a shot cock violation.  The reason for that was Acker.  He was able to deny Will Walker the ball, and he's the only one on the roster capable of doing that. 

[bma725]

I believe we had a few to's down the stretch?

One turnover in the last three minutes and it was by Buycks.

[Doris Burkes Thong]

If Reggie Smith was playing tonight for us we win that game...that kid is very Johnny Fynnesque.

[MUrugger]

I'd have to watch the tape again, but what my eyes showed me was that after the near steal on the final play, Acker, who swiped the ball from #11, followed it which brought him to Stovall who was being loosely covered by Buycks.  I don't think Buycks elevated at all to get a hand in the guy's face that was admittedly a prayer but looked like it was going in from the minute it left his hand.  I would have been surprised if he missed.  Buycks, a guard, guarding a 6'-5" forward is a big part of the problem and has been all year.

[GGGG]

Given how he's played defense so far, DJO wouldn't have even been in position to contest the shot.

Further, go back and watch the possession where they almost forced DPU into a shot cock violation.  The reason for that was Acker.  He was able to deny Will Walker the ball, and he's the only one on the roster capable of doing that. 

+1

Nothing wrong with the defense on those final plays.  De Paul hit two, difficult shots.  Gotta hand it to them.

[willie warrior]

Until Buzz gets the idiotic notion out of his head to play Acker and Cooby together for huge parts of the game, we will continue to be exploited by other teams.

There is absolutely no reason for this. If DJO and Buycks are poor defenders like some people think, then Acker and Cooby must be big stoppers. I do not see them stopping much.

[Dr. Dunkenstein]

I have no clue how this loss could be blamed on Acker and Cubi being on the floor, when Lazar didn't score in the second-half and DJO led the team in turnovers.

Acker was the last player to score a bucket for MU, and he combined with Cubi for 4 assists against just one turnover.

In addition, on the last possesion, Buycks WATCHED Acker almost come up with a steal against his man, and then WATCHED when Stovall recovered the ball and then failed to contest the shot on the player he was guarding.

[slingkong]

Further, go back and watch the possession where they almost forced DPU into a shot cock violation.

"Almost" is a meaningless term and does nothing to help your argument here.  "Almost" is failure put politely.

[NavinRJohnson]

Do we really have to go through this after every loss? Our PG options are extremely limited, and have been all year. The offense doesn't function when Acker is on the bench, and the defense suffers when he is on the floor or Cubillan isn't. Translation, they have to play, and often together. I wasn't on board with it early, but I have seen enough now to realize that Buzz has little option. If Cadougan can come back and be effective, that changes things, but until that happens, there isn't much that can be done about it. 

[radome]

Do we really have to go through this after every loss? Our PG options are extremely limited, and have been all year. The offense doesn't function when Acker is on the bench, and the defense suffers when he is on the floor or Cubillan isn't. Translation, they have to play, and often together. I wasn't on board with it early, but I have seen enough now to realize that Buzz has little option. If Cadougan can come back and be effective, that changes things, but until that happens, there isn't much that can be done about it. 

Unfortunately, I think that you are right.  It is what it is this year.

[GGGG]

"Almost" is a meaningless term and does nothing to help your argument here.  "Almost" is failure put politely.

OK...the only reason it wasn't a shot clock violation is because they managed to get a beyond-NBA-range three point shot off that clanged off the rim.  That was fantastic defensive effort by Mo.

[bma725]

"Almost" is a meaningless term and does nothing to help your argument here.  "Almost" is failure put politely.

They didn't fail on that possession, in fact they did exactly what they needed to do. 

Going into that possession, MU as the defensive team needed to do two things...keep the ball out of Will Walker's hands and force DePaul into a bad shot.  They did both, specifically because of the defense that Acker was able to play on Walker. 

Almost is merely a descriptive term, not a longing for the shot clock violation.

[Jacks DC]

There's no way anyone can put this on Acker.  There's nothing he can do about being 5'8".  He played sloid defense, including the last possession when he almost got the steal.  He had 2 steals and only 1 turnover, went 3-4 shooting (which happened to be 3 of MU's final 4 FGs) and did not miss a FT. 

[ecompt]

Acker's only problem is that he is too small. Buycks and DJO don't have that excuse; they're simply not interested in playing defense.