Deep Friar thoughts

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'll give some actual thoughts on the game.

1. I think this was one of our best defensive performances all season. The guards finally were covering the PnR correctly so the bigs could hedge without going about all the way to midcourt. Thought they played the scouting report pretty well other than losing Lindsey on a few slot threes in the first half.

2. I don't think the offense was a bad as others are making it out to be. When we had our long offensive stall we got a lot of good shots that wouldn't go down. Anim missed a bunch of layups, Markus missed a few open floaters that he usually hits, and the threes just would not fall. I counted one forced three for Rowsey and two forced threes for Markus. The rest I thought were in in the flow of the offense but just didn't fall. Offensive gameplan was good but the execution was not there.

3. Turnovers. Turnovers. Turnovers. 14 isn't that terrible for a game total turnovers but how the turnovers happened were ugly. Really lazy and bad passes.

4. Theo would have been the SOTG if we had won, hands down. To date he's been worse than Matt defensively, worse than Harry offensively, but he was a man among boys today. 5 blocks, six man sized rebounds, and a career high in points. If he can play that way every game, we may salvage the season. Only bad moment was the brain dead basket interference. Wonder if he couldn't hear the whistle.

5. Agree with others who questioned why Matt was in for so long. Love the kid but he offers nothing on offense and we needed offense. There was one play where they passed it into the post and he just stood helplessly looking for someone to pass to. Not even an attempt to back down his shorter defender. I would have run Theo as much as possible and subbed in Harry when he needed a breather.....though I just checked the box score, it says Matt was only in for 5 minutes. Maybe time just seems to crawl when he's in the game.

6. Greg is going to be a stud. Those looking for progress just need to look at him. He's getting better every game. Think he is my favorite player on this team.

7. I love Sacar but I agree with whoever said that his minutes will all go to Morrow next season...which I think will improve our defense and toughness

8. Didn't like the timeout with a minute left. I felt like we had more momentum at the moment and while the timeout didn't kill it, I think it took some of the steam off.

9. Markus finally got some calls this game but I think he deserved even more. Don't know what he needs to do to get more respect.

10. Someone else pointed it out, but that was heads up, veteran play that Providence made on Markus with time running out. Markus got the rebound on the run and time was ticking. He didn't have time to pull back. He would have had to either split the defenders or make an awkward on the go pass at full speed. Trying to split the defenders was his best option and they stopped it without fouling.

11. I didn't notice this but a SaveOD pointed it out to me after the game. One of the refs was garbage and the best example was something he almost did to Providence. When Diallo went down with injury, the Providence bench was yelling trying to let him know that they had an injured player. He turned around and started to give the signal for a technical foul. Another ref had to run over and stop him and point out that Diallo was hurt. Would have been a garbage technical....though we might have won if he did it

[Dr. Blackheart]

11.  James Breeding.  The guy who went after Buzz in the BET as the back up official.  Horrible

[Dr. Blackheart]

Theo and Greg were fantastic.  Theo didn't miss, add in six rebounds and five blocks. Wow. Greg strong.  Only question is why the Frosh including Jamal didn't get more minutes.

Defense was great.  Thanks Theo for the paint protection. Greg and Sacar as well with the on ball pressure. Sit the offense if you need to. Good pre-game adjustments by Wojo.

MU started out 4-4 on treys.  Finished 0- 12.  MU settled or rushed after half time.  In a game of spurts, MU lost the first ten minutes of the 2nd half 19-13. Otherwise, MU won 75% of the game. 

I thought MU was bad out of time outs and with rotations as well.  Why Theo was taken out for that long stretch in a head stratcher. Situationally, especially the last minutes, MU was just plain poor.  Not Wojo's best game.

End of the day, a great Big East game. I thought the boys left it on the court.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

There was a play they showed again on tv where theo's mere presence made Cartwright hesitate to drive through to the cup. Can't remember the last time we've seen something like that.

[Tugg Speedman]

one of the best 3 point shooting teams in the country had ZERO three-pointers in the second half.

[tower912]

one of the best 3 point shooting teams in the country had ZERO three-pointers in the second half.

Foul trouble and a defense designed and extended to run every shooter off line.    Nobody ever got an open look.    Always a (taller) Friar in position to contest the jumper.    And like Wojo said in his presser, when the ball stops, the defense loads.   

[Danny Noonan]

The unforced turnovers by this team is baffling. The positive is that they did not quit like the Butler game. Nice steal by Cartwright and the end of the game. I am glad he is a senior- I will not miss Cartwright "carrying" the ball or pushing off the defenders with his left shoulder with no calls.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Honestly, 6-12 in league looks most likely. That's annoying 'cuz I can't get to NYC for a Wed. game come BET time.

