5 points? I'll take it.

[avid1010]

Which scheme would that be?  Was there somene else better equipped to handle Onuaku, Johnson, and Jackson on the inside?  I give credit to Buzz for somehow making this close game despite the fact that we got no rebounds all day and Syracuse was getting lay-ups the entire second half.  Tough loss, but this experience will pay-off in the end and our 4 toughest games on the schedule are behind us (although not so sure after watching UConn today).

You admit Cuse was getting lay-ups the entire second half, yet don't feel there was an adjustment MU should have made?

I just read the comments that Buzz made after the game, and he essentially said the same thing.  The game was too fast and they didn't take many shots outside of the paint in the second half.  Not to mention a 6 minute scoring drought that makes it real easy for Cuse to set up their zone off a make rather than a miss.  

They could have packed it in, ran a half court trap, 3/4 court press, different zones or a mix to keep them off balance.  They were way too comfortable, and never had to change till the end when they began to struggle.  Hell at least dare Cuse to shoot a 3 and see if they're having an off shooting day.  I'm sure if Buzz had the game to redo he'd figure out a way to limit the points in the paint for Cuse.  

Was the pressure at the end not effective?

[NavinRJohnson]

That would seem to suggest MU needed a scheme to deal with those match-ups.  

Tied at half, and ended up losing by 5. Has it occurred to you that maybe they did scheme to deal with those match-ups? MU realistically had no chance to win that game. Yet, they hung in through much of it. That was one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the country, playing on their home floor, with personnel that MU was simply incapable of matching up with, and you are seriously suggesting that Buzz didn't scheme enough to win the game? Come on.

[Jacks DC]

Sure maybe Buzz could have tried a few other things, but the bottom line was that there was no way MU was going to win the rebounding battle or limit Syracuse scoring in the paint.  Wes Johnson is probably the best player in the Big East right now and Onuaku is an absolute beast.  I went to the Syracuse game last year and literally felt sorry for Wes Matthews trying to stop him.  'Cuse is a Final Four level team and I thought we did a pretty good job of covering up our many weaknesses.

[NavinRJohnson]

Onuaku is an absolute beast. 

I continue to marvel at KO's size no matter how much I see him. The guy is just not normal.

[77ncaachamps]

I thought Cuse was going to run away with it, and I'll admit that I thought the difference was going to be 20 points in the end.

It was encouraging to see Marquette come back, but a loss is a loss.

However...don't you think the 5 points is a little inflated by the 22 TOs Cuse committed? I mean, it's still the margin of victory at the end of the day...but it COULD have been more, no?

If anything, those TOs and the guard play - Rautins shut out with 0 points - is really going to doom this Cuse team come March.

[Jacks DC]

However...don't you think the 5 points is a little inflated by the 22 TOs Cuse committed? I mean, it's still the margin of victory at the end of the day...but it COULD have been more, no?

If anything, those TOs and the guard play - Rautins shut out with 0 points - is really going to doom this Cuse team come March.

Syracuse leads the BE in turnovers and MU gets a lot of steals, so no surprise there.  Where Syracuse really excels is FG% margin.  Today's 59% to 39% is fairly typical for them.  When you don't miss many shots and dominate the boards you give your opponent very little margin for error.  They force opponents to take contested threes while they pound it inside, accepting a few steals on entry passes for the sake of getting high percentage looks.

[77ncaachamps]

Looking at the Big East #s though, it'll surprise you that Cuse not only leads in TOs but also Steals.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/conferences/statistics?confId=4&sort=avgSteals

That low opposing FG% is also due to the zone. And maybe the Carrier Dome.

[Jacks DC]

Yes, I saw that too.  If anything I think that shows that their propensity to turn it over is not as much of a weakness since they get so many takeaways too.

[avid1010]

Tied at half, and ended up losing by 5. Has it occurred to you that maybe they did scheme to deal with those match-ups? MU realistically had no chance to win that game. Yet, they hung in through much of it. That was one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the country, playing on their home floor, with personnel that MU was simply incapable of matching up with, and you are seriously suggesting that Buzz didn't scheme enough to win the game? Come on.

I sure am.  I didn't think MU had a chance to win that came until they increased the pressure late in the game.  Had they tried something different, earlier, I think they would have stood a better chance to win the game.  If you think a scheme (or the execution of a scheme) that ends up allowing Cuse to score something like 60 points in the paint, and only take two shots outside the paint in the entire second half is a good one, I think you're mistaken.  Buzz admitted to that in the post game.  I'd also argue that the 5 point loss is a bit misleading as to what really occurred in this game.  At half Cuse is shooting the ball terribly from the outside, and killing MU in the paint.  I fully understand the halftime adjustment Cuse made in the second half was a heck of a lot easier to make then anything MU could do, but I didn't see them do anything.  If you saw a scheme to try and get Cuse out of the paint please let me know so I can re-watch.  I also saw a team that continued to give up points in transition.

[tower912]

We give up points in transition because the two guys usually back are 5'6 and 5'11.   Not a lot of intimidation there.   No one saw this as a win going in.   We played good for a half, struggled for about 10 minutes, bottomed out for 5   (amazing the affect that one call can have on momentum, crowd excitement, energy level), and finished strong.    Cadougan got his feet wet and nobody got hurt.    Lets finish strong.