Defense, officiating, and street credentials

[jonny09]

I'm really having problems breaking some of these defensive performances down. Are we just very very poor defensively, is college officiating just continuing to regress, or do some of these teams just have so much street cred on their own courts that it is by and large a losing proposition?   Either way, I'm certainly proud of the fight we showed.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Markus and Andrew are terrible on ball defenders. Two of the worst Marquette has ever had. They make their teammates worse on that end of the court, Markus particularly. Their offense is too good not to have them on the court.

[brewcity77]

I'm really having problems breaking some of these defensive performances down.

No one else seems to have any trouble breaking our defense down 

[DJO's Jaw]

No problems with the officiating tonight. We're just very hamstrung on defense when we have 2 sub-6 foot guards on he floor at the same time. The defense looked significantly better when Markus was the only short guard on the floor.

[rocket surgeon]

No problems with the officiating tonight. We're just very hamstrung on defense when we have 2 sub-6 foot guards on he floor at the same time. The defense looked significantly better when Markus was the only short guard on the floor.

i guess after nova was in the super bonus with about 14 minutes left in the game and we were a stout 4 for 4 from the line, the officials could breathe a sigh of relief and make a couple of calls to appear to even things out.

    did nova really need that much help?  not saying the refs cost us the game, but when they dictated a few key plays/calls and noncalls early in the 2nd half, it seemed to affect the flow of our game and personnel

[dgies9156]

Honestly, I'm tired of complaining about referees. They are what we thought they are -- bad.

Nonetheless, good teams win because they're good. Referees rarely influence the outcome of the game.

Last night against Villanova, the box score shows we actually made more field goals and three-point shots than Villanova. We lost the game on the free-throw line because we have not figured out how to be a elite defensive college basketball team yet. Last night, we had four players with four fouls. I'll argue to anyone who will listen, that's because we need to improve our defense.

The only game I can honestly say the refs overtly called the game to Marquette's detriment was a 1971 NCAA game we lost to Ohio State. Some would argue the 1978 Miami of Ohio game was won by the refs. That game solidifies my own thinking in that we NEVER should have let Miami in the same area code as us. Period. Just like Villanova. What separated us from them was our inability to defend Jalen Brunson, who should be a candidate for national POY.