I'd love to take this bet. In fact I'll give you 7 wins. PM me if interested.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I also expected better than 0-6 at home against top 60 Ken Pom teams.

Seton Hall? Just not counting that game eh? Vermont is so 54.

Impressive stats there bud.

[Floorslapper]

Few things:

1. I disagree with the sentiment that Wojo messed up by letting Rowsey foul out. That was the absolute best outcome at that point in the game. Rowsey HOWARDhas been an absolute black hole the last several games; bad offensively, hopeless on defense, and plenty of turnovers. The game started to turn when he finally was taken out (by force of fouling out). IMO, he was more deserving of 10-15 minutes in this game, mostly off the bench to give Markus ROWSEYa breather. Markus & Rowsey on the court at the same time is absolutely devastating to our defense and if it's clear he has no offense to provide, what is the point? Huge mistake by Wojo.

2. We went periods of time with no center on the floor, where Rowsey was defending centers, etc. It was absolutely bizarre. We also saw Wojo force Theo onto the bench for long periods when he was having the game of his life. There had to have been a huge differential of points in our favor when Theo was in the game (just a guess).

I was so frustrated to watch this game, Wojo can say all he wants about "playing the hot hand" but that couldn't have been further from the truth today. He has fallen in love with the idea of having Rowsey & Markus on the court at the same time and is willing to go down with the ship on that decision.

Agree with point 2 entirely.  Fixed point 1.  Markus has been a black hole ever since the 52 point game.  27,18,16,15 shots in the last 4 games with 2, 3, 5 and 4 turnovers respectively.

Markus is a great talent but he HAS to be a little more team oriented.  Also needs to go back to his floater instead of trying to get all the way to the rack as he never gets fouls called for him. 

We need less of Rowsey and Howard on the floor at the same time.  If we do go that route, you have to play those two with Theo, Hauser, and Cain/Elliott - need to max our athleticism/length if we are so undersized with Markus and Rowsey.

[Disco Hippie]

Yeah, but really only as a rhetorical devise. MU needs it's basketball. It puts it on the map. We just need to win.

Couldn't agree more with this statement!  1SE has touched on this a number of times and I think it bears mentioning again that having a consistently successful men's basketball program is absolutely essential to the long term health of MU.  When the team succeeds, alumni donations increase, applications increase and come from a much more geographically diverse footprint, and MU's national profile is enhanced tremendously as a result.  When we're not doing well the opposite occurs.  It's not an exaggeration to say that our players carry the weight of the university on their shoulders to a large extent.  A school like Georgetown because of it's national prestige, endowment, etc. could miss the NCAA tourney for the next 20 years and it would have virtually no impact on their ability to attract top notch students, raise money, etc. because at the end of the day they're Georgetown University and their national stature doesn't ebb and flow with the success or lack thereof of their men's BBall team.  Unfortunately MU doesn't have that luxury so the BOT would be wise to heed 1SE's warning.

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Couldn't agree more with this statement!  1SE has touched on this a number of times and I think it bears mentioning again that having a consistently successful men's basketball program is absolutely essential to the long term health of MU.  When the team succeeds, alumni donations increase, applications increase and come from a much more geographically diverse footprint, and MU's national profile is enhanced tremendously as a result.  When we're not doing well the opposite occurs.  It's not an exaggeration to say that our players carry the weight of the university on their shoulders to a large extent.  A school like Georgetown because of it's national prestige, endowment, etc. could miss the NCAA tourney for the next 20 years and it would have virtually no impact on their ability to attract top notch students, raise money, etc. because at the end of the day they're Georgetown University and their national stature doesn't ebb and flow with the success or lack thereof of their men's BBall team.  Unfortunately MU doesn't have that luxury so the BOT would be wise to heed 1SE's warning.

I think alot of people here would disagree with with, but I completely agree. 

[GGGG]

Couldn't agree more with this statement!  1SE has touched on this a number of times and I think it bears mentioning again that having a consistently successful men's basketball program is absolutely essential to the long term health of MU.  When the team succeeds, alumni donations increase, applications increase and come from a much more geographically diverse footprint, and MU's national profile is enhanced tremendously as a result.  When we're not doing well the opposite occurs.  It's not an exaggeration to say that our players carry the weight of the university on their shoulders to a large extent.  A school like Georgetown because of it's national prestige, endowment, etc. could miss the NCAA tourney for the next 20 years and it would have virtually no impact on their ability to attract top notch students, raise money, etc. because at the end of the day they're Georgetown University and their national stature doesn't ebb and flow with the success or lack thereof of their men's BBall team.  Unfortunately MU doesn't have that luxury so the BOT would be wise to heed 1SE's warning.

Clearly Marquette knows this.  Basketball is its biggest marketing tool.  You don't think Marquette is trying to win?  Of course they are.