Shut Up And Play Basketball

[4everwarriors]

All this bitchin' about getting an 8 seed is BS. Hell, IMO that's exactly where MU belongs. The facts are this team is middle of the road in the tourney field and didn't finish the season very strongly. McNeal's injury didn't factor into the committee's placement.
Now, on the topic of the game, nobody should know Izzo and his tendencies better than Crean. He's got 4 days to prepare for the Spartans. Let's see some ass-kickin', ball-bustin' basketball on Thursday from the Warriors.

[LastWarrior]

McNeal's injury didn't factor into the committee's placement.

Do you have any inside information you would like to share???  I would strongly disagree with that comment.

But other than that, your point is well taken... tomorrow we start focusing on how we're gonna beat MSU.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

We all watch Marquette and we all watch college basketball. There is no way that the possibility of being without Jerel McNeal, as much as I like him, made a difference in our seed.

He's a nice player for Marquette, but come on. His injury didn't affect our seed.

I agree with 4everwarriors. We're pretty close to where we should be.

[LastWarrior]

It is a fact that the NCAA committee considers injuries in tournament seeding.  Losing your best player to injury right before the tournamnet will impact your seeding.  Look at Cinci when they lost Kenyon Martin to a knee injury in the CUSA tourney - they dropped from a sure #1 seed.

If MU truly deserved an 8 seed, why t almost EVERY reputable website had MU pegged as a 5 or 6 seed?  Am I to believe that the two of you guys know more than those websites about seeding?  Come one!!!

[ChicosBailBonds]

We all watch Marquette and we all watch college basketball. There is no way that the possibility of being without Jerel McNeal, as much as I like him, made a difference in our seed.

He's a nice player for Marquette, but come on. His injury didn't affect our seed.

I agree with 4everwarriors. We're pretty close to where we should be.

It's interesting then that so many experts across the country got it wrong, but you two got it right.  Didn't see us below a 7 ANYWHERE in the nation




All that being said, time to play ball and on that we agree.  Wish we had McNeal, but I believe we will not for the rest of the season.  Would like to see us full strength against them full strength.  Nevertheless, we still have a great shot.

[patso]

we should be a five or four. Stop with your self righteousness.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

we should be a five or four. Stop with your self righteousness.

Self righteousness? What?!

Chicos - I didn't say I "got it right" with Marquette as an 8 seed. But who gives a crap? We have to play a good team. Poor us. Last year we had a better seed and lost!

And LastWarrior -- come on! You are comparing the potential loss of Jerel McNeal -- who's a nice player, though limited because of his lack of size and offensive decision making to Cincy's loss of Kenyon Martin, who was the most dominating player in the country? You think the committee viewed those injuries in the same way? Was it you who has a friend on the committee? I'll wager McNeal's injury never came up. They obviously didn't view the Big East as being very strong this year. 

All this bitching about our seed just tells me that you all think we're going to lose. I do not.

[SoCalwarrior]

we should be a five or four. Stop with your self righteousness.

Self righteousness? What?!

Chicos - I didn't say I "got it right" with Marquette as an 8 seed. But who gives a crap? We have to play a good team. Poor us. Last year we had a better seed and lost!

And LastWarrior -- come on! You are comparing the potential loss of Jerel McNeal -- who's a nice player, though limited because of his lack of size and offensive decision making to Cincy's loss of Kenyon Martin, who was the most dominating player in the country? You think the committee viewed those injuries in the same way? Was it you who has a friend on the committee? I'll wager McNeal's injury never came up. They obviously didn't view the Big East as being very strong this year. 

All this bitching about our seed just tells me that you all think we're going to lose. I do not.

You can call McNeal a "nice" player all you want as long as you call our other players "not quite as nice."  Because the fact of the matter is as long as James is chucking threes, McNeal is our best player.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

You can call McNeal a "nice" player all you want as long as you call our other players "not quite as nice."  Because the fact of the matter is as long as James is chucking threes, McNeal is our best player.

I agree with that 100 percent. Unfortunately, the problem - as Chicos can tell you - is that Marquette's sports information department has been working overtime this season promoting James ad nauseum, despite his less than stellar play. It's why he was in ESPN the Magazine, why the ESPN cameras focus on him before every game and why the announcers discuss him non-stop.

Perhaps...perhaps...as a result, you had a committee that wasn't as aware of Jerel McNeal as they should have been -- although I still don't think he's the kind of player that makes a difference in a seeding.

[SoCalwarrior]

I have no idea how the committee works, but you have to imagine they crunch numbers at this thing.  When they get to Marquette, don't you think someone offers up the BE defensive player of the year's team leading offensive stats?  Maybe you're right, but my guess is that his injury cost us at least the 7 seed.

[Marquette84]

At least when Kenyon Martin went out, they could point to the fact that without him Cincy lost to a team they beat twice earlier in the season by an average of 29 points.

Thats some pretty strong evidence that losing Martin made a huge difference.

And the "punishment" that Cincy received is that the dropped from a 1 to a 2. 

With Marquette, the committee can point to the fact that without McNeal, Marquette beat a team by 4 points that thay beat by 1 point in overtime earlier in the season when they had McNeal.

And the "punishement" for showing no sign of reduced play is that MU was pushed down at least 2, probably 3 seeds from where similar teams were seeded.

And please, stop with the specious "MU played poorly down the stretch" argument.  Its obvious that peformance down the stretch had absolutely no consistent impact:   
--Boston College lost five of their last seven games, and still got a 7 seed. 
--Duke lost 7 of their last 11--and three straight at the end of the season--and got a six seed. 
--Southern Cal was 5-5 in its last 10 and got a 5 seed.
--Vanderbilt was 5-5 and got a six seed.
--Virginia Tech was 5-5 and got a five seed